Isn't there a point where you can say, "This is healthy enough for me." (food content

[GWOB]

Honestly, I think we all just try our best to give our families the best. For some that is all organic, locally-produced everything. For others it is something different. I try. I am not a good cook. Chemistry is not my strong point, so bread-making from scratch is beyond me. I try to avoid HFCS, trans-fats, weird chemicals and stuff.I am light-years better than my parents, who fed me "fish" sticks, fries, and various other packaged foods. I try to grow stuff, but the crop-dusters that buzz my house make me a wee bit antsy.

 

I think the biggest thing that bugs me and many other people out there is the self-righteous attitudes of some. Look, I COMPLETELY understand if specific diets are followed due to health conditions. I just get really bothered my the food control freaks who chastise me for occasionally giving my kids a soda. Once or twice a month is much better than my parents, who gave me Coke in a bottle, sometimes laced with whiskey (good Southern folk they are).

 

Let's compromise. I won't call you a flaming food control-freak if you don't call me a negligent mom, ok?

[Joanne]

Yes. My line is probably drawn way easier than many others here.

 

I've chosen budget friendly, filling, convenient and anxiety limiting over the standard of healthy embraced by many moms.

[elise1mds]

This thread makes me feel a lot better about my cooking. I guess I am a lot more mainstream than I think.

 

I don't make everything, and I can sometimes get a big guilt complex about that. My son asked me three days ago how you made peanut butter, and when I told him, he looked at me and asked, "Well, if it's that easy, how come you don't make your own?" GUILT! But really, we have organic peanut butter in our fridge RIGHT NOW, so why do I feel guilty because I didn't buy organic peanuts and organic oil and make my own? I have a loaf of whole wheat bread cooling on my counter. I didn't grind my own wheat, but the flour is organic. I don't buy organic meat (want to find a good coop but it hasn't happened yet), but most of our dairy products are organic except for milk, which comes from a herd that is RBGH-free and in-state. I get organic, free-range eggs and am aiming to find a local source. I have whole-wheat pasta and make my own tomato sauce from tomatoes I grew and canned last summer. I have jars of blackberry and peach jam in the fridge and pantry that I made myself. I make our desserts. I avoid HFCS and dyes, especially red.

 

And yet, in my freezer, I have Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits and Totino's pizza rolls. We go to Cici's, like someone else had mentioned, because my son is aiming to eat me out of house and home and at Cici's it's cheap to feed him a huge meal (including a salad). I don't make my own dressings or BBQ sauce. I am buying chocolates to give to the kiddos at Easter.

 

I am having to find a good balance between checkbook and feeling good about what I feed my family. We are NEVER sick (knock on wood), so I must be doing something right, but I think having a little bit of guilt will keep me striving to do better. :)

[GWOB]

This thread makes me feel a lot better about my cooking. I guess I am a lot more mainstream than I think.

 

I don't make everything, and I can sometimes get a big guilt complex about that. My son asked me three days ago how you made peanut butter, and when I told him, he looked at me and asked, "Well, if it's that easy, how come you don't make your own?" GUILT! But really, we have organic peanut butter in our fridge RIGHT NOW, so why do I feel guilty because I didn't buy organic peanuts and organic oil and make my own? I have a loaf of whole wheat bread cooling on my counter. I didn't grind my own wheat, but the flour is organic. I don't buy organic meat (want to find a good coop but it hasn't happened yet), but most of our dairy products are organic except for milk, which comes from a herd that is RBGH-free and in-state. I get organic, free-range eggs and am aiming to find a local source. I have whole-wheat pasta and make my own tomato sauce from tomatoes I grew and canned last summer. I have jars of blackberry and peach jam in the fridge and pantry that I made myself. I make our desserts. I avoid HFCS and dyes, especially red.

 

And yet, in my freezer, I have Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits and Totino's pizza rolls. We go to Cici's, like someone else had mentioned, because my son is aiming to eat me out of house and home and at Cici's it's cheap to feed him a huge meal (including a salad). I don't make my own dressings or BBQ sauce. I am buying chocolates to give to the kiddos at Easter.

