When I was young, I was the world’s worst eater. Seriously. Think having a Pepsi a few times a day (being 6 years old!), endless bags of chips, candy, and one too many Happy Meals! After so many years of eating this way, I gained quite the sweet tooth and craved foods that were pure carbohydrates and full of fat! Going through school it didn’t seem as big of an issue, but once I got married and starting really cooking, I found it to be very difficult!
My husband on the other hand grew up eating super healthy! His mom is an amazing cook and did everything organic and all from scratch. All things considered, we had some conflicting cravings and ideas of what we should be eating on a day to day basis.
When I was pregnant with my first daughter I chose to go with a home birth midwife , and in my opinion that’s where things really starting changing for our growing family. She was so great at informing me about what I was eating, what I should be eating, and had me keep a journal so I could visualize it all. That planted the seed for me, and I felt the best I had ever felt eating so healthy! It was so great.
From there, the flame kept growing and I looked into all things ” al naturale”/”cruchy” if you will. I researched evertything; natural childbirth, vaccines, medicine, homeopathic remedies, healthy eating, juicing, natural cleaning products, etc.
I have implemented most everything I have researched and felt passionate about. I had Ellie at home with my midwife, had Claire with the same midwife at a birthing center, haven’t vaccinated my girls, very rarely give my family any medication, switched to some natural cleaning products, and started randomly juicing.
By far, the hardest thing for me to follow through on is my eating habits! I do generally make healthy meals and snacks for my family, but when left alone, I make the worst choices for myself. This is something I so desperately want to change. I am not overweight and currently have no medical issues, but I do feel convicted about this issue! I know that my unhealthy choices are totally mood/emotionally based; if I’ve had a hard day or if I don’t feel like making a meal (insert fast food), lack motivation, etc.
I was just telling my husband that it’s important that we change this around primarily for the sake of our girls! While I wouldn’t let them order a (large) coke from Chick-fil-A, I don’t want them to see me regularly indulging in that either. I have learned so much from all my research and I need to put some of this knowledge into action! We have a weekend vacation coming up over Labor Day weekend (isn’t it hard to stick with “healthy” food while on vacation?!) but upon our return, we plan on really buckling up and taking this healthy eating thing seriously. Hopefully I’ll have lots of delicious recipes to share with you guys!
Anyone ever heard of “100 Days of Real Food“? If you haven’t, you should check it out! Such a great website full of amazing resources/recipes. Her website is her family’s journey of cutting our all processed foods. She has two children and has had to change their eating habits as well- which is so helpful because sometimes that’s where I get stumped! She does such a great job showing how she does that too. Along with that blog, I did want to share a few of the other documentaries/websites I’ve found that may be useful to you if you are interested in natural living as well!
Documentaries:
The Business of Being Born- A documentary on natural childbirth.
Food, Inc- A documentary about where our meat comes from and how it’s processed in America.
Food Matters- A documentary about how powerful/healing the right foods can be for your health.
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead- A documentary about one man’s journey through juicing.
Shots in the Dark- A documentary about vaccines.
The Greater Good- Another documentary about vaccines.
Websites:
I also have a wealth of books on this topic that I will add to our Shelfari tab on the sidebar of our blog! Be on the look-out for them 🙂
Can you believe me a hard core vegan was once a fast food junkie too! McDonald’s double cheeseburgers in particular! Great article and good job!
Dalise, I cannot believe that!!! You’re gonna have to tell me all about it soon…I’d love to hear!! 🙂
The recipe for “the best whole chicken in a crockpot” and “overnight chicken stock” on 100 days or real food’s website is so yummy and delicious. happy cooking al naturale friend.