Project Simplify: Diet

I really dislike the word diet as our society has turned it into an image of a food restricting, calorie counting, cardboard eating monster. Personally, I don't want to waste that much of my time thinking about food. However, to make change, it will have to be our focus for awhile.

As part of Project Simplify, we have been brainstorming about ways to simplify our food intake and grocery shopping while nourishing our bodies.  We aim to use food as fuel for our bodies rather than fuel for our emotions.  It is well known that if your overweight, there is a good possibility you are an emotional eater.  If you eat for fuel only, you really can not be over weight.  That being said, you can't just flip a switch.  Changing your eating pattern is an ongoing challenge and for many, an uphill battle.  You may say, "I really do love those potato chips," but the reality is, you can really love raw celery too.  Our bodies were not programmed to like potato chips.  Babies will eat anything for the most part.  If you never give a baby anything but whole foods, that is all that child will grow to eat until outside influences introduce other foods to them. 

So why is this important in our life?  Simply put, our poor eating patterns are having a negative impact on our health, energy, and general well being.  Me and my husband both know how to eat well and we both agree that we feel incredibly good when we do.  When your sleep deprived and stressed though, chocolate brownies are so tempting.

It takes two to three weeks to change a habit.  I've decided the month of June is a good month to do a diet overhaul.  We don't have any trips planned and will be spending a ton of time at the pool.  My plan is to post our weekly menu and grocery list.  One of the biggest challenges will be Rooster.  The kid lives on carbs which means baking for me.  I plan to include the kids in our meal plans so they can be held accountable for what they eat.

We will be making a slow transition to eating more whole foods.  This means no processed foods.  It also means that our main fuel will be fruits, vegetables, and meat. The kids will continue to be given dairy, and whole grains as their needs differ from ours but the source of these foods will be scrutinized. I aim to signficantly increase their consumption of produce, nuts, grains, fish and meat. 

We will be the first to admit that this will be a very hard transition.  I look forward to sharing our successes and yes, most certainly, a few failures along the way.  Our first step is to empty our current supply of bad foods.  I had no problem throwing out a few packages of donuts but some of our others, such as cereal, will just have to slowly diminish over time.  I will share some of my recipe attempts on here regardless of their success or failure.  Stay tuned for my attempt to make a gluten free tortilla...

Do you have any healthy snack or meals to send our way?