The Perfect Diet Doesn't Exist
By Irene Koch
When I first started college, I found myself deluged with an immense amount of freedom. Whether I wanted to stay up until three a.m. watching documentaries or add a few new piercings to my collection (sorry Mom!), an infinite number of decisions about my daily life were suddenly mine to make. Within a few months of freshman year, the most overwhelming decisions for me centered around food.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where my parents cooked often, and they made sure to fill our plates with plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean meats. I didn’t have to make daily decisions about what to eat for dinner or what to put in my grocery cart for most of my life. Come my first year of college, I was so overwhelmed with the huge transition to college life that I didn’t think about what I was putting into my body. I put my brain on autopilot like I had done the first eighteen years of my life, and I let the Conn chicken nuggets and fries do the rest.
When I went home for Christmas break and stepped on a scale for the first time since August, I realized two things: a) the freshman 15 was real and b) I couldn’t put my brain on autopilot anymore. While my first semester may have been lackadaisical, my second semester was obsessive. I was late to class racing to dining centers on the other side of campus because they had a meal that was fewer calories. I reined in my signature sweet tooth, and I found myself getting the same “healthy” options repeatedly for that reason alone.
Several months later, I was running late for work and rummaging through my kitchen at home in search of a quick breakfast. In the back of the freezer, I found a box of the Eggo waffles I used to eat before school as a kid. When I reluctantly realized that was my only option, I popped one in the toaster, buttered and dressed it like I used to do, and took a bite. The amazing taste of butter, cinnamon-sugar, and processed filth filled my mouth, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a meal that tasted so good. Not something I begrudgingly ate all the time because it was healthier, but something I enjoyed without feeling guilty over because wow, sometimes the only thing that will make life better at the moment is an Eggo waffle.
Now, I can’t really say I follow any sort of structured diet. No, I don’t eat Eggo waffles every day because honestly, I think my body would feel gross if I did. I also don’t eat salads and smoothies every day because honestly, I think my mental state would deteriorate if I did. Ultimately, no matter what food or diet I eat, it won’t be perfect. Whether it’s lacking in vitamins or excessive in carbs or too processed or just plain unappetizing, there’s no way to get it completely right. I only can do the best I can to strike an okay-ish balance in my diet and remind myself that my body knows how to respond if I eat like garbage for a day or even a week. As important as it is to fill your body with healthy foods, it’s just as important to avoid running yourself into the ground doing it and actually enjoy the food you eat.
