Evolution of Dinner: Part 5 - The Renaissance of Mealtime
Learning I had an autoimmune disease changed my life. One practical way we changed was mealtime!
One phone call changed my life. It was from a PhD at ALCAT. After two years of daily fevers, joint pain, difficulty walking, and countless doctors, I discovered that I had gut health issues that had caused an auto immune disease. I had, in my desperate attempt to get healthy, gone to a vegan diet for myself, but even eating healthy had been too little too late.
I was sick- probably forever- because I ate like an American. The doctor's news was grim, but he shared that if I was strict about food sensitivities, took proper nutritionist, got proper rest, and de-stressed, I had hope of remission.
Remission became my mission. I bawled my eyes out, pulled out everything from my cupboards, and threw away literally garbage bags full of processed, unhealthy foods. The unopened went to the food bank, the rest- to the garbage where it belonged.
My husband encouraged me, telling me that I was the only one who could get me healthy. It was time to stop running to doctors for answers, and dig deep inside to do the work to be well for my family. Within two weeks of eating the ALCAT diet, I was fever free and had dropped about 10 pounds of fluid from swelling. I could walk normally, and had almost no pain.
Now, our dinners are whole foods, raw foods, and lots and lots of whole fruit and vegetable smoothies. I refuse to allow my children to go down the path of disease like I did. Last night, our meal was two sautéed chicken breasts (split between 6 people), spinach and carrot sauté, quinoa, as well as steamed green beans. We eat organic as we can, and we are careful to keep toxins out of our foods and out of our home. We've come a long way, baby!
Related Wellness Resources
We encourage you to take advantage of these FREE Wellness Resources on our website.
Affordable Healthy Grocery Shopping in 30 Minutes
Ever wonder what a healthy grocery list would look like? One of the things many people tell us is that it seems too hard to change shopping habits. They feel eating healthy is harder or costlier. I can tell you shopping for whole, natural foods is less expensive, easier and much faster in the grocery store than dealing with a bunch of processed foods.
Evolution of Dinner: Part 1 - Raw Ingredients
We weren't always the "healthy eating family". We used to eat plenty of processed foods and fast food including frozen foods, sugar laden desserts, and plenty of processed junk. So, I'll be blogging for the next few days on our Evolution of Dinner...
Evolution of Dinner: Part 2 - New Traditions
Break out of the Standard American Diet (SAD), and get happy with new healthy food traditions.
Evolution of Dinner: Part 3 - Hunter Gatherer
Have you ever considered team meal preparation? By cooking large volumes, and trading with friends, you can reduce your meal preparation time significantly!
Evolution of Dinner: Part 4 - The Dark Ages
Yes, we too lived through the "Dark Ages" of dinnertime. We went for convenience foods, and that set us back a few centuries!
Healthy Living Whole Foods Cookbook
Many people know "what" to do to be healthy, but HOW do you do it? One of the best ways we have found is to show people how we eat as a family. This customizable, whole foods cookbook features two hobby chefs! Sara Kosmiski is an amazing RAW foods expert, and Libby Wright shares good foods for beginners in healthy cooking. We hope you enjoy these recipes and encourage you to share them with your family and friends!
Help for Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Living
Eliminating or minimizing Gluten and Dairy from your diet isn't necessary for everyone but some certainly benefit from making these lifestyle changes. Regardless, we all benefit from eating more natural, whole foods and less processed foods. Learn more about gluten-free and dairy-free nutrition options and take advantage of the educational resources, shopping list, and recipes.
How to Shop and What to Eat
We are what we eat. Studies from reputable health organizations suggest that 40-60% of Americans are living with one or more chronic diseases, which negatively impacts their quality of life, reduces employment productivity, and drives up health care costs.1 Lifestyle choices, in particular, the foods we choose to put into our bodies, are making us sick. However, we do have choices regarding our nutrition.
Learn practical tips for healthy and affordable grocery shopping and consider using a list similar to the recommended natural, whole foods grocery shopping list provided to get you off to a good start!
You Can Eat Healthy Without Spending More!
One of the big myths we like to dispel is to talk about the real cost of foods. Most people believe that eating healthy is a lot more expensive than eating processed. The truth is, they cost about the same. Try this experiment and see for yourself!
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Blog Post
This is the last post of a 5-part blog series that shares how a stay-at-home mom transitioned her family from processed foods into natural, whole foods nutrition that radically changed her family's health for the better.
