I have to confess that one thing I’ve never paid much attention to is eating “seasonally”.

It’s one of those things that makes sense .. but it’s hard enough for me to decide what to eat AND eat healthy, let alone trying to add in another “rule” to the mix.

I mean these days, with food commerce set-up the way it is, you always have a choice of “fresh” fruits and vegetables at your local grocer.

But there’s just something extra special … both in the way of taste and nutrition … when you get your product home-grown in the right season.

For example…

A few days ago I had an ear of corn that was so crisp and sweet, it almost felt like a guilty pleasure vs. “getting a serving of vegetables”.

I had a leftover ear the next day – right out of the fridge, unheated – and it was still nice and crisp and had a great flavor.

Then there’s the melon I’ve been enjoying the last couple of days.

I’ve been chowing on both watermelon and cantaloupe and both have been so juicy and sweet and enjoyable that it feels like dessert.

So here’s my point…

If the last time you had – insert the name of a fruit or vegetable that just didn’t taste very good to you the last time you tried it – then remember to give it another chance when it’s in season and preferably somewhere local.

The difference you’ll experience in taste may surprise you and … like me … have you really enjoying eating healthy!

I’ll admit it. When I was younger and had less wisdom floating around upstairs … I thought pizza was a fairly healthy food.

Why would I think that?

Well, because that’s what I was TAUGHT to believe.

You probably were too.

Think about it. What did we learn in school?

We learned that a good, healthy diet contained the four main food groups and pizza covered all the bases.

Meat? Check.

Pepperoni and/or sausage covered that one.

Dairy? A nice thick layer of mozzarella cheese covered the dairy component.

And we had bread taken care of with the crust.

And if we top it off with mushrooms, green peppers, or onions, then we even got vegetables in the mix.

What could be better, right?

Well, not exactly. (I wanted to believe the lie, so I did.)

There are a lot of different ways you can approach how you eat and what foods you eat. But focusing on getting a good mixture of the “four main food groups” is NOT a good healthy approach to eating.

Today I’d like you to start focusing on two main groups of “food”.

Real food vs. fake food.

Potatoes are real food. Potato chips are fake food.

An orange is a real food. A chewy fruit-flavored candy with 10% real fruit juice is a fake food.

Your assignment: Eat more real food and less fake food.

Many people take a multi-vitamin and think of it as their insurance policy or protection against eating poorly. The mindset is that taking this pill will help them offset the bad foods they eat and the lack of good foods they’re not eating.

Taking a supplement should always be viewed as a bonus to eating properly not as an excuse to eat poorly.

You are always better of getting your nutrients in whole natural foods vs. a supplement.

That doesn’t mean supplements are bad. In fact, in some situations supplements are preferred.

An ideal use of supplements is to get nutrients that aren’t easily available in common foods or in foods you simply refuse to eat.

Another good time to use supplementation is when your body needs certain herbs that you’re never going to eat or cook with.

Otherwise, choose foods over supplements. Every time.

And when I say foods, I mean REAL foods. I’ll talk more about that in the next post…

If you’ve participated in any endurance sports, no doubt you’ve heard the phrase “carbo-loading” which refers to consuming a bunch of carbohydrates before an event.

The purpose of the carbo-load is to maximize the glycogen in the muscles that will be released during the physical activity. (When you see a marathon runner crash, it’s typically due to a glycogen shortage.)

The preferred meal to store up glycogen via carbohydrates is typically a pasta meal. It’s commonplace for marathon runners, triathletes, and long distance bike riders to consume a large past dinner the night before an event.

The next time you see a marathon runner cross the finish line, think about what kind of pasta he or she may have had the night before.