Throughout my life I’ve had so many food changes, from growing up thinking I had to eat every morsel on my plate, the 3 big meals way, to skipping meals in college, to eating better and drinking protein, then eating whatever and whenever I wanted with both pregnancies, no I did not learn from my first, I tried Weight Watchers after Little Miss A was born and with working out and limiting calories I was successful in losing about 20 lbs in 3 months, but there were moments I was starving and I was eating processed and high fat foods on my high points day, not that Weight Watchers approves of that, but some of their name brand items, well, I’ll let you do the research. After 30 years of life, 5 years of marriage and 2 beautiful girls where does that leave me?
It leaves me at the “Better Bite”. I want to be a healthy mom, one who teaches her children how to eat right, get regular doctor check ups, and exercise and take good care of themselves. And in some part I am, we made the switch from white to wheat and whole grain several years ago, we teach Avery that Soda/Pop is an adult drink, I try to stock the fridge with fruits and veggies as much as I can. Now even though at some times I have the best of intentions there are those moments when we’re all starving running errands all morning, or the days that we get out of church at 12:30 and can’t make it home without something in our bellies, those are the days we get fast food. Now I’m not saying you or your family should never eat fast food, I’m saying for me and my family, I want a better option, and some of you may too.
I’ve been wanting to eat “clean” for a while, but just didn’t know how to start, where to get certain foods, and if I could maintain it with my crazy busy lifestyle. Being a new mom and having a pre-schooler along with household chores, play dates and blogging sure do wear me out!
After reading some great blogs including: Healthy Tipping Point, The Front Burner, No Fizz Charlotte, Kath Eats and more that I’ll share along the way, I was even more inspired. I can totally do this!!
If you haven’t heard of eating clean here’s a great definition from http://www.eatingcleanworks.com - ”In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet. These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: “if man made it, don’t eat it.”
A person that eats clean generally practices the following:
Eliminates refined sugar
Cooks healthy meals
Packs healthy meals
Makes healthy choices when dining out
Drinks a lot of water
Eats 5-6 small meals per day
Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits it)
Always eats breakfast”
In every change I make I typically don’t get all gung ho about it, I take baby steps. So that’s what I’m slowly hoping to do, make little changes here and there to better the health of me and my family. Although I’m sure Little Miss A wouldn’t let me go crazy right away anyway. So here goes my journey to have a “Better Bite” or at least to eat a little better and teach the girls to fuel their bodies and be good to themselves. Wish me luck and I’ll keep the progress updated on here.
Do you have any “clean” eating questions that I might be able to find out? How about tips on eating healthier?
I love this, and it’s mostly what we do, except for the significantly limiting alcoholic beverages.
Kudos to you for being such a healthy mommy!
Great, I’d love tips or tricks you may have. We’re trying to be healthier and that’s what counts right
I can share that while I’m a thin person I have struggled with food my whole life. I grew up being an athelete and continued with sports through college and always ate what I wanted until I stopped competing. Everyday is a challenge but I’ve found by educating myself on food and nutrition I have really learned how to keep my body healthy and fit. I have to say the best information I’ve come across are a series of books, cookbooks and family eating menus called “The Eat Clean Diet” by Tosca Reno. She really dumbs things down for her readers with step by step guides and menus. Anyone who learns about food really has the upper hand on it. No one can diet everyday, it truly is about making good food choices 75-80% of the time and then enjoying some occassion treats. You’ll find once you start eating cleaner you look and feel amazing!