Weekly Challenge #10 - Limit Ingredients - Juggling Real Food and Real Life

Limit Ingredients to 5

This week’s challenge is an attempt to remove all of the extra ingredients in your diet that you don’t really need. It really is hard to think of a meal as being “good enough” when you use whole ingredients. Kind of crazy, huh? For some reason, I felt like I had to apologize for putting carrots on the table to munch on because I was out of chips. What? Clearly the carrots are a better choice, but it seemed like I wasn’t trying hard enough if I didn’t have all of the latest trendy snacks for my family.

The food marketers had me convinced that my family would not be happy unless the food came from a package with cartoon characters or some other fancy packaging. I was searching the store for more and more foods with artificial colors because the commercials my children watched told me how happy my kids would be if they ate these foods. I was eating low-fat, reduced fat, and lite foods and still gaining weight. I believed all the health claims on the front of the packages. That is until my eyes were opened…………

I found the 100 Days of Real Food blog and didn’t stop reading until I had read everything. The challenge this week is in honor of the site’s 5 ingredient rule. The rule is to avoid all packaged foods with more than 5 ingredients. No matter what the ingredients are. People question Lisa (the blog author) why she chose 5 ingredients. She always says something to the effect of, we had to pick a number. We picked 5. I love it! Does it matter if you eat 5 or 6 or 7 ingredients? Not really, but you have to pick a number and stick pretty close to it.

Why limit the number of ingredients? Processed food is full of all kinds of ingredients that are harmful and just not needed. Do you need corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and sugar all in one food? Are you really a fan of MSG? I know …………. you are a big fan of cheap chemical concoctions that mimic real food flavors, right? The reason we eat this stuff is because we are under the spell of food marketers. They have convinced us that boiling pasta is quicker when it comes from a Hamburger Helper box than it is when it is boiled whole wheat pasta tossed with simple ingredients. It simply isn’t true, but I bought into it.

The challenge this week is to break the spell of food marketers and really look at those ingredient labels. Choose packaged products that have 5 ingredients or less. Start to convert your highly processed staples to more simple ingredients. You will likely start to wonder why you haven’t been eating like this all along. You will discover a whole new world of much more delicious food. Artificial ingredients really don’t taste good. They just don’t.

I’ll also give you another heads-up. Real Food is much more filling than artificial ingredients. Don’t be surprised when you don’t want to eat as much. Make sure you follow those body clues and when you are full, stop eating. I’ve also found that Real Food keeps me full longer. When I dropped the artificial ingredients from my diet, I got rid of my energy roller coaster. I now have more sustained energy all day.

OK…………..so now it is your turn. Get out there and discover all of the 5 ingredient or less foods that are available to you at your local market. Start planning more simple meals. Let me know what you find that you like. I would also love to hear what surprised you the most. Did you find a food that was full of items that surprised you? Did you find a packaged food that only had 3 ingredients? I can’t wait to hear it all. Leave me a comment below and let me know.Don’t forget you can join us on Facebook for more fun and support along the way. You can also follow us on Twitter @Jugglngrealfood if you are interested in learning more about the Real Food Movement. You can also follow our boards on Pinterest.

Comments

Blush and Barbells says

March 11, 2013 at 8:42 pm

I try to limit processed food, but I'm not great at it. Meat substitutes and protein shakes are staples and they're straight from a factory.

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  March 14, 2013 at 2:19 pm
  
  It is hard to break old habits. You may want to consider adding more Real Food gradually. I bet you will find that you are more satisfied, can fit it into your schedule and actually feel a bit better. I would love to hear if you make the change.
  
Kristen Mae says

March 12, 2013 at 2:16 am

I love this. As usual. TOTALLY WITH YOU about not being as hungry when eating real foods! That came as a huge shocker to me! I have lost weight in the three-or-so weeks I've gone all-whole-foods all the time… and I swear I get so freakin full every time I eat and I have ZERO desire to snack between meals. I feel I have discovered the HOLY-FREAKIN-GRAIL! My absolute favorite food right now, and if it weren't so damn calorific I would nosh on it like an apple? Avocado. YUMMMMM.

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  March 14, 2013 at 2:27 pm
  
  Isn't it great to finally be full, Kristen?! I was always looking for something to eat before I discovered Real Food because I was always hungry. I feel like I am eating so much better and still losing weight. Bonus! I am obsessing over avocados also. I love them mashed with lemon juice and sea salt. I make it for burritos but eat it straight up too.
  
Erin @ The Grass Skirt says

March 12, 2013 at 12:15 pm

This is an excellent post! You're doing your family such a service by looking out for their health and teaching your children to eat real food. Thank you again for visiting my blog yesterday! 🙂

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  March 14, 2013 at 2:14 pm
  
  Thanks for stopping by Erin. I hope you come back often. I'll be over to visit your blog often as well.