361 How This Woman Gave Up Processed Food for a Year—On a $16,780 Salary

Cutting Fresh Vegetable On Vintage Garden Table

Cutting Fresh Vegetable On Vintage Garden Table

We all know it’s healthier to “eat clean”—but convenient packaged foods, and weird ingredients seem to lurk everywhere. Just ask Megan Kimble. The Tucson-based food writer spent an entire year avoiding all processed foods, a daunting challenge she chronicles in her new book, Unprocessed ($16,amazon.com).

As a busy grad student living on an annual salary of $16,780, Kimble discovered creative and affordable ways to trade packaged staples for a real-food diet. It wasn’t easy, she told Health: “But I found that once I got going and formed new habits and figured out favorite meals, it became automatic.” That said, she doesn’t recommend going cold turkey. “Start small,” she said. “Try unprocessing one kind of food, see how it feels, and take it from there.”

I – Word Understanding
lurk – stay hidden
go cold turkey – to suddenly stop (a bad habit) completely

II – Have Your Say
1. Clean eating is not a diet fad, it is a happy and healthy lifestyle. How do you keep a healthy lifestyle?
2. Here are 8 best tips for clean eating, recommended by Ms. Kimble:
a. Read the label on everything you buy
b. Pick up single-ingredient foods
c. Create versions of your favorite unprocessed treats
d. Seek out brands you trust
e. Join a CSA
f. Prepare food in bulk
g. When traveling, plan ahead
h. Make deliberate exceptions

361 How This Woman Gave Up Processed Food for a Year—On a $16,780 Salary