THE RULES

In just 3 days, our family will be starting our official "Food Revolution" that is largely shaped by guidelines already set on the blog 100daysofrealfood.com.  Now to be fair, I will note that we will tweak the rules a bit.  If you would like the original rules, head over to the blog and you can check out what Lisa Leake did with her family.  This is one of the best food blogs out there!! 

We are defining "real" food in our home as fresh and non processed.  We will not be buying everything organic. 

30 Days of Real Food "Rules" (adapted from 100daysofrealfood.com)

What you CAN eat:

1. Whole foods - defined as those foods that are more a product of nature than industry
2. Fruits and veggies - we will do our best to shop at the local farmers market and our own garden once it provides food
3. Dairy products - Skim milk (although we might go to 2%), unsweetened yogurt, eggs, cheese
4. 100% whole wheat bread - I am buying honey whole wheat from Great Harvest
5. Seafood
6. Meat - we will use pork, beef, and chicken in moderation
7. Beverages - limited to water, milk, 100% natural juice, coffee, tea, beer
8. Snacks - Dried fruit, seeds, nuts, air popped popcorn, cheese, etc.
9. All natural sweeteners - honey, 100% maple syrup, fruit juice

What you CANNOT eat:

1. No refined grains such as white flour or white rice
2. No refined sweeteners such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, or artificial stuff
3. Nothing out of a bag, box, can, bottle, or package that has more than 5 ingredients on the label
4. No deep fried food
5. No "fast food" or "take out" food

There you go.  Honestly I've been doing this as much as possible since May 1st, so I don't think the transition will be traumatic.  We have gone out to eat which will stop and I did admit to the Grove Street Bakery cookies. 

The one big rule that we are not abiding by is this:  if our family is at a party/cookout/family event, or if one of our children attends a sleepover/birthday party, we do not expect to follow our rules 100%.  I do not think it is fair to a) offend anyone by bringing our own food and b) go somewhere and not allow our kids to enjoy a treat.  I know that treat and food should not go hand in hand, but the reality is that at a family reunion when everyone else is having a cookie it seems unfair that we would not allow our kids to have ONE!!  Again my goal is not to present this experiment as a punishment where the kids feel deprived!!  My goal is to show our family that by eating whole, good foods we will feel better, have more energy, and be making better food choices.  My ultimate hope is that my kids start to choose the good stuff on their own!!

One last note-I am going to try to be more diligent about adding in a protein at each meal.  It has been suggested to me by several people that the protein will help us to feel fuller longer.  I will be adding something protein to each of the meals that I have already planned.  Thank you for suggesting these cool tips to help!!  I really do appreciate hearing what other families are doing!!