It's come to my attention that I need to follow up my "Why I diet" post with the answer to the question "What on earth DO you eat?" It's really not a hard question to answer because it's not like I eat weird things. It's the why that gets complicated, but I'll try to answer both.
Put simply, I eat foods the way God gives them to us instead of the adulterated way that they are presented to us from the grocery stores. I don't eat artificial anything and I don't eat natural foods that have been destroyed. Here's a look at the things we avoid:
-white refined sugar (It's loaded into foods in such great amounts that it really disturbs our bodies intestinal balance. And, it's refining process strips it of any benefit.)
-white refined flour (It's processed in such a way as to rob it of any possible nutritional content. Also, without being sprouted, even whole wheat isn't absorbed by our bodies the way it should be.)
-hydrogenated oils (Poison to our bodies.)
-artificial colors & flavors (including anything with unpronouncable ingredients)
-meat (and dairy & eggs) laden with hormones and antibiotics and meat that is raised on an unnatural diet (While the meat industry would have you believe that they are raising healthy meat, I believe these additives and unnatural circumstances create meat that is harmful to us)
-MSG (poison...a neurotoxin)
-pesticide-laden produce (Especially on those things that are shown to be high in pesticide residues & can't be peeled.)
-pork (It's an unclean animal in the Old Testament law for a reason! They really are unclean animals & their stomachs do not clean the food they eat like cows' multi-stomach system does. As a result, the meat in their bodies is not as clean as the meat in cows.)
-Farm-raised fish (Their meat is not as clean or healthy as wild-caught, and they often get antibiotics in addition)
-caffeine
Now, what DO we eat?
-Lots of fresh & frozen organic fruits & veggies. It's nearly impossible to find everything organic, but I do NOT buy things like apples & strawberries unless they are organic. I do, however, buy nonorganic bananas, oranges, pineapple, etc.)
-Raw honey and stevia (an extract from a plant) are our two sweeteners. Honey is the main one. Yes, it's sugar & yes, it's high in calories, but it's full of "good guys" that even help our bodies fight allergies. We use it in moderation, though.
-Sprouted grains. Our bread & tortillas are Ezekial 4:9 brand. They are made from many different grains, legumes and seeds that have all been sprouted so that our bodies can actually USE the nutrients that they hold.
-Grass-fed beef (and milk & cheese) without hormones or antibiotics. Fed their natural diet, beef is a clean, healthy meat.
-Free-range chicken (and eggs) without hormones or antibiotics. Again, they need to be eating what chickens are SUPPOSED to eat for them to be healthy. Their nutritional content really is different.
-Whole foods. Since packaged products are virtually eliminated from our "avoid" list, we eat foods that ARE the ingredients, instead of HAVING ingredients themselves. That means I cook a chicken and save the broth, instead of buying a can of broth. I make a salad dressing (4 ingredients) instead of buying Kraft.
-Olive oil when it won't be cooked, coconut or sesame oil when I'm cooking. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, but it's a natural fat and shouldn't be lumped together with, say, Crisco, when deciding whether saturated fat is good or bad. It's a natural fat and is actually very good for us.
-Wild-caught deep-ocean fish
Anyway, that pretty much sums it up. These questions, however, inevitably lead to another question. "How do you get your kids to eat this stuff?" Honestly, our house is empty of anything else, so what else would they eat? We started early teaching them to eat what they are given without complaint. And, they are not really too picky as a result. They each have a food or 2 that makes their skin crawl (which we do not require them to eat) but they have never been allowed to refuse food just because they don't "prefer" it. And, yes, I also eat foods that I'd not "choose" (broccoli!!) but are good for me. But, actually, they love eating like this. They don't feel deprived in the slightest. They "cheat" when at Sunday school or AWANA. But, they don't feel like they are missing out because they still get sweets (honey on their toast & in their oatmeal, honey sweetened cookies, and lots of fruit!). They also understand that we eat this way because we want to take good care of the bodies God has given us.
I rely heavily on my crockpot for 2 reasons. One, it's the easiest way to throw in a meat, some veggies and some liquid and get a delicious meal. It doesn't require lots of "ingredients" like a casserole would. It's the best meal for the least time investment. It's simple, whole foods that makes a nutritious, tasty meal. Two, it keeps my kitchen cool in the summer. I avoid using the oven like the plague in the summer. I only use it on Saturdays (when electricity is cheaper since the A/C will have to work harder) to make things like zucchini bread or granola.
So, that's our eating in a nutshell. I don't evaluate foods based on fat grams or calories. I evaluate it on whether it's been tampered with or if it's in the condition it was when God gave it to us for food. And, it seems to be working!
No comments:
Post a Comment