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Say Goodbye to MSG {Healthy Eating Challenge #2}

September 5, 2015 by Emilee Evans

It’s time for the next Healthy Eating Challenge! How did you do with the first healthy eating challenge? I already try to cut out artificial sweeteners due to how they make me feel, but I have been even more cautious and reading labels carefully.
Don’t forget: our goal is to slowly work our way to healthy eating, which means clean eating. That means natural, whole foods. So we’re slowly kicking out unnatural/artificial ingredients to make our way to our goal of clean eating and promoting overall better health!
And remember, once we remove it, we don’t add it back in later. The challenge won’t work unless you are continuing what we start with!

Healthy Eating Challenge #2 – Say Goodbye to MSG!

Healthy Eating Challenge 2 Say Goodbye to MSG
There is a lot of confusion with MSG. What is it really? The biggest confusion I have seen is that some foods naturally have various forms of the amino acid, glutamic acid, as does our body. These foods include: meat, milk, cheese, mushrooms, seaweed and peas.
The MSG (monosodium glutamate) to which I’m referring is the artificial flavor enhancer. Once again, we technically only need to know that it’s artificial. I found a great explanation about the myths and misconceptions of MSG on the Whole Foods site. Their mission is much like ours – artificial ingredients are not consistent with our goal of eating natural, whole foods.
Some people are sensitive to MSG. I know several people who can pinpoint MSG as a trigger to their headaches or other pains. Those that are sensitive to MSG may even be sensitive to the glutamic acid that naturally occur in the foods mentioned. The most noted problems, though, are with the MSG artificial flavor enhancer. It’s noted to be so strong that just a few drops can majorly change the flavor of foods. In fact, in many foods, it’s used in place of salt.
So what do we look for on labels? It’s important to specifically look for MSG: monosodium glutamate. There is confusion whether other ingredients are MSG “in disguise” as well. While these ingredients also contain glutamic acid (and therefore may require caution for those sensitive to glutamic acid) but are otherwise naturally and contain far less glutamic acid than MSG. The article I linked above has more detailed information on this as well.
Here are some red flags for which to look:

  • Products that are labeled as “Low Sodium” or “Now with Sea Salt.”
  • Fast Food. (I’m sure we’ll eventually rule out most fast food by the end of the challenge, but particularly look to rule out MSG {and artificial sweeteners from the previous challenge} by reading ingredients provided online). Friend Chicken is the most likely suspect though seasonings for fries may include it as well.
  • Meats. Particularly Beef Jerky, Sausage Products, Cold Cuts and Fish.
  • Soy Sauce.
  • Gravies and sauces.
  • Salty Chips – particularly products with cheese powder.
  • Soups.
  • Frozen Dinners.
  • Other Processed Foods

I know this list may seem daunting, but again, just take it one challenge at a time. You will naturally discover what has the ingredients we need to eliminate. In fact, I suggest keeping a list. I will work on making a printable to make the process easier. Don’t forget I have started Facebook Support Group!
Whether you feel MSG is safe or not, we, once again, just have to look at the main fact: it’s artificial and therefore doesn’t have a place in clean eating.
When shopping for groceries this week (or even dining out), be sure to choose products with no MSG (and no artificial sweeteners).
Did you miss the first challenge? No problem! You can start whenever! I’m posting a new challenge every two weeks, but you can start at any time and go at any pace you’d like! Check out all of the Healthy Eating Challenge Posts.
 

Say Goodbye to Artificial Sweeteners {Healthy Eating Challenge #1}

August 19, 2015 by Emilee Evans

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It’s time to kick off the Healthy Eating Challenge! The Wellness Wednesday Link up will start up next week. What is the Healthy Eating Challenge? I will post a challenge every other week. Each challenge will recommend eliminating an ingredient (or set of ingredients) that aren’t healthy until we are closer to (ideally at) eating only whole, natural foods. This is ideal for a variety of reasons, so whether you are looking to lose weight, improve your overall health, and just overall eating better, this challenge is for you!
And remember, once we remove it, we don’t add it back in later. The challenge won’t work unless you are continuing what we start with!

