what is healthy?

This is something I've been struggling with a lot lately. I'm an "all or nothing" kind of girl. Sometimes, it's a good thing, other times it's not so good. The biggest problems are that I get ahead of myself and jump into something before fully realizing what it means, and most of the time I get burnt out really quick.

So, last year I dove head first into the Real Food world. We did well for a while. Ben was a little more reluctant. Around the holidays, I started breaking some rules, but it wasn't too bad. Then, I found out I was pregnant, and morning sickness & cravings hit. Almost everything I had been following food wise went out the window after that. It's been bad ever since. The few things I did hold on to, were incorporating more vegetables into my diet (never had a problem with getting enou fruit in), adding variety (I actually like lettuce now!), and no lunch meat.

But you know how once you learn something, you can't "unlearn" it? Yeah, that. It's been eating away at me the past few months. (Hello, mommy guilt!) I know the things I'm allowing myself, and my family, to eat aren't good for us. The problem is, I don't know what exactly healthy is. There is so much info, and so many different opinions out there! Is it following the Real Food plan, is it following the government's recommendations, is it counting calories and measuring portions, is it PALEO? I think there is something out there in the middle of all that which will work for us. I also think the key to it all is changes over time, small goals. NOT going all in from the beginning. It should become a way of life, not just a momentary obsession.

What are my biggest issues with our current way of eating?

Sugar. This topic has taken a lot of research. How much sugar should we be having? When you look at a nutrition label, how do you know if the sugar is added or naturally occurring? It's all very confusing, and i'm still sifting my way through research. But for now, I have this. The American heart association recommends 12g of ADDED SUGAR for children, 24g for women, and 36g for men. If a product doesn't say 'no added sugar', but there is sugar listed on the label, then all or some of that is probably added.

Portions. This is a big one. Our portions are out of control. That's really all there is to it.

Balance. Everyone knows you're supposed to eat well-balanced meals. You hear it everywhere. But if we have chicken parm pasta and carrots for dinner, here is what happens. I would have tons of carrots & pasta, with just a little bit of the chicken. Ben would have tons of pasta & chicken, with a little bit of carrots. Then Parker probably wouldn't touch any of it. Problems all around.

Where am I going to start?

-Slowly weed out our "convenient foods". These are things like granola bars, fruit snacks, store bought pizzas, etc.

-No take out.

-Try new things. We need to expand our fruits and vegetables a little more, plus learn to homemake more things, and start eating fish. So, try one new thing every week or every other week is my goal.