New Years Resolutions to Stick With

I have to say I have never been one to come up with a New Years resolution. I always felt that it was a waste of time to come up with something I knew would not last very long. Most resolutions consist of losing weight and exercising more. I would love to fit in some more exercise time and benefit from the weight loss. I am going another route this year on my resolution that will probably benefit me the same. I am going to stay away from fast food, restaurants, and prepackaged foods.

I know it s impossible to never go out to eat again but I will definitely choose my options wisely. No more fast food stops after school for a snack. I have already begun altering my shopping habits to purchase staple items and fresh or frozen produce. I am staying away from canned goods because of the BPA in the plastic linings of the cans. If you cannot buy fresh you should opt for frozen over canned. There is an organic farm a few miles to south of me and I will try to make a trip there once a week to stock up on fresh and organic produce.

Why do we consume so much prepackaged foods? I always have to read ingredients because my son has a long list of food allergies. This constant studying of labels had raised my awareness of the long list of unnecessary ingredients in prepackaged foods. Bread should only have a handful of ingredients unless it is 12 grain. Some breads have such a long list of 10 hard to pronounce ingredients that cannot possibly be good for you. Preservatives are a bad thing! My daughter actually was doing an experiment with a coworker stemming from something they saw online. They took a McDonald's cheeseburger and left it sitting in their office to see how long it would take for mold to grow. I am not sure how it turned out but she did say it had been days and still looked the same as the day they bought it. My son-in-law makes homemade beef jerky all the time. His jerky will only last a week tops in a zip lock bag. The stuff you buy in the store can last for years sometimes. So what I am saying is stay away from preservatives they are no good for your health.

I guess they best way you can start to eat better would be to read ingredients. If you are buying potato chips, make sure the ingredients are potatoes, oil, and salt. There shouldn't be much more than that. I have really been trying to purchase nothing pre-made. Everything from scratch, that's my new motto. It not only tastes better but it is so much better for you. If we are having spaghetti for dinner I make my own sauce from scratch, if we are having pizza I make the dough and add all fresh herbs and veggies.

It really doesn't take that much longer to cook from scratch and it is so worth it. With a little planning you can cut back on the processed and prepackaged foods too. So why not skip the typical resolution and join me in one that will benefit you in great ways! Go green, Go healthy, Live life:)