Processed Foods

Processed foods are all around us.  Creamer in your coffee.  Cheez its for the kids.  Lunch meat on your sandwich.  Even foods that we may think are healthy, like granola bars, instant oatmeal, and some yogurts, are really not great choices because they are full of sugar and chemicals.  The problem is that we are so pressed for time.  Most of us don't cook from scratch, nor do we want to. 

I love Luna bars and Kashi bars.  I can throw them in my bag and take them with me anywhere.  But guess that I could take an apple or string cheese instead.  I love Diet Coke and it's easy to get in the grocery store or drive through.  It would only take me an extra second to fill up my bottle of water and take that with me as well.  We want taste and flavor, but have we forgotten what real foods taste like? And what is that doing to our bodies?

I follow several Weight Watchers groups on Facebook.  On one of these pages people post pictures of what they ate.  There is so much processed fake food and junk!  People post pictures of Fiber One bars, PB2, frozen meals, cereal bars, and weight loss shakes just to name a few. I must confess that some of these foods can also be found in my pantry.  It's just really really hard to avoid all of these processed foods.

Here's a few small changes that I have made:
* Oatmeal - I don't buy the instant packets anymore.  I buy Quaker Oats in the round container and add my own fruit to it.  It takes about the same amount to time to prepare.  Read more about it here. 
* Yogurt - I refuse to buy anything Yoplait.  Most of their yogurts are filled with sugar and are colored with ground up beetles. Read the story here.  I have switched to Greek Chobani 100.
* Eggs - I eat whole eggs, not just the whites.  They are a whole food and are good for you!  Read this article from Shape Magazine here.  
* Fruit - I buy blueberries, raspberries, bananas, apples, mangoes, oranges, pears, and pineapples.  Find what's in season.  Spend the money on it.  Don't buy cookies.  Eat fruit for snacks.  Mix it with your yogurt, put it in your oatmeal.  I also like to cook apples in the crock pot with cinnamon and water.  Easy and healthy. 

I still love my Luna bars.  I did slip up and drink a few Diet Cokes last week.  It's really hard, and I doubt I'll ever eat 100% clean with no processed foods at all.  But I am taking baby steps in the right direction.