Just A Night Owl

Category Archives: One Change {food makeover}

My Truth.

Written on April 8, 2013 by just a night owl in Favorite Posts, Health, One Change {food makeover}

I am deeply excited about my health journey. Not because after 2.5 years I still have not reached my goal weight and stayed there. Rather, because I have been running to Jesus to ask Him for help, to learn to know Him better, to live with Him in the number one spot in my life. I have talked many times about Made to Crave. One sentence that stuck out to me in early 2011 when I started this path of being healthy is that ,”It is a spiritual journey, with great physical benefits”. Lysa TerKeurest is, in fact, quite right.

I have been super transparent with this journey and held nothing back. This has brought me support, connection with others, and criticism and while the criticism can be hard, that is o.k. The main thing that God has been reminding me lately, very loud and clear, is that He loves me. He has also been teaching me to keep my eyes upward and not on other people. What may be right for one, may not be right for another. Our struggles are all different.

I have prayed for God’s help for a long time in regards to my health. Then one article I read talked about processed food being created to actually cause us to crave it. Light bulb and a serious oh my gosh moment ensued. So, I am eating food that makes me crave more, overeating it, and then I pray to God for help to not eat it and be healthy. Anyone wanna stand in the freeway and ask God to save us with me? Seriously, it’s pretty much the same thing.

So, FOR ME, I feel like this journey has led me to a permanent change in my food. I was searching for a way to follow a nutrition plan to guide me into that change. I am a straight carb girl and I mean almost 100%. My foods have become more unprocessed and clean over the last year, but still remain a lot of carbs.

After I finished Insanity last year, I panicked. I was tripping out on how to have a plan and not make it my idol or my saving grace. This may sound like a hot mess of crazy, but this is honestly where I have been. I was in search of the thing that would click and make it all work. You know what I have realized in the last month? I have had it all along. It’s Jesus and utter dependence on Him. Whatever tool or plan or program He leads me to to follow, I still need Him to make it work long term. The plans are o.k. How I used them were not.

So, for some sheer honesty…I was getting kind of anxious because I had a fear that somewhere, sometime, someone would point out the amount of effort I have put forth and the lack of outward results that have come from it. The scale is not reflective of the work I have done, but my heart is and no one may be able to see that…yet. I am not going to be quiet about my health because too much good comes from bringing darkness to the light and there has been so much darkness in this area of my life.

I know my truth. I know my Jesus. I know my path.

I recently began a program of 121 days of crazy strict rules. A program designed at its core to teach healthy eating, reset your metabolism, and lose unhealthy weight. There is nothing like removing something from your life to realize its hold on you both emotionally and physically. This program is a perfect fit for me because it is addressing all of my personal vices. This program is a perfect fit because for the remainder of the 121 days I have given up control. That, my friends, is the core of my struggle. This program arrived in my life days after the morning conversation I had with God where I said, “You get it all. I’m all in. Whatever the cost.” It’s almost like He planned it.

Today, I have given my health completely to the Lord and what I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that He made our earthly bodies for His purposes and we are to maintain them for His glory. I have had too many problems over the years with eating disorders, control, yo yo dieting and the like, to think that I can remain divided. These dietary changes I am currently learning through this plan are permanent for me. That is the first time I can say that. They must be. For me.

The change is to eat a diet primarily of things God straight up created all on His own without our help.

He’s a pretty fantastic creator. He did it right. He thought of everything.

He knows what He is doing a million times over.

I. will. trust. Him.

Happy Monday, my lovelies! Have an awesome day!

P.S. the book that my family and I were in a small part of about our food changes has been released! It’s super good You can get your copy here.

ONE CHANGE: Cold Cereal

Written on December 5, 2012 by just a night owl in Health, One Change {food makeover}

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Boxes used to regularly line my pantry shelves of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Mini Wheats, and all varieties of Cheerios. I thought of myself as middle of the road, when it comes to cereal healthiness. I used to teach my kids that Fruity Pebbles and Captain Crunch were desserts and we would treat them as such. So, I thought my choices were good.

Check out this website that grades your food. They don’t seem to address GMO’s or some other additives. However, it is a great starting point. Check out my “healthy” choices, they were all graded C or F. Nice, huh?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch is given a C-

Wheat Whole, Sugar, Rice Flour, Canola Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Fructose, Maltodextrin, Dextrose,Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Cinnamon, Soy Lecithin, Trisodium Phosphate, Caramel Color, Annatto Extract Color, Zinc, Iron, Vitamin C, Niacinimide, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1, Vitamin A,Flavor(s) Natural, Folic Acid (Vitamin aB), Milk Non-Fat, Vitamin B12, BHT To Preserve Freshness, Vitamin D