 

I am having to find a good balance between checkbook and feeling good about what I feed my family. We are NEVER sick (knock on wood), so I must be doing something right, but I think having a little bit of guilt will keep me striving to do better. :)

 

You are good! Also, if you are in northeastern OK and are willing to drive a good 4 hours, I have some good hormone-free, grass-fed beef for you!

[Rosie_0801]

For me, I have to balance kinds of health. I do want my food to be healthy. But I only have limited energy and I want a healthy family life and homeschool so all my energy can't go to food growing, buying, preparation etc. We also have a limited budget and I want a healthy bank account or at least one that hasn't flat-lined. So I try to make good choices within certain parameters.

 

:iagree: We have to find the balance between ethics, energy and economy and that balance shifts all the time. We can only do our best. Sometimes our best is pretty good. At other times our best is peanut butter toast for two meals a day. I've made a bit effort to figure out what the best would be, so at least I know what I should be aiming for.

 

My son asked me three days ago how you made peanut butter, and when I told him, he looked at me and asked, "Well, if it's that easy, how come you don't make your own?"

:D "Yeah, Son. Why don't you?"

 

:)

Rosie

Edited April 1, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[nd293]

We are all going to die some day of something. Isn't there a point at which we can say, "this is healthy enough for me."

 

My thoughts exactly. I think I'm healthy enough, and I even drink soda. :eek:

 

Probably, by the standard of many people on this board, we are unhealthy. But we very, very seldom get sick, are all well within the healthy weight range, eat our veggies and don't overdo the meat. That's good enough for me!

[stripe]

Look what I saw today --

 

A FULL English breakfast is good for your health.

 

The fry-up – with bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding and beans – gives you a better start to the day than muesli or fruit, scientists say.

 

Medics have long condemned the traditional meal – a favourite with truckers and builders – as bad for the heart.

....

A fatty breakfast means people snack less during the day and will eat less at night.

 

But those who eat sparsely in the morning are more likely to gorge on fatty foods in the evening, say experts from the University of Alabama. Scientists found fried breakfasts help prevent a condition called metabolic syndrome, which leads to obesity and heart attacks.

 

And it found a fry-up before noon helps you maintain a normal metabolism.

[TXMary2]

For me, if I can make an improvement I will, but I will not go (what I consider in my mind) overboard. I am unwilling to rearrange the budget and spend more on groceries and I am unwilling to sacrifice the time it would take.

 

We plant a garden every year, I buy whole wheat bread and we sometimes make our own bread, but that is time consuming. We eat a lot of fruit and if organic is on sale I will buy it. We have cut way back on how often we eat out because we know it is not "best." We try to eat our vitamins instead of swallowing them in pill form. My kids like salad. I use real butter and avoid labels with "fat free" or "light" because those things are not necessarily healthy. We buy local eggs, local honey and local beef when it is convenient. I use coconut oil and EV Olive Oil rather than vegetable oil.

 

I also recently stopped buying obvious sugar cereals and instead by All Bran, Grape Nuts, Cheerios etc instead of Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp etc. We never buy soda or added sugar juices, juice boxes etc......we mostly drink milk and water. Sometimes I buy organic milk from a local lady but it is $7 a gallon so I don't do that all the time. We go through 5-6 gallons of milk a week so it isn't financially possible all of the time to buy organic.

 

Personally I feel organic is just the latest fad. We've done light, fat-free, low carb, no carb etc etc....It all makes me dizzy.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

For me, I have to balance kinds of health. I do want my food to be healthy. But I only have limited energy and I want a healthy family life and homeschool so all my energy can't go to food growing, buying, preparation etc. We also have a limited budget and I want a healthy bank account or at least one that hasn't flat-lined. So I try to make good choices within certain parameters.

:iagree:

[creekland]

Look what I saw today --

 

A FULL English breakfast is good for your health.

 

The fry-up – with bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding and beans – gives you a better start to the day than muesli or fruit, scientists say.

 

Medics have long condemned the traditional meal – a favourite with truckers and builders – as bad for the heart.

....

A fatty breakfast means people snack less during the day and will eat less at night.

