DH and I don't eat very well, to say the least. LO is 7 months and just started eating what we eat and that really opened our eyes to how much sugary/greasy/processed foods we are eating. We are both on board for eating healthier but we still want our food to taste good. We would love to hear some of your ideas to eating healthy, what foods are good and which ones we should cut out. If you want to share what a sample day looks like as far as what you and your family eat, that would be great too 
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I am going to follow along. I have a friend who is going part raw, and she's an awesome source of information.
I am starting with breakfast and doing smoothies.
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When I'm not 39.5 weeks pregnant I eat paleo, but I definitely don't think paleo is the only way to eat healthy. What I think everyone can take away from paleo though is the idea of eating a whole foods diet.
So I think the easiest way to start making changes without being restricted by a rigid "diet" is to just stop buying processed foods. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the aisles. Eat real foods: fruits, vegetables, the highest quality meat and dairy you can afford, and avoid products emblazoned with "low fat" or "high fibre" - those products are generally processed foods and you can eat a much more nutrient-dense diet by getting things like fibre from fruit and veggies rather than processed cereals and granola bars (for example).
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For dinner, we have resorted to eating simple foods. Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, grilled veggies. Salad and salmon. Steamed veggies, meatloaf and rice or potatoes. She can eat all of that (sans the salad) and we feel comfortable offering it to her. When we eat poorly (eating out) we give her leftovers.
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By the way, I understand and it is MUCH easier said than done to eat healthy. Especially when you are both working parents.
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Yesterday:
Breakfast: banana buckwheat pancakes for breakfast & juice
Lunch: Leftover beef roast with roasted yams, potatoes, carrots
Dinner: Chicken Ceaser Salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, chick peas and also roasted yams for M.Today:
Breakfast: steel cut oats with homemade applesauce and oranges on side
Lunch: leftover chicken caeser salad
Dinner: Take out nightMaybe you should share what your daily meals are so we can help you?
@hergreenapples: agreed, 1000x!
We hardly ever eat processed foods. We don't buy stuff premade hardly ever. The only thing we eat that comes from a box is rice pilaf, couscous and cereal.
ie mashed potatoes is taking potatoes and boiling it and mashing in the kitchenaid not a betty crocker box. We also always add yams (a super food) to it. I know a lot of people make mashed cauliflower as well and I've been meaning to try it!Eating healthier doesn't mean giving up all the foods you love just a difference in preparation. Also I don't believe in giving up all bad food! We allow ourselves an unhealthy night a week then make up for it the rest of the week! But we'll only do pizza like once every 2-3 months. But then we eat REALLY good the rest of the week to make up for it.
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I agree with just shopping the outside aisle of the store and buying less processed foods. Lots of veggies, fruit, meat, etc. If you cook it, then is easy to control what goes in the food. It should be fairly easy to search out some healthier alternatives. Like if your LO really likes chicken nuggets you can make them at home and bake them, which avoids a lot of the extra crap and oil
So just look for healthier alternatives to what you already enjoy.
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@regberadaisy: @hergreenapples: Yes!
It's really about cutting out the processed foods. I still have cereal in the mornings if I'm running late, but otherwise, I'll make some eggs w/ cheese and salsa. For lunch, I usually eat leftovers from the prior night's dinner.
I listed a typical menu for us. Now, this isn't the most healthy, but it's on the right track.
Dinner 1
- Fish tacos: corn tortillas, fresh fish (usually tilapia) topped with avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, goat cheese and a drizzle of lime juice
Dinner 2
- Salmon (grilled or sautéed), served with steamed asparagus and couscous
Dinner 3
- Steak (portion = size of fist), served with mashed sweet potatoes and/or baby spinach (wilted w/ some fresh garlic)
Dinner 4
- Chicken (covered w/ breadcrumbs and cheese and baked in the oven), served with zucchini and brown rice.
Dinner 5
- Pork loin or roast (in crock pot), with carrots and red potatoes. -
I just had a Panera bagel for breakfast for the second day in a row. No help here...
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Agree with everyone else that a lot of it is about eating whole, real, unprocessed foods. If your body is used to getting a lot of salt, sugars, heavy sauces, fried food, etc. it might take a bit for anything but that sort of cooking to "taste good".
I also always encourage people to try preparing veggies in different ways. Raw, roast, steam, sautee - see what works best for each veggie.
With salad; skip iceberg lettuce. It's about as nutritious as crunchy water. Try greens (not lettuce, but greens) with distinct flavor: arugula, spinach, chard, mustard greens, kale, etc. Skip dressing on a salad unless it's a little bit of simple olive oil and vinegar, or a squeeze of lemon. Top your salads with interesting options: avocado, nuts, dries cranberries, tomato, red onion, Greek olives, etc.
I think my best advice is that when you start with better raw materials and don't mess with them much, you get better tasting food. Starting with grass fed beef is more expensive, but it's also more nutritionally dense so you eat less of it. Starting with in season, fresh veggies when you can. Trade in butter for olive oil.
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@yoursilverlining: Agree with starting with better foods.
@Bao: I highly recommend the farmers markets around here. We have a CSA share and it has helped us incorporate lots of different veggies into our diets.
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Thanks everyone! We will try and shop the outside perimeter of the store, great idea!
