So I've been reading the book "Mastering Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels and have learned a ton about how foods can really affect your hormones/metabolism. I already knew the more whole the food is the better for you but I never knew exactly why eating processed foods can really screw your up metabolism. It really makes sense. I remember after Chase and I got married and I pudged up a little that even if I ate one little thing I gained weight. It was so frustrating! Looking back now I cringe at what I was eating and actually thought was healthy. I would make those Rice-a-Roni boxes and make tacos. I picked up the box the other day and looked at the sodium content and there was 1500mg of sodium in ONE box! Crazy! I can't believe I was consuming that before.
After Jayda was born I watched a documentary called "Food Inc." and it really did change my life. Ever since then I can't buy meat at Walmart, I have to buy it at a local supermarket that is not organic but way better than the crap you buy at Walmart. I try to go organic whenever I can and if there are more than a few ingredients in something I don't buy it. You really do get addicted to processed foods just like people can be addicted to smoking or drugs. The food industry literally adds additives that are addictive in nature. And the scary part is that we are getting our CHILDREN addicted to this crap...and its LEGAL. In our country we have gone from an obesity rate of 17% to 37% just in the last ten or so years. Hmmm I wonder why? Maybe because the foods that are widely available is not REAL food!
I'm not perfect though. I don't think ANYONE can go all organic without paying out the butt and taking a lot of time out of the busy schedules. I just try to keep things as whole as I can. I try to stick to the outer areas of the store. What really makes me cringe is those tv dinners that I used to buy and eat all the time when I was pregnant. On the box it was called "Smart Choice" and I ate those ALL the time. I thought well it says "smart choice" and its only 200 calories! It must be healthy. If thats one thing that I hate about the food industry its that. Why do they try to confuse people into thinking they are eating healthy? There are a ton of people out there that just don't know any better!
And what bothers me is when people wonder why I don't just shove this crap down Jayda's throat. I mean she is very tiny and underweight so if I try to give her healthy foods people question it all the time like I am starving her or something. I just perfer to feed her eggs, fruit and yogurt for breakfast instead of coco puffs. Arrest me because I must be starving my kids.
One thing that drives me crazy is that people think the bigger the baby the healthier. Even if they are just stuffing them full of hot dogs and mac and cheese. Sorry your kid may be bigger than mine but it sure doesn't mean they are healthier. Now I'm not saying Jayda never has processed foods....I think any mom that doesn't ever give their kids processed foods are my hero because it is HARD and very time consuming. I have relaxed a lot since living with my inlaws but it scares me because I would let her eat whatever she wanted and then she never wanted to eat healthy foods. Sure she gained 10 oz in 2 months when we went into the doctor the other day...which is a lot for her age. In no way am I saying that she can't stand to gain weight but I just don't want her to gain it the bad way.
I find it way more important to feed my kids healthy foods and teach them to eat that way so that later when they make those choices on their own they want to eat healthy. Because eventually it will catch up to Jayda and I want the best for her. I know she's not starving, she's developmentally on track, happy and active....not starving by any means. So why stuff her full of crap just to please people around me? Does that make me paranoid? Heck no! I'm sad that more people aren't concerned!
The fact is is that all kids are different shapes and sizes. I know my sister baby was exclusively breastfed and was a GIANT! He was just a BIG boy! She is very healthy and had really petite girls and a ginormous boy. So I think genetics plays a huge role into how big your kids are going to be. It shouldn't be a competition on how high of a percentile your kid is in. I just think its dumb. I don't ask you how much you weigh or what size you wear so why should it matter how big my kid is? Maybe the next person that asks what percentile my kid is in I will ask them what percentile THEY are in! :)
I just watched Food Inc. SCARY. It's a reminder that we have to be good providers of food to our children. That way they are HEALTHY no matter their size.
ReplyDeleteit drives me nuts when i go to the dr and they say gunner or xander is underweight. Then i tell them, my kid burns a lot of his food running around, and he eats a lot of fruits and veggies and whole grain pasta's. And, the only time he ever goes to McDonalds is with my parents. I watched a thing on jaimie oliver about our meat having fillers and it scared me. WTF are they giving us. why don't more people know about this. From now on when i shop at the store i ask them to grind my meat so i know im not getting the fillers they put in them. and i try to keep to brown rice, and veggies and cheese and yogurt stuff like that my kids. I have noticed with gunner if he has red dye's and yellow dyes that are in fruit snacks and sport drinks he is much hyper and won't settle down. This is something i have been slowly doing our family is no more junk in our pantry or fridge. I would like my family to healthy.
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