 

But those who eat sparsely in the morning are more likely to gorge on fatty foods in the evening, say experts from the University of Alabama. Scientists found fried breakfasts help prevent a condition called metabolic syndrome, which leads to obesity and heart attacks.

 

And it found a fry-up before noon helps you maintain a normal metabolism.

 

I think I love you... but I'm not used to that kind of breakfast. I wonder if I can change. I will blame not growing up with that kind of diet on all my weight woes now (whether true or not)!

 

Now we just have to hope it's not an April Fool's Day joke... I can't look at the link because I'm at school and that site is blocked (no clue why).

[creekland]

We go to Cici's, like someone else had mentioned, because my son is aiming to eat me out of house and home and at Cici's it's cheap to feed him a huge meal (including a salad).

 

It is a superb place to feed a teenaged boy, isn't it? And we have three of them... ;) Sometimes 'tis best to not think too much and just enjoy. But I'd go up far too many clothing sizes if we ate there more often! I love their Spinach Alfredo pizza... it's a huge weakness.

[melissel]

Look what I saw today --

 

A FULL English breakfast is good for your health.

 

The fry-up – with bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding and beans – gives you a better start to the day than muesli or fruit, scientists say.

 

Medics have long condemned the traditional meal – a favourite with truckers and builders – as bad for the heart.

....

A fatty breakfast means people snack less during the day and will eat less at night.

 

But those who eat sparsely in the morning are more likely to gorge on fatty foods in the evening, say experts from the University of Alabama. Scientists found fried breakfasts help prevent a condition called metabolic syndrome, which leads to obesity and heart attacks.

 

And it found a fry-up before noon helps you maintain a normal metabolism.

 

Well, this is very interesting. DH and I have always been frustrated with the advice to eat breakfast because it helps you eat less during the day. We'd both found that eating breakfast seemed to open up our appetites and make us hungrier all day long. BUT, the breakfasts we'd eat would be relatively skimpy and/or carb laden--cereal, toast, cream of wheat, etc. I'll have to experiment with breakfasts that are higher in protein and fats and see how I feel throughout the rest of the day.

 

Now we just have to hope it's not an April Fool's Day joke... I can't look at the link because I'm at school and that site is blocked (no clue why).

 

It isn't. Here's another link for you:

 

http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/

[muffinmom]

For me a heavy breakfast works wonders. I find that if I eat a good breakfast (with enough protein and fat) and a substantial lunch, I feel better ALL day, and by the time I get to dinner, I really don't need much at all. A light dinner (soup, sitr-fry, etc.) is usually more than enough. I try to get the majority of my calories when I need them...early in the day.

 

If I eat just cereal or toast in the a.m., I feel worn out within an hour usually and need something else to eat. I end up nibbling all day to catch up to the calories I need.

[creekland]

 

It isn't. Here's another link for you:

 

http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/

 

MANY thanks for that link. I think I'll see about adjusting breakfast as I can relate to quite a bit of it all (at least on the carb side).

[stripe]

I think I love you... but I'm not used to that kind of breakfast. I wonder if I can change. I will blame not growing up with that kind of diet on all my weight woes now (whether true or not)!

 

Now we just have to hope it's not an April Fool's Day joke... I can't look at the link because I'm at school and that site is blocked (no clue why).

:) I love you too. Glad I didn't get flamed. (Yet.)

 

I didn't even think of the April Fool's thing, but it looks like this has been discussed on other days. I think the trick of that diet plan is to eat a big breakfast, a medium lunch, and a small dinner. However, any meal that includes black pudding, well, let me just say, no thanks!

[Lovedtodeath]

They really have beans for breakfast? With sausage? I have never heard of that.

[Spy Car]

They really have beans for breakfast? With sausage? I have never heard of that.

 

Often Heinz Baked Beans out of a tin.

 

Bill

[Lovedtodeath]

Well, I am inspired. Tomorrow it is eggs and ham and next week my yummy, creamy refried bean recipe from my sil.

[DarlaS]

Often Heinz Baked Beans out of a tin.

 

Bill

 

Sounds yummy! I just got a cookbook from the library today (What a coincidence!) with a very similar breakfast in it--written by a UK chef/author/teenager.