Healthy Eating Challenge #1 – Say Goodbye to Artificial Sweeteners!

Healthy Eating Challenge 1 - Say Goodbye to Artificial Sweeteners
I wanted to ideally start with something that could be easy, but if you’re used to eating processed foods, having snacks, etc. like me nothing will really be easy. I might even venture to say eliminating artificial sweeteners is a little harder than you might expect! Why? Because they are used in products you may or may not expect like “diet” foods and drinks, liquid medications (particularly children’s), energy drinks, and even “health” products. Artificial sweeteners are unhealthy, though.
Now let me step up on my soapbox for a moment – health companies using artificial sweeteners like sucralose or aspartame (people now know the dangers of aspartame so sucralose is more typical) really irritate me. Anyone who knows (and cares) about health knows you should consume foods and drinks as natural as possible. There is no room for artificial anything in a healthy diet! We need to rid our body of chemicals, not consume them! What is even more worrisome to me is many of them will say they offer something like an energy drink that is “natural” yet it has sucralose. Isn’t the word “artificial” (as in artificial sweetener) the very opposite of “natural.” There are so many natural sweeteners available, I find it even more frustrating that they would choose to use artificial sweeteners.
OK, hopping back down. Please excuse my soapbox – I’m very passionate about this subject! Artificial sweeteners for me mean Fibromyalgia flare ups and major headaches. Sometimes I may consume something with an artificial sweetener (I recommend always reading labels), and I will know it had it based on how I feel. Sure enough, I confirm it and get upset with myself for not reading the ingredients first!
So, for me, just knowing they’re artificial and contain chemicals (and the side effects) are enough to be a no-brainer to eliminate them, but I don’t want to just say “remove this” without providing more information as well as healthy alternatives.
So why are they so popular? Because they have zero calories, but there are natural alternatives that do as well! Let’s start by taking a closer look at the two main artificial sweeteners – aspartame and sucralose.
Aspartame
Aspartame is an excitotoxin made up of a variety of artificial ingredients that can negatively affect a variety of our body systems including methanol which is a wood alcohol, which is know as a dangerous poison. Learn more about Aspartame including disorders to which it can be linked.
Sucralose
Sucralose, though a different compound, has its own set of health concerns including carcinogenic potential! My husband having had cancer twice, we try to stay far, far away from carcinogens! There are so many misunderstandings such as assuming it is safe for diabetics, which they have determined isn’t true at all. There are additional toxicology issues that have yet to be addressed.
Many of these “health companies” back it up with it being FDA Approved, but it is important to remember, FDA Approved doesn’t mean healthy! Learn more about sucralose.
Even if you feel artificial sweeteners are “safe,” there is still this simple point that you can’t deny – they’re artificial. They are chemical compounds made up of one or more chemicals. For Clean Eating, there is NO room for anything artificial. Period.

Alternatives to Artificial Sweeteners

Of course, the most obvious answer is pure sugar. We all know sugar should only be consumed in moderation, though, no matter how pure. The good news is – tere are many low-calorie to no calorie natural alternatives, though! Some examples include:

  • Honey. Local, raw honey is best, but if it isn’t available, look for natural honey. Read the ingredients to be sure there isn’t anything added.
  • Monk Fruit. Monk Fruit is available in packets like Monk Fruit in the Raw.
  • Stevia. Stevia is also available In the Raw.
  • Xylitol. Xylitol is really starting to be recognized by many different companies as a safe and even healthy alternative. Recently I reviewed Xlear Natural Dental Products with Xylitol, and they also offer the Xlear Xylosweet Bag.

Will you join me for this challenge? When shopping for groceries this week (or even dining out), be sure to choose products with no artificial sweeteners. If you’ve used them often, it may take longer to get them out of your system, but you can start now! Be sure to look for artificial sweeteners in particular in products that say “diet,” “sugar free,” “lite or light,” etc.
Need a little help? Be sure to join our Facebook Support Group!
 

Two New Series! Healthy Eating Challenge and Wellness Wednesdays (A Link Up!)

