Whole Foods, Whole You: A Simple Start to Eating Clean after Fifty

When I first started figuring out what healthy eating really meant, I had a gut-punch realization:

I’d been what you might call a skinny-fat person someone who looked fine on the outside, but whose body was quietly screaming for help on the inside.

For most of my adult life, I followed the old-school advice:

• Eat low-fat everything

• Count calories

• Avoid meat and oils

• Choose “light” snacks and fat-free yogurt

• Replace real food with bars, shakes, and cereal

I thought I was doing everything right. But I was running on fumes always hungry, always craving sugar, always trying to “be good” while my energy, skin, mood, and hormones were slowly unraveling.

Then came my 50s. And with them… the wall.

Weight gain. Exhaustion. Bloating. Brain fog. Anxiety. And the deep knowing that this wasn’t just aging this was imbalance.

That’s when I started to look deeper. And what I found shocked me:
Most of the foods I thought were “healthy” were actually ultra-processed junk in disguise.

This blog is meant to be serious, but I threw in a few fun stories so keep reading.

Many of the foods we’ve been eating for decades those easy, convenient, packaged options aren’t actually food anymore. They're ultra-processed products, carefully engineered in factories to taste good, last long, and keep you coming back for more.

But here’s the truth no one told us: they’re making us tired, inflamed, and unwell.

Ultra-processed foods are everywhere. They’ve crept into our pantries, our routines, even our sense of comfort. But behind the pretty packaging and health claims, here’s what they often contain:

• Artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners

• Preservatives to stretch shelf life

• Cheap added sugars, unhealthy fats, and excess sodium

• Refined grains stripped of nutrients

• Ingredients you’d never cook with at home maltodextrin, soy protein isolate, "natural flavors," and more

And for women over 50? These foods can hit harder.
They mess with hormones. They increase inflammation. They steal energy. They may even worsen weight gain, hot flashes, mood swings, or joint pain.

When my youngest daughter was in fifth grade, life was a blur three kids in three different schools, and I was just trying to survive the mornings. So, I did what a lot of busy moms do: I filled her lunchbox with snack packs and ready-made grocery store items. Anything to keep it simple.

Looking back, I cringe a little. (Let’s just say she might’ve been better off with the school cafeteria food.) But it gets worse and funnier.

That summer, she left her lunchbox at school by accident. We didn’t even realize it until the next school year started. When she went back to visit her old fifth-grade teacher, guess what? He had saved the lunchbox for her.

We laughed, of course. She had a new one for sixth grade, no big deal… until she opened the old one.

Inside was a slice of lemon loaf, still in a plastic bag.

Perfectly preserved. Not a speck of mold. No smell. It looked exactly the same as it had months earlier.

I was stunned. How could something meant to be food show zero signs of decay after an entire summer in a sealed box? That was my turning point. We started reading labels. Making small changes. Adding real food back in. Sixth grade lunches looked a lot different.

And hey maybe I wasn’t a “terrible mom.” Just a busy one doing her best. Once I knew better, I did better.

The other day, I stopped at a busy Circle K to use the restroom. It was packed like something was being given away for free. As I stood there, I paused and really looked around.

People were rushing to pour giant sodas, grabbing armfuls of packaged snacks, microwaving burritos, and watching hot dogs slowly roll under fluorescent lights on those metal rollers. The shelves were glowing with brightly colored boxes, flashy labels, and cartoon characters.

And all I could think was:
This isn’t food.

This is addiction packaged as convenience.

I don’t say that to judge because for a long time, I lived that way too. I craved the quick fix. I trusted the label. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

But standing there, I felt a deep sadness. Not just for the rows of ultra-processed products pretending to nourish but for how normal this has become. How disconnected we’ve become from real food, real nourishment, and even our own bodies.

We’ve been marketed to, manipulated, and misinformed. And it shows in our health, our energy, our moods, our confidence.

The truth is, most of us have relied on processed foods at some point out of habit, convenience, or even comfort. But as we step into this vibrant chapter of life after 50, it’s time to get intentional about what truly nourishes us.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to start noticing. One swap at a time. One label at a time. One decision at a time.

Because the more we choose real, whole foods that work with our bodies not against them the better we feel. More energy. Fewer cravings. A stronger sense of control.

You’re not giving something up you’re getting something back.
Vitality. Clarity. And a glow that can’t be packaged.