Real Food Family Newbies
Real Food Family is your complete source for sound whole food nutritional guidance, meal planning and natural living. Do you feel overwhelmed with the all the contradictory information out there about health and nutrition? Well, I was too! I thought I was a super-healthy, nutrition-minded professional dancer 10 years ago. Now that I look back, I couldn’t have been more wrong. My perpetual illness and injuries should have been a sign. I’ve come a long way, and I hope to save you and your family the time and extra effort it took for me to get passionate about REAL FOOD!
Quick Links:
Real Food Family University!
This is my step-by-step guide to adopting a real food and natural living lifestyle!
Here are the published posts so far:
- Introduction
- Lesson 1: 5 Simple Foods to ADD Today
- Lesson 2: Get Rid of the Worst Offenders
- Lesson 3: Properly Balanced Meals
Real Food Family’s Top Posts and Links for General Nutrition and Info
Basics of Nutrition– Real Food Family’s best nutrition-related articles
Real Food Weekly- a weekly meal planning resource to get your family nourished
3 Supplements Everyone Should Take Every Day
Natural Remedies for Common Illnesses
Are you ready to prioritize a nourishing diet and lifestyle? I’ll take you through my steps to helping you get there!
1. Define Healthy?
What exactly IS healthy? Is it eating low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie, being thin, being plump, eating meat, not eating meat, being beautiful, or being able to run a marathon? There is a lot of information out there on this subject, but I have become very passionate about my convictions about REAL nutrition and healthy living. I think the most significant indicators of good health are IMMUNITY AND RESISTANCE TO DEGENERATIVE DISEASE, and the ability to PRODUCE STRONG, HEALTHY CHILDREN THAT ARE RESISTANT TO DISEASE.
2. Let FOOD Be Thy Medicine
Is it really possible to heal yourself with food? Obviously drinking a gallon of freshly pressed carrot juice will not heal a broken ankle, but diet CAN make a significant impact on avoiding degenerative disease. A nourishing diet, meaning a diet full of nutrients needed to support all the organs and systems of the body, is the foundation needed to support all aspects of health. A proper diet can keep you away from the doctor and/or hospital, but can also support a medical therapy for optimal success when conventional medicine is necessary. I work with my mom, a family physician, and when we integrate both natural and conventional approaches to health, patients have the best long-term results.
3. First Do No Harm
I like to focus on how ADDING nutrient-dense foods and natural products can support a more nourished and healthy life, but there are certainly things you should consider eliminating from your life, too. Check out the “dietary dangers” listed on my article, Optimum Health: An Overview of Nutrition. If you are interested in improving your health, why would you continue to keep things in your life that are proven to be harmful to your health? I would consider beginning by eliminating these things:
1. Drugs (unnecessary pharmaceutical, recreational, cigarettes, etc.) These things can change body chemistry, hormones, immune response, and more, and do not support holistic (or whole body) health in any way.
2. Artificial foods- processed foods, sodas/soft drinks, food colorings, artificial sweeteners, any chemical products in the ingredients list of a food product. (If you can’t buy the product at the grocery store…or farmer’s market…then don’t eat it.)
3. Chemicals in your food, body, and in your home. Research is continually surfacing to prove how carcinogenic (cancer-causing) common chemicals found in food, vaccines, cosmetics, body care and home cleaning products are.
4. Stress and unforgiveness. Mental and spiritual health is just as important to me as physical health. Although I believe life is about more than the physical…we are souls who have bodies…there is actually a neurological science behind our feelings and emotions, so these things could also be scientifically considered “physical health”. The bottom line is that we must create balance in our lives so that we can find more pleasure than heartache. We must learn to let things go- be it the jerk that cut you off on the freeway or the deep grudges and hate you hold toward others. You know yourself. Spend the time and effort you need to ensure that you experience true peace in your life. I find true peace and hope in the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ. This is, by far, the most important part of my life. I can’t imagine any sort of “health” without Him! Sometimes I post “Soul Food” posts here that have to do with my spiritual life. 🙂
4. Don’t Just Survive…THRIVE!
Why should you care about what you eat? Because you’ll live better! Sure, we humans are fully capable of surviving while we stress out, smoke, eat processed foods, and consume all sorts of drugs- both medical and recreational- and alcohol without limit. Some people think that continual headaches, fatigue, reliance on caffeine, diarrhea and constipation, weight gain, stress, sleeplessness, depression, and poorer health as we age are “normal” parts of life. I desperately disagree. I have been in that realm of “normal”. Now that I know how to THRIVE, it is VERY clear to me that a nourishing diet can truly change your life!
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