Staging a Kitchen Revolution
My sister recently gave me a copy of Dr. Sears' book The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood, which is what I read this week.
The result? I'm staging a revolution in my kitchen. I'm debating the placards and banners to use, but I'm pretty sure the content is going to be along the lines of...
DEATH to High Fructose Corn Syrup!
Kill your Hydrogenated FATS!
BAN artificial FOOD!
Kill your Hydrogenated FATS!
BAN artificial FOOD!
Yes, I'm a vegetarian. I have been for a decade. But I once prided myself on being the planet's lowest maintenance vegetarian. I wasn't a health nut by any means. And then I had the Boy.
Funny how he changes everything.
The thing is, what I may not care about for myself, I care about A LOT for him. I want him to be healthy. He's pretty well doomed by his genetics for diabetes and high blood pressure--but I can hold it off for a while by teaching him to eat real food.
So among other things, I cleaned out my pantry. Mrs. Butterworth has been removed from the premises. The Nutragrain bars are in the trash. Bye-bye Nilla Wafers, you were delicious but I value my health (and my sanity) more than your crispy vanillaness. And those fruity puffs for kids? Yeah, those were tossed along with the rice rusks. There's NO nutrition in any of that. And it doesn't resemble real food. It's effectively teaching him that fruit should be crispy and puffed and that's not FRUIT.
Instead? I stocked up on low-fat plain organic yogurt. I bought tons of frozen fruit for smoothies. I picked up fish which we started incorporating into Chris' and the Boy's diet yesterday. I loaded up on fresh veggies for salads and snacks. I bought flax seed and quinoa just for fun!
Yesterday for lunch the Boy had white beans cooked in garlic and Italian herbs with a spoonful of whole milk ricotta cheese and some lemon juice, on the side he had some whole wheat Melba toasts. He's loved it before and yesterday was no different, he slurped it right up. I had the same bean mixture with whole wheat pasta and Parmesan--it was like a healthier version of cream sauce. For dinner we had salmon sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper and some stir fried zuccini with peppers and onions. It was AWESOME. This morning I had a mixed berry smoothie with yogurt and ground flax seed. Mmmmm. I love a smoothie.
I know. It's so HARD. The same old argument. Chris even said it to me in the grocery store when I flipped over a box of Wheat Thins only to discover high fructose corn syrup. I banished them to the store shelves, and turned on him. I said, "No. It's not really hard. It's inconvenient. All of these foods--they're convenient foods. But the thing is, [the Boy] is not convenient. Being his mother is not convenient. Being an adult is NOT convenient. And if I'm already inconvenienced by my life, I may as well go the full Monty and be REALLY inconvenienced." At which point the conversation sort of degenerated, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Moving on!
The thing is. I'd rather put myself out to make wholesome food for him (and for US), than have to drive him to 4 frillion doctors appointments later on. And there's no guarantee that I still won't have to do that--but real, whole foods is a place to start.
But it's so EXPENSIVE. Yes. We've shifted money from our Health Insurance pay out (Chris will get better converage through his job and have to pay out less per month) to our Grocery Budget. I think it's well worth the investment. According to Dr. Sears, studies have shown that kids who eat healthier have fewer colds, flus, tummy woes and other infections. And that's to say nothing of dramatically reducing the risk of juvenile diabetes, obesity and early onset of heart disease.
But. Chris.
Yes. Chris. The man loves junk food. Krystals, Chick-fil-A, biscuits and gravy, anything FRIED, BBQ, everything dipped in MAYONNAISE, Vive le High Fructose Corn Syrup! He has a whole relationship to questionable food products that I do not understand.
We have a deal. He's giving me free rein for 3 months. I do all the shopping and meal planning for 3 months and he eats what I make and if he doesn't feel any better at the end of it, then he gets to go back to what he's eaten for nigh unto 30 years. BUT! If he does feel better at the end of the 3 months, then we stay on our chosen track. Which, I am that SURE that he'll be able to feel a difference. He already eats tofu with me, people, the rest will be fairly easy. And we're both committed to setting the example for the Boy. We both want him to develop healthy tastes, so we're willing to sacrifice our own bad food habits to help him to form good ones.
Today I had to pass up Mayfield's Brown Cow ice cream and I thought I would cry, right there in the freezer section. But it has high fructose corn syrup in it and I don't want diabetes. So it's staying in the freezer section and I'm moving on to produce.
Funny how he changes everything.
The thing is, what I may not care about for myself, I care about A LOT for him. I want him to be healthy. He's pretty well doomed by his genetics for diabetes and high blood pressure--but I can hold it off for a while by teaching him to eat real food.
So among other things, I cleaned out my pantry. Mrs. Butterworth has been removed from the premises. The Nutragrain bars are in the trash. Bye-bye Nilla Wafers, you were delicious but I value my health (and my sanity) more than your crispy vanillaness. And those fruity puffs for kids? Yeah, those were tossed along with the rice rusks. There's NO nutrition in any of that. And it doesn't resemble real food. It's effectively teaching him that fruit should be crispy and puffed and that's not FRUIT.