 

I wonder if the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK are different? Less sugary maybe?

[stripe]

I wonder if the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK are different? Less sugary maybe?

Apparently so.

 

I find beans to actually be a very tasty breakfast, although I haven't had any recently.

[Corraleno]

I find beans to actually be a very tasty breakfast, although I haven't had any recently.

My favorite breakfast in the whole world is leftover black bean chili with grated cheese, sour cream, homemade salsa and a poached egg on top. Yum! That will easily last me until dinner.

 

Jackie

Edited April 2, 2010 by Corraleno

[elise1mds]

It is a superb place to feed a teenaged boy, isn't it? And we have three of them... ;) Sometimes 'tis best to not think too much and just enjoy. But I'd go up far too many clothing sizes if we ate there more often! I love their Spinach Alfredo pizza... it's a huge weakness.

 

OHhhh yeah we have to get a whole spinach alfredo just for ourselves. But my boy isn't a teen (yet). He's only 7. He is just HUGE. He's 4 1/2 feet tall and I just bought him size 6 flip-flops for summer. :001_huh:

 

I had a long chat with a friend of mine today about this topic, and she agreed we all just have to do our best. That being said, she and I are going to sign up for a local natural/organic food co-op and she's going to check with her uncle about beef. And so the cycle continues!

[Spy Car]

Sounds yummy! I just got a cookbook from the library today (What a coincidence!) with a very similar breakfast in it--written by a UK chef/author/teenager.

 

I wonder if the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK are different? Less sugary maybe?

 

Correct. They are less sweet than the American version.

 

"Beanz Meanz Heinz"

 

Bill

[lailasmum]

I am in the UK. Its really easy to buy low sugar + salt and organic baked beans too. We tend to have a big fry up if we are having a big day, travelling all day or just doing a lot. But it only happens a few times a year. It would be bacon, eggs, sausage, fried or grilled tomatoes (either fresh or tinned), fried mushrooms (in butter not oil), occasionally fried bread or mashed potato left over from the previous day. Its a meal that keeps you powered right through the day but its very fried and all done in a big pan normally so the flavours mingle. At other times a cooked breakfast would be an omlet or something else eggy. We have porridge several times a week.

 

My mum remembers her family cooking huge quantities of bacon every morning for all their farm workers.

 

In general we buy organic dairy and fruit and veg as we can. Organic flour for home made bread if I can find it and whatever else we can afford but not everything is organic. Organic veg and fruit is fairly affordable now but not always available. Our supermarket does nice local free range chickens that we buy nearly every week they cost about £6. They end up making 2-3 meals. We have just got back into buying beef and organic beef or local grass fed is very expensive but worth it for a treat. Other than that we just buy simple unprocessed foods as much as possible and try to avoid sugar.

 

One thing I stopped buying in pursuit of a healthier diet was flavoured yogurt. I buy or make plain and add fresh or frozen fruit. There was so much sugar in the flavoured stuff even the supposedly healthy organic kids yogurt.

 

The unhealthy stuff creeps in around the edges but not in any huge quantity.

[IsabelC]

I think you could probably apply the Pareto Principle and assume that, of all dietary changes you could make, 20% of them have the potential to bring 80% of the possible benefits. You could try listing all the possibilities and figuring out the costs and benefits of each, but most probably you're already doing this in your head when you make your daily decisions anyway. Of course the choices won't be the same for everybody.

 

Also, you have to bear in mind that, for most people, gradual and moderate changes are more effective in the long run because they are easier to sustain. So maybe, instead of thinking that you're healthy enough and you will now stop, you could think of this as being a plateau phase, after which you may decide to make further changes.

 

Our family diet is very much a work in progress. Eg, we know that we 'should' be encouraging the kids to eat more vegetables, preferably 3-7 serves per day, of several different colors including dark green, fresh, organic, and at least some of it raw. Our reality is that, given the choice, they would eat almost no vegetable at all. So at this point, we try to ensure that they have vegetables for at least one meal every day. But that is a stepping stone, not a stopping stone.

