And the support is walking out the door.....

So I have learned one big huge thing during this process.  This is very very hard work!!!  I have also learned that my family is not on board as much as they were in the beginning and we haven't even hit some of the hardest steps yet including sugar and whole grains.  They are starting to complain about packing lunches every night.  I have also noticed them not loving my breakfast selections.  What have I started learning?  When you don't eat processed food you have to plan more, cook more, and do more dishes.  I am in the kitchen more then I was before and there is twice as many dishes to do.  I can't seem to keep up with all those darn dishes.  So what is the new plan you may ask?  Time to involve the family more.  I know they are starting to give up on me, but I think I can keep them with me if I just let them be a bigger part of what we are doing. 

Since I have older teenage kids there is not reason they can't be more a part of planning.  One thing I did do already to have them doing there own lunches was I made up a list of lunch items broke into these catagories, main, dairy, fruit/veggie, side and dessert.  I had them all circle in a different color what items they would eat off the entire list.  It consisted of about 80-90 items total.  All things that all 3 kids circled I made sure to buy and have all of them in the house.  I also did a couple of the stuff that only 1 or 2 of them circled.  That way they can look at the list and we have everything on it for them to pack into there lunches.  They still ask me questions and for some help but they are taking more charge of there lunches and that leaves less for me to do each night.  Considering I am not home many nights that is a very very good thing.  

I am hoping to incorporate this same method into snacks, and breakfast.  Dinner I have handled as I have always been one to plan dinners so that is not a new thing.  I figure the more input they give the more they are willing to eat it.  

The one thing that has changed more to the positive is that, my 5 year old has started being more willing to at least try one bit of things.  She has also eating second bites of things I would not have expected.  Hooray for that!  I know we still have a long way to go before she is what I would call a good eater, however I will take any small victory I can. 

Week Four--All about meat!

Here is this weeks challenge--All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.

Didn't think would be all that hard except one thing I learned, finding local meat is really really hard unless you want to A. either buy part of a cow, or B. spend $12-$18 a pound.  YIKES!!  I can't afford to feed my family that.  So, what to do.  This is what I decided.  I did my research and asked meat people at certain grocery stores where there meat comes from.  I will stay away from big brand meat products.   Harmon's chicken is raised locally and humanly and does not contain antibiotics or growth hormones.  It also does not break the bank in price.  Costco sells organic whole chickens for a reasonable price so I could get those and cut them up or just use them and roast them whole. They are also from a local farm and organic so ok to eat.  I will not buy meat from Wal-Mart as there's is all about price so it comes from big manufactures that do not treat the animals right and inject them with things we should not be eating to make a larger profit.  I also will not buy meat from any grocery store that can not tell me where it comes from.  I am hoping to be able to get part of a cow from a place here locally soon but in doing my research on that I learned that they usually only sell it from April-October.  Until then I will just be careful as to what I buy a the stores.  

So I will spend a lot of time focusing on making meat more of a side dish and less of a main dish.  I will also plan 2 meals a week that do not have meat in them.  Liking this idea because it will also save me money.  

I already planned two meals this week without meat so we will see how the family is about those as they are used to having meat with every meal.  I have found one good one is soup as it is filling but doesn't have to have meat in it to be that way.  Include a yummy grilled cheese sandwich and you have a great meal. 

Cool Lunch containers that I found!

All 3 of the cool lunch containers that I found for relatively cheap.  The first one with the blue lid is ziploc and you get 2 to a package for around $2.50, middle one is fit n fresh brand and is for salads and it was about $5.00 and the purple lidded one is also fit n fresh and was $6.00.  Considering they will get used again and again I will definitely get my money's worth.  Also since I don't have to use as many baggies they will save me money as well.  Now the money will only get saved if my kids don't loose them.  You would think since I have a almost 16 year old, a 14 year old and a 12 year old they should be old enough and that would not be a problem one would think.  However some how they loose things at school more then my 5 year old does.  Go figure!

