A Food Revelation

The other day I was having my usual afternoon snack, when I all of a sudden had a food revelation. The first thing you need to know is that my snack was an apple. Now, over the past few years I have done extensive research on diet and nutrition and in almost every article, book, blog post, etc that I have read, apples are noted as being one of the best fruits to eat. There is a reason we have that saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away. So in understanding the nutritional benefits of an apple, I made a conscious decision to incorporate them more into my diet.


Now I’m sure you’re all thinking, why does this even matter? Or even more so, what does this have to do with this BIG revelation I had? Well, I will tell you. Better yet, I will share with you the exact thought process that brought me to said revelation. I was eating my apple and initially my thoughts were purely about how much I enjoyed the apple I was snacking on. Then I started thinking about the kind of apple I was eating…it was a gala apple. Ok great, what does that matter? Well this is where the light bulb went off. See when I was a kid I was never a big fan of apples. So as I was eating this gala apple I started wondering why I didn’t enjoy apples more growing up. Then it hit me! When I was a kid my mom used to buy red delicious apples. Now, I know many people enjoy the red delicious variety, but personally the skin is too waxy and the actual fruit is not especially sweet or juicy. So no wonder I didn’t like apples as a kid! The red delicious ones just didn’t (and still don’t) suit my palette.

Gala Apple ~ Delicious!

But the real revelation is not about apples, but it’s more so about the fact that as I have gotten older and started food shopping for myself, it has opened my mind and palette to things that I might have not experienced or enjoyed before, since I was not the one in control of what I bought, and therefore what I ate. I mean think about it, if my mom food shopped for me my entire life I may have never branched out and tried other types of apples. I may have lived a life where apples were only enjoyable when baked into a pie or candy/chocolate coated. I may have never really understood the beauty and deliciousness that an apple has in its natural state. And for this, my ability to do and enjoy my own food shopping, I not only embrace my sense of independence but I embrace my food freedom.