Frosted Mini Wheats is given an F-

Wheat Whole Grain, Sugar, Blueberry(ies) Flavored Crunchlets (Sugar, Corn Cereal, Soybean(s) Oil, Corn Starch Modified, Water, Flavor(s) Natural & Artificial, Glycerine, Corn Syrup, Red 40 Lake, Blue 2 Lake) , Flavor(s) Natural and Artificial Blueberry, Sorbitol, Gelatin, Iron Reduced, Niacinamide (Vitamin aB), Blue 2 Lake, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (HCL) (Vitamin B6) ,Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) (Vitamin B2) , Thiamin Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Red 40, Folic Acid (Vitamin aB), Zinc Oxide, Vitamin B12, BHT To Preserve Freshness

Frosted Cheerios is given a C+

Oat(s) Whole Grain (Includes Oat(s) Bran) , Sugar, Corn Meal, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Salt,Trisodium Phosphate, Color(s) Added, Sugar Brown Syrup, Vanillin, Tocopherols Mixed (Vitamin E)

NOW as far as cold cereals go, we are pretty limited in our selections. MANY of the so called health food cereals are really not all that much better than. You have to R E A D labels. Try for 5 ingredients or less. Stay away from words you can’t pronounce and avoid anything with the term NATURAL FLAVORS. If you don’t know what an ingredient is. Google it! Be informed as much as you can!

We currently buy:

1. Shredded Wheat:

I started buying Post Shredded Wheat because the ingredients involves Wheat. Seems safe right? They add BHT to the packaging which knocks the score down to C+. I just discovered this a couple of months ago. Now we buy Shredded Wheat at Trader Joes (their brand) as it does not contain BHT.

We add berries, bananas, a little cinnamon, or honey to the top sometimes. Most of the time we eat it straight from the box.

2. Homemade granola. So many options and varieties. It’s delicious. You can change the taste by changing the ingredients.

3. Bin cereal. We have a favorite corn flake type cereal at Whole Foods. It’s organic and has corn and is sweetened with pear juice. Check those out.

Make granola and buy bin and get yourself a couple of these darling Mason Jars (also available at Target for $20) to store them in.

These are typically all that is in our pantry in the way of cold cereals. Very occasionally, I may purchase another box of cereal here and there. Never with food dye or chemicals. There are a few options at Trader Joes that are Organic, but do contain added sugars. (Remember certified Organic means NO GMO!) They are rare around here, but they do make an appearance from time to time. I want to save our sugar consumption for things that need sugar, like cookies . Cereal really doesn’t need it at all.

Remember…what isn’t in the house, can not be eaten. If you want to make changes in this area. Don’t bring it in!!

I made the switch on this cold turkey. If there is a box of Fruity Pebbles next to a box of Shredded Wheat, I can tell you which one is not going to be picked. Not by me, or the kids. No one in my house complains about cereal. Except for my 8 year old, but she has never liked cereal, of any kind. She prefers a four course meal at breakfast, which she rarely gets as her mother is NOT a morning person!

Happy cereal eating!!!!

*I am by no means an expert on this information. This is me simply sharing what changes we are making and the progression of our kitchen to move towards as clean and as unprocessed eating as we can. In March of 2012, I emptied my pantry and refrigerator of all of our regular foods that contained enormous amounts of sugar, food dyes, and chemicals. This worked for us because I am kind of an all in type of girl. I am constantly learning, constantly realizing new information, and constantly evolving in my kitchen. One change + one change + one change = some pretty big changes and improved health. It is doable.

ONE CHANGE: Meal Plan

Written on October 27, 2012 by just a night owl in Health, One Change {food makeover}

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Eating Real food takes longer to prepare, requires more frequent trips to the store, and provides higher prices.

Awesome, right?

I fight back in every way possible and a must for me is meal planning.

Why?

1. It helps me control chaos and potential complaining. Everyone can easily look at the meals on the fridge to check out what is coming up. You get what you get and you definitely won’t throw a fit.

2. Helps control my budget. I repeat a lot during the time I am planning for. This uses up ingredients and reduces the quantity of different items that I have to buy.

3. Pushes me to sit down and spend some time to be creative in choosing my families meals and snacks.

With the world living in my computer these days, I decided to try something new this month. I have created a Pinterest board specifically for the time that I meal planned for {which this time, was a period of about 19 days}. This way, all of my recipes are in one place. I haven’t tried all of these yet, so I don’t want to commit to put them in my recipe book just yet. I will be able to easily access all of these recipes and then delete the board when I am through, only saving the ones that we like!

I have included links below to both my meal plan, as well as my Pinterest board. If you have any questions, please let me know. I have been asked many times what we eat! Hopefully, this will give you an idea.

This meal plan gets printed out and lives on the side of my fridge. Have you wondered how to find these real food items in the store? It’s a bit like Where’s Waldo. Next week, I am going to start getting into specific food products and what we used to use and what we use now.

Have a great Sunday!

MealPlan

ONE CHANGE: How?

Written on October 3, 2012 by just a night owl in Health, One Change {food makeover}

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It is estimated that adults eat 22 teaspoons of sugar a day and teens eat 34 teaspoons of sugar a day.

WHAT????

Start reading labels and you may find that this could actually be true. Simply because sugar lurks in about everything with well over fifty different names. It all adds up.

