Our Whole Food Journey

It’s pretty obvious there are so many diet plans and food recommendations out there—Barnes and Noble has aisles dedicated to what to eat and how to cook it. Everyone has their opinions on what we should be eating. For the past year, Andy and I have really worked on changing what we eat. I think it may have all started with those darn Netflix documentaries that I tend to get addicted too, but then we read Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food which really changed how we view what we eat.

We work really hard to eat “whole” or “real” foods, which basically means non-processed foods that are as close to their original, natural state as possible. It means that we eat lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, organic foods, and so on, and cut out “processed” foods (though this word can mean different things to different people). For us, it means we use whole wheat flour instead of white; brown rice instead of white, 100% whole wheat pasta instead of regular. We use local honey or real maple syrup as sweeteners instead of sugar. We buy real butter instead of margarine or other butter substitutes. It also means we read the ingredient label on foods very closely—if something contains ingredients that we don’t know what they are or would not readily buy ourselves, we put it back. We try to buy locally grown and organic as often as possible.  We buy truly pasture-raised meat, eggs, and milk. We never buy “low fat” or “light” products, but rather whole milk or full fat dairy (eaten in moderation, of course). In a nutshell, the least process options available while keeping in our grocery budget and time constraints in mind.

Now, we’re not legalists about these rules. We “cheat” on this quite a bit. We’ll “splurge” on processed foods occasionally (like ice cream!). Andy and I also believe there are situations in our lives that are not regular occurrences where we feel fine with setting aside these “rules”. We go out to eat at restaurants without questioning our order. We fully participate in potlucks and enjoy whatever goodies others share and often bring dishes ourselves to these “special occasions” that we do not typically make for ourselves on a regular basis. We joyfully and gratefully eat at people’s homes that choose different diets than us. We just try to make the majority of what we eat on a daily basis fit these guidelines. It’s important to us to make intentional rather than absent minded choices about what we eat, and choose the best products available to us that fit our lifestyle and our budget.

Speaking of budget, eating whole foods can be expensive. It just is. Yes, there are ways to be “budget friendly.” Making stuff from scratch can often be cheaper than buying prepared foods. We don’t buy everything organic, rather we pay special attention to the produce that tends to have higher levels of pesticides (there are lists of the “dirty dozen” and “clean fifteen” that we use as guidelines). Buying local foods in season (from farmers markets!) can save money. We eat FAR less meat now than we ever did. Many, if not most, of our meals do not contain meat because good quality, locally pastured meat is expensive. Meal planning and finding budget friendly recipes help. So while there are certainly ways to cut costs, overall, we do spend more on food then we used to. But Andy and I think it’s worth it.  

This way of eating also takes a lot more time and energy. There are far less convenience foods available to us. We prepare many things from scratch, including broths and bread in my bread machine. It takes a lot of work to read through labels, and to try to be constantly aware of what is in the food you eat.  Also fresh, unprocessed food goes bad quicker, which means more planning so as not to waste food.

I want to be very very clear about this, these are personal choices that Andy and I have made for ourselves—we do not judge anyone else for their food choices. I understand fully that there are so many “diets” and eating life styles and different guidelines to follow, a new research study comes out every day that contradicts the previous one. This is just what we have chosen for ourselves. And we have really enjoyed it! It’s rewarding to know that we are making good choices for our health. Cooking is fun for us now! I’ve gotten much better at cooking, and it’s been so fun to experiment and try to new foods and cooking methods and find new recipes (I never anticipated we’d be so eager for the months when watermelon radishes are in season or learn how to make homemade mayo!). We have quite a few friends who also follow similar food rules, so it's been a blast to share recipes and tips (we're always open to ideas and recipes, so please share!). And probably the best benefit—the food tastes wonderful!