A Few of My Favorite Things...

So you've made the decision to change your eating habits, and change your lifestyle! Congratulations!

Now what?

I grew up on white bread, pepperoni, American cheese, and diet coke! (And Cheez-itz! Ugh my favorite!)  I slowly started making better decisions as I became an adult and learned a bit more about what my body really needed.
But when I really, truly made the commitment to cut the junk and fuel my body properly, I needed HELP!

I walked around Shoprite reading labels without a clue what any of it meant.  Canola oil? (What's a canola?) Xanthum gum? (yum...) What am I looking at!?

Fortunately, my sister married a very knowledgeable man...a doctor of chiropractic care and nutrition. They guided me and helped me understand WHY certain ingredients and processed foods were harming my body, and what organic actually meant.

Simply being told, "Buy this, not that" just doesn't cut it. Understanding what your body needs can help you make decisions on your own about new food products you come across, rather than relying on a list. 

So! I am here today to give you a little bit of both! I'd like to recommend some of my favorite staple grocery store items, and explain why they are fantastic substitutes to what you may normally eat.

 

 

 

Nature's Path Organic Waffles

I am not joking when I tell you, these are the MOST delicious waffles I have ever had! They are gluten-free, and made with some very nutritious ingredients!
The Buckwheat Wildberry waffles are made with buckwheat (Superfood! I'll get into more of those in a later post...), blueberries, brown rice flour, apple puree...and other natural ingredients. They are my favorite! (My son's too!)
The other is Chia Plus, made with quinao, amaranth, pear juice, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and other natural ingredients.
They both have a fantastic, soft consistency and taste incredible! I eat them plain, and they are still so flavorful.
Unlike Eggos or other waffles, these waffles are made from ingredients that have a nutritious purpose, aside from just creating a waffle. So it's less about Eggos being terrible for you, because they are certainly not the worst thing you could eat! It is more about how great these waffles are for you!
Since they are made with brown rice flour, it does not go through all of the processes eriched flour must go through.  Less processing, means more natural, which means your body can more easily identify those natural ingredients and perform it's duties effectively.
So...when I have a waffle and some fruit in the morning, I feel condifent that I am doing good for my body, rather than just trying not to be "bad". 

Make sense!?...

Great! :)

 

Brown Rice Pasta

This was one of my favorite food substitutes for a couple reasons. For starters, I always hated the texture of whole wheat pasta. I found it to be a bit hard and chewy. Brown rice pasta actually has a consistency that is most similar to white pasta. But more importantly, it is not made with enriched flour! (Enriched is a nice fancy word for processed, bleached, etc) And as I said in reference to the waffles, the less processing something undergoes, the easier it is on your body, your organs, your digestive system.

The benefits I'm speaking about are not limited to your health.  When your body is functioning properly, and you organs aren't working overtime to decipher and breakdown foreign substances, it can spend that time and energy on breaking down FAT!

Processed food = belly fat!!    Haaaa-lle-lu-jah! Sing it! ;)
Cut the junk, you cut the fat! Don't cut carbs, or try to starve yourself!
It won't help long term!

You can do crunches and side bends, and run and lift, etc etc etc.  And you'll have strong abs! BUT you won't be able to SEE them!!

I said this to my husband the other day, and as you can imagine, he made fun of me...BUT, I'll say it anyway:

Abs are built in the gym, and exposed in the kitchen!

Well, I hope this helped give you a good understanding of why I recommend these items. And hopefully you gained some knowledge to help you in the isles on your next food shopping trip.

I'll have more recommendations for you soon! Stay tuned. ;)

And, of course, Remember:
Good decisions lead to better ones! ;)


I have to give credit to my brother-in-law, Dr. Joseph Gulotta, who has literally NEVER been stumped by a health or nutrition question I have had for him! His knowledge and recommendations have literally changed my life! <3

Check out his website, and visit him for better health and wellness!