Cleaning Out My Diet

So,  I'm a little nervous to write about this topic because I know I am going to fail. But, I want to share my journey with you.

Before I get started, I just want to say that on my blog I never want you to feel like I'm saying that my way of thinking is the "best way" or even the "right way." I believe each person has to come to decisions on their own. However, my blog is a place for me to share my thoughts and my journey through life. 

I shared at the beginning of the month how I read the book 7: an experimental mutiny against excess. I also shared how this book really changed my perspective about a lot of things. Well, one of those things was how I eat. 

On page 36 of the book, Jen Hatmaker quotes a study from EurekAlert stating some disturbing facts. 

U.S. life expectancy was projected to rise indefinitely, but a new study suggests that this trend is going to reverse itself due to the rapid rise in obesity. Our kids are the first generation in the history of America that has a shorter life span than their parents.

I also heard this fact when I watched the documentary Food, Inc. 

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Our Western Diet basically includes:

• highly processed food
• chemicals used to raise plants and animals
• massive consumptions of fast food
• absence of fruits and vegetables
• a tiny handful of crops, such as wheat, corn, and soy

(Seriously, watch Food, Inc. and all of this will make sense.)

So, I felt convicted. I don't feel like this is the way God intended for us to eat. 

Genesis 2:16: "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.'"

God gave man plants for food.

After Adam and Eve sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, God cursed them.

 Genesis 3 starting at the end of verse 17 and going to the beginning of verse 19: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food."

An interesting thought was given to me by someone else. In the same way, there is now some ways around some of women's curse of pain during childbearing, men also do not toil in the field for our food. We don't have to work and sweat just to have food to eat. We go to the grocery store and pick it up. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to give up meat and only eat plant based foods. I don't know if I could do that. I just know that God gave us food by nature. I believe that is the food we're intended to eat. 

I also feel that changing my diet will help me to be an overall healthier person which I would hope would prevent me from dealing with certain diseases and illnesses as I age. I also would hope to pass along good habits to my future children to help them be in good health as well. 

I don't want to spend this whole post listing my reasons for wanting to change my diet. If you're interested in reading more reasons to cut out processed food, 100 Days of Real Food has a great list here. 

Along with having reasons to cut out processed foods, I also have plenty of reasons not to. My number one reason is convenience. It's SO much easier to just eat whatever. My second reasons is taste and the fact that I am a very picky eater. 

So, please know that this is going to be hard for me. I love food. It's quite obvious in the weight I've gained in the last few years. However, I know that my health and future is more important than all of that. I feel like if I take it slow and make it a lifestyle change rather than a quick "fad," I can succeed. 

I don't think I can ever be 100% real food. I think I'd be happy with 75-80%. 

Here is my plan for the first phase towards better eating:

1. Buy grass fed meat. 

I have found a couple of places where I can buy this and we also have deer meat during part of the year. 

2. Eat fruits and vegetables every day.

The number of fruits and veggies I like is very limited. I'm going to have to branch out and learn to like new things. I'm also going to have to learn to cook new things.

3. Switch to whole grain.

I found a bakery nearby that sells bread made from whole grain. When it comes to pasta, I think I'm going to have to start with a 50/50 mix. Lee is not on board with the whole grain thing. 

4. Limit snacks.

I want to have a very small handful of processed items that I snack on. Most of my snacks need to be things I've made from natural ingredients. 

5. Eat out less.

For us, it is sometimes necessary to eat out. I don't know if we can ever truly cut it out completely. I want to work on only eating out when necessary and making wiser food choices when we do have to eat at a restaurant. 

6. Begin reading ingredients labels.

I want to begin to try and buy things with less ingredients. I also want to try and cut out as much high fructose corn syrup as possible. 

I know this may seem like a lot, but I'm already doing several of these things. I also don't plan on switching to a new phase until these things are coming pretty naturally. 

If you're interested in knowing more about eating real food, 100 Days of Real Food is a great website to get you started. There are also several documentaries out there including the one I mentioned earlier. I also started a Real Food Pinterest board and a Real Food Recipe Pinterest board. 

 I know I've seen several bloggers recently posting on this topic. I'd love to know your tips or where you get information or recipes from. Do you have any book, documentary, or website suggestions?