March 16- Day One

Today is the first day of (I hope) a change in eating habits that will last a lifetime. I would say that we are pretty healthy before, but we don't eat as well as we could. We tend to go for convenience and cost over quality. Unfortunately though, our food purchases each month have continued to rise, and it's time that that money is going towards only good, real food. Additionally, I have a MAJOR sweet tooth, and at any available time, will turn to sugar or some kind of sugary treat if one is near me. I want to retrain my taste buds to eat -- no, enjoy!-- real food. I came across www.100daysofrealfood.com a few days ago, and Lisa has become my inspiration. I'm sure there are lots of other good things out there, but for now I think what she has done is pretty incredible. I figure, if she can get her husband and two girls to eat ONLY real food for 100 days, I should be able to give it a try for 1. Looking forward, this day may end up being more like Day Negative Five, because it was a day of gathering new foods and talking about some changes. We don't plan on following the 100 day challenge, or even the 10 day challenge. I'd say instead we plan to make small, manageable changes over time to see if eventually we're able to eat only real foods 90% of the time. There will always need to be flexibility -- when we go to someone's house or out to eat, but there will still be plenty of room to make good choices. But I plan to make this a new life focus...as our daughter will be starting solids in a few short months and I would like her to start solids that are real. I also want to be and feel healthy for a long time...and sometimes both the hubs and I just feel OLD.

So today we went to BB's, a discount food store. Sadly, most of the store is filled with convenient, high-processed foods. We scoured the aisles, and were able to make some good finds in organic cereals, lots of spices (key to flavoring real food to keep taste buds interested), veggies, fruits and cheeses. We came home & enjoyed lunch (more on that later) and then went out to Wegmans for some other organic finds-- seeds, nuts, flour, coconut, PB, and some fresh bread and produce. We came home to enjoy dinner (more on that later). And after a walk, putting the little lady to bed, and watching a movie, I decided that it might be time to look into this whole blogging thing. I don't anticipate this becoming anything more than a place for me to log what we've tried for the day (food wise) and to recall my challenges, triumphs, and share any resources I come across through this journey. The hubs will make fun of me and certainly this will be difficult. But I know that it will be worth it, and perhaps keeping track (if only for myself) will make it fun to look back in the future.

Weight- Didn't weigh myself today, will tomorrow.
Breakfast- egg sandwich on a potato roll
Snack- granola bar
Lunch- carrots, red & yellow pepper slices, cucumbers with hummus; vanilla yogurt with kashi clusters
Dinner- spinach and romaine chicken salad with pears, onions, walnuts and homemade vinaigrette; bread from bakery & butter

Tomorrow- bring on another day of real food!!