August 5, 2015 by Emilee Evans

The results are in! I love the input I received for the Healthy Eating Challenge, and I will be kicking it off next week! Based on the answers I received I decided there will be a new challenge every 2 weeks. I am ready to go back to eating better, and I’m really excited to have people join me or even just follow along!
I will start the challenge next week, but in the meantime, I have created a Healthy Eating Challenge Support Group on Facebook, and I hope you’ll join us!
Healthy Eating Challenge

How the Healthy Eating Challenge Will Work

For the Healthy Eating Challenge the ultimate goal is to clean up how we eat by eliminating common “unhealthy” ingredients in the foods we eat like additives, preservatives, and other artificial ingredients until we are eating a healthy diet of natural, whole foods. We’re going to take it step-by-step by eliminating one culprit at a time.
What is our goal? Well, that’s up to you! People participating in the healthy eating challenge may have better goals, but it will be ideal for a variety of goals, and we can still offer support along the way. You may be looking to lose weight, improve your overall health, have more energy, etc., we’ll support each other along the way!
Following the Healthy Eating Challenge, after we’ve eliminated all the “bad stuff,” I’m going to continue into another challenge for going gluten-free! You don’t have to participate in the gluten-free challenge, and you can feel free to pick and choose which challenges from the Healthy Eating Challenge you’d like to implement. Of course, I’d like to encourage you to do all, but I’m offering a no pressure, supportive environment.
So feel free to join us on Facebook and stay tuned for the first challenge next week!
 

Wellness Wednesday Linky

Wellness Wednesday
Starting next Wednesday, I will introduce the Wellness Wednesday Link Up! I will share a new health and/or fitness related post including my progress toward my own health goals. I originally was going to call it “Weigh In Wednesday,” but I didn’t want it to sound too literal. There will be a link up where you can link up any health and/or fitness related post! I didn’t want people to feel like it had to be weight related, though I may be sharing my own progress as I have a goal to lose weight.
Each week I will choose a few posts from the previous week to highlight and will be welcoming any interested Co-Hosts as well. The picture above will have a code available so you can add it to your post and let others know about the Wellness Wednesdays Link Ups, but there will be no requirements.
Lots of fun stuff, right? I hope you’ll be joining, and if you write about health and/or fitness, I hope you will join us for the link up as well!
 

Healthy Eating Challenge – Input Please!

June 6, 2015 by Emilee Evans

As you may know, my health hasn’t been well. I have Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Sensory Processing Disorder. I also suffer from chronic headaches and migraines and a myriad of other symptoms that can’t be explained by my currently diagnosed conditions. Understandably, at this point, they are leaning towards an auto-immune disorder. I finally see specialists in a few weeks, so I’m hoping to get some answers.
Regardless, this is an eye-opening experience for me. I am in pain pretty much all the time right now and many days I feel like I can barely function. Once upon a time I was better about eating healthy. I weighed less, worked out more, had more energy, and although I still had occasional flareups they were easier to bear.
You may think “yes, but then you had kids.” No, the healthiest I’ve been was right after my husband’s cancer came back, which is when our youngest was 4 months old. The shock of my husband becoming so ill at young age really woke me up. Between then and now I fell back into bad habits – convenience. I’ve been cooking less and eating more processed foods. Something needs to change, so I’m starting a healthy eating challenge, and I’d like you to join me!
Healthy Eating Challenge
Because I know going straight from a place of maybe not eating so healthy to eating extremely healthy is a lot to bite off (pun intended), this is going to be a step-by-step challenge. We’ll start by eliminating common additives, preservatives, etc. step-by-step until we are shopping the perimeter more and processed foods less. After we complete the challenge, I’m going to continue into gluten-free, which is something else our family has been working on. This will be a separate challenge following the initial healthy eating challenge, but I wanted to mention it up front!
I hope to kick off the challenge in a couple of weeks, but I need your help! I’d like to get some opinions from those of you that are interested in taking the challenge – or even if you’re not sure but would like to share your input! Sharing your input will not require any identifying information (like your name, etc.), but it will help me to be sure the challenge is reasonable for everyone! Please fill out the survey below! If you have trouble getting it to load, please visit the survey here. Thanks!
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