My family spent the weekend in Portland visiting my adorable 90 year old Grandma! What a blessing and special time to be with her. She is the most amazing person and we love every minute with her! We stayed at a hotel and had to eat out. Always interesting for someone eating Autoimmune Paleo but that is not my point. It is a great opportunity to talk about food with my kids. My middle guy is taking AP Human Geography this year and they just watched an awesome video about GMO corn which most corn is. It was so interesting to see what he is learning about it in his class. Making him think twice about the corn products he eats. This conversation was started because we were looking at the labels on the jam that was at the table (you know, the gross jam in the little packets that is oh so good!). One of the ingredients is Modified Corn Starch. So he talked about where that corn came from and the chemicals involved in creating it. The most interesting thing to me is the "All Natural" label. It contacting floors me the number of people who see something that says all natural and truly believe it is a clean, healthy product. How often do you read the labels on the food you buy?
As we talked about last time, the best bet is to buy food without label but every so often we are all going to eat something with a label. How often do you stop to read them? To compare the ingredients for different brands of the same products? I do not think I have ever found a product that claims to be all natural that actually is all natural. I don't know the laws on this so need to research some more but I don't buy it! I hear all the time . . isn't it great? Its all natural. Then you read the label and it has junk in it. Unfortunately we are at a day in age that we have to be our own advocates in our healthcare and our nutrition. We have to take the time to read the labels on the food we eat and really assess the value.
As you are shopping, just turn the product over and check out the label. Does it contain ingredients you are willing to put in your body? Your kids body? This is a process. Please know, we have goldfish in our house and kraft mac and cheese. We are slowly changing and transitioning. Though I do not eat any of this, my kids are learning. The easter bunny brought baskets full of snacks and candy. We allow them to eat these things. We talk about them, we discuss the pros and cons, and we let them make some choices about food. I want to be very careful to educate in a healthy way where they feel like they make good choices for themselves vs being that dictator parent and they go crazy when not at home. Now that we have a driver (and almost a 2nd driver!) they like to drive through Dairy Queen and get a treat once in awhile. It's ok! The interesting thing to me is that they start to relate food they eat with how they feel. The hard part for me is I need to let them learn from those tough moments. But, I would so rather they learn now then head to college with no skills and knowledge.
So, what do you take from this? Start slowly, educate yourself to know what you are buying. It takes time and that is ok. The more you know, the more you will be excited to eliminate toxins and chemicals from your foods. Maybe print the dirty dozen list and make sure those things you purchase organic. You don't have to eat everything organic, some things are much more important than others. You will be super frustrated if you try to change everything all at once. One thing at a time will make you feel better and will not overwhelm you. I can't wait to hear what you decide to tackle! Everyone has a different journey and I love that we can share how we each consider our journey to wellness. Cheers to a healthy and fit week!
