Healthy Family
I meant to post this on Monday, but now it’s Thursday and I’m just now getting the chance to sit down and type it up!
Our Mission Towards a Healthy Family- The Catalyst
I turn 30 in late August and I am simply not ready.
I am not at my goal weight (far from it!).
I’ve lost a decent amount of weight before (using Weight Watchers…GREAT program):
- Before
- After 40 lbs lighter (not at goal…but I got pregnant not long after this) : People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
This time, I wanted to really get down to the root of my problems. No quick fixes. I wanted to learn about nutrition and health, not the latest fad diet (Weight Watchers is NOT a fad diet, I just lost enthusiasm for it).
I want a healthy family, and since I consider myself the nutritional gatekeeper of this family, it starts with me.
How to have a healthy family: My Research
I’ve been reading a lot about nutrition and I’ve been really convicted to live a healthier lifestyle. Not just for myself, but to have a healthy family as well.
Some books/films that have been huge eye openers for me were (all films are available on Netflix right now):
- In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
- Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
- The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet
- The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health – And What You Can Do to Take Control Now
- Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
- Forks Over Knives (documentary)
- Food Inc (documentary)
- Fat Sick & Nearly Dead (documentary)
As you can see, I’ve read quite a bit of conflicting information!
In one corner, we have your very strict gluten free diet. No gluten at any time. If you go gluten free, you must do so whole heartedly. This means in some cases you even need to get rid of your previously gluten “tainted” cutting boards and appliances! (The Gluten Connection) Here’s a fascinating article about why so many are hopping on the gluten free train lately and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In the other corner, we have the argument for a whole foods plant based diet. Grains and gluten are allowed, but the argument is made (quite convincingly I might add) that plants in general should make up the majority of your diet. (In Defense of Food, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead)
Finally…standing in corner #3, we have your Paleo diet. Meat and fat are totally okay. Awesome even. Veggies and fruits…those are awesome too. Grains? Well those are iffy depending on who you are reading. Dairy is kind of a no no.(The Paleo Solution, Nourishing Traditions, Eat Fat Lose Fat)
Where Do I Stand? What’s my Healthy Family Plan?
As usual, I’m in corner #4.
Not fully committing to anyone’s specific plan, because I think a healthy family should forge their own path!
What I have done is taken bits and pieces of the information I’ve read (and viewed) and formed my own Healthy Family eating plan:
- Bye Bye to white flour, sugar and rice. I’m not going to say I’ll never again consume these products, but it will be the exception and never the rule. This has not been difficult for us, because we’ve been transitioning over this way for some time now. This means brown rice, whole wheat flour, stevia and turbinado sugar (the sugars are still throwing me for a loop though…mainly when it comes to baking. I have been using pure maple syrup and honey a LOT though).
- Use REAL butter. Use REAL cheese. Use REAL organic whole milk. That diet stuff wasn’t really doing us any favors anyways. Plus, I find that we can all actually consume smaller portions naturally when we use the real stuff. It’s just more filling and more enjoyable!
- Organic whenever possible. I have a whole series entitled Living Healthy on a Budget on Family Friendly Frugality. The most painful item for me to purchase organic is chicken. Chicken HURTS. It’s very pricey to purchase Organic Chicken! ANY tips you might have to help with this would be MUCH appreciated.
Fat is my friend. Scratch that…the RIGHT fats are my friend. That means we are utilizing olive oil and coconut oil and saturated fats on a daily basis. I won’t get into why saturated fat is not the devil, and trans fats are…but pretty much every single book I have linked to will scare you off trans fats for good. The best part is that whole eggs and bacon are part of our diet and that’s totally okay.- Veggies and fruits, veggies and fruits. They are essential and they are the star (you see that? Bold, italicized AND underlined). This is the hardest part for me and my family! We’re working on it though. Luckily the “fat” rule makes the veggie rule a bit easier. Most veggies taste great with a bit of butter or olive oil!
Finally, we’re aiming for 80% compliance with our Healthy Family eating plan.
