Welcome back! I’m thrilled that you stopped by today. I’m taking an online nutrition course and my instructor starts each session with a very friendly “Welcome back.” I think it stuck……..at least for a while. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to all of the excuses I used for not switching to eating a real food lifestyle. I was the queen of processed foods! I even tried to tell my mother that instant mashed potatoes tasted better than real mashed potatoes. I obviously lost that argument and plenty more just like it.
One of my excuses was that “I was confused.”
Confused? What was there to be confused about? Oh plenty. I was so into processed food that I didn’t know what was processed and what was real. I mean really……..isn’t it all just real food at the grocery store? Oh, silly girl……………I had a lot to learn. I still do. I let that stop me for years and years. During that time……….I got sick, my family gained weight, and we forgot what it means to cook a meal. My illness forced the issue. When you have severe digestive problems and it starts to ruin your life……….without a doubt it is time to start looking at what you are eating. That is the fork in the road that I found myself in.
I was scared and confused because I didn’t know where to start. I googled and researched and studied. Learning about food became an obsession for me. (It kind of still is.) What I was studying was about how to heal my body with food. I did not study about cooking skills. I came to the real food world with very basic cooking skills. The skills my mother taught me as a child. The skills that I had ignored while waiting to place my order at the brightly lit sign. Dinner was a speaker discussion. Nothing more. I didn’t let that stop me.
The whole time I was studying, I still had to feed my family. I didn’t know about sprouted grains, kefir, or green smoothies. I had never heard of quinoa or GMOs. I did know apples. I had to start as basic as basic is possible. My husband was a huge help here. We worked together at the time and he would always run out and buy us lunch. When we decided together that we had to make a change for our family, he went out to the grocery store and came back with foods to make a sandwich. I shudder to think that we didn’t eat whole grains that day. LOL! He brought back Italian bread from the bakery, cheese and turkey. I gobbled up that less than perfect real food and knew that was the start of real change. We were no longer going to use confusion as an excuse and that one simple change allowed me to feel better right away. Not perfect, but definitely better.
I encourage you today to make a decision to eat real food and then do something about it. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Make a sandwich. Cook a dinner. I don’t even care if you use cream of mushroom soup……….just cook something at home. (I will likely be kicked out of the real food community for that one.) Whatever you cook at home will be better than what you get if you go to that drive-through. The rest will come in time. I promise never to judge you as we go through this real food journey together. Come back here to visit often and the confusion will slowly fade away as you swap out the Italian bread for whole grain and learn to make your own cream of mushroom soup like my friend Janine from My Lamp is Full does. Take a look at her recipe if you want to start with that swap.
Are you ready to commit to changing to a real food lifestyle? Where are you going to start? If you have been doing this for a while……….where did you start? What is one easy real food switch you would recommend to others?
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We are eating less and less processed food these days. I don't see us entirely giving it up but the kids do know the difference between real food and processed. I ran into a doctor friend of mine who eats this way, poring over the chips section and I laughed, because I know she doesn't eat that stuff. She explained that her son had a friend coming over and she wanted to have something on hand just in case. I of course had pop tarts (yes I know) in my cart…my youngest loves them and I only buy them once in a blue moon, and I told her my story there. She said you know what, as long as the kids know the difference, that's the most important thing. And of course you don't want to be eating that way on a regular basis. But it was nice to know she wasn't judging me, because we really don't eat that kind of stuff. My daughter especially is becoming more and more conscious. I need to check back in here more often!
Michelle……I'm a big believer that small changes can make big improvements in our health. You eat healthy most of the time. If you stray from that once in a while, it won't be the end of the world. We had to make such a drastic change in our family that people really notice the difference. I laugh because people love to catch us when we eat like they do. Oh……..you are going out for a steak dinner are you? Oh……what will your readers think? We're human. We do the best we can to make sure processed food rarely enters our house. For parties……I buy the best junk food I can find and supplement it with lots of fruits and veggies and homemade dips. Small changes = Big changes.
With so much information out there today people are truly confused so they go back to what they know and what is comfortable. Change is difficult. I wrote a series of four posts about how to get going on healthy food. The first in the series goes right along with what you are saying. You can read it here http://www.lifelesshurried.com/2014/01/junk-out-good-food-in-part-1-begining.html
It is about getting started today, and the rest will come in time. You cannot just jump right in over your head. It scared the family and they will not be on board with you. Often I find people who jump all in and the family just wonders how long this phase mom is going through will last. Doing it slowly and making changes that are sustainable for life is really key to the whole thing. It is a process of learning to live and love your body.
