A Whole Foods Confession

I have been posting recently on how I am really feeling the push to incorporate more whole grains/foods, and all around healthier eating habits, into our daily meals. This is not a new thing for me. In fact, as I was reflecting on it tonight, I realized that this is the third summer in a row when I have gone through this same phase.

The desire to feed my family this way was initially kicked off by reading The Maker's Diet and Nourishing Traditions. Everything in those books made so much sense to me, and Eric was on board 100%. We both want to eat as healthfully as possible, and to feed our children diets that are healthy and natural, without processing, chemicals, or artificial "stuff." We want to eat food the way God intended it.

So, if that happened 3 years ago, why am I now writing about really wanting to eat this way? Because I have a hard time sticking to this for the long haul. There are a few reasons for this, but the number one reason is that I struggle with feelings of deprivation. Big time! I'd love to figure out a way to get over this. The kids do wonderfully eating this way. They never ask for other things that we are no longer keeping in the house. They actually prefer homemade crackers and chips to store-bought. They even love baked goods made with honey and whole wheat flour instead of white sugar and white flour.

Three years ago was the first time I read The Maker's Diet. I quickly followed that up with reading Nourishing Traditions, which I had previously heard wonderful things about from an online forum I belonged to. All of the pieces just fell into place for me. Eric and I discussed things and he agreed with me that we needed to make serious changes. We agreed we did not have to be as "radical" as the complete Nourishing Traditions style, yet still very similar to the overall theory.

I began experimenting with new recipes and an entirely new way of cooking. We purchased everything organic and made sure that everything we ate was as close to its natural source as possible, although we were not "raw only" eaters. Two weeks went by this way. Nothing I made really turned out the right way. And it seemed like I was spending every waking minute in the kitchen. I got burned out on all the work for food that just didn't taste that great to us. Eric was tired of seeing me struggle. So, I gave up.

However, I did hang on to a few things I learned during this first foray. I decided I would no longer use canned soups, prepackaged mixes, or frozen meals of any kind. I also decided we would only eat whole wheat bread and that I would try to incorporate at least a little whole wheat flour into all of my baking and that everything would be made from scratch. That was great and it is something I have stuck to until this day.

The next summer (last year), I really was feeling the urge to get back to eating how we had the previous year. I remembered it wasn't very successful, but that I did feel good physically while we were eating that way. And I had not lost the feeling that eating that way just made sense. I reread The Maker's Diet and Nourishing Traditions. I also delved into further research on organic food, eating naturally, and homeopathic healthcare. I decided to try incorporating some different elements into our diet. We began drinking kefir (which was awesome) and eating store-bought Ezekiel bread, sprouted tortillas and pasta, raw honey and extra virgin coconut oil. We visited some independent natural food and health stores. But as you can imagine, all of these store-bought products got very expensive quickly.

I decided to try my hand at sprouting grains and failed miserably. I was getting frustrated with myself and feeling like I just would never get the hang of it. I was also suffering with feelings of deprivation. The end of the day would arrive and I would NEED something sweet and bad for me. Most days, I would ask Eric to pick up a twix bar on his way home for me. I felt guilty for that, but it did help. Eventually though, burnout got the better of me once again and we went back to our old ways, although again we hung on to even more new habits.

So, here it is summertime again and I'm back to those same old feelings. Burnout is still a ways away, but making a dinner that turned out to be a flop tonight really has me thinking. I am determined that this year be different. I don't want this to just be another summer phase. I just need to figure out how. How do I get over my own feelings of deprivation? What are some good substitutes for those times when I just want a good old white flour, white sugar chocolate chip cookie? How do I stay motivated when I just can't seem to get the hang of some things?

I feel so blessed this year that I have so many wonderful blogs and online resources that I can turn to. The previous two years this happened we did not have the internet, so I am hopeful it will become a big encouragement that I was lacking.