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Kathy Smith on simple living

Today’s busy lifestyles keep us running at top speed. People talk about simplifying their lives but often find change difficult and end up going with the flow and doing what they’ve always done. Kathy Smith knows from firsthand experience that simplicity is a series of small decisions that have many long-term benefits.

“Not everybody can take an hour of their time and drive to the gym, but everybody can go for walk, so that’s a simple way of incorporating a better life choice,” she explains. “I try to make healthy living as simple as I can so it’s actually something easy I can do.”

We always think of simplicity in terms of something quick, like instead of making breakfast at home, grabbing something from a fast food restaurant on the way to work. But we also need to be mindful of what we define as simple because every action taken today has consequences tomorrow. What can appear simple up front can make things very complex later on. In this instance, the fast food choice is the easy choice but it’s not the simple (best) choice. There’s a difference.

When you think about it, everybody can cook their own food at home and take it to work. So every week I make a big pot of a soup. I have a cooking day where I’m stocking the fridge for the week. So when we come home we’re not asking, ‘Okay, where’s the next bag of chips?’ we’re looking for something that’s really healthy and going to feed us not just fill us up.

I still have cookies around, but I always have dried fruit and nuts in a jar so when you’re coming in and you’re hungry, you can start munching on something that’s a whole food. I don’t always have time to make cookies, but I always have time to get some dried fruit or some nuts.

So eating a simple, nutrient dense diet can seem like its going to be a lot of work, but with a little planning, doesn’t have to be that much work. And it’s going to pay off in the long run.”

Simple healthy living is one of the six core values we’ve built our company around.
Learn more about the other five here.