I agree completely! We had family meetings and discussed why we were making the chages. I then showed my family labels and they soon began to understand what I was talking about. They didn't always like it, but they understood. Right away I started converting their favorite recipes so they would be comfortable with what I put on the table. I'll have to share your post with everyone. Small changes soon begin to snowball and then you have a healthy new lifestyle. Great advice!
I started with buying fresh fruits and vegetables and going from there. After that I stopped buying pre-prepared foods. I agree that there is so much information out there about where to start. Baby steps is the best way to start.
Fruits and vegetables is a great place to start Nicky. That puts the focus on eating great flavors and putting fantastic color on the table. My daughter was thrilled when I started keeping strawberries in the house. Trips to the farmer's market soon became special family time.
I really think one of the biggest problems is people don't realize how bad a lot of the food out there is. Like you said, you claimed to like the instant mashed potatoes best… and part of that might have been the convenience, but would you have even thought that if you'd had an idea what was in them?
Like you, I started doing tons of research once I started getting into real food and I was blown away… education really is key, and hopefully learning about what we eat manages to become more mainstream over time.
You make a great point Kevin! A little education goes a long ways as you and I have found out. I never want to preach to folks. I feel so strongly that if people have the information that I have that they will come to the same conclusions as I have………maybe not exactly the same conclusions, but close……….and that is fine with me. Education is key!
If they understand how bad something is and still eat it, at least their making an educated decision. And it's not like we can't "cheat", but it drives me nuts how much healthier we could be as a society if our eating was more balanced… oh well, preaching to the choir here I guess :P.
What always bothers me is that there were times in my life that I was trying to eat healthier………like buying a salad at a restaurant………..to only find out years later that I was probably better off with the hamburger because of all the horrible ingredients in the salad. It is very frustrating for so many folks who are trying to eat the right things, but don't have the information to make an informed decision. So…………I write on…………….
This is very encouraging. No matter where we are on our real food journeys, we can always take one more small step toward real food, and then another.
Thank you for saying that Gaye. One more small step makes us all healthier. That's how my family has made this transition. Each time we shop, we still check out a few new labels. Always learning. Always trying to eat healthier. One step at a time.
I think the thought of just dumping everything in your pantry and going to Sprouts to buy kefir and quinoa is just so intimidating and sounds awful. 🙂 For my family, I just focus on cooking our meals at home instead of hitting the drive-thrus. The first big change I made was switching to butter (I just grew up with margarine, so that's what I bought when I was married) but that was more for the taste and the fact that cooking with it is SO MUCH BETTER! 🙂 I now try to skip the inside aisles of the grocery store and never buy side dishes like rice and pasta from a box. It only takes a little more effort to make those things fresh and it tastes so much better! But sugar and the occasional desserts- I don't think we will ever completely say good-bye to those 🙂
Great post and very encouraging. Starting small is still starting in the right direction and that is all that matters 🙂
You are so right Victoria! Everyone has to start somewhere and even eating a little healthier is better than the alternative for our bodies.
G'day! Enjoyed your post today…glad it was not missed!
Cheers! Joanne
Thank you for your kind words Joanne. They are truly appreciated!
Fantastic Post! Thanks for clearing some things up! I was confused too! Awesome! (Thanks for co-hosting on the Get Real Friday Link party also!)
I'm glad you found this to be helpful Laurie. There is plenty more helpful advice here if you would like to take a look around.
I really like your post! I want our family to eat less processed food, but it is hard to make the transition all at once. I'll take your advice and start small and build from there. Thanks for co-hosting the Get Real Friday link party!
Small changed can make a big difference in your overall health. Good luck with your family's transition. I'll be here to help all along the way.
I follow the 80/20 principle that so many health guru's tend to follow. I try to cook from scratch 80% or more of the time. Which is not too hard for me, but I have days when I just don't want to cook and I didn't prep anything ahead of time. For those days, I keep canned soups on hand, some whole grain pasta, and other random things. This works for me with our lifestyle right now. I think once the husband is done with clinical's and graduates we can focus on a lot more home cooked meals because he can help!
80% is a great goal Chrystal. That is my family's goal as well. We are probably closer to 90%, but that isn't always the case. It amazed me how many times in our lives that our food choices are not our own. Parties, weddings, family gathering, pot luck dinners, church picnics…….the list goes on an on. We have found some good jar sauce without added sugar that we go to on a regular basis. Add whole wheat pasta and it's quick, easy, and good for you.