So far in your Healthy Living Makeover, you’ve begun to prioritize saying no to things so that you will have more time for things that you really want to do. You’ve also begun to focus on how to delegate and outsource things even if you don't have the budget to do so.
If you haven’t done these things, I urge you to not skip these steps. Being Super Woman takes some smart, behind-the-scenes decisions and organization – your super power is NOT sucking it up and doing everything.
Now that you’ve freed up some time and space in your life, we're going to switch gears a little bit. It’s time to talk about food.
Many people find their way to Holistic Squid in search of alternative perspectives on food. Are bacon and butter actually good for you? What’s the deal with kombucha and raw milk? Is bone broth really the panacea for just about everything?
If you are new or just returning to this world of nutrient-dense, traditional foods, or you’re not completely sure what I’m talking about – be sure to download my Real Food Checklist to review the basics.
One of the biggest struggles many of my readers have is how to find good, reliable and affordable sources when it comes to food.
Let me just say – the struggle is real. On the occasions that I find myself in a “regular” grocery store, I am shocked, appalled, then disgruntled by the amount of “food” for sale that really in not food at all.
So now that you’ve hopefully freed up some time in your week, I’m going to suggest that you dedicate some of that time to sourcing the best food possible for yourself and your family.
For starters, if your pantry and fridge harbor a bunch of crap, now is the time to purge. To help with this, I’ve put together a freebie that will help you to know what can stay and what needs to go. Click here to download my free Detox Your Pantry Guide.
Now it’s time to stock up.
Though it’s always best to buy local and get to know your farmers and food producers, there are plenty of really great and trusted sources that I have found over the years that really help to simplify my life.
Click here for a complete list of the brands I recommend (local and online).
Action steps to Prioritize Real Food:
1) Purge pantry and fridge of the junk – Use this: Detox Your Pantry Guide.
2) Invest some time in determining the best brands and sources for your food – you can get some ideas here. Get started here.
3) Leave a comment below with any top tips that you’ve found online or in your local area.
Emily xoxo
Thanks! Detox guide was very helpful!
Been there done that! I don’t buy any treats, because I will eat it. But I’d like to say how impress I’m with your lists! Amazing job!
Been fairly conscience of this all my life, as my hippie daddy’s mantra was always, “If you can’t pronounce something, DON’T PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH!” But this was a great kick in the rear to weed out any crap that had slipped in under my radar. THANK YOU!
Azure Standard (azurestandard.com) has been a huge life saver for getting quality organic foods into our home with great, affordable bulk pricing, the bonus is they’re almost nation wide now! Also, meal planning ahead of time helps me make a weekly or bi-monthly grocery list and I have to agree with Gulzat…if I buy the junk, I will eat the junk. So I don’t grocery shop hungry and I stick to that list!
We aim to eat good, real, healthy food here, too! This is good motivation, though, to go through our pantry and take inventory/do some weeding/plan some meals around what we have on hand. I have recently been researching and experimenting with grain-free baking. Any good tried-and-true recipes for grain-free bread or muffins? I have some alternative flours on hand, but would like to know proportions of the various flours (maybe a mix of buckwheat, arrowroot and almond meal/flour?) and what has consistently worked for others. I love to bake and am determined to master grain-free baked goods! =)
I have been through two rounds of pantry clear-out over the past year and I *still* haven’t got rid of everything I would like to get out of the house. Moving from convenience packaged foods, which are brimming with sugars and chemicals, to real food sounds easy. But we are creatures of habit and habits are not so easy to change. Many packaged foods we consume are manufactured in order to make us come back for more — I was absolutely addicted to a UK name-brand cup noodles (similar to Nissan) and it took several tries to break free. Honestly, it was easier to give up smoking! Now I have just been through a Whole30-type month of only dairy, meat, fruit, veg, nuts and seeds and have noticed feeling much fuller and not wanting to snack at all. Plus, I have finally managed to go more than a couple of weeks without my favourite noodles — hallelulah!
I have come a long way with my healthy eating. I have a huge sweet tooth problem that I am currently tackling. Cleaning out my pantry wont be hard because it isn’t bad to start with. My temptations are at work so that is another subject. My kids hold on to this thought that they need to snack on processed food so I need to dive in and do the leg work to make sure I am not cutting corners and feeding my kids junk. I need to educate them to eat for health and well being. Work in progress I guess. I do get raw local honey, buy raw milk from local farmer, make combucha tea, and we drink water primarily in our house. No soda! don’t have junk food all over my kitchen. which seems to irritate kids that come over to play which I think is funny. I found the tips and recipes on Holistic Squid very helpful and inspiring so I will be trying new things.
I am currently working on a detox now at the moment. I have decided to make my own food. I am working on preparing food in advance for my family to be able to have instead of going to fast food places. We are working on our garden, and trying to do more outside. I appreciate this.
Thank you