One of the tenants of Thrive Nutrition is that I don’t endorse ‘restricted foods.’ Why? Because it rarely works. There are seasons when it makes sense to stop buying peanut butter/ice cream/chips/etc because we’re eating them like 3 year olds at 10pm each night. But, in the long run, these foods are not evil and we’re not ‘bad’ if we eat them. We just need to practice self control and establish some boundaries with them.
If banning foods doesn’t work, what does? It turns out, making the healthiest choices we can on a regular basis works just fine. Sometimes that might mean that we need to take a good, honest look at what we’re regularly eating, though. If EVERYTHING we eat comes out of box and has an insanely long ingredient list…there’s probably room for some improvement.
This is where swapping can be so powerful. If your family LOVES spaghetti and meatballs then feed it to them! But look at your ingredient list and see if any of these swaps could work:
- Take a peek at that jar of sauce. Spaghetti sauce is notorious for being full of added sugar and additives. Now take a peek at a recipe for sauce (you don’t have to cook it!). See a difference? The sugar and additives aren’t necessary! If making sauce from scratch isn’t your thing then take a 5 minutes at the store to check a few ingredient lists.
- What pasta are you using? If it’s white, could you try whole wheat? Would you be willing to experiment a bit and try zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash? Don’t turn up your nose before you’ve even tried them! (I saw you!) One way to ease into these changes is to serve 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat pasts or 1/2 pasta, 1/2 zucchini noodles. For those with texture issues this lets us get used to new foods slowly.
- How about that Parmesan cheese? If you’re using the stuff in the green can (like we did for so long), have you ever read the ingredients? Hmmm. I was opposed to real Parmesan because it seemed so much more expensive until we tried it and realized it’s so full of flavor that it goes a loooong way and it’s more expensive.
You get the idea. You can swap all day long in little ways that really do add up. Swap pre-flavored, quick oatmeal packets for old-fashioned oats with fruit and save yourself 12g of sugar (that’s 3 teaspoons full!). Give your kids fresh fruit instead of fruit snacks or granola bars. Grill some real chicken breasts for sandwiches instead of using processed lunch meat. Try some Greek yogurt with fruit instead of yogurt cups. The bonus: all of these swaps will actually fill you and your family up so you’re not scrounging in the pantry 30 minutes from now. And despite what people think, if these swaps are done carefully they can slash your grocery bill dramatically.
Are you ready to make some changes, but aren’t sure where to even start? Or you know you’ll lose momentum if you have to do this on your own. That’s where some accountability and encouragement come in really handy. I’m starting a new 3 Month Goal WorkShop September 1st that will get you going! We’ll practice scientifically-proven habits that can be used anywhere, anytime with any food, while focusing on 1, personal goal for 3 months.
Are you ready for a change? I’d love to talk to you on email or my FB page! Don’t wait…registration ends August 31st!
