Road to Healthy Eating 1

This is a follow-up to a post I wrote earlier this week.  Since January 6th or so we have been doing the  100 Days of Real Food: 14 Week Mini Challenges. The Big Guy and I have both been trying to loose weight. I wanted to get a better handle on my food allergies and food issues. 100 Days of Real Food is not a diet or weight loss program. It is about eating healthier foods and reducing processed foods/junk. A plus is that eating less junk and making healthy choices has helped with weight loss.It’s that making smarter food choices thing.

Since the beginning of January I’ve already lost about 10 pounds.  We haven’t strictly followed the 100 Days of Real Food rules. I’ve made modifications as needed to fit us. I decided the mini-challenges were much easier to start with than jumping in the deep end of all  the real food pool. I had intended to chronicle progress but I’m kind of behind. This is summary of our progress:

Week 1: Fruits and Vegetables — Eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.

Is was fairly easy to include 2 servings of fruits or vegetables in each. Breakfast was difficult unless the juice from my favorite bean counts as a vegetable.  So does coffee count as vegetable juice. I try to buy local produce as much as possible. I buy as much through the local farmer’s market and have been using many of the same farmers for about 10 1/2 years.  While it may not be certified organic I am able to talk to the growers, who also eat what they grow.  One thing we have tried this week is making our own trail mix for snacks. I keep a big tub on the counter and pack a bag for each of us to take to work. This really helps control my snacking.

Mini-Pledge Week 2: Real Beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).

So we are still doing week one and have added week two. I don’t follow this one as closely. I do allow 1 soda with real sugar on weekdays. That is my reward for making to lunch time. As for the juice some weeks we drink more than one cup a week and sometimes we don’t.  The Big Guy drinks those Bolthouse Farms type drinks. I prefer Simply Juice.  For coffee I’m using organic 1/2 and 1/2, which doesn’t cost much more the the regular 1/2 and 1/2.  Since I don’t like to use granulated sugar in my coffee, its a texture thing. I have experimented with both honey and maple. I really like the taste of maple.  Also, I’m still using Sucanat for tea. Another change I have made is I still make homemade lemonade.