This is just a simple ziploc brand 3 compartment container.  Best thing about this one,  you can put stuff in all three containers and one of them can be of a more liquid variety.  When you snap the lid on and throw it around like it is going to be in someones backpack nothing leaked into the other compartments or out of the container.  We tested it thoroughly by throwing it around the kitchen with jelly in one of the small compartments. 

This one is specifically designed for salads the brand is called fit N fresh.  I found it and the other one on here with the purple lid at Ross, but have seen them at target and other stores as well.  You put the salad in the bottom there is an ice pack above it inside.  You put the dressing in the area where the yellow knob is and when you are ready to eat the salad you turn the knob and it pops the lid open on inside and puts the dressing on your salad.  Even comes with a knife and fork.  My 14 year old daughter took it for school one day and she said it worked great.  Only problem was her friends made fun of her.  However, these are close friends that she has had for a long time that always tease each other, so didn't stop her from taking it again :) 

Here is the inside of the lid shows the ice pack and where to put the dressing. 

This one is also called fit N fresh.  It is there lunch buddy.  Great for taking multiple items, not wasting baggies and keeping everything cold.  The rectangle container has a spot on the bottom for larger items and ice pack and then the 2 containers on top.  You then put the lid on and it is all contained and kept cold inside.  Bonus, you can even turn the lid over and use it for a plate.  Although my kids thought this was silly why not just put the food right on the table.  Well, I have worked in restaurants and know how well those surfaces don't get cleaned so EWWW is all I could think.  Only two disadvantage to this one that we learned the hard way.  One, a sandwich on the bottom touching the ice pack will end up with soggy bread.  Two, if you don't snap the containers all the way closed they will leak.  Didn't realize how hard you had to snap them to get them closed the first time.  OOOPS! 

Here is what the inside looks like with the ice pack in the middle.  The 2 little containers fit perfectly on top of it. 

Couple bumps in the road this week!

So it is a little more then half way through week 3 and we have hit some bumps in the road this week.  I realized that packing lunches is hard.  So is making sure to get up and make sure my kids get breakfast before they leave for school.  The first one is out the door at 7:05am so this means I have to have breakfast ready by 6:45am.  I used to not get up until 6:30 so setting the alarm a half hour earlier is really really rough. 

I also didn't do great with the budget and having foods available for lunch.  So I did pretty well in finding things for side dishes for my kids to pack in there lunches, however I didn't really think about the main dish part of lunch and I already spent and allotted my grocery money already.  OOPS!!!  So last night as we are trying to put lunches together all the kids say "Mom, what are we going to have as a main dish in our lunches?"  Umm, guess it is time to get creative, but the first thing I did was apologize to them that I didn't do great at this so far.  I also made sure they understood that we are all doing this together and we are all learning a new way of life.  Thank goodness my kids love me and are understanding :)  Also I am grateful that I have the ability to turn something into nothing my kids went to school with some great lunches today for which I am glad I could help them make.  I rummaged through the fridge and found some leftover cooked chicken from a dinner over the weekend, it was still good and made some delicious chicken salad sandwiches.  I know many people that read this would think you have 3 teenagers why are they not packing there own lunches?  I think at some point they will, but first they have be taught and learn how to do it just as well as I do.  I know to plan things differently with the next pay checks grocery money I will remember to put more priority on lunches then I did this time. 

Only other bump in the road this week has been getting my oldest son to school on time.  Since he was eating breakfast at school before we would leave about 7:00 and school starts at 7:45 so this worked well.  He didn't take the bus because it didn't get there in time for him to eat breakfast.  However, part of my trade off with him to convince him that eating breakfast at home would be worth his while I told him that he could sleep in an extra half hour and I would still drive him to school.  So, since he hates to wake in the morning extra sleep sounded great to him.  We are still learning obviously how to make our new routine work as he was almost late for school 2 days this week.  HMM, we will figure this out, but wow changing up your routines sure is hard. 

