A SmallStep is one simple thing you can do to live calmer, healthier or sexier. This week, in the spirit of our Healthy Eating 101 series, consider taking the small step of replacing two processed foods your family eats with real foods. Once you’ve established those new foods as “regulars” in your family’s diet, make two more changes. Over several months, you’ll increase the number of nutritious, delicious real foods everyone eats, with (hopefully!) minimal angst or complaining. Here are some examples of the kinds of changes you could make:
- Eliminate sodas (regular and diet) and add more water, milk, tea or 100% fruit juice.
- Replace high-sugar cereals with low-sugar, whole-grain cereals.
- Replace white bread with whole wheat bread, or white rice with brown rice.
- Swap out sugary, fruity yogurt and serve plain yogurt with fruit instead.
- Replace bottled salad dressings with easy, delicious homemade dressings.
- Replace chips and other salty snacks with air-popped or stove-popped popcorn, lightly salted.
- Instead of breakfast pastries, serve whole wheat English muffins with peanut butter.
- Eliminate margarine and vegetable shortening; use butter or olive oil instead.
- Replace fast food lunches with a sandwich and fruit or leftovers.
- Replace fast food dinners with simple dinners, cooked at home.
- Replace packaged vegetable side dishes with a salad or steamed vegetables.
- Instead of cookies or other sweets, serve fresh fruit.
- Replace packaged cookies and cakes with homemade versions that use real ingredients.
- Replace foods made with high-fructose corn syrup with foods that aren’t made with it.
- Swap foods that are high in sodium for lower-sodium foods.
Have you made changes to include more real foods in your diet? What has worked for you? What has been a struggle? Please share your ideas in the Comments – I would love to hear from you. I also would love for you to subscribe to Calm.Healthy.Sexy. by email. Enter your email address in the sidebar (under Subscribe to Blog Via Email). And please follow Calm.Healthy.Sexy. on Twitter (@CalmHealthySexy), Facebook, or Pinterest. Thanks. Gaye
Linked to the fabulous blogs and blog hops at Housewife How To, All She Cooks, Salt Tree, HealthyTuesday, Not Just a Housewife, Inspired Tuesday, Romance on a Dime, TALU, Hearth and Soul Hop, Life of Meg, Nifty Thrifty Things, The Chicken Chick, I Gotta Try That and Matrimonial Monday.
BetsyPool says
This is a good reminder. Thanks for sharing.
GC says
Thanks Betsy.
Gaye
desiraer says
When we moved to Denmark, there just wasn’t that many processed foods and I saw a huge change in my body as we adjusted to real foods. It was really great! Thanks for sharing this post. Thanks for linking up with inspired tuesday!
GC says
Thanks Desirae. It’s always encouraging to hear when someone has seen positive changes with eating real foods.
Gaye
21stcenturyhousewife says
Small steps are always the best way forward for sustained change. There are some excellent ideas in this post. We try to make healthy unprocessed food choices as often as possible in our home and it really does make a difference to how we feel. Thank you for sharing with the Hearth and Soul hop.
GC says
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Gaye
The Dose of Reality (@TheDoseTweets) says
This post is really helpful. I have been trying to pay better attention to exactly what my family is eating, and this gives me some solid starting points. Thank you. Stopping by from SITS Sharefest on Twitter.
GC says
Thanks for visiting. Love your blog – it is a great dose of humor in my day!
Gaye
Danielle Heckenkamp @ Provocative Manners says
This is such a great post! Stopping by from the Aloha Blog Hop! We are trying to get rid of most processed foods in our house, but it’s definitely hard:)
GC says
Thanks Danielle. It is hard work, but worth the effort.
Gaye
Monica says
This is a fantastic post. Just reading ingredient labels is enough to make me sick. Thanks for sharing so many great tips.
More Than A Mom says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Stopping by from Not Just A Housewife’s show-me-what-ya-got-110
GC says
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Gaye
Katie B. of HousewifeHowTos.com says
These are all wonderful tips! We made the switch to real food following my husband’s cancer diagnosis. It’s made all the difference in our energy levels…although I tend to get a bit wiped out from all the extra cooking, but I feel good about doing it!
Found you via SaltTree Social. I wanted to invite you to join my How To Tuesday link party, if you haven’t already joined . It would be wonderful to have you!
http://housewifehowtos.com/linkage/link-party-2/how-to-tuesday-link-party-12-and-features/
GC says
Thanks for stopping by, Katie. I agree that eating real foods affects our health and how we feel, although there’s no getting around the fact that it takes more work to prepare it! I will definitely stop by your Tuesday hop.
Gaye
Rosey says
This post (awesome, by the way) reminded me that I need to get on the treadmill (my promise to myself is to run every day this month). Time flies when you procrastinate you know. 😉
GC says
Hi Rosey – Time does fly when we procrastinate – lol! Glad I could send you a gentle reminder.
Gaye
canigetanotherbottleofwhine says
These are great tips. I Changed to an almost all-natural diet about 1.5 years ago. The thing that really made me change was reading books on why we should eat naturally and watching some of those documentaries. I ate a lot more processed foods before. It’s more expensive eating naturally, but it’s better. I don’t want diabetes.
A Proverbs 31 Wife says
Basically I have been eating nothing but healthy food the last 10 days. Actually less than that. I’ve only been eating fruits and veggies, and let me tell you. While I feel great on my current diet, I am really craving, not junk food, but grains and dairy!
kenyagjohnson says
We are coming into a season where the fruits I like aren’t ridiculously priced and I’ll eat more fruit instead of grabbing other things. I don’t like cold fruit, so in the morning I take out grapes. It’s something that’s my go to snack when I go in the kitchen to look for something. ~TALU
best italian recipe videos says
We have removed soda in our diet! We eat more veggies now and e love juicing!
Mika
new follower from
MINGLE MONDAY BLOG HOP! follow
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Sarah says
Thank you for some great ideas. I really should start treating my body better.
elleseesyou says
great tips and excellent advice!
Heather says
These are great tips! I do this with my kids, but tend to neglect myself. I definitely want to be sexier, so I need to eat sexier too! Maybe that will help my complexion a bit.
GC says
Hi Heather – It’s so easy to focus on the kids and forget ourselves! But we deserve healthy food too! And I love the phrase “eat sexier!” I haven’t done much research on food and skin conditions, but I know that some people claim to have healed their acne by changing their diet.
Gaye
Jillian says
I recently changed my cereal, my salad dressing and added more wheat to my diet. Thanks for the tips.
GC says
Thanks for stopping by, Jillian. Have a great day.
Gaye
ramblingmomma says
many amazing tips that i will be trying
GC says
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Gaye