We like to eat out. We like to have treats and we are a busy family. So aiming for 100% compliance is simply not feasible at this time. Maybe one day it will be? Who knows?
The Results? Are we a healthy family?
I’ve felt REALLY good about the meals I’ve cooked for my family lately.
I’ve felt REALLY good about the renewed energy I feel and the fact that we’ve been more active as a family lately.
I’ve felt REALLY good about my own personal fitness strides (I’m currently participating in this arm challenge, this 30 day BodyRockTV challenge and also working on our exercise bike
This will likely be tweaked here and there, but for now? This is our plan to work towards a healthy (healthier?) family and we’re doing great on it!
We deserve to be a healthy family. Your family does too!
What are you doing to keep yourself healthy?
Talk to me in the comments, I am always open to hearing about what works for other families as well!
What are you doing to ensure you have a healthy family?
Disclosure: I am a compensated affiliate for Weight Watchers and some of the other links in the post as well.
Love this! I ordered my coconut oil this week. 🙂
I think you are right on about finding what works for your individual family…no one plan will work for everyone and it’s silly for people to claim that!
Looking forward to some yummy recipes from you…. 😉
You are going to love the coconut oil! Here’s what I’ve used it for so far:
1. cooking and baking (obviously)
2. My skin
3. The kids skin
4. “straight up”
5. in my hair as both a deep conditioner AND a teeny bit to add shine
There’s probably more stuff too. It’s awesome!
I am also trying to help my family develop healthier eating habits. I have become a big fan of 100daysofrealfood.com. I try to follow most of her principles which are very similar to what you have. So far we haven’t made the switched to all whole wheats and grains but as we run out I’m not buying more and instead buying brown rice and whole wheat flour and such. In fact I made a dish the other day with wild and brown rice that my husband LOVED! I was very surprised since he has been somewhat resistant to this change because I’m know for not following through with things. I can’t count the numbers of diets and fads ive tried to help me lose weight. But this isn’t about me losing weight. It’s about me being here for my husband and 2 year old son and feeling good about the things I cook/give them to eat. So far just by cutting out a lot of the overly processed foods I’ve lost a few pounds and feel better which is an added bonus.
Question: you said you use coconut oil for “straight up”. What do you mean?
I love that blog as well! Honestly I cannot read the comments though. Alot of the comments are so critical and rude! I like the content though.
Amen to getting healthier. The weight loss will follow!
Straight up means…plain. I know, gross! But there are SO many health benefits and I’ve read a lot of literature that states a tablespoon (or more) a day of coconut oil can be so beneficial to your health. That said, it just got too difficult for me to take it that way. So now I just cook with it!
I’ve heard that about coconut oil. I just can do it that way! I’ll keep it in my foods and on my skin 🙂 Have you heard of Ezekiel bread? I don’t care for most wheat breads so it’s hard for me to do those but I really like Ezekiel bread and I love that it the bread God directed us to eat. Anyway, I look forward to more posts about your family’s lifestyle changes! Thanks for all the work you put in!
That’s almost exactly my nutrition plan as well. I do try to avoid gluten but I still eat sprouted grain bread and whole grain pasta. I tried rice pasta and it was disgusting.
Coconut oil: try it on your toast with just a touch of salt, or melted on popcorn. Those are my two favorite ways to eat it. I LOVE using it as a moisturizer but it takes forever to absorb and I don’t have time to wander around the house naked for half an hour.
Do you have any recipes you can share? I’m always looking for new ones that fit this lifestyle and it can be difficult!
I’m in corner #4 with you, girl. Could almost write this word for word. My diet drama started here: http://momtomanygirls.com/2012/05/diets-get-a-bad-rap/. Nothing changes overnight. I think it totally unfair that a scoop of ice cream, that takes 2 minutes to eat, has about 200 calories, while 30 minutes of walking at 3 mph and sweating a river burns less than 100 calories. How can that be?
Ugh, I totally agree!