09/12/2026
STRONGHER SATURDAY šŖš¼
Eat Food That Looks Like Food.
Iām going to say something today that probably would have sounded ridiculous to my 25-year-old self: Iām becoming one of those women who reads ingredient labels. š
Not because Iām trying to be obsessive about food. Actually, quite the opposite.
The older I get, the less interested I am in dietingāand the more interested I am in nutrition. Those are not the same thing.
For years, so many of us were taught to look at one thing: Calories. 100 calories? Great.
Fat-free? Even better. Sugar-free? Throw it in the buggy. Never mind that the ingredient list sometimes looked more like a chemistry assignment than something Grandma would have recognized as food. At 53, Iām asking a very different question: What is this actually giving my body? Because my body doesnāt just need fewer calories. It needs protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. And enough actual nutrition to support muscle, bone, brain, metabolism, recovery, and healthy aging.
And thatās why Iāve become increasingly interested in eating more real, whole food.
Not because everything that comes in a package is evil. Not because food has to be organic, expensive, locally harvested under a full moon, and blessed by somebodyās grandmother. š And definitely not because I believe we need to eat perfectly. I mean something much simpler.
Eat more food that still resembles food.
Eggs
Chicken
Fish
Beef
Greek yogurt
Beans
Vegetables
Fruit
Berries
Potatoes
Rice
Whole grains
Nuts
Seeds
Olive oil
Food made from ingredients you recognize.
Then compare that with some ultra-processed foods engineered from refined ingredients, flavors, colors, emulsifiers, sweeteners, stabilizers, and other additives designed to create something extremely convenient and extremely easy to keep eating. And thereās another conversation women need to know about. It isnāt only about calories. Researchers are increasingly studying our exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicalsāsubstances capable of interfering with hormone signaling. Some chemicals of concern, including certain phthalates and bisphenols, can be found in food-contact materials and may migrate into food during processing, packaging, storage, or heating.
That doesnāt mean every packaged food is toxic. And it certainly doesnāt mean eating a packaged snack once is going to ādestroy your hormones.ā
Thatās fear, not education.
But I also donāt think we should ignore the bigger picture. If most of our diet comes from heavily processed, packaged foods, weāre not simply asking: āHow many calories am I eating?ā
Weāre also asking: What nutrients am I not getting? How much fiber am I getting? Am I getting enough protein? How much added sugar and sodium am I consuming? How much of my food has been stripped apart and reconstructed? And what unnecessary food-contact chemical exposures can I reasonably reduce? Thatās a very different conversation.
Research has increasingly associated diets high in ultra-processed foods with poorer health outcomes, including higher risks involving cardiovascular and metabolic health. But hereās what I DONāT want you to do after reading this: Go home and throw away everything in your pantry. Because you know what happens next. Monday morning: āTHATāS IT. IāM EATING CLEAN.ā
Chicken
Broccoli
Water
Misery
By Thursday youāre standing in the kitchen eating Oreos over the sink wondering where it all went wrong. š Weāve done that long enough. If we want lasting change, we donāt need another dramatic food purge. We need to change the pattern. So instead of asking:
āWhat do I have to STOP eating?ā Try asking: āWhat real food can I ADD?ā
Add eggs to breakfast.
Add berries to your yogurt.
Add vegetables to dinner.
Add a piece of fruit.
Add a good protein source.
Add beans.
Add whole grains if they work for you.
Cook one more meal at home.
Drink water instead of one of the drinks youāve been living on.
And slowlyā¦ change what ānormalā looks like in your kitchen. Because thatās how behavior changes. Not through one perfect grocery trip. Through repetition. One meal becomes several. Several become a pattern.
And eventually the food that once required effort becomes simply:
how you eat.
This weekās StrongHER challenge:
Before you buy something this week, turn it over. Look at the ingredient list. Not with fear. Not looking for a reason to call the food ābad.ā Just become curious.
Then choose three ultra-processed foods you regularly eat and see whether you can replace one serving or occasion of each with a less-processed alternative this week.
Not forever.
Not perfectly.
Just practice.
Because at this stage of my life, Iām not interested in starving my body into submission. Iām interested in feeding it well enough to carry me through the next several decades.
I want muscle.
Strong bones.
Energy.
A healthy brain.
A body that recovers.
A body that lets me work, travel, garden, lift things, play, and keep saying:
āIāve got it.ā
Food is one of the raw materials Iām giving that body every single day. So no, Iām not chasing āclean eatingā perfection.
Iām learning to feed the woman Iām becoming. And sheās worth feeding well. ā¤ļø
