Good health Good sleep

People laugh when they see some of the things I eat every day. They think I must really love oatmeal, broccoli, garlic, and plain dark chocolate.

Truth is, I usually eat most of these foods for one reason: good health, not because they’re my favorite foods.

Every day I have my coffee, drink a lot of spring water, eat at least 150 grams of protein, take collagen peptides and creatine, have an ounce of unsweetened dark chocolate, broccoli, oatmeal, an apple, turmeric with black pepper, garlic, walnuts, and extra virgin olive oil. A couple of times a week I add fish, too.

Now don’t get me wrong. If I was eating strictly for pleasure every day, there would probably be a cheesesteak, a pizza, a big bowl of pasta, and a half-gallon of ice cream somewhere on the menu. And every once in a while, I do have a cheat day and enjoy some of that stuff. Life is meant to be lived, after all. I just don’t eat that way every day anymore.

But something funny happens when you eat healthy foods consistently. Your body starts to expect them. In many cases, it actually starts to crave them. Studies have shown that our taste preferences can change over time. Foods that once seemed bland or even unpleasant can become foods we genuinely enjoy and look forward to eating.

I know that’s happened to me.

Years ago, I never would have thought I’d be looking forward to a bowl of oatmeal or reaching for broccoli without complaining. Today, it feels normal. In fact, if I don’t have some of these foods around, I miss them.

I think we sometimes make healthy eating harder than it needs to be. We act like if we don’t love a food on the first try, we’ll never eat it. That’s just not true. The body adapts. The taste buds adapt. Habits become preferences.

I’ve learned something over the years: don’t let your current tastes determine your future health.

Sometimes you eat the right foods because you know they’re good for you. Then one day, without even realizing it, they become the foods you actually enjoy.

So call me strange if you want. I’ll keep eating my broccoli, my oatmeal, my walnuts, and my dark chocolate, and drinking my spring water.

At my age, I’ve learned that food isn’t just entertainment. It’s also fuel, medicine, and one of the investments we make in our future health.

And if my body has learned to love these foods along the way, that’s just an added bonus.

None of us can control our genetics, but we can control what we put on the end of our fork every day.