One phone call changed my life. It was from a PhD at ALCAT. After two years of daily fevers, joint pain, difficulty walking, and countless doctors, I discovered that I had gut health issues that had caused an auto immune disease. I had, in my desperate attempt to get healthy, gone to a vegan diet for myself, but even eating healthy had been too little too late.
I was sick- probably forever- because I ate like an American. The doctor's news was grim, but he shared that if I was strict about food sensitivities, took proper nutritionist, got proper rest, and de-stressed, I had hope of remission.
Remission became my mission. I bawled my eyes out, pulled out everything from my cupboards, and threw away literally garbage bags full of processed, unhealthy foods. The unopened went to the food bank, the rest- to the garbage where it belonged.
My husband encouraged me, telling me that I was the only one who could get me healthy. It was time to stop running to doctors for answers, and dig deep inside to do the work to be well for my family. Within two weeks of eating the ALCAT diet, I was fever free and had dropped about 10 pounds of fluid from swelling. I could walk normally, and had almost no pain.
Now, our dinners are whole foods, raw foods, and lots and lots of whole fruit and vegetable smoothies. I refuse to allow my children to go down the path of disease like I did. Last night, our meal was two sautéed chicken breasts (split between 6 people), spinach and carrot sauté, quinoa, as well as steamed green beans. We eat organic as we can, and we are careful to keep toxins out of our foods and out of our home. We've come a long way, baby!
Please see the related Wellness Resources we have provided to support the Evolution of Dinner series. You will find recipes, grocery shopping list, shopping tips and other useful tools to move you down the path of better nutrition. -
Articles
Related Wellness Resources
We encourage you to take advantage of these FREE Wellness Resources on our website.
Affordable Healthy Grocery Shopping in 30 Minutes
Ever wonder what a healthy grocery list would look like? One of the things many people tell us is that it seems too hard to change shopping habits. They feel eating healthy is harder or costlier. I can tell you shopping for whole, natural foods is less expensive, easier and much faster in the grocery store than dealing with a bunch of processed foods.
Evolution of Dinner: Part 1 - Raw Ingredients
We weren't always the "healthy eating family". We used to eat plenty of processed foods and fast food including frozen foods, sugar laden desserts, and plenty of processed junk. So, I'll be blogging for the next few days on our Evolution of Dinner...
Evolution of Dinner: Part 2 - New Traditions
Break out of the Standard American Diet (SAD), and get happy with new healthy food traditions.
Evolution of Dinner: Part 3 - Hunter Gatherer
Have you ever considered team meal preparation? By cooking large volumes, and trading with friends, you can reduce your meal preparation time significantly!
Evolution of Dinner: Part 4 - The Dark Ages
Yes, we too lived through the "Dark Ages" of dinnertime. We went for convenience foods, and that set us back a few centuries!
Healthy Living Whole Foods Cookbook
Many people know "what" to do to be healthy, but HOW do you do it? One of the best ways we have found is to show people how we eat as a family. This customizable, whole foods cookbook features two hobby chefs! Sara Kosmiski is an amazing RAW foods expert, and Libby Wright shares good foods for beginners in healthy cooking. We hope you enjoy these recipes and encourage you to share them with your family and friends!
Help for Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Living
Eliminating or minimizing Gluten and Dairy from your diet isn't necessary for everyone but some certainly benefit from making these lifestyle changes. Regardless, we all benefit from eating more natural, whole foods and less processed foods. Learn more about gluten-free and dairy-free nutrition options and take advantage of the educational resources, shopping list, and recipes.
How to Shop and What to Eat
We are what we eat. Studies from reputable health organizations suggest that 40-60% of Americans are living with one or more chronic diseases, which negatively impacts their quality of life, reduces employment productivity, and drives up health care costs.1 Lifestyle choices, in particular, the foods we choose to put into our bodies, are making us sick. However, we do have choices regarding our nutrition.
Learn practical tips for healthy and affordable grocery shopping and consider using a list similar to the recommended natural, whole foods grocery shopping list provided to get you off to a good start!
You Can Eat Healthy Without Spending More!
One of the big myths we like to dispel is to talk about the real cost of foods. Most people believe that eating healthy is a lot more expensive than eating processed. The truth is, they cost about the same. Try this experiment and see for yourself!
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