Constraints of family, work and self-care fuels a movement for simple, healthy meals and living — Plan Simple Meals
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We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.
Adele Davis
Seven years ago, I ‘had it all’: three beautiful children, a gorgeous and supportive husband, and a thriving company. It was just as I had dreamt it would be, except for one thing: me.
I was miserable. On the inside, I had tons of guilt that I had all these things yet was not happy. On the outside, I was eighty-five pounds heavier than I had ever been. I had no idea how to ‘get happy’, so I decided to tackle the weight.
I got a hot tip to check out the world of raw vegan cuisine. In one day I took out gluten, dairy, processed sugar, animal protein, caffeine and alcohol. Just to be clear, the day before I had no idea what kale was and had drunk six lattes.
The weight melted away, but more importantly I understood firsthand the power of food. It was the first month in my life that I got my period without hormone pills, did not have to take allergy medicine for runny eyes and a full nose, and was cold-free. Not only that, I had more energy than I had ever experienced with coffee.
Shortly after my journey began, I noticed my then 4-year old was seriously suffering. She had awful eczema and tummy aches that made her grumpy, sleepless, and hard to parent. We started to play with her food and after taking out dairy and gluten she began to thrive. Let me clarify, the day after we changed her diet, I got a call from preschool saying, “What happened? She is a different child!”
It did not take me too long to realize that there were three other members of our family, and I wanted them to be their healthiest too.
I became a student of cooking and parenting. I started to look at what I was doing that was sustainable for a whole family foodwise, and how I could parent in a way that inspired my kids to eat the good food.
It became obvious that sugar and gluten really changed my kids’ behavior quickly. Dairy and animal protein had more subtle effects, and though I was done with both myself, I realized that different members of my family might need little bits of each, if my goal is to create ‘an informed healthy adult’. I also saw the power of fruits and veggies, and started to play with how to get more of them into our family meals.
Plan Simple Meals is the book that came out of the first seven years of our journey.
I realized that some people don’t change the way they eat because they have not yet experienced how disserving the Standard American Diet is to their health, but many more people want to shift their food and don’t, because it just feels too hard.
I am not going to lie and say it is easy to always make good food choices for myself, much less guide my kids to do the same. But it is simple and can be doable with a plan. In my opinion, eating a clean, veggie-centered diet is literally one of the most important things we can teach our kids — not to mention one of the most important things we can do as adults to be good parents, workers, friends, lovers, citizens.
Plan Simple Meals is a guide for busy parents who want to dive into the world of ‘good’ food and bring their kids along for the ride. I envision a world where kids crave vegetables, moms feel healthy and energetic, and the whole family feels fabulous after every meal — and I hope you will join me on this journey.
You may also enjoy Your Inner Health Expert: 3 Strategies for Healthy Eating by Lysa Ingalsbe