Pantry Purge

I've been pinning, reading, and researching like a mad woman!  I want to educate myself about what I am putting into and onto my body.

It's scary, folks.

Educate yourself.

Did you know that there are banned substances that the FDA allows in our foods?  If they are banned, why are they allowed?

Did you know that most major food companies pay scientists to find ways to make the food they seel more addictive? 

A friend of my recently directed me to a pin from www.rawforbeauty.com that you must see as well.

Here's  challenge: take this list and go to your pantry.  

Pull out the items you use most in your cooking.  See any of these ingredients?

Pull out your go-to snacks for you and your children.  See any?

Surprised to see sugar in EVERYTHING?

It's there!

Get rid of it.  I'm not kidding.

We've been eating mostly sugar free and fairly clean for a few months now.  Look how much more I had to get rid of.  I'll admit, some of it we haven't been eating, it was just sitting in there and I knew it had to go.  But, a lot of it was pretty shocking. 

The amount of HYDROGENATED and PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS was the most shocking for me.

That's TRANS FATS, folks.  The stuff that isn't allowed anymore - it's still there!  It is allowed as long as it can be rounded down to zero on the nutrition label.

I call that a lie.

Don't tell me zero trans fats when you know it's in there.  They may think, "hey, it's .5 grams per serving" but they know most folks have more than a serving size at a time. 

And think on this: If I eat 4 items that have .5 trans fats in them in one day, I'm getting 2 grams of trans fats and my risk of heart disease, cancer, alzheimer's, etc.

Have I ranted enough yet?

I think you get the idea.  

Read the list.  Check your labels.

Re-re-re-re-focusing

My last few posts have been about getting my mojo back, refocusing, and jump-starting myself.

Oops.

I haven't done it.  While I haven't completely fall off the wagon, but I'm barley hanging on with a pinkie finger.  I've exercised about once a week and I've let myself indulge on an almost daily basis.  I haven't stayed low-cal, clean, or even low-carb.

My eating habits are down the drain and so are my exercise habits!

After mentally beating myself up on daily basis and comparing myself to every successful fitness/weight-loss blogger and pinned out there, I have come to a realization.

There's no secret formula.  There isn't one perfect path that everyone should (or can) follow.  There are lots of paths that work for lots of people, but we are all different.

YOU MUST KNOW YOURSELF!

• What activities get your heart beating?  Do you LOATHE running but enjoy tennis?  Then don't run!!!  Go play some tennis!
• What makes you feel strong?  Free weights work for some, but if yoga makes your muscles burn, do some yoga!

What about food?  Does the thought of a Paleo diet make you want to eat an entire chocolate cake?  Then maybe Paleo isn't for you.  But, please don't eat a cake - unless you know what's really in there.

EDUCATE YOURSELF!

I've been reading a book called The End of Overeating.  I'm learning so much about how foods are engineered to become addictive.  You've probably heard the buzz words "obesogens" and "clean eating."  Obesogens are chemicals and processed ingredients in our foods that are making us fat.  Clean eating means you don't eat anything that is processed or unnatural.  I'm aware that this could be a fad, but I'm also making myself more aware of the research that backs these things up.

USE YOUR BRAIN

There are too many diets out there.  Most of them are fads and gimmicks.  If it is too good to be true, it is.  If it promises a rapid weight loss without changing your diet and exercise, it isn't going to work long-term and it isn't healthy.

Don't focus on the scale.  Focus on health and fitness.

If it isn't working for you, then try something else.  

Don't give up.

Ask for help.

That's my two cents - or whatever it's worth. I'm going to keep on keeping on and hope for the best!  This isn't about how I look compared to anyone else.  It isn't about how fast I reach my goal.  This is about treating my body like I would an expensive vehicle - take care of the engine, give it the best fuel, and shine up the exterior!

Clean Eating Goals

So, I'm going to become one of those people.

A clean eater.

When I first heard about clean eating, I thought of it as the latest hippie fad.

Honestly, the more research I do, the more I get on board.

Our country is plagued with crap disguised as food and nutrition.  While these things may be food, they contain little to no nutrition.
What they do contain is chemicals, fake colors and flavors, and a whole lot of mystery about what these things really do to our bodies.
I'm guilty of eating packaged foods that claim being health foods for years.  I was proud of myself for bringing "diet" foods for lunch and heating them up in the microwave!  What was in them?  I'm not really sure.

When I first joined Pinterest, I created a board called Mmmmm where I pinned all of the recipes that interested me.  I tried a few of them for dinner and they were tasty!  But, I had no idea what I was actually putting in my body or feeding my family.

Lots of pasta and bread on this board!

Once I got myself in the right frame of mind, I created a new food board called Healthy Yum.  This is where I started pinning low-carb recipes, then low fat recipes, then recipes that included mostly lean protein and veggies.  Sometimes I pinned recipes here just because it said they were healthy - even though I didn't really know what was in it.  It's time for me to weed through this board and get rid of the "crap" recipes.

Some healthy recipes, some not so healthy!

Now that I've done my homework, I understand more about clean eating.  I am in NO way an expert, but I know where my focus needs to be now.  I've created a board called Clean Recipes where I've started pinning not only recipes, but resources on clean cooking.

Anything looking yummy yet?

Here are some resources if you are interested in clean eating yourself (and you should be):
The Gracious Pantry - Most of my pins are her recipes.
Hungry For Change - I watched this documentary on Netflix.  This is where I was convinced!