Why I believe in REAL FOOD

As I began my post about days 3 & 4 for the Real Food Challenge, I began digressing into where I've seen the benefits of certain choices. It was turning into a tangent; so I decided to make it a separate post. If you have any doubts that your food choices can influence your health, I encourage you to read this. I share this as a concerned mom and have no affiliation with any of the products mentioned here.

Last month I decided to prepare at least one dinner vegetarian and to cut down on our meat consumption by half (same dishes but using less meat.) Why? If you haven't seen the documentary Forks Over Knives, I recommend it. I saw it for free on Netflix. They do a good job of laying out the science of why a plant-based diet is better for you and the price we are paying as a society for eating so much meat and dairy. The concept was nothing new to me but seeing the radical change in people's health based on their food choices was. And it didn't matter if someone had eaten poorly for decades; they could still turn it around with a few choices.

Now I admit I love meat: chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, you name it. And I don't plan to become a vegetarian any time soon. But I do believe there are benefits to returning to a more traditional diet higher in grains, fruits, and vegetables and lower in meat and dairy. That's where I am on my food journey.

My first experience in seeing the connection of food to health came out of trying to fix some issues with our kids. Last spring our son Bobby was having daily stomach aches and our daughter Brooke was having severe ear infections. After ruling out gluten as an offender, we switched from cow's milk to almond milk.

I was initially nervous about this switch because my family was consuming 3-4 gallons of milk a week! Yes, you read that correctly. Since almond and soy milk is about twice as expensive, I was reticent. But taking that leap of faith paid off tremendously and it hasn't impacted my budget. Here's why. Though everyone in the family except Devin likes almond milk, we don't drink nearly as much of it as cow's milk (about half). So between coupons, sales, and less consumption, we are paying the same.

Now the benefits. Bobby's stomach aches disappeared within days and never returned. Brooke hasn't had an ear infection in a year. Other than well visits, we didn't visit the doctor's office once this winter; not once! She had a few runny noses, but a scoop of local honey or saline nasal mists seemed to help. And Bobby at 7, nearly 8 years old, was still wetting the bed at night. After switching to almond milk, he never wet the bed again. They still get ice cream, cheese, and yogurt, but I'm a believer we should all be consuming less dairy milk.

If we can see that much improvement with one food change, I'm looking forward to how we'll feel with less meat and more homemade bread in our diet. My wheat arrives next week! Baby steps.

How have you seen food change your health?

Day 1 & 2: Knoxville's Ten Days of Real Food Challenge

Finding time to post about Knoxville's Ten Days of Real Food Challenge may be as challenging as finding the right foods, but I'll do the best I can. I can already tell I won't be as exemplary as my good friend Gabe (check out her updates on day 1 and day 2 of this challenge), but hopefully my honesty will inspire those intimidated by a challenge like this.

First off, I confess I forgot about the challenge until yesterday and didn't change my shopping to make any changes in our current eating habits. I'm working with what I have in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. This will give me a clear idea of how our current lifestyle stacks up.

Sunday, April 1: DAY 1

Breakfast: My hubby and son ran a 5K this morning and I was hurrying the kids to church for the Easter egg hunt. Our traditional breakfast consisted of cereals: Frosted Mini Wheats, Honey Nut Cheerios, Raison Bran, or Kashi Go Lean. Most of us use almond milk but one son still prefers 1% milk (not local). Coffee for the adults consisted of sweetened with one scoop of sugar and a few tablespoons of 1% milk. The Mini Wheats and Raison Bran fall under the 6 ingredient rule, but I have a hard time considering Kashi a poorer choice. MARGINAL PASS.

Lunch: Since we had the Covenant Health Kids Fun Run the night before and ate frozen pizzas for time (Fruschetta and DiGiorno), we had left-over pizza for lunch. FAIL.

Dinner: I roasted chicken breasts (not local or organic but they were on sale ;-), organic carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions. I cooked enough chicken to use in other meals this week. Breyers ice cream for dessert; has more than 5 ingredients but is better than many brands in my opinion. MARGINAL PASS.

Monday, April 2: DAY 2

Breakfast: Cereal again. MARGINAL PASS.

Snack: Brooke and I went to the Moms Club Easter Egg Hunt. I brought orange slices but of course there were tons of more tempting choices like cookies, cupcakes, and muffins. Snacks that would pass included cheese blocks, fruit, Annie's bunny grahams, and Pirate Booty (I think this pass). I did pretty well but split one pink cupcake with Brooke. MARGINAL PASS.

Lunch: I heated up left-overs: wild caught mahi mahi, rice (from a package that I had gotten on sale), steamed broccoli. Bob had the same. Brooke really wanted chicken nuggets, pasta (not whole wheat) and orange slices. She ate so many oranges, I agreed. Devin's lunch at school was white pasta, organic apple slices, goldfish, chex mix, and 3 chocolate eggs. Only the apples passed. Bobby's lunch had homemade salsa, tortilla chips, goldfish, and a Fiber One brownie. The salsa and chips passed. MARGINAL PASS.

Dinner: I made a stirfry primarily with veggies but with a little left-over pork loin (not local or organic). Ingredients included garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. I added a little soy sauce, lime juice, and ginger. I cooked brown rice in chicken stock I had made the night before. This makes the difference between bland and delicious rice without the insane sodium in packaged rice. The kids weren't as keen on the stirfry like they usually are. After forcing a few bites down, I let them have some pasta, baked beans, and hotdogs with no nitrates. All three fail the criteria but I tried. MARGINAL PASS.

As you see, there isn't one meal I'd say we pass with flying colors. Is that depressing? A little, but I'm still making an effort to feed them better alternatives, even if they don't follow THE RULES. And when we were "on the run," we were literally on the run at races. This week Bobby and I also biked 8 miles, swam 20 laps, and kayaked nearly every day. Devin and Brooke run nearly everywhere they go and spend a lot of time on their bikes. Knowing how active we all are has to factor in there positively.

What do you think?