happy at home

CONFESSIONS OF A FRUIT SNACK JUNKIE

Yes, it's true. I "heart" fruit snacks. You may remember that my hubby recently brought home a box of fruit snacks samples. Well, C, L, and I went C-R-A-Z-Y on them. Really, it's embarrassing. With our recent junk food drought, seeing that box of fruit snacks sent us over the edge! :)
Aside from all the nasty things that are in fruit snacks (partially hydrogenated veggie oil, anyone?), it is unbelievable how much packaging there is! It is really absurd. I will be glad when they are gone (yes, I could just throw them away...but I am not sure I can go cold turkey!! haha).
Here is the thing about junk food. YOU ARE NEVER SATISFIED. No matter how much you eat, you always want more, even if you aren't hungry. I really have noticed this a lot over the last few weeks. Since the birth of baby B, 3 1/2 months ago, I have been eating very well and have lost 40 pounds (35 still to go, but that's another story). I haven't even resumed a regular exercise routine yet. All that weight was lost through eating small amounts of very healthy food. I didn't have cravings. Eating well (and I mean what I am eating, not how much) leaves me feeling satisifed physically, as well as mentally and emotionally, much more than with junk food. For people who say they can't afford to eat healthily, I would have to wonder if they can really afford not to. Besides the obvious health benefits to eating well, there are emotional and mental factors as well. Cheap food might be easy on the wallet but it comes with lots of nasty ingredients, tons of packaging, and leaves you with a craving you just can't get to go away. I don't need to eat as much healthy food to feel emotionally satisfied as I do junk food. I remember watching the movie/documentary, Super Size Me and hearing that there is actually something about eating McDonald's or other fast food that actually makes you crave more.
I am always surprised how, after eating very well for a while, I feel really bad when I do eat some grease-laden junk food. (As an aside, the creator of Super Size Me also did another documentary in which he compared McDonald's food with similar foods from the Slow Food Movement to see how long it would take for them to decompose. After the 10-week experiment had ended, the McDonald's fries had not even begun to decompose. How gross is that?!! Even more disturbing is that we willingly feed that stuff to ourselves...and our children!).

Tomorrow, I am getting back on board with eating well. I am looking forward to making some yummy foods this week. I am really excited about fall in the air. It is almost time for vegetable soup and cornbread, chili, etc. One thing I am enjoying about shopping for fruits and vegetables at our produce stand is that we are eating what is in season and the flavor is just so much better. It seems much more natural to be eating foods at the time they are ripe in your area, not when they are ripe in some country half way around the world. I am looking forward to learning to make some butternut squash soup this fall. Yummy pumpkin breads and dips, caramel apples and apple pies...I just love cooking according to the seasons.

Disclaimer: I will be eating funnel cakes and cotton candy like there is no tomorrow and without guilt when the fair comes to town. All bets are off during fair week! :)