In my last post, I talked about the importance of just STARTING. I really wanted to hammer home that point with an example from my own life. Whenever we start something new, it’s just that a “start“. But it doesn’t have to be, and almost certainly never is, the finished product. There is always going to be improvements that need to be made, and you will never feel like you are ready. But when build on that start, that’s where true progress starts to get made! This can especially be true when trying to improve upon the middle class diet.
The Typical Middle Class Diet
I grew up on a lot of home cooked meals. But the things we ate tended to be well, what pretty much every middle class American ate during the 90s and 2000’s. Which were a lot of processed foods and things that certainly seemed healthy(ish) at the time.
Our typical family dinner was a steady rotation of:
- Hamburger helper
- Tuna noodle casserole
- Breakfast for dinner
- A pasta dish
- Shake n Bake Porkchops/Chicken
Childhood Lunches and Snacks
For lunch, it was a mix of school lunches, which was almost always pizza and fries. If I got a bagged lunch it was always a deli meat sandwich with chips and maybe some sort of snack like Gushers or my personal favorite as a kid, Dunkaroos! Lunchables were huge back then, but only the rich kids got those! On the weekends and summer, it was leftovers from the night before. Or something frozen and easy from the fridge:
- Hotpockets
- Fish sticks
- Grilled cheese
- Pizza Bites
Quick Breakfasts
Breakfast was usually something quick and easy as we were running out the door for school:
- Pop Tarts and later the much improved Pop Tart aka the Toaster Strudel
- Cereal
- Donuts/Muffins
My start to eating “healthy”
College Eating Habits
Many of those middle class diet staples came with me to college. For the first few years it was eating in the dining halls. But when I got my first apartment off campus and had the opportunity to get groceries for the first time, I did what most kids do. I bought the exact same things I grew up on! I still remember that first grocery trip, my roommate and I loaded up on Hamburger Helper, pasta and Shake n Bake! Like most college kids, my diet consisted of a healthy dose of fast food as well.
Realizing the Need for Change
It was somewhere towards the end of my college career when I started to realize that Subway and Taco Bell, along with the weekly garbage plate (I bet only a few people in the country even know what this is!) probably weren’t the best food choices for long term success. Sure they were easy and cheap, but I figured there had to be a better way.
That’s when I set out to start eating “healthy”. And I put that word into quotes because as you will soon see, when I first started, my meal was not really healthy at all! I had some ideas of healthy things and figured I could also save money by cooking it myself. So off to the store I went…
The Concoction is born
I figured the EASIEST thing to do was to make my own version of a chicken bake. Throw everything into 1 pan to bake and call it a meal. What can get easier than that! I figured if I made a large enough batch I could make several meals all at once too! So you can see, even though I didn’t quite know what I was doing, my ideas were correct. I had the first making of my meal prep journey.
What Went in the First Concoction
I bought all the things I thought were healthy at the time. Cooked the pasta, and then threw everything in a pan and made a pretty delicious meal, especially when you throw a little hot sauce on top. When people asked me what I ate, I just told them it was a “concoction” I made up:
- Chicken breast
- White Pasta
- Russet Potatoes
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Bread Crumbs
- Frozen Mixed Vegetables
- Seasonings (No clue what I used, but probably salt and pepper as I didn’t really know the benefits of anything else yet)
Why It Was a Step Forward
And honestly, that’s really not a bad start. I think one can certainly make the argument that everything above is better than fast food. But you should be able to see that pasta and potatoes don’t provide much nutritional value and there are better options out there. Cream of broccoli soup is loaded with sodium and almost none of the good things. Shredded cheese is highly processed with tons of saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol. Even the bread crumbs, just more sodium with not much else that’s beneficial.
It was a “start” not an “end”
It’s safe to say I’m eating much healthier now, but none of my habits today would be possible if I didn’t just start back then. I could have easily said
Well I have no idea how to cook, or how to eat healthy, so ill just keep eating fast food, Hamburger Helper and Pop Tarts for every meal
But by starting, I was able to improve. As the years went by, I made countless tweaks and my Concoction got healthier. I took out the cheese, I replaced the white pasta with wheat pasta. I experimented with different veggies. Started adding beneficial seasonings such as turmeric and cumin. Eventually got rid of the pasta and potatoes for quinoa and beans. Today I make a few versions of my Concoction with much healthier ingredients now and both are even easier, cheaper and tastier than before! My “end” absolutely looks so much different than my “start”.
Lessons Learned from Starting Small
But more importantly I learned along the way. I wasn’t just eating extremely healthy 1 day out of the blue and was all of a sudden the healthiest eater on the planet. It took time. It took patience. It took me starting.
So my message is simple, just start. Whatever it is that you have been waiting on. Trying to find the perfect moment, just start. It doesn’t have to be your finished product. It doesn’t have to be the “end”. You are never going to be the best at it day 1, its going to take time. You might fail along the way, and that’s ok. Each day is a new day where you can learn from previous mistakes and improve. But one thing is for certain, you will NEVER be the best if you don’t start.
Final Thoughts
Starting small is the most powerful step you can take toward transforming your middle-class diet, or any habit, really. My journey began with imperfect meals and a lot of guesswork, but each small change built momentum. It wasn’t about being perfect from day one; it was about being willing to start, learn, and improve over time.
If you’re feeling stuck or unsure where to begin with healthier eating, remember: progress doesn’t come from waiting for the perfect recipe or the ideal moment. It comes from simply starting. From there, you can tweak, experiment, and grow into a sustainable lifestyle that fits your life and goals.
Your “start” might look messy or incomplete now, but it’s the foundation of lasting change. So go ahead, take that first step and just START!
Tell me in the comments below, what’s your biggest challenge when trying to eat healthier?
