Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Trying to Eat Healthy in An Unhealthy World

The title pretty much sums it all up. I used to be one of those people shopping for food that believed commercials. 

I was so disillusioned. 

So I made a lot of mistakes. I'm going to try and cut out so much processed food out of my diet so I can be healthier....but I will still occasionally treat myself. Because...why not? But I just started reading my food labels and it's appalling how much non-food is in your food. 

I have switched over a couple things recently that I wanted to talk about...just in case it helps someone else.


So first...yoghurt. I love yoghurt. Bonus: It has probiotics so it's healthy for you. Only not the kind I WAS buying. I haven't had it in years because when I lived in Germany I ate German yoghurts. I didn't pay too much to the label but I feel that European countries are more strict about the amount of junk that can be present in the foods. Anyway I used to buy yoplait. Full of fake colors, corn syrup, fake sugars...and half the time they don't contain the fruit flavor they are supposed to be. So now I buy big tubs of plain yoghurt and add honey, fruit (dried or fresh), maple syrup, or something else that's natural and good for you. No little cups for me as those create too much waste.


The next switch I made was to "whole wheat bread". But it wasn't really whole wheat. It was really processed. I bought the Sara Lee Honey Wheat. Then I decided to try the real "wheat breads" after about a year of eating the super processed stuff. Hmm, not bad. Especially when toasted. Eventually I got used to it and now..... I love it. I don't want white bread..EVER. And especially no wonder "bread". I had some of that randomly one day and now can't even stomach it. Yuck!


My favorite brand of wheat bread is Rudi's Bakery. Of course you could bake your own bread...but I haven't even come close to mastering that so for now I'll stick with store-bought. If you can get your hands on sprouted wheat bread that is actually even better for your body. 

Those are two major switches I've made. There are a couple more I want to incorporate. I would like to stop eating eating Miracle Whip. But I love that stuff. Makes the best potato salad and tuna. What's a girl to do? I actually have a recipe for Mayonnaise. Real Mayonnaise. I don't think I've ever made that before.


Oh yes..and Ketchup. If I could find some all natural ketchup or make my own I would be winning! I love ketchup but I would like the avoid the High Fructose Corn Syrup it has in it. 


A switch I made just yesterday was to real maple syrup. Syrup is not really something that should be consumed in excess anyway but Maple Syrup is better for you any day than the Aunt Jemima syrup...which is just High Fructose Corn Syrup with a little artificial flavoring. It tastes so good though!!


And do does sandwich meat. Like Kraft and Oscar Meyer. They preserve it with...Sodium Nitrate. Which probably shouldn't be in your food. And I need to let go of Kraft American Cheese. I would eat that ALL the time. It's not even real cheese!! 


Real cheese and butter= Delicious. Speaking of butter....no margarine, no crisco- just real butter. Which is actually healthy for you. I've been guilty of baking with Crisco every now and again. It said "vegetable oil" on it....so it seemed innocent to me. After researching I found out Crisco has trans-fat. In fact anything hydrogenated does. Bummer.

I almost forgot...no more Ritz crackers! Only whole wheat crackers for me. 

Unfortunately most of these options are a lot more expensive than their cheaper counterparts-BUT I found that beans are cheap. Not canned beans. Beans you cook yourself. No BPA can, high sodium,  and weird preservatives. Cheap and good for you. I'll be on the lookout for some good dinner recipes with good old beans.

Clearly these are a lot of switches I am trying to make...but I'm going to take baby steps. And I can't wait until I get to the point where I actually prefer the healthy stuff. You get used to it, then when you try not so healthy stuff...you hate it. 


Anyway, after telling you all this I'm about to go make a frozen pizza for dinner. Don't judge me. I worked out today and the ingredients in the pizza are very healthy. I said baby steps, didn't I?



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