#WQW....Theme: Food: Healthy Snacks

It's another week of  Writer's Quotes Wednesday, hosted by Marsha from Always Write. If you're interested in joining, you can find more about #WQW here.

Wow..it's been a few weeks since I participated in a #WQW. Life and then vacation, but hopefully I'm back on schedule. This weeks theme is Food: Healthy Snacks. 

When I look back over the last 30 years of our marriage and our eating habits, they sure have changed and for the better I believe. 

We are bombarded on a daily basis with a variety of opinions on the best way to eat, the best or worst foods to eat, etc. It can get so overwhelming and confusing. From the traditional western diet, to vegan, carnivore, paleo, keto, vegetarian, etc. And those who follow those ways of eating are convinced it is the only way. I, personally am a fan of finding what works best for your body and health needs...I believe in portion control and moderation. I believe that there are things that we have to eliminate or at least limit. I believe we can help either flip on or off the switch of chronic illness and disease. I believe we have the ability to do the very best we can and to continue to learn and grow. It's easy to start to question what's right, what's wrong, is there a right and wrong. Follow your heart, what your body thrives with. 

Now the theme did say healthy snacks. I'll admit I have a sweet tooth and don't always make the best choices when it comes to snacks, BUT I'm also, not altogether terrible. Thankfully I have really good self control and have learned to find healthier alternatives to my favorite snacks. 

I found some great quotes, but I also want to share some things that I have tried to implement in my life and my family's life. 

Oh! I thought this was a good one. We probably never think about the kinds of foods that are represented by these mascots. Usually highly processed, high sugar, etc. When we started on our journey of eating and grocery shopping more intentionally it started with not buying these kinds of products. Our girls adapted, we adapted. Did I cave once in awhile...yes...I mean, I love Captain Crunch...haha! 

I know....sometimes it doesn't matter what we do, sickness comes, disease hits. It can feel like there's no right or wrong, why bother. I have seen people who live completely unhealthy lives live to be ripe old ages, and I have seen people who, by most regards, have carried on an extremely healthy lifestyle and die way too early. However, I do believe we have the power to help turn on or off the switch of illness, disease or the degree those things might hit us. We should bother, because our bodies will thank us. 

I love learning and growing and discovering how much our cells are affected by foods has been huge...again, I'm not perfect, but there are so many toxic ingredients in our products that we use and consume daily that it's become important to me to guard those ingredients to the best of my ability. From makeup, shampoo and skincare, to the foods and ingredients I eat and drink.

This one, I found interesting. I don't completely agree with it. Sometimes yes, they are all true, however, I also feel like when it comes to food, drink and exercise, if we don't eventually find things that we like and enjoy, it won't last and we'll be miserable. We can often find some of our favorite items, just with better ingredients. One time I made lentil sloppy joes. They were okay, but I'd rather just make sloppy joes with homemade and better ingredients. 

I will always first and foremost try dealing with sickness, etc by changing the things I consume. I believe that much of what ails us is tied to our gut and our diets. So we should first seek to change those and see what happens. I love seeing a naturapath because they deal with the whole person and take time to get to root causes and possibilities. 

Here are some things I've implemented into our lifestyle over the course of many years. 

1. Baby steps: Sure some people can do a complete 360 but our budget didn't allow for that. So I would make one simple change at a time. 

2. Read labels. This was the biggest key. I learned which ingredients to look for and avoid. I'm still learning this. One of my favorite IG accounts is Just Ingredients. She is amazing. I have followed other sites as well that "decode" what certain ingredients are and what they do. 1st rule of thumb. The less ingredients listed, the better. 2nd rule of thumb, look at the order of ingredients. They go from most to least in terms of amounts. 3rd rule of thumb, some ingredients are non-negotiables...decide which those are for you.

3. Dirty Dozen. This was a big starting point with produce. I looked at the dirty dozen list and chose organic for those items, or bought from farmers who weren't necessarily certified but I could ask what their practices were, or I tried growing myself. I have 8 amazing blueberry bushes that have never been sprayed. 

4. Find healthier alternatives to some favorites and/or have those favorites in moderation. We don't eat a lot of pasta, but we love pasta so when I make it, I choose organic pasta, make homemade sauce using organic ingredients. I'm a sucker for Oreos, my boss buys me a pack every year for my birthday. I have also found an organic brand that isn't too bad. Same with peanut butter cups. I have found a few healthier alternatives, or every now and then I get a Reeses. I've made homemade ones too. I enjoy finding alternatives whether homemade or store bought. 

5. Find exercises that I can enjoy. I do NOT like running, so that is not a good choice for me, but I do enjoy hiking, walking, biking and at home workouts. 

6. When entertaining: I always ask if guests have dietary preferences. I also don't fret if we go to someone's house and they serve something we might not normally eat or I don't know if it's organic or minimally processed, etc. 

7. Be intentional with where we eat out. We try to choose restaurants wisely (we don't eat out a lot). As often as possible, we choose places that at least source locally and serve minimally processed products. I don't want biscuits and gravy where the gravy came from a huge can. You get the idea. Is that always 100% possible? Yes and no. Sometimes if we're with other people we might not have as much of a choice, but we try. 

Well, that's it for now. Like I said, we're not perfect at any of these, but I try to be intentional as best I can.  I have some other things I need to accomplish so I better get this posted. 

 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin