Kicking Packaged Foods

I'll admit I've always loved a lot of different processed/prepackage foods. Diet cola, low fat yogurt, yummy yummy mini rice cakes, "healthy"granola bars. Having a child of your own makes you rethink a lot of things. You want to set a good example, be the best person you can be, give 100% of yourself. (at least for me it does). At the Henderson household we've tried to clean up our eating habits. We stopped buying ice cream and chips, we only buy whole grain pasta, brown rice, no sugar cereals etc. I've recently realized that's not enough.

Our baby eats better than we do! Our society has become so weighed down by packaged foods (literally-considering over half of the population is overweight) I think a lot of it is habit, availability of fast foods, mis-education and good ole laziness. We all love to make excuses, "I don't have time to make dinner" is a big one. Finding time now to eat a healthy diet, will give you more time ALIVE! If we want to live as long as possible, why wouldn't we eat as healthy as we can? It doesn't help that we've been convinced that "loving our body" means it's okay to be overweight. Shouldn't loving your body mean treating it well? Providing it with the best fuel you can?

Food was put here for us to eat, in it's natural state (or as close to it as possible) Read the label of almost anything that claims to be healthy, and there will still be a handful of ingredients you can't pronounce. Many people will buy anything that is "blue menu" has the "heart check" symbol, or has the words "low fat" on the box.  I don't know how we got so far off track, but around here we're going to fix it.

I'm not going to buy any pre-made food, within reason.
99% of our shopping will be done in the perimeter of the grocery store. Fruits, veg, meat, dairy, whole grains. Marcus is a little unhappy that I'm not going to buy his precious popsicles, but i've promised to make some with good old fruit. Healthy food is nutritious, wholesome, and it tastes better than the pre-packaged refined junk. I think a lot of us have just forgotten that. I'm sure some of these things have their place in this world as a treat, but treats are meant to be consumed once in a while, not daily.

It'll take some getting used to, but before long it will be second nature, not to mention the health benefits we'll feel from eliminating the chemicals from our diet. It will all be worth it, when my son isn't eating fruit loops for breakfast, pre-pacakaged lunches, or chips as a snack.

Go on, eat a big slice of watermelon, make a homemade hamburger, bake a delicious summer squash or whip up a tomato and basil salad. Give real food a chance, your taste buds will thank you.