Redefining Fast Food
There was once a time when fast food did not have such a bad name.
As highways were constructed across America, business minded individuals realized they could meet the nutrient needs of weary travelers.
Burger stops used fresh ground beef and locally sourced potatoes, chicken spots conducted business with local farms, and eating out was just like eating at home.
Sadly, the wave of mass production, big food, and convenience has bulldozed most of those ideas and concepts right over, and now a fast food meal will give you more trouble than it will give you any benefits.
Even supposed healthy food is packed with unhealthy fats and oils as well as chemicals and dyes that can cause lasting effects.
Why Americans Choose Fast Food
It comes as no surprise that many Americans choose fast food.
It’s cheap and easy!
We are an overworked, overstressed, far-too-busy-to-think society that feels cornered into just grabbing some greasy food for the family before heading home.
With so few hours in the day, it seems like the only option.
Today, most Americans get 60% of their daily food from processed and packaged sources.
As a result, we are a nation of obesity, heart disease, and cancer.
And we don’t even really talk about it in daily life! We rarely make the connection between what we eat and how we feel, much less long term, downrange consequences like diabetes and dementia.
But the evidence is quite clear.
You literally are what you eat.
And while you might not feel it today (though most of us do), you will feel it eventually if you don’t make the major necessary changes to get your body the nutrients it needs.
But How?!
It’s actually easier than you think.
You can get all the nutrients you need with a well-rounded, plant based diet that integrates healthy proteins in no time.
It will take a bit of planning, but that planning is well worth it.
Meal Prep
Sit down for just a few minutes on the weekend with pencil and paper and plan your meals for the week.
Then map out what you will need to meet the nutrition needs for those meals.
Shop for the Week
Take your list to a grocery store that emphasizes healthy foods, lots of produce, and good quality meats, and shop for the entire week.
Plan for mostly plants, and include as many organic, pasture raised meats as you can for protein. (Remember, you are eating what your animal proteins are eating, too).
When you get home, as you put groceries away, try to prep for meals as much as you can, making salads ahead of time, prepping roasts, grilling chicken and steak.
Then, plan for 10 minutes to bring it all together each night.
Healthy, Filling Snacks
Minimize your junk food.
Of course no one is perfect, and you have to allow yourself to indulge on occasion.
But teach yourself and your family to eat healthy snacks like string cheese, nuts and seeds, an apple with peanut butter, veggies and hummus.
Make sure your snacks have one protein and one fat at least, and try to get some fiber in there as well.
Aim for a Salad Every Day
Salads are filling and full of the plant based nutrients you need for longevity and energy.
Aiming for a big salad as one meal a day is a true method for health success.
Eat Healthy Fast Food
And when you do decide to go out to eat, make sure the place you eat cares as much about your health as you do.
Fortunately, a food revolution is taking place in the US, and we can now find healthier options for just about any food.
Look for plant based shops with healthy proteins and fibers.
Still Cheap. Still Easy.
Many Americans argue that they eat the junk fast food because it is cheaper and easier than cooking for yourself or buying whole, organic foods.
But the reality is far from that belief.
In fact, if you make a list and watch your shopping, you can actually come out ahead when you cook for yourself and your family.
And to this savings the bottom line savings of medicine and doctor and hospital bills you will get down the road if you don’t take care of yourself today.
You’ve heard the expression, “if you think eating healthy is expensive, wait until you see how expensive it is to be sick.”
Think of time on the job lost, money for pharmaceuticals.
And none of this even mentions what it feels like to be sick, especially chronically ill, which is what much of our poor food choices result in today, long term, ongoing pain that seems unrelenting.
It’s just not worth it to save a little time, and maybe some money by eating bad food.
Come to Agua Fresh Today
Agua Fresh is redefining fast food.
We make fresh, from scratch meals in house, fast, and affordable rates.
If you cannot make a meal for yourself and your family, come to us.
We will make sure you eat as well as you would at home.
And that you leave our store happy, healthy, and energized.
Come in today!