Almost two months ago, Chuck and I had a discussion about the food we eat. After a long talk, (and some persuading on his part) we have done an overhaul of the food we eat.
We knew this wouldn’t happen overnight, but we knew we could make some immediate changes. First, I watched Food, Inc. (you can find the video online, Netflix and some other video sites) as well as some other related shows. I also started reading the website 100 Days Of Real Food. I just wanted to learn. Turns out, I was interested, intrigued, a bit disgusted by what we normally eat and very ready to give it a try.
What we decided to do was eat A LOT more fruits and veggies, less meat and minimal processed food. So many meals were heavy on the carbs or came from a box. It’s so easy to just make some Hamburger Helper and hardly realize we ate almost all of it.
We started making meals with lots of veggies and minimal, if any, meats. We eat salmon maybe twice a week now…which is a big feat for me since 8 weeks ago I would barely eat fish at all! I make smoothies with many dinners which are filled with fruit and spinach, and willingly eat veggies with lunch. I am realizing it isn’t that hard to make better choices when I go out to eat.
We have made lots of new meals lately. Just the other day, Chuck said “what would you have said if I put this meal in front of you 7 weeks ago?” I told him I would have laughed at him and asked where my pasta was! And it’s true! I will be posting some of the meals and new foods we have been eating in the coming weeks.
I am one of those people that really needs something to motivate me. Yes, eating better, healthier and teaching better habits to my kids should be enough…but well, I’m weak. So if we completely fall off the wagon with this and go back to eating the way we were, we lose our smart phones. We get flip phones or the cheapest thing possible that just does phone calls. That might not seem like much, but I am addicted to my phone and this would be devastating! So, it seems like a great penalty!
Eating this way is a huge adjustment. There’s a lot more food prep that needs to be done (chopping lots of vegetables, longer cooking time…) and more frequent trips to the grocery store since we are buying mostly perishable foods. But my wonderful husband has taken on this task. Since I am still nursing Dannie and tending to her every need and keeping Maddie occupied, he does the shopping AND food prep AND cooking AND cleaning! He is amazing. I am looking forward to being able to help with this more, but I need the girls to not need me quite as much at dinner time. Which will happen before too long. So I am very thankful that Chuck has been able to do this.
And honestly, I think it is a great thing that he has been able to do that because he is mush more adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, so he has had us try a lot of things that I am not sure I would have tried if I were the one in charge of the meals.
We have both lost a lot of weight just by eating better and not snacking. We aren’t drinking soda anymore and drink a lot of water. Granted the soda we drank was usually diet, we have cut out a bunch of calories by making better food choices.
No, we aren’t perfect. And yes, we still have a toddler at home that eats goldfish crackers, chicken nuggets (I’m going to start making my own) and macaroni and cheese. But I give her the healthiest options of those that I can (whole grains, wheat, organic…). And I just provide her with healthier options. She may still choose to eat the most unhealthy thing on the plate, though and that is ok. And seeing us eat what we have given her is a huge deal for her. So many times I would give her vegetables and never eat any myself. Now this isn’t the case and it has made a difference.
Getting Maddie involved in helping with meals or smoothies has made her try new things. She loves to help or watch us cook. And for a kid that wouldn’t touch any vegetables and now asks for carrots at a meal, or who wouldn’t try anything new….to me, that means this is successful and we are doing something right.
Now I am sure you are thinking that this won’t last. Doing such a huge overhaul and not splurging now and again….well, we do splurge. And I have a LONG list of things I want to eat when I hit my goal weight. But honestly, I don’t have the desire to eat those foods like I did before. I struggle to find something I want to eat at McDonald’s. If I am going to eat something, I want it to be worth while. And most of the bad foods just don’t appeal to me like they used to. I would rather eat a huge amount of something good for me than a tiny bite of something horrible for me. Another thing that has helped me is to not order soda with a meal. Or leave out the fries. These are small things that make a big difference when eating out.
This is still a learning process. Some people may not agree with what we are doing and that is fine. I am still getting used to the concept. But for us, it was the right thing to do. And we are happier and healthier for making this change.
There will be more coming on this topic since we are just at the beginning of this journey. But to look back at how much we have changed in a short time is amazing to me. I am so thankful that we did this. And I am really proud, too.
