I am going to try something crazy. I am going to eat real food for the next 30 days. I am going to cut out the processed junk and "food like substances" that make up the majority of my current diet and commit to eating REAL foods.

The foods that most of us put into our body are so far from the actual food item they resemble that its frightening. Take one of my current staples, non dairy creamer, as an example. What I thought was a healthy low calorie alternative to actual cream is anything but. The ingredients listed on the back of that bottle are not even food: water, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, sodium caseinate, maltodestrin, dipotassioum phosphate, carrageenan, acesulgame potassium, etc. Ummm... what the heck have I been eating!?! It looks like cream, tastes like cream, but it is so far from being cream that its terrifying. As a "professional dieter" who has been on pretty much every diet you can name, I know how to eat low calorie but what I don't know how to do is eat healthy.

So, my challenge for myself (and my poor family who is along for the ride whether they know they signed up for it or not) is to attempt to only eat REAL food for the next 30 days. I want to to stick to foods that are "single ingredient" foods. That is if I am having a fruit and nut bar, the only ingredients in that bar better be "fruit" and "nuts". No shelf stabilizers or additives that I can't pronounce. 

Why am I doing this? Well, it simple really. I have a 16 month old daughter and I don't want her to have the same unhealthy relationship with food that I do. I want her to eat healthy foods that nourish her body. I don't want her doing what I have been doing for a majority of my life and eating ultra processed"diet" foods and meticulously counting calories. Life is too short and I'm sure she will have way better things to do. 

The model that I am following is based on the Beyond Diet program  (www.beyonddiet.com). Basically, this program emphasizes eating organic produce and grass fed meat, good fats such as olive oil, avocado, and organic butter, healthy grains such as quinoa, oats, and brown rice and lots of yummy organic fruits and veggies. Artificial sweeteners are a no no and instead stevia and raw honey is encouraged. As for dairy, only organic milk, butter, and yogurt is suggested. 

I plan on posting my daily meals and updates on how practical eating organic/real foods actually turns out to be on my blog over the next 30 days and hope that I might be able to encourage others to join me!