 

There are other aspects where we'd be considered on the healthy end of the spectrum. Eg, our kids drink only water most days. Milk or diluted pure fruit juice (freshly made when possible) are a special treat. They do not drink anything fizzy, sugary or caffeinated.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Hotdrink

[creekland]

However, any meal that includes black pudding, well, let me just say, no thanks!

 

That is NOT part of the breakfast that we are adding. Since we have our own chickens, having eggs for breakfast fairly regularly is a distinct possibility. Generally we eat them for lunch or supper as I'm a cereal or whole wheat toast breakfast eater (and have been for oodles of years). I'm not above changing though. It all makes sense. Cereal or toast can be supper.

 

Beans don't work for me for breakfast. I love beans, but not the gas - esp when I teach in a public high school. I can eat them for lunch since I'm home most evenings, but I shudder to think of eating them for breakfast - maybe on weekends. We have to be careful when we eat chili too.

 

And no, beano doesn't appear to work for me.

[Peela]

I have become fairly extreme in my eating habits in the last months. I realised that last night when I was visiting some girlfriends- 2 out of 3 of whom put their fingers in their ears when I explained what I eat. They said they didnt wantto know- and healthy enough was good enoguh for them. To them, my diet was boring. To me, muffins are boring,and not worth the feeling afterwards. Wheras watermelon, mangoes, vegetable juices, nori rolls, raw chocolate, almond milk superfood smoothies, and such foods, are far from boring.

 

I have a passion for eating healhy, though, and to keep eating healhiER. Thats my interest. I find the more I go in that direction, the less I am attracted to eating food of poorer quality. I will make it for my kids and dh at times, but choose not to eat it myself.

 

I absolutely do think healthy enough is good enough. However, when "normal" is actually pretty exremely unhealthy, as in the Standard American (or Australian Diet (SAD), our views of what is actually healthy can be pretty distorted.

[creekland]

I did it... I ate two fried eggs, a slice of fried bologna, and 2 slices of whole wheat toast for breakfast this morning (and the guys are all happy to be able to cook similarly for themselves - my youngest put his empty cereal bowl back quickly!).

 

Now we'll see if it makes a difference the rest of the day compared to a bowl of cereal or just the whole wheat toast.

 

I don't have our other meals planned yet... actually, supper is planned. We're having a Good Friday meal at church. I know they serve lamb, but I don't know what else. I don't know if it will be a light supper or not (help yourself or served?).

 

I guess I'd better plan on eggs for breakfast tomorrow when I can totally plan our meals out! :)

[Rosie_0801]

It is quite possible to include fat in one's breakfast without it being a fry up.

 

Rosie

[Lovedtodeath]

That is not as fun Rosie! ;)

[Rosie_0801]

That is not as fun Rosie! ;)

 

That's what I used to think ;) That's what I LIKED thinking! I conducted a few experiments on my belly's behalf and we came to the conclusions that fried mushroom, onion and tomato along with avocado on sourdough was the fryingest fry up permitted.

 

Shockingly enough, I've come around and I like it that way!

 

;)

Rosie

 

P.S I don't think we have bologna here. Is it food? ;)

[Lovedtodeath]

Do you have braunschweiger?

[Crissy]

I don't think we have bologna here. Is it food? ;)

 

Not really.

[phathui5]

Others pursue health b/c they're grossed out by the truth of certain foods

 

I think that's me. I don't only buy organic meat because I'm being "competitive" or the perfect parent. I do it because non-organic meat makes me a little queasy. Sure, it's because I've read all the books and watched "Food, Inc." I can't eat meat and not think about where it came from. If I wasn't buying organic meat, I'd be vegetarian.

[creekland]

Well, my experiment worked for 4 of the 5 of us. Hubby says he's still hungry tonight, but after having had the full breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, and a SMALL bowl of lamb vegetable stew + a small roll and about half a dozen grapes the rest of us are just fine.

 

I can see this being a new normal - will likely try beans with something next weekend to avoid doing eggs all the time.

