I get asked all the time, " Where do I begin?" "What should I eat when one opinion says 'don't eat this' and another opinion says 'do eat this'?" And then I hear, "It's just SO overwhelming!!" I won't lie, it sure can be overwhelming when changing your diet! We get accustomed to eating a certain way and then when we become creatures of habit and it is hard to change! I always suggest starting slow. Don't try to completely change your diet all in one week. 

Now there are times that we face a major health issue and it may be necessary to completely remove a problem food all at once. This was my situation 10 years ago when I had to completely remove yeast from my diet in order to get my health/life back on track. There have been other times over the years that I have slowly changed my diet to try to pinpoint a trigger food and obtain optimal health.

I came across this 10-Step list the other day and thought it was good to share. This would be my advice to anyone who is looking to get themselves/their families on a path to better health. 

10-STEP METHOD TO CHANGING YOUR DIET FOR THE BETTER:

If you are really interested in changing your diet for the better, it is best to start simply instead of making radical changes all at once. I recommend doing one of these steps every two weeks. An excellent book to read about eating right is “Food Rules” by Michael Pollan. He gives more explanation for a lot of these food rules.

Step 1: Pay attention in the grocery store: Start reading labels! Become familiar with what you are eating. Notice that all the fresh foods are on the outside aisles and all the processed foods are on the inside aisles. Eventually, most of your cart will be filled from the outside aisles, which makes shopping so much easier!

Step 2: Eliminate everything in your diet that has hydrogenated fats in any form. Partially hydrogenated is just as bad as fully hydrogenated.

Step 3: Eliminate everything in your diet that has corn syrup in it, high fructose or otherwise.

Step 4: Eliminate everything in your diet that has artificial sweeteners except for natural stevia.

Step 5: Eliminate every grain in your diet that is not a whole grain. Don’t be fooled by multi-grains that aren’t whole grains. Who cares if its 10 different grains if they are all stripped of their nutrients?

Step 6: Eliminate white sugar from your diet.

Step 7: Eliminate low-fat and no-fat versions of your favorite foods from your diet. (yes, that’s right!!! Your body will crave less fat since it is getting more of the right fats and you will want less. )

Step 8: Eat as much produce as you can that is grown in your area when it is in season. Buy organic as much as possible.

Step 9: Rotate your foods. Don’t eat the same food more than 3 times in one week. (This is particularly hard to do with breakfast foods.)

Step 10: Don’t eat anything with ingredients that your great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized.

Try not to get overwhelmed. Take it a step at a time. Try to find others who are seeking the same outcome and work together to encourage one another. Our Society has been on a downward spiral of junk food, fast food, and 'feel good, comfort food'. I am seeing a change recently though, of more and more people trying to 'get back to the basics'. So if you are trying to get healthier, you are not alone, and the support is out there!

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Hello Hello! Elizabeth has been trying to get me to sit down and blog for some time now. Well I can make excuses(which are GOOD ones), but I have yet to sit down and do this. So here we go! First blog post and this is what I am feasting on while I post: Gluten Free Sweet Potato Squash Pie with a dollop of homemade Coconut Whipped Cream! Recipes to come!

So I wondered what to blog about first and decided to just tell you about a few of my favorite things in my 'natural medicine cabinet' right now. The first is this: Barleans Omega Oils-Fish Oil

This has been the best $30 I have spent each month since October! Last winter was rough for my youngest two children, ages 2 1/2 and 1 at the time. They began having respiratory trouble in October '12 and continued to have off and on trouble until October '13. They were prescribed Albuterol inhalers and steroids after the first round and we learned to watch the distress signs of 'asthma like' breathing. We had several ER visits over the course of the year and both children had a hospital stay. Lyla for 2 nights in October and James for 5 nights in January. I tried to start watching for triggers that might bring on these 'asthma like' spells and tried to avoid taking them places that might be a trigger. It just seemed that every time they caught a cold, it would go straight to their chest and cause some of these breathing issues. The last 'episode' we had was in September '13. In October I spoke with a friend about my concerns with Lyla and James and he suggested I try giving them Omega Oils, specifically fish oils. So I bought a bottle of this Barleans Omega Swirl. It comes is several different flavors. Tastes great! I have been giving the kids, and myself, a spoonful just about everyday since. They have had colds, but the crud has not settled in their chest as before. The Omega Oils are great for opening up the airways. Well there are many other benefits as well. That could be another post! ;) So maybe the kids are just having a better year? But I truly believe that these oils have made a difference!

Alright, next on the list is Kombucha!

I had never really heard of this until I was at the health food store one day and because of my large vitamin purchase got a free bottle of Garden of Life Raw Kombucha. It says that it is good for immunity and digestion. I hadn't really taken many of the pills though, just every now and then, if I thought about it.

One day I happened to purchase Green Tea with Kombucha. I have been drinking this tea quite often throughout the winter, as Green Tea has many health benefits and again, the benefits of the Kombucha in it. I could really tell a difference when coming down with a cold and drinking the Green Tea daily. An added benefit, I lost a couple lbs that week from the Green Tea. (Not that I was trying to) So, after reading some blogs about Kombucha in its natural state I have gotten a few bottles to try.  They have a little 'wang' to them, but palatable and tasty, in my opinion. So, the big reason I mention this. This week the girls came down with a stomach bug. I hear to drink grape juice 3x a day to avoid getting sick. Well I started drinking my Green Tea with Kombucha and got out my bottle of pure Kombucha and drank it. I also made sure I was taking my probiotics and digestive enzymes. You see, I have been on a battle to get my gut as healthy as possible, well for years, but even more so this past year. If your gut is healthy then you are much healthier and happy as a whole. (Again, another blog post!) Ok, so yes, I came down with the stomach bug and felt horrible horrible, but never got *sick* like the kids did. I am contributing that to the fact that I have been working on superior gut health and drinking all this Kombucha. 

Ok, well Like Elizabeth says, we are NOT Doctors, we are just stating what we have had experience with and what has helped us/our family to improve our health. I have some more favorites from my medicine cabinet that I will post later. For now, naptime is over and I must find snacks for these ravenous wolves, I mean children. ;)

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