You Are What You Eat

Dear Ian,

We are officially insane.  Well, that goes without saying, but Daddy and I have decided not to leave well enough alone, so we created a bit of a challenge for our little family.  This July, starting tomorrow if you will notice the time stamp on this post, we are challenging our family to eat nothing that is processed.

Now, let me start by saying that we generally eat pretty healthy.  We aren't eating TV dinners every night, nor do you get overly sugary, crappy foods.  You like veggies, "meat and tater" meals, and you understand the concept that bad foods make you feel bad.  That being said, Daddy has been doing all kinds of research as of late, and it turns out that stuff that has "natural ingredients" is actually pretty gross.  The definition of "natural flavorings" or "natural ingredients," as according to the FDA is anything that is found in nature or not produced in a lab.  Let me reiterate:  ANYTHING found in nature and used in food products is ok.  A disturbing example is the ingredient in orange soda (which I think you have had exactly two times in your life) that makes the soda orange is dried locust wings. 

I'm apparently delicious?!

Yes, it's true.  That little fellow is in orange soda, and he's all natural. He and some of his buddies are probably in a bunch of other stuff, too, but I don't want to think about that!  So, when Daddy presented me with this information, I decided that challenging ourselves to non-processed, non-factory created foods wasn't a bad idea at all.  Save the locusts and stuff.  Plus, ewww.

Now, we're not trying to get all holier-than-thou and such.  This is something we want to do for our family.  We also are viewing it as sort of an experiment to see how it will affect our day-to-day selves, too.  Mommy needs to work on her blood sugar, Daddy wants to work on eating healthier in general, and we both want to establish good eating habits in you.  There's also the effect that artificial flavorings, dyes and such have on the behavior of little people.  I have been doing some research on the Feingold Diet after hearing about it this year from a mom of a boy in my class.  All those additives and preservatives can actually cause behavioral and attention deficit issues in kids.  We want to see if there's any sort of change in your behavior when we change our diet.  Yes, this sort of makes you our guinea pig, but we're swapping you from not-so-good foods to healthier foods, so I am not too terribly worried about this driving you straight to a psychiatrist's chair. 

Tonight we ate our last junky, albeit totally delicious, meal for at least 31 days.  We went to Barnaby's and pigged out on one of their awesome pizzas.  This was after a trip to Fresh Market to load up on fruits and veggies, so we are fully prepared and committed to make this work.  We have an plan.  There will probably be some leniency given to cheese and maybe bread, but we are going whole hog.  Should be interesting. 

So here's to a new us! 

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy