As a nutritionist, many people assume I eat only salads, kale, and goji berries.

Occasionally, I run into my clients at the grocery store and am met with curious eyes peering into my grocery cart: “What does a nutritionist eat?”

While I love me a tasty, colorful, and seasonal salad for sure (pictured above), just the other night, I ate pizza 🍕.

Our eating does not have to be “perfect” for us to be healthy.

How we think and feel about what we eat is every bit (or more) as important as the the ingredients on our plates.

And, while I love many of the trendiest health food products on the market, very few are imperative for you to be healthy.

Your health is not about green juice or roasted celeriac.

I say this because I want you to know that wherever you are, and whatever resources, health foods, time, and money you have available to you, you can improve your health –– even if you live in a food desert.

When we focus on befriending our biochemistry — balancing our blood sugar, feeding our metabolisms all the macronutrients we need, and (if needed) learning our food allergies — we can make informed choices that will foretell how we will feel over the coming hours, and even days.

We can eat to feel how we want to feel.

Two weeks ago, after a beautiful mountain hike, Jason and I went to a little tavern in Red Feather CO, near our cabin, and shared the most heavenly jalapeño mac and cheese.

It wasn’t gluten free, nor dairy free. I am not allergic to either, so occasionally I eat them.

When we are stressed about our eating, or consumed with eating “perfectly”, we overlook our primal love affair with pleasure and the complexity of how food plays into our physical and emotional satiation.

I love how healthy food tastes, but occasionally I make a different kind of choice.

When I decide to indulge, I have learned to pause and decide with my whole self––no shame, just pleasure.

To that end, eat well and be kind to your beautiful self!