The recommended allowance is for women to have no more than 6 teaspoons a day and no more than 9 teaspoons for men.

I decided to show the kids what this actually looked like. Thirty four teaspoons on the left and the recommended six on the right. Big difference!

Eating less sugar is just one of many changes that most of us can benefit from when talking about our food intake. Seems impossible right? It can be done!

We eat virtually zero foods with added sugar. We try to stick to the 90-10 rule and when we do 10 we do sugar. BUT I would rather eat my sugar in a slice of cake then rotisserie chicken and ketchup. Seriously, let’s save it for the good stuff.

When we talk about HOW to change your eating habits, I think there are two options. Slowly, but surely. OR all at once. There are benefits to both I think.

I just want to point out that while doing it all at once can seem overwhelming, there is one very good upside about it. When you get the junk and yuck (like sugar) completely out of your system, you feel better. Really better. THEN, when you put it back, you feel bad. Really bad. While this is mildly annoying because I really want to still enjoy a maple bar every now and then, the bad feelings propel you to continue to choose the broccoli. Well, not me. I hate broccoli. The little things on the stems creep me out. Let’s go with cauliflower instead or maybe peas.

Point being is this: Change is hard. Eating healthy takes sacrifice and discipline. You have to find the drive to stick with it because it isn’t easier to eat healthy. It isn’t cheaper AND in the beginning it doesn’t necessarily always taste better. Give it time. If you are making slow changes one at a time, write out your reason for changing and read it to yourself often! Don’t forget it. If you go for it all at once, I think your improved health will probably be enough to keep you moving in the right direction.

Whether you make a bunch of little changes one at a time or go for one big giant change, it doesn’t ultimately really matter.

Just make them.

Go for it.

Keep moving forward.

First topic up next week is Organic vs. Non Organic. Is Organic really worth the extra money?

AWESOME LINKS!

For the all at once method

Ten steps to an unprocessed pantry

100 Days of Real Food – 10 Day Pledge

For a steady but surely method

100 Days of Real Food – 14 weeks of mini pledges

ONE CHANGE: Why?

Written on September 23, 2012 by just a night owl in One Change {food makeover}

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When our eating changed dramatically last March, I posted that I was not going to turn this blog into a healthy eating blog. I still am not. HOWEVER, I would consider this a lifestyle blog. I blog with no “plan”. I blog what is important to me, what I am learning and feeling, what we do in our days, and whatever else pops into my head. I blog to remember, to connect, to change and be changed.

With that said, I am working on understanding food better. It is something that I am doing intentionally for my family. As I am making changes and learning, I am going to be spending just one day a week putting it to paper, or my computer, as the case may be. Just one.

I was completely inspired by Lisa @ 100 Days of Real Food. Her blog is an amazing resource of information. You can get lost in it, seriously. This whole food thing can be overwhelming. However, each change, even one change, can lead to a healthier life and I believe that it is worth it.

We still eat junk from time to time. We try to follow a 90%-10% rule. However, even in the 10% times, I try to keep it as healthy as possible. One thing I have found is that the longer that we eat this way, when you eat the food that you used to consume on a regular basis, you feel it. It isn’t pretty.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, my boys were busy doing things and it was just the girls, the baby, and I. We were out doing errands and I drove by a Chick Fil A. I had a sudden flash of what I thought was brilliant fun- drive through car picnic. Something we used to do a lot and quite frankly I miss. We had been eating like champs for days, so claiming my 10%, I drove through and purchased waffle fries and bbq sauce. We pulled over and had an old fashioned car picnic with steaming hot fries, salt, and bbq. It tasted great, not gonna lie. HOWEVER, what was not great was the aftermath. I felt awful the rest of the night. Lethargic, sluggish, and just gross. The girls said the same thing. Is it worth, I ask myself, yet again.

This is one of the things that drives me. I like feeling good. I like feeling fantastic, so my body can catch up with my brain.

I continue to make unhealthy choices from time to time. I continue to learn new information and try to find our balance in the heavily processed food world we live in. We are addicted to the better health we are experiencing. Both physically and mentally. The changes are undeniable. I didn’t know quite how bad we were feeling until we made these changes.

People ask questions of me all the time. What is this diet called? What can you eat? Etc. Etc. A simple example of the type of food world we live in America. What I LOVE about this “diet” is, it isn’t one. It’s eating food. Actual food, as close to the form that God created it in as possible. The bottom line is READ LABELS. Bread doesn’t need to have 32 ingredients. Cake doesn’t need to have 94 ingredients. There was a lot of not food in our food that we ate before. Who knew? Definitely not me.

We followed Lisa’s 10 day challenge 100% back in March. I recommend it. I triple dog dare you. You will be amazed at what you learn. THEN you can make an informed decision, whatever that may be. Whatever, is right for you.

I will be posting weekly about ONE CHANGE. It will cover flour, oil, sweets, hot drinks, cold cereals, snacks, food prep, and more.

Food is good. We should eat it and it should taste good and be good for us.

Don’t chya think?????????