From time to time I have been asked by my friends... or more accurately my parents' friends - what are the absolute things they need to do to eat healthy.
Like a top 10.
Honestly. I don't know.
I am not a professional.
I am just a mom. Trying to do what's best for my kiddos without being a lunatic.
I would say I am successful about 50% of the time :)
Anyways... here is my "list"...
<a bunch of words are linked up - so if you don't know what 'gmo' click to find out!>
Do
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Don’t
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Have high
standards for your food at home –
NO GMOs, no artificial coloring, organic if you can
Get to know
some farmers – if you’re in an area where there are farms - introduce
yourself, check out their farm, get some local sustainable food from them!
Your
research!! There are some great people
out there reporting on all things food – 100DaysofRealFood and FoodBabe are
two of my favorites.
Cook from
scratch! Getting back to basics
(especially using organic ingredients) makes sure no nasty food additives,
preservatives, or anything unnecessary are in your food.
Make as much
of your diet, whole, real foods.
Buy minimally
processed foods.
Make your own
your own non-toxic cleaning supplies! HINT - vinegar and water... good for pretty much everything :)
Use cloth diapers if you can!
Get into
essential oils
Cut yourself
a break. Just reading about these
things are more than the average consumer does! You’re doing great just finding out what’s
out there!
Try doing
things naturally first. All things.
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Obsess about things you can’t control
(like food eaten outside your house) – I know my kids will eat more food from
my house than anywhere else – if they have a red dye filled ice pop at a
friend’s house every now and then – it’s ok.
Eat at fast food restaurants – it’s no
good, all fried in GMO soy, just stay away from it.
Buy things in packages that don’t need
to be in packages (ie: individually wrapped apples and potatoes).
Forget to read the label – it is easy
to think that you’re getting something fantastic from some of the deceptive
advertising that’s out there!
Believe that “natural” or “all natural”
means anything! It doesn’t. Either – talk to who made it and find out
about their sources OR look for the USDA Organic stamp
Use Johnson and Johnson, just don’t.
Buy anything with an ingredient you can’t
pronounce or don’t recognize
Do a lot of soy. Once you start reading ingredients - it is in EVERYTHING processed and most (95%) is GMO. It also messes with hormones... yikes! The 90s told us soy was a perfect protein and we should all be eating it all the time and drinking it up as babies in formula. Not my style. Read the link for 170 reasons why you should cut it out of your diet.
Reject science. Lots of times, in lots of cases – medicine
is the answer. Don’t ignore it because
sometimes its not!
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Like I said, nothing here is hard and fast - it is a slow transition - and even then... aim for 50% :)
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Great post! I love the easily laid out list of dos and donts!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great! I'm so lucky that Kristin agreed to do this post. :)
DeleteHi Elizabeth, it's Kristin from ^One Organic Mama - glad you liked it! Hope you'll swing by and read what else I have to offer :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for these insights. In the past few months I've been trying to educate myself and most of the things you've mentioned are a confirmation for me. I'm totally baffled by the amount of soy and canola oils in foods at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Why is that?
ReplyDeleteBut I don't know anything about J&J. I'll check out your link.
Thanks.
Both stores have a variety of great products, but like any other stores, unfortunately - you still have to label read. I am pretty sure both have lists of things they DO NOT allow in the store (off hand - I think TJs won't allow anything GMO or any artificial colors) but you still need to be an informed shopper. Stores provide what people buy. If people stop buying this crap - maybe stores will stop selling it!
DeleteThanks so much for sharing your list. Sometimes I get into the grocery store and I am tired, hungry and can't make a decision to save my life. Knowing where I will not compromise helps eliminate a lot of negative choices I could make. Have a great week! Wanda
ReplyDeleteGlad it was useful!
DeleteI like your relaxed approach as to when your kids are eating at someone else's house.
ReplyDeleteI've always cooked fairly healthy compared to several of my friends, lol! (At least, that's what they keep telling me, haha).
But my son had a friend whose mom was a nutritionist and they ate VERY healthy at their house. He wasn't allowed to eat chips, nothing greasy like fries, no junk foods and none of the "usual" desserts.
But when he came to our house his mom allowed him to eat whatever I served. He was even allowed to eat chips or sorbet. Not that I served that stuff all the time but it just meant that I didn't have to buy or cook extra stuff for him.
Likewise our son ate whatever they served when he went to their house. I don't know if they were strictly vegetarians but I don't think they ate a lot of meat. Thanks so much for linking up to the "Making Your Home Sing Monday" linky party today! :)
I try not to obsess about the things I can't control - (you know food outside my house, sleep deprivation, etc haha) - I feel like we are all just doing what we can! No one is intentionally making unhealthy food - it does infuriate me however - that most of our food doesn't have labeling that allows us as parents to even make an informed choice for our families. There is SO much stuff in our food that doesn't even have to listed on labels (ie: did you know skim milk has more ingredients than just milk? no? it's because they don't list it on the label: http://butterbeliever.com/fat-free-dairy-skim-milk-secrets/). These deceptions make making an informed decision so hard on parents who are trying to do their best! Now chips on sorbet... that sounds like the perfect salty and sweet combo!!
DeleteSleep deprivation? Mentioned in a post at 4:31am. I wish I could say I didn't understand. Thank you again for doing this guest post!
DeleteHahaha I am thinking that that has something to do with the fact that I am on the east coast :)
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