Recently I've been pondering a lot about diet. Thanks to my friend Michelle's Slim Down for Summer Challenge, I've lost a size mostly as a result of drinking more water and cutting out refined sugars. No change in how much I eat; just haven't baked any cookies in a while.
After reading this article about eczema * in babies being affected by diet, and this article ** about the potential toxicity of sugar, I'm led to wonder if I'm feeding my family as well as I could be.
I used to get my kids trader joe's cereal bars as a "treat" for behaving in the store. 17 grams of sugar per bar! I love prepared foods for making my life easier as a mom; boxed soups from Whole Foods? As much as 12 grams of sugar per serving.
I want my kids to be happy to eat whole foods; I know we all need more fruits and vegetables. So the trick is how to go about getting more of them into our bellies.
* The author's 9 month old had an outbreak of eczema after eating solid foods. She cut out dairy and grains and it went away; she reintroduced the foods after a year.
**The short version: we eat FAR too much sugar as a society. We don't think it's toxic at low levels. Lots of research suggests it's very dangerous.
Should we do double posts in a day? I was gonna post today! ;)
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree and I have no idea. Because unless you actually want it, deep down want it, you wont live like that. I think it's easy to slack off about food because there aren't usually immediate consequences.
I'm good about getting good things into the bellies (usually), it's the limiting junk I have a hard time with.
Go ahead and post today, Kris. We should work out a schedule.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not the best at this...but trying! I guess I'm just working on less and less "processed" foods and more home-made from ingredients that I know where they came from foods. I also think always offering veggies and fruit as an afternoon snack (already cut-up...with a fun dip--hummus, whipped cream, yogurt, etc...) is a good idea and hopefully I can implement this more.
ReplyDeleteI read somehwere that one of the biggest factors is kids watching what their mom's eat...so I guess that means I need to step it up! Also...I like when we remember to always eat a plate/serving of salad before our "main meal" for dinner.
As far as "treats" go. I like making a batch of cookies but freezing the dough. This way I don't eat twenty cookies when I bake them and can limit the number that I eat and my family does too. Just a few ideas of things we're trying to work on...and I'm hoping it will improve when I'm not pregnant anymore (and am not craving all this junk!).
Oh and I forgot to add the real key in my opinion: moderation in all things.
I'm horrible at this and have little motivation to change... :(
ReplyDeleteI was going to say if you end up wanting to post on the same day you can always schedule your post for the next day and it will automatically post for you. I love that feature.
ooh, I totally agree. I went sugar free for 8 weeks once as a RS health challenge, and I had the shakes for a week and HUGE cravings. I had fruit smoothies at night to curb it, and turned to salt for the first while. Then it ended with nuts, and healthy natural snacks-- veggies, tortilla chips/salsa, and it was okay. I'm back and forth still, but saw the youtube video "Sugar the bitter(sweet) truth" and it really impressed me. Way to be.
ReplyDeleteNow we eat more self-made foods and I control the sugar (or honey) amounts. It's just a step, but we've discovered that "real" food tastes better too :)