Starting Your Real Food Journey

I often find myself talking to people who have come to the realization that what they are eating is harming themselves and their families. Sometimes the realization has been sneaking up on them for a few years but then hits with full force when a health challenge manifests itself or becomes unbearable. I recently received a phone call from a mother who had just decided that things must change at her dinner table. She was feeling determine to provide more help for her son who struggles with learning and attention. A friend suggested that she call me for help. She told me she was on her way to the grocery store and wanted to know what to buy for dinner that night.

There are those of us, my new friend most likely included, that when we see a problem we feel the need to fix it immediately. The fact that most everything we are putting in our mouths may be contributing to our health, emotional, and/or mental functioning issues can be frightening. If you find yourself in this situation, I recommend that you take a deep breath and then take one step forward.

Do not attempt to change your entire eating and food preparation habits overnight. It is virtually impossible, and will most likely result in a mental breakdown for yourself and a rebellion in your home, if you are feeding a family. Remind yourself that mental breakdowns and anarchy in your home are health dangers you want to avoid.

The good news is that you will be able to take the first step today, and perhaps another step tomorrow and a few more steps this month. With every step you take, congratulate yourself that you are receiving more nutrition and fewer toxins from your food choices. Every little bit counts. If you are feeding a family, give them time to learn and adjust also.

Local WAPFer John Majors wrote a great post on how to “help your man” with this change. My teenage daughter wrote an encouraging post that will help you realize that teenagers can make healthy changes also. You can read a series of posts with stories of how other families in our area got started entitled "small beginnings.” These articles can be found under the label "baby steps" on the right hand side near the bottom of our blog homepage.

Each step should be celebrated. At the end of the month, look at how far you have come not how far you have to go. Remind yourself that a year from now you will have made an amazing amount of change.

We are planning a Weston A. Price Foundation Little Rock Chapter meeting on the evening of Monday, November 15th. This will be a discussion panel where we will do our best to answer your questions. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more details.

If you’d like to get started today or you’d like to find out what step to take next, click on “Getting Started” in the top menu of our blog. You will find a list of steps to start you on your Real Food journey.

-Lisa