[melissel]

Well, my experiment worked for 4 of the 5 of us. Hubby says he's still hungry tonight, but after having had the full breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, and a SMALL bowl of lamb vegetable stew + a small roll and about half a dozen grapes the rest of us are just fine.

 

I can see this being a new normal - will likely try beans with something next weekend to avoid doing eggs all the time.

 

Excellent! I have to hit our local farm tomorrow for eggs, because we don't get our co-op order for another week or so. This morning for breakfast I had...ummm...Yodels...so not exactly in the spirit of the experiment :blush: I'll do better tomorrow, I swear!

[stripe]

Others pursue health b/c they're grossed out by the truth of certain foods

I think this motivation could easily take one in the opposite direction, though. Buying a chicken breast already prepared for you on a styrofoam tray is a far cry from picking out your own bird and having to pluck the feathers out themselves! Similarly beef jerky /hot dog seems like a nice, safe food, because it's so removed from context to the point that it's not even clear WHAT it is, so no need for guilt.

[creekland]

Excellent! I have to hit our local farm tomorrow for eggs, because we don't get our co-op order for another week or so. This morning for breakfast I had...ummm...Yodels...so not exactly in the spirit of the experiment :blush: I'll do better tomorrow, I swear!

 

The thing I really like about this is that my family is so easily on board. I expected with 4 males - 3 of them teens - that I'd have, well, issues. I let them read the report, plus they see the size of my extended family (working against genetics here I fear) and like the idea of changing the metabolism to likely (hopefully?) change the outcome in their 50s and 60s.

 

We aren't 100% on the "healthy only" bandwagon (hence bologna works for us - esp since we live in the land of bologna - German heritage area), but we're more than willing to make easy changes that make sense. We use Nutrition Action (no ad mag from CSPI) for Health class, and generally try to eat healthy, but we're also not opposed to the occasional trip for fast food or CiCi's - plus other things here and there.

 

Edited to add the our extended families have long lived genes naturally. My grandmother on my mom's is still going strong at 90. My grandfather on that side lived till 88. My grandmother on my dad's side was murdered at 88. My grandfather on my dad's side died young at 66 from a heart attack, but that's it, and what he had is easily fixable now (but, of course, we don't want heart disease anyway). Hubby's parents are currently 82 and 80 and still going strong. All of the above ate extremely unhealthily by our standards - and for those alive, they still do. All of our aunts and uncles are still alive too. Almost all are (or were) overweight. There's no allergies in any of the family either. That's why we have no issues with our health lapses. I think eating healthy in general is good, but having to do it all the time is not necessary. There's nothing wrong with an occasional treat for us. For others with more health issues it might be different.

 

Anyway, switching to protein at breakfast, keeping lunch, and cutting our larger meal at dinner (while at home anyway) should be relatively easy. We have our own eggs, so that's helpful. In general we tried to eat our largest meal at lunch when we could. I can't do it when I work as I have 25 minutes to eat and use the restroom, plus anything else I deem important. But I can get up a little bit earlier and fix more than toast for breakfast. Having smaller suppers ought to help the food budget too.

 

My extended family has never been healthy in the least with their eating choices. Both hubby and I were brought up 100% unhealthy (by our standards even!). We're different in that already and have been for the last 15 years +-, but even so, I can see the midlife pounds coming on both myself and hubby. Perhaps this can help to keep them off without needing a starvation diet. Perhaps there IS truth to this theory. I'm willing to test it. Now I just have to figure out how to keep hubby from being hungry at night...

Edited April 3, 2010 by creekland

[creekland]

Two days in a row and this is working well for all but hubby. It's roughly the time we generally do dinner and only hubby is hungry. I wonder what we can add for him... I also wonder how much is genuine and how much is conditioning. I know guys need more calories, but in reality, he's an overweight middle aged guy and my teen guys all aren't hungry!

 

Otherwise, we're planning on boxed shrimp, fresh asparagus and fresh strawberries for supper which sounds like more than plenty for those of us not hungry. I could probably skip supper and feel ok. I doubt any of the guys would go that far.

 

I like this dietary change so far. Thanks a ton for the poster that linked to the story as I'd have missed it! Fried eggs and bologna taste good for breakfast too. :)