So, you may be asking, what does this real food pledge entail? Anybody who knows us already probably is aware that we try to make an effort to eat somewhat healthfully by buying fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables and we eat only locally and humanely raised meats and eggs at home (we do eat conventionally-raised animal products at restaurants and at others’ homes occasionally, my husband more so than myself). We are aware of “fake” foods and try not to consume them. However, we could learn much more and do a lot better. One area where I feel rather uneducated is with whole grains and unrefined/refined grains, sugars, and foods. For these 7 days we will be eating only whole grains, no refined sugars (only honey and real maple syrup will be allowed – even my beloved homemade freezer jam which I use to sweeten practically everything will be forbidden due to its tiny amount of added sugar), and no artificial or fake foods. No foods with more than 5 ingredients on the ingredients list (just because most whole foods have few ingredients – there are exceptions to this rule, but for the next 7 days we will be following it.)
I actually don’t think this plan will be terribly difficult to follow, food-wise. Like I said, we are already real-food advocates. We will just have to read a few more labels and ingredients lists, eat less junk food, and make a few minor substitutions in what we already eat (no more freezer jam in my oatmeal, for instance, or no more margarine on grilled cheese sandwiches just because it is easier to spread than butter). The area where it will be more difficult for me to follow will be drink-wise. I drink a lot of fake crap. There is no other way to put it. I love fake sweeteners in drinks. LOVE them. I have very inappropriately strong feelings for Diet Pepsi. This is actually my main reason for wanting to do the challenge: to force myself off of crappy fake drinks for a while. The sad part of all of this is that I actually LIKE real drinks! Coffee, tea, water – I like them all. And I like them unsweetened. Yes, I drink my coffee black, and my tea without honey or sugar. So why do I have such a taste for these horrible fake sweeteners in diet soda and Crystal Light? Yuck! I KNOW it’s gross. I KNOW they’re terrible for me. I hope getting away from them for even 7 short days will help me get away from them for good. During my first semester in college, I brought a 12-pack of Pepsi with me when I moved into my dorm, and by Christmas, I still had a couple cans left. This is who I once was, and who I hope to be again. Wish me luck!
Look at all that wonderful, fresh food! And that Diet Pepsi! Vices!
I feel like I should note that I don’t plan to cut anything out of my diet indefinitely. Everything in moderation, right? However, when decent substitutes for things are available, there may very well be things that I never consume again. Margarine, for instance. I think margarine is disgusting just because it’s a fake food and if I want a butter taste, why not go for the real thing? The absolute only reason we ever purchase this product is for spreading on grilled cheese, because it spreads more easily than butter. It’s a bullshit reason, when you really think about it. We can just leave some butter out of the fridge, then it won’t be hard when we want to spread it (at least in the summer…living in a cold climate sometimes does mean the house is so cold that room temperature isn’t spreadable, either.) But that’s nothing that a little heat or 5 seconds in the microwave can’t fix. So things like that – things that there is really no reason we would ever want them – we may never consume again. But the rest – flour, sugar, even the occasional Diet Pepsi – we will continue to consume after the 7 days are up. It’s just my hope that we will view them as the treats that they are, and not staples.
I think this is great that you're giving it a try. I agree that moderation is a great thing. And this is an educational experience! I've tried for years to ween myself off of stuff, like juices - lemonade out of a box, or orange juice, apple juice, etc. and especially soda. I've tried to switch mainly to water. But it hasn't worked out so well. Sam calls me a water snob since I only drink one brand of water, and its not always easy to find. I've tried to cut back on soda and sometimes I'm successful, sometimes not.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and Greg well with this challenge. I hope you succeed and learn a lot along the way. I'm sure, if anything, as you said, this will force you to think about what you put into your body more and how you feel, etc.
BTW, we buy spreadable butter. Either Land O' Lakes or Challenge make it, they come in tubs and are put in the refrigerator, but you can easily spread it on breads, etc. It's not solid the way stick butter is. But that's also because the butter has either canola or olive oil mixed into it to keep it soft and spreadable even in the refrigerator.
Thanks for the support - it has been a great learning experience so far. For instance, Greg likes to make our scrambled eggs with a little cheese grated in it and some of the Tastefully Simple Spinach-Herb dip mix. We just skipped the dip mix this morning, just assuming it would have at least some type of artificial ingredients. That dip mix actually would be allowed under the real food pledge - it only had 5 ingredients and they were all real- who knew? We also had a McCormicks Salad Supreme mix that had only 4 ingredients and they were all real. The Wyman's chicken boullion was chock-full of unpronounceable stuff, fake color and flavor, etc. So you really do have to look. It's been interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd we'll have to check out the spreadable butter. Today we just nuked it for about 5 seconds and that was fine.