Food: the silent killer

Giving credit where credit is due:

This idea is not original to me.  It did not start with me.  I was content with my preservative, processed, diet drink, splenda filled self.  BUT THEN. My niece was born August 12th, 2012, her essence makes this world so much brighter, & I'm not exaggerating when I say that she is the most loved baby. EVER.  Everyone who meets Her Loves her.  She really just is THAT precious.  Well, when this sweet girl was born, my dear sister started doing a lot of reading, and a lot of research, and more reading & more research.  Why in the world would you want to corrupt the body of something as innocent and pure as this sweet little baby???  What she learned, makes me atleast, think twice about what you eat & how it affects our bodies.  I'm not a mommy yet, but one day when I am, it is MY responsibility to make sure that I protect my children from harm, and that includes what I feed them.  I'm not going to lie to you, at first I thought she was going waaaay over board, like one of those weird people you see on TV (love you sister), but then.... (drum roll please) .... I met the love of my life.  I know what you are thinking ...

"WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH FOOD???"

EV-ER-Y-THING.

 See I want my husband to be around for a very.very.very.very.very long time.  Like, I want to grow old and gray with him, and sit in rocking chairs and hold hands all day long when we are 100.  You wouldn't knowingly feed your family poisen would you?  (I truly hope you said NO!) 

 Here's a little back log on my love.  He was diagnosed with high blood pressure when he was 17 years old.  17. YEARS. OLD.  So he went on high blood pressure medication.  Which can cause all other sorts of other problems.  I met him in July of 2011, and from January of that year until he met me he had lost 40 pounds.  (YAY!)  Well, after he met me He lost another 10-15.  And then he stopped losing weight...he wasn't gaining, but he wasn't losing.  His Doctor took him off his medicine (Double YAY!).  Then we got engaged on October 29th, and He moved me into the house we live in now at the beginning of January, 2012, which made us neighbors.  Between January and March 31 (our wedding), he lost another 15 or so pounds.  That's right folks, that's right around 70 pounds. 

So what happened between January and March???

We started eating healthier food choices.  For breakfast we eat either oatmeal (not the instant kind either), fresh eggs, or sometimes grits.  We started packing his lunch, which usually consists of 2 sandwiches made with whole wheat bread (not enriched whole wheat  bread either, which is really still white bread), an orange, banana, yogurt with frozen raspberries & 2 granola bars.  For dinners I began introducing a lot more sauted vegetables then he grew up with.  We also incorporated the motto: "Moderation" in our home.  If you want a cookie then eat a cookie, but stop at 1.    Not only did he lose more weight, and is continuing to lose weight, he also feel 100x better.  He doesn't get that afternoon slum, & he doesn't get headaches nearly as much as he used to.  Now.  I realize that his diet still contains quite a bit of processed foods.  Deli meats are FULL of sodium and preservatives, and we still use splenda in our coffee in the mornings, well I am working on aquiring the taste for black coffee, but that's a work in progress. 

I want to back up a second and discuss eggs.  I love eggs.  I have always loved eggs.  I ate so many eggs as a child (breakfast & lunch, and I would have eaten them for dinner if my parents had allowed me to) that I developed an allergic reaction to them and my parents had to limit my egg consumption.  True Story.  Ask my mom.  The eggs you buy at the store are ANCIENT, I've heard (I haven't researched this out myself, so this is hearsay) that by the time eggs reach a store, they are 6-8 weeks olds, that's not evening taking into consideration the environment that the chickens are raised in.  I work with a lovely young women who is able to get me fresh farm eggs from her parents when I need them...I cracked a farm egg next to a store bought egg, the comparison is astounding.  I was getting eggs for my sister as well and  my sweet niece got used to eating fresh eggs, she LOVES eggs (just like her aunt!).  Well, my sister ran out of farm eggs and got store bought eggs.  Pay attention to what I'm going to say next.  When my sister went to scramble her up those old, crappy, store bought eggs, sweet Isa refused to eat them.  An 18 month old toddler has enough of a pallette to know that there is a different and SHE.DID.NOT.LIKE.IT.  Fresh is better.  Go find you someone who raises chickens and get some fresh eggs.  It will change your life. 

Anyways.  Then another woman that I work with starting "eating clean".  She was already thin, but she has lost 20 pounds by eating only foods that are not processed.  Her definition of processed is "if it come from a bag or a package, don't eat it."  No breads, pastas, deli meats, cheese etc.  She eats yogurt, fruit, vegetables (fresh or frozen), fresh meats, nuts, beans, etc.  And she also feels 100 times better.  Well this really grabbed my attention...

So I started doing a lot of reading, and a lot of researching.  And I learned a lot of interesting things.  Google it.  "eating without processed foods"  you will find a plethra of websites and blogs dedicated to it.  As I learn more about it, I will blog about my findings... 

What I have decided to do...

I decided that I am going to go 7 days of eating No processed foods.  Today was day one.  My definition of unprocessed foods is this: any thing that I could reasonably make in my own kitchen, or have easy access to the ingredient.

Breakfast:

Almonds & raisens (no sugar added, just dried grapes)

Snack:

carrots, celery, peppers, hummus

Lunch:

A Salad with Chicken, romain, onions, mushrooms, carrots, peppers & a little oil and vinegar dressing.  YUM

Snack:

Apple, orange, banana (I was hungry ok???)

Dinner:

Roasted chicken (I roasted one in my crockpot, it turned out great!)

Dessert:

Frozen grapes

Well...this is enough for tonight.  Tomorrow is a long day, including a dentist appointment, which I am not looking forward to,  I will continue this tangent sometime soon.