What I Want You to Know about Healthy Eating

As told to Shoshana Gross

The click of my key in the lock echoed through the empty house as I stepped into the daily after-school silence. The privilege of the youngest child — no older siblings home. Mom at work. Dad gone so long I couldn’t remember him. But the snack cupboard was full. In the quiet, lonely kitchen, I savored the sweetness of chocolate, the crunch of Oreo cookies, the saltiness of Lay’s barbecue potato chips filling the emptiness.

I was the kid who emptied my piggy bank as fast as my allowance could fill it, reveling in the pleasures of every sugary temptation. I was the teenager who effortlessly downed a pint of rocky road ice cream in one sitting. I was the college student who dined on Hershey bars and a coffee. What shocked me was that when I did manage to eat a balanced meal, I felt so much more satisfied. My candy-coated childhood hadn’t prepared me for the idea that food could make a difference.

I was in my twenties when I finally decided to learn how to take care of myself. Haunting the local health-food stores, I met like-minded people who knew a lot more than me and weren’t shy about sharing their wisdom. I learned that health isn’t eating a few carrot sticks and an apple to fulfill a daily “health” obligation, but a holistic lifestyle approach. I still needed my chocolate fix, but it was the beginning.

Salads became a regular part of my meal plan. I replaced meat and chicken with salmon as my go-to protein, and white bread morphed into organic whole grain. I tossed out white sugar and my beloved artificial sweeteners in favor of raw honey and date syrup. I was surprised at how fresh my fruits and vegetables tasted now that I wasn’t eating processed food.