Week Three--No fast foods or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.

Now we did a little flip flop on week 3 and 4 because my kids ran out of lunch money last friday and I didn't want to give them more for just one week.  Now here are the guidelines for this weeks challenge:

For this challenge you must avoid:

• Restaurants with drive-thru windows
• Convenience stores that also typically sell gas
• Places where you watch them assemble your food through a glass wall
• Restaurants that are situated in a “food court” setting
• School lunches (most schools do not have a fully functioning kitchen and simply heat precooked meals)
• Airplane food

The places where you can eat during this challenge:

• Restaurants with waiter service (which aren’t always ideal when it comes to food quality, but we just had to draw the line somewhere)
• Grocery stores (we recommend hitting the salad bar, vegetable sides and brown rice sushi)
• Your own kitchen! 
• Friends’ house!

 Wow, this is where it starts getting rough.  I will admit we are a family that loves to go out to eat.  We eat fast food at least once or twice a week and go out to restaurants probably about twice a month.  I also have not packed lunches for my kids for school since my oldest was in 2nd grade.  Keep in mind he is almost 16.  So not only will this challenge help us to be more healthy it will probably save us money also. 

One of the hardest parts of this week is the extra amount of time.  We all know that all the places we shouldn't be eating that we go to we go there to eat because it is fast and easy.  In order to pack lunches every day I have to plan food to be in the house to pack lunches.  We also have to remember to put them together every night before we head up to bed.  Now my kids or I have activities or obligations almost every night of the week so that also is going to be a challenge.  My oldest son has also been eating breakfast at school every day.  Part of the reason for that is that I am not a morning person and my kids are always on there own for breakfast every morning.  This basically means cold cereal.  Since he does not like cold cereal he would eat at school.  So on top of lunches I also had to try to include breakfasts.  

So, here it goes, time to really start planning.  Now I am a good planner it is not something I don't know how to do or something I have not done before.  I have always been pretty good about planning dinner but to have to add breakfast and lunch now, wow.  I also want to do all this without raising my food budget.  I figured that one way to do that would be to plan a certain after school snack for everyone to have the same thing everyday.  So now I am adding in snack planning as well.  Geez, what in the world am I thinking.  

Week 3 here we go. I know it can be done as many other families do it all the time.  Hope my family still loves me and is on board at the end of this week :)

Ending week two in a good way

Week 2 ended alright.  We did not have to many problems in regards to drinks.  Although it was hard to get rid of the hot chocolate and chocolate milk, I really didn't miss it.  The kids did slip up and little have have the chocolate milk at school with lunches because they forgot, but that is ok they didn't have soda even when it was offered to them and available for free.  I have to give my older teenage kids great credit they are real troopers.  Going along with mom's crazy plans is not always easy but they have been great.  They have dealt with crazy friends thinking what they have to do is nuts, and telling people no when things are offered.  I guess for all I know they tell there friends how insane I am :) 

My five year old at the beginning week did have a hard time not having juice or chocolate milk.  However, as the week went on she figured that plain milk and water are not so bad after all.  She is adjusting so far better then expected.  I am seeing now that it is true if you do not have it in the house they will not ask for or reach for it anymore.  

I also found some great juices at costco called odwalla.  They come 12 to a box and are single serve size I think about 12 ounces each.  They are all natural with about 5 different fruits and veggies in each one.  So this made the juice part easy.  Everyone gets one a week of these juices.  The kids actually learned that if they drank just a little bit everyday and kept the rest in the fridge through the week it lasted all week long. 

I am happy with how week 2 went I am happy with how well my family is doing and I am proud of them all. 

Week Two -- Only drinking milk, coffee, tea or water

So this week here is our real foods challenge:

Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day.

Now we are not big soda drinkers we never have soda in our house except for special occasions and parties, so I thought this will be an easy challenge this week.  Well not one of the harder one's, that will come but not as easy as I had originally anticipated.  We may not drink soda but that does not mean we don't drink sugary drinks that are a no.  