We eat things like grilled chicken, veggies, sometimes rice, steak, burgers, but we love bacon (not good, but oh so good), I love bagels, we like pop but we don't drink it too often, but often enough I guess. We like pizza and going out to eat for Mexican at a place down the road. I think we can still do these things but make better choices when we do.
@MrsH: I really want to go to that farmers market, do you know when it starts? We even have one right here in town too, but I think it's much smaller than the one closer to you. What kinds of things do you usually get when you go? How are prices?
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I am redoing my diet and I started by buying one unfamiliar food at the grocery store each week and committing to cooking it. I've tried so many items now and my list of staples has totally changed. I also have stopped buying snack foods unless we have a reason (event to go to). That has helped a ton! Also try to stretch out red meat, so if you eat ground meat or stew meat, cook the full amount then freeze half. U won't notice the difference in the finished product. Trying to work down to meatless...!
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@Bao: one way that we cut back was to make pizza and Mexican at home. It's still not great but at least I know what we are eating and it's better for LO. We buy pizza dough fresh from our supermarket and then add cheese and topings. For Mexican we often sauté fresh veggies and use salsa and guac instead of cheese dip.
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@T.H.O.U.: great idea, I love homemade pizza!
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Okay, so I'm pregnant and freely admit that I am not eating perfectly these days - DH has also rejoiced in some of my junkier, guilty pleasures.
However, we tend to "perimeter shop", which means we rarely buy food items that are not in their true, original form. We strive to eat wholesome, healthy meals with few ingredients. We shop organic and in-season when we can. We try to eat at least two or three vegetarian dinners a week, and rotate lean, white meats, seafood, and grass fed beef.
While healthy eating can be more expensive, what we've found helpful is frequenting food blogs, and comprising a meal plan and corresponding grocery list every Sunday evening. This helps us narrow down our choices, and avoid impulse buys.
Here's a sample menu on a non-preggo day:
Breakfast:
Greek yogurt with berries and granola or a hard boiled egg and apple - I usually pair this with green tea or almond milk
Lunch:
Whole wheat bagel with hummus, spouts, tomato, and onion
Raw almonds and golden raisin mix
2 clementinesDinner:
Grilled salmon
Tri-color quinoa
Wilted greens and cherry tomatoesI still love to snack, so we try to fill the house with healthy options, rather than those that cause us to feel bloated, full, and unhealthy. Lots of granola bars, natural fruit leathers, nuts, fruit for quick smoothies, etc.
If you love soda, try mixing juice with seltzer water - I found this does the trick. Homemade "take out" food can be truly delicious, and a great way to cut out fat!
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@deerylou: Great samples, thank you! I do love pop, but I do have good self control with that at least. Chocolate is a whole different story.
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I was talking to a guy at work, he'd lost about 50 lbs just changing his eating habits.. and I really liked what he told me - "Shop the perimeter (at the supermarket)". If you notice a super market layout, veggies are usually one one side, dairy on the other and meats in the back. Just walk around the perimeter of the market and try to avoid all the crap in the isles.
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Here's my family's sample menu. To note, I'm a VERY picky eater and have walked a long road of trying to clean up my eating.
breakfast: toast/milk/yogurt/fruit/cereal/bagel with cream cheese. we each eat two or three of these things.
lunch: sandwich and milk and popcorn for me, turkey slices with grapes and crackers for my daughter.
snack: frozen greek yogurt, fruit
dinner: homemade pizza for me (I make the dough, use tomato paste as sauce, and use fresh moz), grilled chicken over cous cous and steamed asparagus for everyone else.
The fresh, whole ingredients are really crucial. Also making sure to emphasize proteins and plants. If you can deemphasize carbs as much as possible (I still need a lot to feel full and energetic) you'll be able to consume fewer calories overall.
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We do mostly paleo, but I would agree that just cooking simple meals with whole foods will get you most of the way to healthy. Just cut the processed crap!
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for us, what helps is just simply not bringing too many processed foods home from the grocery store. It's easier to 'be good' when i'm at the grocery store -- i can use all my eating healthy good intentions to only purchase fresh foods. Then, when i'm home, i'm forced to cook and eat them! hehe
We allow ourselves to go out once a week and eat whatever we want! pizza, burgers, chinese food, etc
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Agree with others. High quality simple foods! And learn to love your spice cabinet
really focus on how fresh and real you're all tastes will make it a good experience (versus "this is healthy and damn I wish it had butter on it"). And about how you feel afterwards-major motivator!As a first step, cutting back on processes foods is definitely a start. And sodium, which goes hand in hand.
And definitely keep it simple so it's a sustainable change. Grilled meat and salad or veggies plus bread or rice is plenty and quick.
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@Bao: others have said what I'd offer but I thought I'd mention if you're wanting to cut soda you could check out sodastream. I did demos for them in the past and my family has one - their syrups are full of junk but they just use it to carbonated fruit juice instead of drinking soda.
Another good rule of thumb is to not buy things that you don't know what or can't pronounce any of the ingredients. We try o focus on whole foods and makin things from scratch but still eat cereal and pretzels etc just looking at the labels more carefully. Fruit and veggies for most snacks. Always having a vegetable in the meal or as a side. We have one night dedicated to meatless meals and on other nights I often mix half the meat with a grain to stretch it and freeze the other half - tacos with quinoa or amaranth etc.
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