Intuition

First of all, thank-you all so much for all of the great comments. We are so excited that people are interested in getting healthy. A while back I wrote a blog about how I am not the raw food poster child and I came off a bit angry. My friends and family keep saying, "I know you don't like to talk about it." In reality I am happy to talk about my diet. I am just not willing to defend it to people who are not interested or who want to hide behind all of the untruths that keep them driving through McDonald's. The problem I run into is that so many of you have great questions and I am such a newbie at all of this that sometimes I don't have the answer and all I can do at that point is to ask myself what feels right. I usually tell you that I don't know which is honest. However, I usually think about these questions later and really trust my intuition. Which is what I am going to ask you to do today.

I was talking to my sister Stephanie on the phone the other day and she tells me that grocery shopping has become very hard for her. She is now paying attention to labels and trying to buy healthier food for her kids. She then made a comment that I talk a lot about what not to eat but not so much about what to eat. She then asked me for suggestions. I loved this insight because it is so true. The only problem is that there is no easy answer to that one. My friends with children live in 2008 and are busy juggling so much in their lives and they are looking for convenience. I am going to give a couple suggestions (bottom of page) but what it really comes down to is that when you leave the grocery store your cart should be filled with mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. The dinner in a box may be convenient but it is filled with chemicals and fats that will not help your immune system stay strong. It actually reeks havoc on your body but that is another blog in it's self.

I find it funny how many of my friends tell me that their children are picky eaters. Recently I was babysitting and was left with the "ONLY" snacks their child would eat. It consisted of goldfish, peanut butter crackers, and pretzels. All of these are of course not on my diet so I cut up some red pepper and was eating that as a snack. Well low and behold the child wanted the red pepper! I think kids want what you have. They learn by example. If you change your eating habits it is only a matter of time until your kids will follow. It is not going to happen over night but I wouldn't be surprised if it only took a week or two.

I also spent last weekend with Ryan's family. While I was at their home I was making my daily juice of cucumber and celery. I made enough so everyone could try some. I get lots of different comments from people. Some people love it right off the bat, others need some apple juice or something to sweeten it up a bit. However, to my surprise the person that liked it the most was Ryan's 18 month old nephew. We all know that he wasn't drinking it to appease me!

The other subject that my sister and I talked about was all of the conflicting information out there. She reads in my blog about the dangers of dairy and milk and then goes to her pediatrician and his first question is, "Are they drinking their milk?" I know it is hard to live outside the box but you owe it to yourselves and your families to become more educated. Doctors do not know everything!!! They are not god. Remember the books that I am reading are all written by doctors that have realized through research that everything they had learned up to that point had been wrong. At some point it is up to us to trust our inner voices. Up until Feb. last year I had little or no experience with doctors and now I can tell you first hand that they don't know everything. Actually most of it is guess work and they guessed incorrectly for me multiple times. I am not angry that they couldn't give me answers but I am now looking for my own and I am not as trusting as I used to be. Just remember to trust your intuition the next time you see your doctor.

Healthy Snacks

Keep veggies cut up and ready to grab. Such as red bell pepper, cucumber, celery and carrots.
Did you know that red peppers have more vitamin C then an orange. Also, green peppers are unripened red peppers. You never want to eat a fruit or vegetable that is not ripe. Stay away from those green ones! The orange and yellow peppers are good too.

Instead of dips use hummus. A much healthier option and tasty too!

Of course any fresh fruit is always nice but don't over do it on the fruit. They are packed full of sugars! Especially bananas, who knew?

When buying chips. Look for baked not fried chips. They are hard to find but much healthier. Also, look at the ingredients on those bags. For example, Lays baked chips are not healthier. Look at the additives on the label. I find blue chips are pretty good. Also, I have seen more veggie chips out there. If you have a whole foods you might even find a brand called Guiltless Chips. They are hard to spot usually in the bottom in the corner.

One of my friends makes pasta for her kids and in her blender she will mince up raw zucchini and squash and put it in the sauce. The kids will never know, and neither will you! There is also a healthier version of pasta. It is called spelt pasta. It is a brown color. You usually can find it with all of the packaged noodles. It tastes the same but it is just not as appealing to look at.

Instead of regular bread look for sprouted bread in your freezer section. When bread is sprouted it has many more nutrients. You will find all sorts of things sprouted such as bagels in different flavors and even tortillas

Try almond butter instead of peanut butter. Peanuts and cashews have a lot of bacteria so try and stay away from them as much as possible. Not to mention all of the partially hydrogenated soy products in brands like Jif. The almond butter is a much more mild version of peanut butter. I wonder if kids would notice the difference.

Make smoothies! Kids love them and they are very filling. You can even buy frozen organic fruit so it doesn't go bad. Get them involved. They love to eat things that they have made.

See if your kids will eat avocados or guacamole.

Look for vegan cookies. They are made with no dairy and no eggs. You will be shocked at how they taste just like the real thing.

Once in a while I just need a pizza but I have been ordering a veggie on whole wheat crust with no cheese. I am amazed that I don't miss the cheese at all. Also Amy's organics which can be found in almost every grocery store does a cheesless pizza that is pretty darn good.

Good luck and if anyone has any other ideas that they want to share, be sure to post them. I can use all the help I can get!