For starters the kids always have chocolate milk at school with there lunches.   I thought they were all going to go into cardiac arrest when I told them they have to drink regular milk or water for lunch.  The school serves trumoo choclate milk which happens to be there favorites.  Now they were not happy but said they would try.  That is the best I can ask.  

So my 5 year old is a different story.  All she drinks is "100%" Juice from the store, or nesquik chocolate milk.  We are not talking one glass a day either probably close to 6 or more.  Now I am not proud of this.  Now that I realize what I was giving her I am glad she will not be drinking so much sugar.  Switching to whole milk may help some however as she had some the other day and said, "Yum this milk is sweet and good".  

For me I am a huge huge water drinker.  So I also didn't think this would be that hard.  However, I am not a coffee, milk or tea drinker so that limits me quite a bit.  I mean who wants water with breakfast.  I would drink chocolate milk with breakfast almost every morning because I don't like the taste of regular milk.  Well since that is out I am just going to have to get more creative.  The hardest part of this week was when I went into the pantry today and cleaned out all of the stuff we use to make drinks that does not fall into these categories.  I am a massive hot chocolate drinker especially in the winter.  My favorite flavor is Stephens brand candy cane hot chocolate with little bits of candy can actually in the mix.  It is delightful and to die for.  I will miss this, but I have to remember there are alternative's to this and I will just have to get more creative.  I filled a small box and one grocery bag full of hot chocolate mixes, kool-aid, crystal light packets, and nesquik chocolate milk mix.  It was harder then I envisioned to pull it all and realize it was never coming back.  I almost wanted to have one last cup just for the sake of it but it is better to just get rid of it instead.  

So week two here we go, I still believe in it completely but it sunk in a little bit more this week as to how hard this may become. 

How did week one go?

Week one went pretty well.  I am not sure we ate a total of 6 fruits and/or veggies everyday, but I can say the amount of fruits and veggies eaten by those in our house did increase quite a bit.  We will continue to eat them more then we used to everyday and I think the kids even reached for them as snacks more then they used to.  This is a great thing to me as it is something I have tried to get them to do before now, but since I was offering them other food in the house that was yummy and sugar loaded of course they always picked that.  People are right your kids will eat what you offer.  If you don't have the other stuff in the house they may complain at first but they will adjust and start to eat the healthier options that are offered instead.  I am happy with what we did our first week.  I think we did well and I know we can continue to do well in weeks to come. 

Beautiful New Cookbook and meal plans

I was tipped off about a site called Deliciously Organic, through a post on 100 days of real food.  They were having a deal on her cookbook and meal plans that you get weekly.  So I looked into it, because first off who doesn't love a deal and secondly I needed all the recipes I could get my hands on.  This cookbook came in the mail a couple days ago and I opened it right away like it was Christmas.  I was so impressed with the vibrancy and color of this cookbook.  There is a picture of every recipe.  I was also impressed with that fact that she has included helpful hints and guidelines in there as well.  So this book not only has recipes but it is full of information to help you along that way. 

Along with this cookbook came meal plans.  What I don't even have to think about what is for dinner every week.  The meal plans are on the website and you just login and there they are.  You get a new ones every 2 weeks.  I got 6 month's worth of meal plans in conjunction with ordering the cookbook.  This cookbook has been sitting on my desk for a couple days now and every so often I just pick it up and look through it and realize, Wow there is great food in here and it all fits into my plan.  I can hardly wait to tackle and try a bunch of these recipes.   Who knew that eating real food would also be eating tasty food. 

Fruit and Vegetable Over load

So yesterday I realized there is such thing as fruit and vegetable overload.  Tuesdays are a long day for me and a hard one for meals as I volunteer at our library from 3-7 and then am on the library board and have a board meeting at 7:30.  So in this quest to add fruits and veggies to my diet I think yesterday I may have taken it to far.  For breakfast I had an orange and a piece of toast, for a morning snack I had carrots and hummus, for lunch I had a big salad with lots of veggies and some quinoa.  So far so good one would think if you are looking at it from a healthy stand point.  The only thing I didn't think to add to my diet was oh I don't know a little thing called protein.  Even a stick of cheese would have been a great addition.  I was so focused on fruits and veggies and getting enough in that well I didn't balance things out properly.  So as I went to leave for a long afternoon and evening of library work I packed a snack of dried cranberries, almonds and pecans and then for my on the go dinner I took an apple, a larabar (pure fruit and nut bar) and a thing of naked juice.  Not only did did I not really add much protein into my diet but I also didn't add a lot of calories.  When I woke this morning my stomach was screaming at me for some food with substance.  

So I am learning on this journey that you have to have balance.  I was so focused on the fruits and veggies that I didn't even think to add the other stuff in.  Now today I think my body is having fruit and veggies resistance.  Even the though of an apple or carrot makes me a little queasy. :)  We live and we learn and I am determined to figure out the best way for me to do this.  Thank goodness after one day where it is not quite right you wake up and there is always tomorrow to try again.  

Week One - Adding in more fruits and vegetables sounds easy right?

So here we go it is week one.  All we have to do is try to eat at least 2 fruits and/or Vegetables per meal.  Now how hard can that be.  I participate with bountiful baskets and get tons of produce every week, so it shouldn't even cost me any more money.  I figured we already eat a lot of produce don't we.  Just goes to show how wrong I was.  I have really had to work to incorporate them into my diet so far.  It actually is taking focused energy and thought to remember to eat them.  On top of me remembering to eat them I need to try to remind the rest of my family and incorporate them into there diets also.  

The first thing I did when this week started was ask the kids (who always eat lunch at school) if they offer fruits and vegetables at school for lunch and if they eat them.  I was appalled and shocked to learn what is offered. I guess part of me knew that school lunch wasn't great, but at the same time I didn't really think about it because it was just easier to have them eat at school. My high school and junior high kids told me they offer apples in a bag, that have something added to them so they don't brown.  Veggies in a bag with a small thing of ranch dressing and from what they say they have a weird flavor and are anything but fresh.  The other option is fruit like peaches out of a can covered is sugary syrup and veggies out of a can that are all mushy.  Wow, it is a wonder our children are not healthy and heavier then they have ever been.  I wouldn't want to eat any of that either.  So then I asked well don't they serve salads?  Of course they do, chef salads covered in processed meat and cheese and taco salads covered in processed beef and other unnatural ingredients.    Oh but wait I thought there was hope how about a side salad that should be fine right.  Oh but mom they don't always have the side salads.  Wow, I didn't even know what to say.  I haven't even talked to my elementary school child yet and am almost afraid to.  Come to find out from him they offer one fruit and one veggie every day.  Neither are fresh and both are usually out of a can or bag.  As much as I would love to fight to change this that may be later on down the road I had to remind myself to only challenge myself to one task at a time :)  I have asked my kids to try and eat at least one fruit or veggie at school for lunch but I understand if they don't.  So, we will just make sure to include them in there snack after school instead.  

So we are on day two of this week and I have decided the easiest way to make this happen is to write it down.  We have white boards in our kitchen area so that is an easy place to keep track.  Simple plan and system next to your name make a tally mark every time you eat a fruit or veggie serving in the day.  Goal is 6 per day.  Easy to do daily, and easy to erase and do again the next day.  I am hoping this helps us all be more aware of the amount we are eating and it seems that when you have a goal it somehow makes you more aware and more likely to succeed.  

I guess what has been an eye opener more then anything this week so far is that I thought we ate pretty healthy and included quite a bit of fruits or veggies in our diets.  Boy was I wrong.  

