I have cooked and cooked this month. And we have eaten and eaten. And eaten. In fact one day we made morning glory muffins and ate all of them in less than 24 hours. This "no processed food" kind of life is good but at times challenging. There have been times we needed food and fast. Luckily Central Market has kits for soups and sides dishes that I grabbed for those crazy days. I realize that all the ingredients in the kit may not be organic but it is better than fast food or processed food. The goal is better, not perfect.
We also have greatly expanded the variety of our food choices. In case you don't know me well, I'm not an adventurous eater. If I even think I might not like something I'm not going to try it. This process has opened a whole new world of eating. Sweet 2 of 3 comes by it honestly! Well I have tasted and it is GOOD! Here are some of our new family favorites: acorn squash, lentils, garnet yams, kale, chard, arugala, oyster mushrooms, purple bell peppers (I'm sure it has a fancy name but I don't know it) and bok choy. FYI, the garnet yams taste like sweet potato pie. Just cooked it, added a bit of butter and a dash of cinnamon. We were fighting over the last of it. The list goes on and on. This process has opened up our world to so many delectible treats. Whole foods, as in unprocessed foods, have made such a difference in our lives in just a few months. I could never have imagined!
I find it interesting that in the month of November with 2 birthdays, Thanksgiving and my husband traveling for work for a few days we both still lost weight. I lost 4 1/2 pounds and my husband lost 4 pounds. I have lost a total of 10 pounds and my husband a total of 11 pounds in about 2 months. Best part about it is we are eating great food! Again I have to stress we are not on a diet. This is just a natural consquence of our lifestyle changes. On that subject I will say this, I use mostly olive oil and hardly ever use butter. The rare occasion that causes me to rely on trusty old butter is usually on sweet/baked potatoes for my kids.
I hardly eat sweets as I have blogged earlier, I've lost my craving for them. I will eat some sweets every now and then but as for just getting up and making them or really wanting them, I don't. Just in case you're wondering I had 6 desserts in the month of November with birthdays, Thanksgiving and dinners with friends. That seems like a LOT now that I write it down. I actually prefer the Treasured Earth Foods treats as they hit the spot for me. We eat a lot--and I mean a lot--of fresh vegetables and fruit. In an ideal world I want to eat 51% raw (uncooked) food. Basically more than half of my diet fresh, raw foods. Not always so good at meeting that goal but I'm at least trying.
As far as how I feel I'm not so sure right now. I've got a cold or bad allergies and it is hard to remember ever feeling normal. Kinda that "I'm always going to feel like this" feeling. 2 of 3 and 3 of 3 are also under the weather. It's a wonder I don't have pneumonia from all the face sneezes and coughs I get a day, not to mention the snotty nose surprise kisses. In reality I have had my 3 little people all day by myself for the entire week. I've done better than I would have a few months ago. I have been able to engage with my kids and play. I've also been able to cook and keep up our healthy eating. So that said, I would still have to say that my energy is much higher and my emotional state, even sick and having been up most nights this week either not able to breathe or with a sick baby, is strong. My "sick" now is comparable to my "well" a few months ago. That, to me, is just amazing. One thing I was thinking about yesterday was that I would have never started a blog before this journey. Never. Wouldn't have had the energy. Wouldn't have found the time. Wouldn't have taken the chance.
Wondering how much of a toll a full month of all organic and non-GMO foods took on our wallet? I am too! We just did the finances for the month. Our food budget didn't really change from the days of eating out all the time. And I have a pantry full of vegan meals to make in a pinch, pizza supplies and a host of other goodies to make in December. This also includes the cost of stocking up on staples I need for cooking such as olive oil, coconut oil and organic canola oil just to name a few that will last a long time as I hardly ever use anything other than olive oil. This week is our first week to pick up our CSA organic vegetables from Johnson's Backyard Garden. Looking forward to trying it out and measuring the effect it has on our budget next month.
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