What Are You Eating?
I’ve shared parts of my health journey with you before. From my weight loss journey {that’s still going on}, training and running a 5k or two {and now training for a 10k in three weeks} to dealing with fear about my body image, I’ve spilled my guts to y’all. Huge HUGE hugs all around for the wonderful support and love you give me.
Today, I want to talk about food. I’ve been learning so much about what I put in my mouth and what I serve my family. We are making big changes in our diet and it’s fun. I’m loving this new adventure.
Gluten, corn, soy, HFCS and more
Ridley and I are eating gluten free. This means that my sweet hubs is pretty much eating gluten free as well. I can tell a significant difference in my gut health since I’ve been avoiding gluten and corn. Corn {fresh, corn oil on potato chips, tortillas/tortilla chips etc} makes me feel gross. I suspect that corn effects me this way because unless it’s organically grown, more than likely it is a GMO {Genetically Modified Organism}. Ick. Corn is in everything and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Read labels and you’ll be amazed.
Soy is also a GMO to be avoided like the plague. But good luck with that because it’s in just about everything too. So is high fructose corn syrup. Ugh.
You know the phrase, “when momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?” Well, I firmly believe that superior gut health is key to having amazing overall health. When my gut ain’t happy, the rest of my body definitely isn’t happy. 🙂
Organic fruits and vegetables
Have you heard about the Dirty Dozen? This list is a great place to start replacing certain fruits and vegetables with organically grown options. Surprisingly enough, our grocery bill has gone down since I’ve been reading more labels. Being picky about what goes in the grocery cart and in your mouth will cut down on grocery expense. I’m entirely convinced.
I make trips to EarthFare about twice a month for organic produce and nitrite/nitrate free meats. We love their pepperoni!
Meats, Fats & Milk
We eat grassfed, homegrown beef, free range chicken and delicious farm eggs. My friend Alyssa recently convinced me to eat more good fat. Our breakfast usually consists of farm fresh eggs fried in butter {ahhh, butter!}, spelt pancakes with honey and fried pepperoni. Yum!
Since I’ve been eating a more hearty breakfast, my metabolism has sped up and I’m ravenous again by mid-morning. Woot!
My parents raise goats and my mom milks the goats each morning. We love goat’s milk, but I’ve also found a local source for raw cow’s milk, so I can make yogurt, kefir and beet kvass.
The Questionable Food Pyramid
Really? 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta? No wonder our nation is obese and overweight. And it “gets my goat” that fats should be used sparingly. I love me some butter! 🙂
Why Am I Telling You All This?
Because I want you to think. Think about how you feel right this very minute. Do you have a headache? Does your gut feel icky? Do you lack energy and feel sluggish?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, your body probably needs to be properly nourished with food that God created for us to enjoy. We don’t need to ingest the genetically modified garbage that big food corporations market.
Our bodies need real, whole food…not poison.
I was tired of feeling sick and tired, so I started researching and learning. I’m feeling better and I have so much more energy!
Where To Start…
- The Healthy Home Economist – I LOVE this site and could spend hours reading!
- Cheeseslave {I love this post about organic vs. conventionally produced milk!}
- Food Safety Dangers Associated with Food Dyes
- The Untold Story of Butter
- The Weston Price Foundation
My Favorite Places To Find Healthy Deals…
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have a fabulous day y’all! 🙂
This is something we’ve been working on a lot this year, and we both feel better for it. For me, the biggest revelation has been moving back to butter. How on earth did I ever eat margarine? That stuff is *nasty*!
Cxx
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Good for you!! 🙂 And your margarine comment…HAHAH! I know! 🙂
I have found food that is “GMO”, the body doesn’t know what to do with it. It stops the natural flow of all body functions. It’s so very tough to avoid, it’s in everything!!!
How cool is this!! I started changing what we eat last year, too 🙂 I got started when our baby girl started eating solid foods and I was realizing how many unpronounceable ingredients were in even just BABY CEREAL! So I consulted my friend, Alyssa (maybe all Alyssa’s are good friends who eat healthy 😉 ), and she loaned me Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions. Since I started reading that we’ve changed a ton of things. Our grocery bill went UP instead of down, but we had a *really* small one before due to lots of couponing and eating what I could get for free or cheap. We just bought 1/2 a cow from my sister who raises grass fed beef and we are planning to get chickens this summer (for eggs and meat). I’d love to hear more from you on this! Like “how and what” you do, and I’m curious what your grocery bill is on average and what all that includes, esp. since it’s 2 adults and 1 toddler, just like us.
Welcome to “the other side” 😉
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I am SO happy for you, Myra, and loved to read this post… not because I actually believe there is one “right” way to eat, but because you have clearly made changes that are making you feel so much better and that is fantastic. My favorite point you made is that, if you feel off, it’s a great time to examine your diet. The decisions we all make need not be identical, but it is always good to be mindful of the ways in which we nourish our bodies. 🙂
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Thank u for your blog I really enjoy it! Well u just brought me to tears. I’m sure this is a predestined moment from God. I am sitting at McDonalds with big ole Dr Pepper. I just dropped off the kids and I am reading email. Usually I go through it fast claiming to read your blog later when I have more time to enjoy it. I am in tears because I know what you are saying is my truth. Why do I not value myself to make these changes? These habits, strongholds, chains that bind keep me from being the woman God created. I know I have him but I need someone here on Earth to hold my hold say it’s gonna be ok and lead me into victory. Why don’t I have the strength to lead myself?