Telling the family my great and wonderful plan

Of course just because I was all over this idea didn't mean my family would be as well.  I have a 15, 14 and 12 year old.  Now these are teenagers and we all know that teenagers love there sweets and junk food.  I mean come on eating healthy is not cool or fun.  I also have a 5 year old who would rather go without dinner every night then eat something that is not in one of her 5 food groups which consist of, ramen noodles, chicken nuggets, chips and cheese, mac n cheese (from a box) and any candy or sugar loaded anything.  She thinks vegetables and meat in it's real form are evil and most fruits she would do without as well.  Fruit to her is a glass of juice and we are not talking 100% juice here.  Then there is my husband.  He loves food especially eating out and all those great and wonderful comfort foods.  He is willing to eat healthy at least.  So of course taking all of this into consideration this task seemed more daunting then ever. 

I was not willing to just give up without trying.  I feel to strongly about this to not at least give it a 100% try.  I had to explain it to them in the same way as I had to tell myself.  Remind them of all the things they can still eat and not the things they can't. 

So here is what I decided to do.  Now my husband was out of town last week so I was able to just focus on the kids first.   I brought up the idea to them last week just gradually, I mentioned it in conversation to get there minds turning.  They of course immediately were saying no way we are not doing that.  There resistance was not to much of a surprise to me I expected it.  Now, I was having this conversation pretty much just with my teenagers, my little one was a completely different story all together.  She is to young to understand why we would do this and why she can't eat what she wants.  So with her it is more a conversation about what is healthy and what is not.  It will be me just finding creative ways to get her to try new things and slowly encourage her to eat things she has not.  An example of this was today I bought Quinoa and I told her it was something fun to eat with an even funnier name.  She thought the name was hilarious and was very excited about it.  So this will be different with her then my older ones but I am determined to make it work with her as well. 

I mentioned it to my husband while he was out of town but not real thoroughly.  He is such a good sport.  While the kids had been hearing about it all week I just dumped it on him in one day.  Poor guy I am sure his first thought was this woman is crazy, I am gone for a week and I come home and she wants to now take all of my food away.  However, he has agreed to support me in this and give it a try.  I love him for that and am so grateful that he will join me on this journey with the family. 

So after our week long conversations I told everyone we would be having family meeting and movie night last Saturday.  After dinner at the table I went over the 14 steps with everyone.  We talked about what this all meant and what was involved.  I explained to them why I felt the way I did about this and they asked questions and of course complained a little.  I mean they are teenagers what do you expect.  After our family meeting I had everyone sit down and watch Food Inc. together.  This gave us all an incite into where are food comes from and why we need to eat differently.  This movie was an eye opener for all of us.  It was hard to watch at times but very very worth it.  

So now here we go, our journey begins.  I can hardly wait to see where it takes us and what it brings.  

14 weeks to Real Foods, How we are going to get there.

So we are not doing this cold turkey there is no way we could.  I have 3 teenagers, a 5 year old who will not try anything new and a husband who is reluctant to change.  So I decided to follow the 14 week pledges on the website that got me into this to begin with.  It makes it more gradual and hopefully not as hard.  Here is a summary of the 14 weeks:

- Week 1 (starting this week): Eat two fruits and/or vegetables with every single meal.

- Week 2: Only drink beverages without refined or artificial sweeteners.

- Week 3: Eat meat that's been locally raised and limit consumption to 3-4 servings  

                  throughout the week.

- Week 4: Avoid both fast food and deep-fried foods.

- Week 5: Try two new whole foods you've never had before.

- Week 6: Avoid low-fat, lite and nonfat food products.

- Week 7: All grains consumed must be 100-percent whole grain.

- Week 8: Stop eating when you feel full.

- Week 9: Avoid foods with refined or artificial sweeteners.

- Week 10: Avoid foods with refined or hydrogenated oils.

- Week 11: Eat at least one locally grown or raised food at each meal.

- Week 12: Avoid all sweeteners even if they are natural.

- Week 13: Avoid foods with artificial additives and colors.

