Saucha and how we fuel our bodies

Hello again! I’m glad you came back. In the last post, I talked about Saucha as it relates to our impact on the world. I shared a lot about my own efforts to live a bit more sustainably. In this post, I’d like to talk more about Saucha and the physical body.

I mentioned earlier about growing up in an era of disposable convenience. I also grew up in a time where many mothers were going to work and needing to find ways to still get a meal on the table for their families.

My mom went to work when I was about five years old. Prior to that time, she made breakfast for all seven of us every morning. She made lunch every afternoon, and dinner – a full meat and potatoes dinner was on the table every night shortly after Dad got home from work. When Mom went to work, things changed. She worked in the afternoon, so got home very late. It was hard for her to get up early and cook that big pot of oatmeal. This was about the time that boxed cereals became very popular. These breakfast foods “saved the day” for many working mothers.

Millions of kids grew up eating boxed breakfast cereal. I was a working mom, and also relied on boxed cereals. My kids are part of what I call, “the cereal generation.” They would eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack. It was their comfort food.

I’ve discovered that my own body does not do well with packaged foods. These things have their place, and for those who enjoy them, they can be fine. I also enjoy them in small amounts from time to time. For me, though, most things that come in a box or bag and have a long list of ingredients, aren’t fine. I might get a stomach ache or have indigestion. It can even affect my upper respiratory health, and cause headaches. Maybe it’s the preservatives, or the artificial flavors or colors, or maybe it’s all of that. I just know that I end up not feeling my best.

I think for my body, these foods create “gunk”. When the gunk build up, my body needs to clear it out, and sometimes it has to work hard to do that. So for me, part of practicing Saucha in my daily life is making sure that most of what I eat is made up of a nutritious, balanced diet, with foods as whole as possible. I choose old fashioned oats instead of the quick-cooking variety. I choose fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned. I pay attention to the ingredient list on the bread I choose, or when I can, I bake it at home – something I picked up in the early days of the pandemic.

My husband is retired and does most of the cooking these days. I’m fortunate that he is also concerned with ensuring that what we eat is good quality nutritious food. I do still cook some, mainly on the weekends. We both enjoy finding a recipe that we really like and making big batches that can be frozen for meals when we have less time. This is also great for taking advantage of savings from buying in bulk or stocking up on fresh items when the price is good.

I’m glad you are here! In the final post on Saucha, I’ll talk about Saucha as it relates to our thoughts.