Week Four: Incorporating Natural Products
This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.
Our family has been making healthy changes for more than just the past year (since I’ve ramped up my fitness routine). Almost three years ago, I took a look at what we were consuming and decided that I really wasn’t okay with some of the things we were eating. Being the normal, over-scheduled family, dinner had become an after-thought. Six days out of seven, I was simply throwing together a pre-processed meal that was far too full of salt for my kidney disorder and all kinds of other not-so-great things for my growing boys.
I began to work on menu planning. I planned it around our paydays, so we shopped for two weeks at a time with bread, milk and fresh produce on the in-between week. The fresh produce, of course, was key. When I started adding fresh fruits and veggies to our meals and snacks, I noticed that the lot of us felt healthier. My oldest son has had some issues with fruits and veggies because of his sensory issues so he gets an added natural fruit drink or a yogurt smoothie with probiotics. Unfortunately, organic fruits and veggies are hard to come by in our area, even in the summer months. I buy what I can when it’s available. However, even just the added fruits and veggies have made a difference.
I also bit the bullet and cut out almost everything with high fructose corn syrup. I was sad because one of my favorite pre-made green tea iced tea drinks was sadly laden with it. Just recently I discovered two iced tea brands made with pure kane sugar. I was thrilled as I can grab one when I’m out on the go for work. When I’m bored with water, I’ve been making some , made with Stevia. I find that the flavor blast kind of perks me up after I get in from a hot, sweaty run. (Running in the summer is so much sweatier than running in the spring.) We’ve also decided to kick it old school and have plain boring oatmeal in the morning with (local!) honey and our choice of dried fruits thrown in. (Though I did find a brand of instant oatmeal that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup. Hooray!)
These more natural ways of eating, drinking and living (we cloth diapered and use natural cleaning products too) have made me feel a bit more secure about our health. There are things that are out of my control, genetics being one of them. My husband and I have every known genetic malady coming at us from all sides, from cancer to diabetes to heart disease and beyond. We decided to make some positive changes with how we live now so that our children have a fighting chance when they are older. The immediate benefits have been great for all of us. I feel great. I feel great knowing that my children are getting healthier foods. I also feel great exposing them to wide and varied types of foods, which is a struggle with a sensory sensitive child.
So, I want to know what you do to make your life a little more natural. Comment here with what foods or products you use to make your life more natural. All entries will be eligible to win a $100 Visa Gift card from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness. Don’t forget to comment on my other posts as well! For more chances to win, visit the Crystal Light Pure Fitness round up pag and hit the official rules if you have questions.This is your last week to enter here so get to commenting!
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I eat lots of whole, unprocessed foods
I love the fruit stands and local farms. The produce is delicious. Berries you eat right out of the basket, apples you eat on the way home. No preservatives.
Going to the farmer’s market for local, fresh, and (often) organic produce. We also switched to all-natural cleaners, and cut out things like HFCS and trans-fats.
I eat whole grain cereal for breakfast and no processed foods for lunch (only veggies and fruits). I love farmers markets and knowing they don’t put any chemicals on their produce or eggs.
We grow all our own organic vegetables and have fresh organic eggs on the farm. You really can taste the difference!
I am being more mindful of what we are eating. There is a local organic health food store that has some great choices of meat. I am cloth diapering the new baby.
Firemom, don’t forget that you breastfeed your boys for their first year. It doesn’t get any healthier than that!
We are doing better at eating healthy. It is hard as the kids are school age and are exposed to so much. They also are offered sweets and junk food at school as rewards. I’ve repeatedly asked the schools to stop letting the kids get a soda as a reward and have seen some changes made. They are also serving 2% milk at school now, but still have that nasty chocolate milk with HFCS
One of these days …
Through careful planning over the past 5 years, I have completely eliminated all packaged foods that contain more than 4 ingredients from our diets (at home and within my control, of course) and find ways to make most of THOSE things from scratch, as well. I am actually pulling my daughter from the school she went to for kindergarten BECAUSE of the lack of response when I voiced my concern that my child was coming home with sacks of candy and cheetos and whatnot for every single birthday, holiday, whatever. It was just too stressful for me and it is too stressful for her growing, developing body/mind to OD on sugar twice a week.
We grow our own veggies, not a lot but it helps out.
Morning! 4 kids + part-time single parent (like you) = PIZZA 4 of 7 nights! We’re not overweight, but we can’t be healthy. Your article is an alarming wake up call! So today’s summer camp snacks will be missing the fruit roll up’s and include a good, old fashioned, APPLE! If I just replace the processed “fruit” products with real fruit, I’ll be taking baby step toward my kids’ healthy future!
Thanks for the article! Kathy A. (Ms. FD911)
I belong to a local farm co-op, and I keep getting all these veggies I’ve never eaten before, like kale, garlic scapes and swiss chard. So it is forcing me to expand my horizons and eat healthy vegetables.
Somehow I missed this post! I too have eliminated nearly all products with high fructose corn syrup, especially those geared towards Widget. I am working harder to make meals from scratch, including side dishes. I used to cop out with the flavored boxed rice but now I either use plain brown rice or make my own spanish rice. The majority of my produce is either organic or local without pesticides, which is much easier now that it is summer
We have switched over all our cleaners to natural products, except our dishwasher detergent (can’t find one that works well enough w/our water and our dishwasher) and our stain remover. I wash in cold water for everything but towels and sheets. If I can find organic cotton clothing, I buy that and I plan to cloth diaper our next child. I also look for more natural toys instead of plastic and am working to switch our body care products to more natural/fewer chemicals used versions.
I had childhood cancer and there is a theory that the form I had could have been environmental in cause, so I have really worked hard to eliminate extraneous chemicals from our lives.
I get all my fruits and veggies from the Farmer’s Market around town during the spring, summer and fall months. I try and avoid processed foods as much as I possibly can. Next year, we will be planting a garden so my kids and can learn how things grow.
I’ve been trying to eat more in-season fresh fruits and veggies. My new favorite breakfast is plain yogurt with a variety of fresh berries – yum!
We buy veggies from a local farm stand, to incorporate more fresh foods!
We are growing our own strawberries
artisticbaker@gmail.com
Name: Sean
Email: Zelpuz77@yahoo.com
We have a garden with some fruit and herbs, so that’s natural
I like to use honey when I bake as a natural sweetner vs processed sugar
mjharvey26 at yahoo dot com
With every lunch that I pack I try to make sure that we have one or two fruits (from a product store or farm) – apple, grapes, mandarin oranges, pineapples, banana etc.
for dinner I like to make sure that we have 1 to 2 veggies like carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, squash, green beans, asparagas or salad.
It helps us keep a healthy balance
Twitter: firemom
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Have a great time!