Grocery Store Epiphany

*Sorry this post is so long in coming. I really did start it on the 28th, but never got around to finishing this or the next one. Like potato chips they might be slightly stale, but still enjoyable!

Walking down the frozen foods aisle yesterday made me realize how much our eating habits have improved.

Junior year of college is the first time I really remember having to fend for myself in the way of nutrition. Until then, I had been living at home or on the university's meal plan. But with living in a house, I went off the meal plan and started to cook independently.

I use the word "cook" very loosely, however. Junior and senior years of college, we thought a home-cooked meal meant that you took pizza/pasta/stir fry out of the bag or box and heated it up. The amount of sodium I consumed over those years is probably enough to rid a third-world country of iodine deficiency. Plus, we probably ate delivery pizza at least once a week, and Coke was one of our main food groups.

Once I got an apartment, I worked at "cooking" a little harder. I upgraded from box meals to frozen meals--the main difference being that the frozen meals also contained meat and vegetables. I also started packing healthy frozen entrees for lunch. This is when the cycle of addiction to / deprivation of soft drinks started. (And, unfortunately, continues to this day.)

Before our wedding, Keith and I worked hard to get in shape and eat more healthfully. I think that was the biggest turning point for us. Since then, our eating habits sometimes slip, but overall I think that they have changed for the better.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, all of this came to me at the grocery store. It's a strange layout--a very small store with anything requiring refrigeration packed around the perimeter. The first few aisles are the frozen foods, and I realized that I was passing right by them without picking up one prepared entree or ready-made lunch. I did get some soy crumbles for tacos, and also some fudgsicles as a low-cal treat, though.

I also walked right past the prepared, non-frozen foods. I spent most of my time in the bread and cereal aisle (getting actual cereal NOT cereal bars, which were an old staple) and picking out fresh fruits and vegetables.

I know there's still room for improvement. If I could ever completely break my addiction to soft drinks, it would be a miracle. But it was a really good, concrete reminder that I've made a lot of progress!