Our Journey to Clean Eating

Our Journey to Clean Eating

Since I quit working outside the home and made it my life’s mission to be a good little housewife and SAHM, I was bombarded with the realization that so much of the “food” I was feeding my family wasn’t actually nutritious. No, I wasn’t trying to be perfect, nor was I driving through McDonald’s or buying Twinkies. But, growing up in the 80s and 90s (the peak of the convenience-food generation), I was just never conditioned to think much about what I was putting into my body. Clean eating wasn’t really on my radar. 

I’m not sure what put me into overdrive, but I discovered Lisa Leake’s 100 Days of Real Food blog and was instantly hooked. I stalked her blog then ordered her cookbooks and could hardly put them down. I pored over the chapters she dedicated to educating her readers on untruths and misconceptions we are led to believe about food. By Lisa’s recommendation, I snagged Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules, at a Half-Price Books for about six bucks and read it in one sitting. Literally. (It really is a quick and easy read.) I have been on one mission ever since: REAL FOOD ONLY.

It seems like such common sense, really. So much so that I get mad thinking about how we, as a society, have been so totally duped by the food industry. The massive quantities of sugar, the artificial flavors, colors, and ingredients, the preservatives, fillers…the list goes on. Meanwhile, we are literally dying slow, painful deaths and wondering when someone is going to find a cure for the incomprehensible diseases that plague us. Now, I’m not claiming to have all the answers. I’ll be a lifelong learner of food and nutrition, but for now, here’s my litmus test: Did God put it on this earth for consumption? If the answer is yes, I feel pretty good about feeding it to my family. Many things in moderation, of course. Like pure cane unrefined sugar, red meat, bacon, whole milk, etc. But, God designed our bodies AND our food and, as it turns out, He knows what he’s doing. I trust that to be true.

The Problem

The bad news is that a few decades ago, the food companies decided it would be brilliant to start using food-like substances (I stole that term from Michael Pollan) in processed foods and passing them off as actual nourishment. SMH

The Solution

The good news is that the remedy is much simpler than you might think: read the ingredients on the back of the box or package  (NOT the nutrition facts), and if there are any ingredients that aren’t real food (you have no clue what it is or can’t even pronounce it), JUST DON’T BUY IT! An even easier thing to do is to only buy food that has no ingredients at all – just real food that comes from the ground, or off of or out of an animal or a plant. There’s a learning curve involved, but if you get started today you’ll be better for it tomorrow.

Getting started, I had to constantly remind myself that perfection isn’t the goal – it’s improvement every day. This is not something that I struggle to stick with, though. I’ve found that I can’t UNlearn what I now know to be true, and the extra effort it requires to stick with clean eating is more than worth it to me.

I encourage you to venture out and learn more about what you’re eating and feeding your loved ones. It just might change the course of your health and that of your family.

Tips You Can Implement TODAY:

1. Read the ingredient list on everything you buy. Even take a look at what’s in your pantry.
2. Pay attention to sugar content. I am astonished at how much sugar is added in almost everything. The AHA recommends men eat 36 grams or less/day; women eat 20 grams or less/day, and children eat 25 grams or less/day. Take a look at the grams of sugar in a soda, cereal, juice, candy bar, even a jar of spaghetti sauce (?!). Many things will put you far over your daily limit with just one serving. Annnnd it’s highly addictive.
3. Look for the word “whole.” If it doesn’t say whole wheat, it means nothing.
4. Avoid diet foods and “no sugar added” foods. This just means they’ve added in either artificial sweeteners and/or artificial ingredients to make it taste good and then thrown a misleading label on it to make it look healthy.
5. Shy away from boxed foods and premade mixes. If you’re reading the ingredient list, you’ll see why.
6. Ditch vegetable oil and other unhealthy oils. I use either olive oil or butter (a great substitute for vegetable oil in most recipes) when cooking.
7. Just try! If you start making better choices (NOT PERFECT CHOICES) in shopping and cooking, you’ll be slowly paving the way toward clean(er) eating!