My Real Food Guidelines
I seem to have several people ask me what I eat and what determines if a food is considered real food. It can be confusing and with all the different food plans and terminology such as "real food", "clean eating", and "paleo" it can be overwhelming. I begin my real food journey back in January (2014) after finding the 100 days of real food site. I really liked the idea of eating more healthy foods and was always wary of the large ingredient lists on many packaged foods today. I also really liked the idea of not calorie counting or having to measure and weigh everything that I ate.
I used the 100 days rules as a guideline for myself, as I suggest you use my information and others as a guideline for you. Eat things you enjoy, are comfortable with, and are available to you.
Note: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist or doctor. These are my opinions on food, what I believe to be healthy, and what works for me.
I used the 100 days rules as a guideline for myself, as I suggest you use my information and others as a guideline for you. Eat things you enjoy, are comfortable with, and are available to you.
Note: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist or doctor. These are my opinions on food, what I believe to be healthy, and what works for me.
My real food guidelines:
1. Eat natural and whole foods.
- Eat foods that are close to their natural state such as fruits and vegetables, meats, full-fat dairy, whole grains, etc... Yes, there is processing involved in some but cooking food is a process as well, just choose less processed options. Ex: Choose chicken over chicken nuggets, or beef/pork over hot-dogs. If it comes in a package make sure to read the ingredients to ensure they are natural.
- Think about mainly shopping the perimeter of the grocery store.
2. Eat all the fruit and vegetables you want.
- I know a lot of diets suggest limiting or eliminating fruit and specific high-starch vegetables. I disagree. I have never meet an overweight person who got that way from eating bags and bags of apples or ears of corn. Just be sensible about it, use common sense.
- If you like frozen or canned fruits and veggies just be sure to read the ingredient list to ensure nothing else has been added.
3. Eat dairy but eat full-fat varieties.
- Yes you read that right. No more low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, etc... Look at the ingredient list for the low-fat options compared to the natural full-fat options. They need to add a lot of chemicals, additives, sugars, etc to make it still taste good once the fat has been taken out. Full-fat varieties are often more filling and satisfying as well so you tend to eat or drink less overall. You still need to read the ingredient list because some brands are better than others.
4. Eat 100% whole grains.
- This means brown rice (not white), whole grain pastas, whole grain breads, other whole grains such as quinoa, oatmeal, etc... as long as they are whole grain they are included. I find it difficult to find 100% whole grain breads (without added sugar) in the stores here in Newfoundland, so I often bake my own. Ingredients that simply say wheat flour or enriched flour are not whole grain. There is 1 Stonemill bread variety that fits the rules and some Ezekiel sprouted grain bread in the frozen section (I am not very fond of the Ezekiel)
5. Eat meats and seafood.
- Eat less processed versions; avoid processed items such as: wieners, luncheon meats, bologna, etc... Read the labels if you are unsure; sometimes you can get some natural versions of these foods.
6. Read the labels.
- My rule is if there are ingredients that are not natural, or I don't know what they are or can't buy them as an ingredient in the store then I don't buy that food, simple.
7. Sweeteners, only honey and maple syrup.
- I stay away from refined white sugar now at all costs. I try and stick to the natural sugars of honey and maple syrup. I'm sure others can be added here such as cane sugar, palm sugar, etc... but these are the two I am comfortable with using on a regular basis.
- No artificial sweeteners at all, ever.
8. Beverages: water, tea, coffee, milk, juice, coconut water, beer, wine.
- Again, many people say not to drink juice because of it's high sugar content. Yes, it is high in sugar but I think it is still a better option then soda. I would suggest if you want to drink juice, drink it in moderation. I don't have juice everyday but when I do it is often a small glass and sometimes I even dilute it with some water. Again, read ingredients to look for additives and added sugars.
- No soda, not even diet. Soda contains no food or nutritional value.
- Yay! You get beer and wine. These are often more natural and don't need soda as a mix. Again, think moderation :)
9. Eat healthy oils and fats: Olive oil (good quality), coconut oil, avocado oil, butter, or ghee. Avoid other oils.
1. Eat natural and whole foods.
- Eat foods that are close to their natural state such as fruits and vegetables, meats, full-fat dairy, whole grains, etc... Yes, there is processing involved in some but cooking food is a process as well, just choose less processed options. Ex: Choose chicken over chicken nuggets, or beef/pork over hot-dogs. If it comes in a package make sure to read the ingredients to ensure they are natural.
- Think about mainly shopping the perimeter of the grocery store.
2. Eat all the fruit and vegetables you want.
- I know a lot of diets suggest limiting or eliminating fruit and specific high-starch vegetables. I disagree. I have never meet an overweight person who got that way from eating bags and bags of apples or ears of corn. Just be sensible about it, use common sense.
- If you like frozen or canned fruits and veggies just be sure to read the ingredient list to ensure nothing else has been added.
3. Eat dairy but eat full-fat varieties.
- Yes you read that right. No more low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, etc... Look at the ingredient list for the low-fat options compared to the natural full-fat options. They need to add a lot of chemicals, additives, sugars, etc to make it still taste good once the fat has been taken out. Full-fat varieties are often more filling and satisfying as well so you tend to eat or drink less overall. You still need to read the ingredient list because some brands are better than others.
4. Eat 100% whole grains.
- This means brown rice (not white), whole grain pastas, whole grain breads, other whole grains such as quinoa, oatmeal, etc... as long as they are whole grain they are included. I find it difficult to find 100% whole grain breads (without added sugar) in the stores here in Newfoundland, so I often bake my own. Ingredients that simply say wheat flour or enriched flour are not whole grain. There is 1 Stonemill bread variety that fits the rules and some Ezekiel sprouted grain bread in the frozen section (I am not very fond of the Ezekiel)
5. Eat meats and seafood.
- Eat less processed versions; avoid processed items such as: wieners, luncheon meats, bologna, etc... Read the labels if you are unsure; sometimes you can get some natural versions of these foods.
6. Read the labels.
- My rule is if there are ingredients that are not natural, or I don't know what they are or can't buy them as an ingredient in the store then I don't buy that food, simple.
7. Sweeteners, only honey and maple syrup.
- I stay away from refined white sugar now at all costs. I try and stick to the natural sugars of honey and maple syrup. I'm sure others can be added here such as cane sugar, palm sugar, etc... but these are the two I am comfortable with using on a regular basis.
- No artificial sweeteners at all, ever.
8. Beverages: water, tea, coffee, milk, juice, coconut water, beer, wine.
- Again, many people say not to drink juice because of it's high sugar content. Yes, it is high in sugar but I think it is still a better option then soda. I would suggest if you want to drink juice, drink it in moderation. I don't have juice everyday but when I do it is often a small glass and sometimes I even dilute it with some water. Again, read ingredients to look for additives and added sugars.
- No soda, not even diet. Soda contains no food or nutritional value.
- Yay! You get beer and wine. These are often more natural and don't need soda as a mix. Again, think moderation :)
9. Eat healthy oils and fats: Olive oil (good quality), coconut oil, avocado oil, butter, or ghee. Avoid other oils.