Oh man, when did holistic health advertising get taken over by former car salesmen? Puulease. I’m here to break the news that you will still have issues after starting to pay attention to that which you may have been avoiding (and at first, those problems may suddenly seem ten-fold).

They do not magically disappear. And you will never, EVER reach perfect health. Because guess what? It’s an enigma.

I’m trying to save you a lot of pain and heartache here, because I long believed there was some pie in the sky that I would eventually obtain by living to the supposed holistic-T, and instead I got smacked around with a little reality.

Alright, so there is no possible way that you are ever giving up your double-shot non-fat mocha latte, no whip, unless of course ALL the Starbucks go out of business. You’ll eat more greens as long as you can have some Burger King fries every once in a while. You understand that maybe Snickers is not the best snack in the world, but you still need chocolate (duh). And since they actually ended up making a Sex and the City movie, those chilled pink-drinks found their way back into your heart. Welcome to a little area I like to call Damage Control. The secret to good health is not eating perfectly all of the time.

Staying healthy while exploring the ends of earth can actually be an exciting part of the travel experience, if you are into food (and really, who isn’t?). I know and understand well the desire to try every bit of what a new culture affords, and food plays a major part in coming to understand unfamiliar territory. But sometimes, going a bit overboard on chowing down can hinder other parts of your travels (like getting up that mountainside quickly…or at all). You should see pictures of me after I studied abroad in Italy as an undergrad, eating fresh pasta, cheese, and bread each night, and drinking Chianti at least 9 hours out of the day. Not pretty.