- Week 14: No foods out of a package with more than 5 ingredient

Each week will build on the next until you are there.  This also can help it be a little more cost effective as you are not cleaning out your pantry and fridge and replacing everything at once.  

I have to give credit where credit it due, to the lady that gave me this inspiration.  These 14 week pledges are from the website www.100daysofrealfood.com.

Real Foods Define (The Rules) What I hope we can acheive long term

I sat down and read all about this plan and of course one of the first things I did was read the "Rules" or what you can and can not eat.  As excited as I was about all of this, it was scary and very daunting to read this list.  A lot of things that I love to eat regularly including Peanut M&M's (my favorite) would be taken away from me as they were against the rules.  So this was going to be harder then I thought was my first thought, but then I kept reading and doing research and I found so many resources and that was very reassuring to know that it can be done and you can still enjoy good yummy food, including sweets.  I had to take the time to really think about the benefits of this and do a complete mind change, instead of thinking of all the things you can't eat, you have to look at all the things you can.  

Here are the rules and what I hope we can achieve long term:

What you can eat:

Whole Foods- Food that are a product of nature and not a product of industry

Fruits and Vegetables- In there real form, fresh or frozen with nothing added to them

Dairy Products - Includes milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs and cheese. 

Whole-Wheat, Whole-Grains - 100% whole-wheat or other whole-grains not refined in anyway

Seafood - If possible wild caught is preferred over farm raised

Locally-raised meats - Pork, Beef and Chicken preferably grass fed and local.

Beverages - Water, Milk, all-natural fruit juices, coffee and tea sweetened only with honey or 100% maple syrup

All-Natural Sweeteners -  Use honey, 100% maple syrup and 100% fruit juice concentrates moderately.

Snack - Dried Fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn

What you can not eat:

Refined Grains - Includes white flour and white rice.  Wheat items must say whole wheat.

Refined Sweeteners - Includes sugar, any form of corn syrup, can juice or artificial sweeteners like Splenda

Food in a box, can or bag - Avoid packaged foods that have more than five ingredients listed on the label.  Especially if you don't know what they are or can't pronounce them.

Fried Food - Includes food soaked or cooked in heavy oil

Fast Food - Avoid drive-thrus and any grab-and-go foods 

Now of course you read this and you think wow all the stuff I love is on the list of things I can't eat.  That was my first thought also, but then as I read it again and again and really thought about it I came to the realization that the list of things I can eat was longer then the things I can't.   That is all it took and I was ready to take off.

I have to give credit where credit it due, to the lady that gave me this inspiration.  These rules are from the website www.100daysofrealfood.com.

Why I am choosing a Real foods diet?

It all started with a free magazine that was on the counter at the library.  I was flipping through it and came to a page that in big letters said "No junk food for a year!"  Well that got my interest so I continued to read.  It stated a web page titled 100daysofrealfood.com.  It mentioned the rules and what is involved and then talked about pledges you can make.  So of course this got me very interested and later that week I spent hours on that website reading everything she had to say.  I then scoured the internet for whatever else I could find and there was so much information it put me on overload.

I have tried to loose that 20 lbs of baby weight for years and have tried many diets and logging calories and what not and it just does not work.  I am not any good at logging my food and counting calories so I figured wait real foods this has got to work.  How can you not lose weight and be more healthy when you cut out all the processed junk. 

I also have a 12 year old son that suffers from chronic headaches almost daily.  We have been to numerous doctors, have had numerous tests done and no one could tell me how to fix them.  As a mother I hated feeling helpless to help my son.  From research and talking to people I have come to realize these headaches are most likely caused by food in some way.  We talked a lot about changing up his diet but without guidance it was hard to figure out where to start and what to do. 

I now have somewhere to start.  I am doing this for me, my health and my families health.  I know it will not be easy and I know it will not be perfect but it is something I truly believe in.  This will be how I document our journey of getting rid of the processed foods and changing all of our lives for the better hopefully forever.