Instead? I stocked up on low-fat plain organic yogurt. I bought tons of frozen fruit for smoothies. I picked up fish which we started incorporating into Chris' and the Boy's diet yesterday. I loaded up on fresh veggies for salads and snacks. I bought flax seed and quinoa just for fun!
Yesterday for lunch the Boy had white beans cooked in garlic and Italian herbs with a spoonful of whole milk ricotta cheese and some lemon juice, on the side he had some whole wheat Melba toasts. He's loved it before and yesterday was no different, he slurped it right up. I had the same bean mixture with whole wheat pasta and Parmesan--it was like a healthier version of cream sauce. For dinner we had salmon sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper and some stir fried zuccini with peppers and onions. It was AWESOME. This morning I had a mixed berry smoothie with yogurt and ground flax seed. Mmmmm. I love a smoothie.
I know. It's so HARD. The same old argument. Chris even said it to me in the grocery store when I flipped over a box of Wheat Thins only to discover high fructose corn syrup. I banished them to the store shelves, and turned on him. I said, "No. It's not really hard. It's inconvenient. All of these foods--they're convenient foods. But the thing is, [the Boy] is not convenient. Being his mother is not convenient. Being an adult is NOT convenient. And if I'm already inconvenienced by my life, I may as well go the full Monty and be REALLY inconvenienced." At which point the conversation sort of degenerated, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Moving on!
The thing is. I'd rather put myself out to make wholesome food for him (and for US), than have to drive him to 4 frillion doctors appointments later on. And there's no guarantee that I still won't have to do that--but real, whole foods is a place to start.
But it's so EXPENSIVE. Yes. We've shifted money from our Health Insurance pay out (Chris will get better converage through his job and have to pay out less per month) to our Grocery Budget. I think it's well worth the investment. According to Dr. Sears, studies have shown that kids who eat healthier have fewer colds, flus, tummy woes and other infections. And that's to say nothing of dramatically reducing the risk of juvenile diabetes, obesity and early onset of heart disease.
But. Chris.
Yes. Chris. The man loves junk food. Krystals, Chick-fil-A, biscuits and gravy, anything FRIED, BBQ, everything dipped in MAYONNAISE, Vive le High Fructose Corn Syrup! He has a whole relationship to questionable food products that I do not understand.
We have a deal. He's giving me free rein for 3 months. I do all the shopping and meal planning for 3 months and he eats what I make and if he doesn't feel any better at the end of it, then he gets to go back to what he's eaten for nigh unto 30 years. BUT! If he does feel better at the end of the 3 months, then we stay on our chosen track. Which, I am that SURE that he'll be able to feel a difference. He already eats tofu with me, people, the rest will be fairly easy. And we're both committed to setting the example for the Boy. We both want him to develop healthy tastes, so we're willing to sacrifice our own bad food habits to help him to form good ones.
Today I had to pass up Mayfield's Brown Cow ice cream and I thought I would cry, right there in the freezer section. But it has high fructose corn syrup in it and I don't want diabetes. So it's staying in the freezer section and I'm moving on to produce.
Labels: strong opinions
posted by M @ 8:00 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Wow. I am so impressed. Three cheers from your registered dietitian friend! Yay for feeling better! Yay for eating of REAL food! I could go on, and on, and on, but that's technically what I do everyday for my job, so I will refrain.
Still.
Good for you guys!
Do you think, perhaps, you could also start a food blog with your recipes? I salivated all over my computer while reading this post. I agree that healthy eating can be more inconvenient and expensive, but anything worthwhile requires more effort AND your health is worth the investment.
when i went to visit sherry two years ago, she had just read the book and we heard "red light food" frequently!! i was intrigued and felt as motivated as you when i got home and read it myself. russ, thankfully, was deployed at the time, so we got to implement all our strict nutriment requirements without his grumbling - when he came back there wasn't a trace of his old stuff - i told him if he needed one of those nasty waxy donuts or a fast food burger that he was welcome to - but away from the kids - truly - i was trying to teach them and needed his support. i have to say (now that it's been years), that jane, who was the youngest at the time, eats the most diverse array of food, but that they are all very healthy, and when they get sick it's for an amazingly short duration. and i agree with the lameness of not eating the wheat thins, ice cream, etc...but all of a sudden you find (after the first 3 hr trip back to the store to read labels) new foods you hadn't tried before that have healthy ingredients. all i can say is: BREYERS. :) and when you try a soda or a popscicle after two years of not - EW GROSSIE.
Good for you! I had the same thought when Fussbot started eating real food. I was appalled at the high fructose corn syrup that was in so many foods (and in so many baby foods) and the added sugars that were in foods that would have been sweet natrually. Good for you! I'd love to hear how it goes the next few months.
Can I add for traveling when fresh
Fruit isn't as viable an option, to
Try trader joe's freeze dried fruit?
Also their dried fruit, no sulphur,
No added sugar. Also perfect for
Plane travel when a fresh nana would
Get squished.
Go you! Seriously. I love Dr. Sears. I need to get this book.
Also, so Chris got a job?! Exciting! Moving is hard but I'm sure you will do great in the new place. Miss you!
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