My hope is to slowly win my family over to a vegetarian diet. Two books that have influenced my decision are, “The New Becoming Vegetarian: The Essential Guide to a Healthy Vegetarian Diet” by Vesanto Melina & Brenda Davis, and “The Maker’s Diet” by Jordan Rubin.

While the book, “The Maker’s Diet”, does not exclude meats, it does explain the importance of a healthy digestive tract. I learned more from these two books about the effects of vitamins and minerals on my health and well being than I did in twelve years of school.

My whole life — I have been obssessive about nutrition – from fasting for 30 days on water (very extreme)… when I was in my 20s, to going totally into junk food and smoking and partying, in my 20s, to being strict raw fooder for many months, to vegan, to vegetarian, to – you name it, I’ve tried it!!!

It’s only been the last 10 years, that I feel more balanced, and able to make the right decisions for me. And even in my coaching, I am all about helping people get in tune with their own bodies, and their own needs, and not imposing my opinions on them.

(Except when it comes to artificial anything, and sugar, and coffee….) Oh, there I go — I think I do have strong opinions on what works and doesn’t work!!!

Interesting about the thoughts – negative or positive. I know that with some of the nutritional products I use, we have had wonderful results with animals (when nothing else worked)…. so how would that be explained? Unless they were picking up on the vibes of the owner… and so they got healthier??

I guess my bottom line is, keep as close to nature as possible…

This is an incredible post, and a subject dear to my heart!!!
Diana Walker, Cravings Coach

I already had the book on my wishlist, but after the show I went ahead and ordered it. I want that chocolate chip cookie w/ chickpeas recipe.

My son is also a good eater. He eats all veggies, except broccoli. In fact his favorite food is black beans. I have always offered him fresh, whole foods from the time he started solids. He does eat some dry cereal, but for the most part we stear clear of the processed stuff. I really think shaping their tastes from the beginning helps a lot too. Mostly, I want the cookbook to sneak more nutrition in food I’m cooking for DH and I! LOL We are the junkfood lovers in the house.

You make some great points…
“Could it be that it just doesn’t matter as much as we believe it does? ”
I whole heartedly agree. I think where we get into real trouble is with the over processed foods and all the tons of chemicals and preservatives that go into them. Our bodies were just not designed to handle them. Food dyes derived from petroleum? Um, yuck.

I think we need to take a common sense approach. Everything in moderation. Don’t eat what makes you feel bad. Drink when you are thirsty. Stear clear of foods that no longer resemble “whole” (ie Cheese Wiz and Ritz crackers anyone?) Some homemade cookies are great… just don’t eat the whole pan. Oh yeah, and STOP eating when you are full. That’s a big one.

This is one of the bests posts I’ve seen on this subject in ages. For me, I feel that sticking as close to whole foods as possible (whatever they be) is the best choice for my family. End of story.

I agree with Amy as well. I dislike that Seinfeld seems deliberately intent on deceiving children rather than showing them that vegetables can be healthy.

i am with you in that if you think too much about food and nutrition, it can easily get overwhelming.
i believe our best bet is to pay attention to what we are eating and feeding our kids by reading labels and avoiding artificial colors and flavors whenever possible, as well as by eating as much fresh food as we can. organics are certainly nice, but they are costly.
i think people can make little changes here and there that will help benefit them. it’s way too overwhelming to think of all the “bad” things we eat and try to cut them out all at once. rather pick a few things and start by replacing those with healthier versions or other foods. i think it’s a process.

before i had kids, i didn’t think about these things nearly as much as i do now. and i’m learning new tidbits about nutrition and health all of the time. it’s a constant learning process and a desire to do what’s best for my family, without going overboard.

as for sneaking veggies in to other foods, i believe in everything in moderation. if you want to sneak some veggies in here and there, fine. but i do think it’s also important to explain to kids why veggies are healthy and for them to see mom/dad eating veggies as a good example. i disagree with jennifer seinfeld saying she will put a box of mac n cheese on the counter so the kids assume that’s what she’s making, while in the meantime she creates her own veggie blend mac n cheese. that seems like she’s deliberately trying to dupe them. personally, i liked michelle’s idea (you quoted her blog above) about sneaking the veggies in the first time or two, but then showing the kids the “secret ingredients” so that they see that veggies can be tasty. i don’t know if this would work as well with younger kids as it would with say preschoolers and up, but it might be worth a try.

my biggest complaint with jennifer seinfeld’s book is that she seems to be out to purposely deceive her kids, is proud of it, and doesn’t think there is anything wrong with it. and she also seems to think it’ll affect their eating habits when they get older. it seems to me that by letting them eat chicken nuggets, brownies, etc. now when they are young, that they will think those things are perfectly fine to eat regularly in the real world, when in fact they are only healthy foods in ms. seinfeld’s kitchen.

ultimately, it is up to individual families to decide what is right for them.

sorry so long. just my .02 (and then some).

amy

I stopped buying fast food and I have no desire to eat it, I imagine it as poison for my body so now I don’t want it. I don’t buy snack cakes, cookies or chips anymore and I turn away bday cake at lot of parties . I have developed a dislike to alot of those things. It is so easy to not eat these foods when you just don’t buy them . My 2 youngest kids have never hadr a sip of pop at age 4 and 6 and they don’t want it either. Not saying they don’t like or want sweets, they just don’t see me drinking it .
I can go on but who really wants to read about my food story? I just wanted to point out that I am not freaking out about everything new I read about foods, but I do know the difference between good and bad. I still have some guilty pleasures, but I am making a big effort to make better food choices while shopping, planning meals and teaching my kids how important our eating habits are right now.

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The way I look at it is if I feel it’s good for my family then that is good enough for me. Like you said there are so many differing opinions out there to know for certain what really is the best for your body.

So in the end it’s left up to you and your personal opinion. And what I think is good for my family right now might end up changing months or years down the road. It certainly has changed from what I felt even this time last year.

As far as the veggies go…I still don’t like them much. I’m very picky. I eat them because I know I need to, but I don’t enjoy many. My Mother didn’t make us eat a wide variety of veggies…I don’t have a clue if I would like them now had I eaten them as a child.

I don’t mind sneaking veggies in, either. Heck, I wish somebody was here to sneak them in on me. lol I’m pretty lucky as my oldest likes veggies that many kids don’t like…such as brocolli. If there is brocolli on the plate he’ll eat it before anything else. I love me some brocolli, too.

Anyways, good stuff here Carrie.