GMO’s are something I just found out about last month, which is sad. Have you see The Future of Food? You have to watch it. I was shocked into changing my eating and I DO feel better. More awake and less mood swings. Now the only problem I have is staying in my food budget while eating differently. I’m convinced it’s possible. Between diet changes and prepping a lot of what I need during the week, our weeks run much more smoothly. Thanks for a great post and I’m going to check out the Healthy Home Economist site.
This is a great post! I did gluten, dairy, and corn free for six weeks and I can’t tell you how ah-ma-zing I felt. Then I stopped for about two weeks… yeah, I’m back on it! I didn’t like feeling so sluggish, lazy, etc etc etc! My question is – I’m going dairy free, but should I be going soy free instead? My aunt recommended dairy free because of skin allergies that I have. I’ve eliminated dairy as a potential allergen of mine, so do you think I should make the switch? (I do LOVE me some dairy… cheese, butter, oh my!)
You’re right about corn being in EVERYTHING. When I first started I was so overwhelmed that I ate rice, chicken, and veggies for about two weeks straight. Then I started to get the hang of it and realized there are so many wonder products to discover. I don’t feel limited at all.
Thank you for listing all the wonderful resources here. I can’t wait to look through them, and to look through your blog more!
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I am so glad you posted about this. I have slowly been making changes and eating more whole, unprocessed foods. I have thought about going Gluten free to avoid the sluggish, headache feel I have on most days. Is that a lot of work? I need resources. I am off to check into some of the links you posted.
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Myra, I can’t thank you enough for writing all of this. I have been trying since January to “get healthy,” and it’s just not happening. I’ve been eating “diet” foods and exercising, but I still haven’t FELT better…and that’s been discouraging.
Anyway, any more resources you can pass along would be WONDERFUL. I appreciate it so much!
Love you, friend.
thank you SO much for this post. sadly, my health has been the pits over the last several years, and I have just now made the leap to gluten free. Not easy, but I am working on it.
I have so much to learn, but I am already starting to get better. Thanks again for this post!
-{darlene}
fieldstonehilldesign.com
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We’re eating gluten free, too. Thanks for this post and all your links. We’ve pretty much been just doing a lean meat/ eggs for dinner and big serving of greens for dinner. I’ve lost a bunch and so has hubby. l
I also love organic produce.. I love the taste, it’s just yummy.
😀
You are so right, Morgan. Organic food does taste so much better!
You taught me that HFCS is in so many brands of yogurt. Before I read that from you, I never thought to even check yogurt labels. I just thought “eating yogurt is healthy for us…” I never thanked you for that, so…thank you. This past January I started taking a nutrition course, and my professors have taught me to check the labels on everything…they even took us on a “Field Trip” to the grocery store! I have learned so much in this class, and I’m looking forward to learning more from you, and your journey, as well as through your link recommendations. Thanks again, Myra!
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Kristine, I’m so glad to have helped you! I’m learning as I go and I’m excited to share! 🙂
Thank you so much for this post! I know I need to start eating better, but I don’t always have the time or take the time is probably more like it, to do the research I should. Thank you for providing some resources that I already know will be helpful. I’m excited to look into those!
I do have one question. I noticed you mentioned no soy. I don’t usually drink soy milk, but I did pick some up a few weeks ago because I was having issues not feeling good (although it could be from other garbage I eat). Apparently I was allergic to dairy when I was a baby, so my husband thought maybe that was coming back again. When I do buy milk, I usually buy organic. Should I not buy anymore soy milk?
Hi Jessica! Thanks for your comment. 🙂 Here is some good info on soy: http://www.foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy/ It totally wouldn’t surprise me if the soy affected you. I would stick with organic milk and if possible find some raw, local milk. I hope that helps!!
hi Myra, loved this post!! I was wondering if you could do a menu plan for the week of your gluten free diet of what you and Ridley are eating!
Hi Jill! Thanks for your sweet comment! Yes, I’ll plan on sharing some meal ideas next week! Thanks for the idea. 🙂
I’m just a little behind on blog reading lol
LOVE this post!! I just started doing Atkins (which is low-carb) and WOW did I start feeling totally different after the first few days!! This was the end of my first week and I lost 13lbs — and that was with eating 3 good meals and, most days, 2 snacks!
No more processed junk in this house! 😀
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Do you have a Facebook recommend button????
We have been taking baby steps toward eating this way for the past year, but about a month a go my husband and I watched a documentary called Food, Inc (it’s on Netflix Instant) and we are now taking GIANT steps toward eating only whole foods and as much organic food as possible. No more processed junk full of GMOs and HFCS for us! My favorite healthy fat is coconut oil (from Tropical Traditions). Delicious!
Greta, thanks for your comment! Food, Inc is the grossest, most eye-opening documentary ever! I love Tropical Traditions coconut oil! YUM!
my husband and I have been buying local grown organic food. we have noticed a big differencein our energy levels. 🙂
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Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
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