Simple Swaps for Clean Eating

Back in the day, if you wanted to eat clean it meant spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing your own food from scratch and at times, even deciding to sacrifice eating some foods because there just wasn't a healthy alternative.  Sure, supermarket shelves have long been stocked with food that seemed healthy, but now we know that when cookies have suddenly become "sugar-free," that it's because a whole bunch of other stuff has been added to make sure they still taste good.  In this case, "stuff" is code for "not food."  Not food means not healthy.

But now, eating clean is much more maintstream and as a result, more products are available on the market to make it easier for families to do it without having to become farmers. Here are some of my simple swaps for food that you and your kids probably like to eat and can still enjoy in a clean eating household.

My kid likes: Fruit chews. But they are just a bunch of processed sugar!
Instead, I buy him Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks  Still a bunch of sugar, but it's real sugar. I'll take real sugar over manufacutured any day.

My kid likes: Cereal bars. But the list of ingredients reads like a most-wanted list of chemicals and additives.
Instead, I buy him Barbara's Bakery Fruit and Yogurt Bars.  They're great for school lunches.

My kid likes: Macaroni and Cheese. And seriously, who doesn't?  But I want to make him macaroni and cheese, not macaroni product.
So I buy him Annie's Macaroni and Cheese and he loves it.  I used to puree a bag of mixed vegetables and mix it in but he doesn't fall for that anymore.  Hey, I tried!

And the final simple swap is something I like to eat: sweet potato fries!  I really love sweet potatoes and I love ketchup, so sweet potato fries are a definite crave.  I have never been successful at making them myself, so I was thrilled when I found Ian's Natural Sweet Potato Fries in my freezer section.  They're easy, fast, and taste great. 

Naturally, the best way to eat clean is to stick with the most pure food you can: fruits, veggies, lean meats, and homemade bread.  But if you don't live alone and have a lot of time on your hands, it's great to know there are products out there that can bring clean eating to your kitchen without your family wanting to stage an intervention on you.  If these products are not in your grocery store, especially if you live in a Sabotage City, ask for them!

Pulling the Weeds

It's Spring! Or at least we're pretending it's Spring! And if your yard is anything like mine, it's pretty trashed.  Winter ran amok in my backyard and while some plants have survived the pillaging, most of it looks overwhelmingly bad.  I actually ventured outside yesterday and looked at my "garden" in the harsh sunlight of day, and decided to just embrace the clover lifestyle.  Maybe I can even find a four-leafed one in time for St. Patrick's Day.

I need to pull some weeds. I don't want to, but I worked hard on that garden last year and if I want it to be something that makes me proud again, I need to get my butt out there, suck it up, and do it.

Naturally, I saw an immediate parallel to wellness.  Our wellness can be like a garden at times.  We have to cultivate it, tend to it regularly, and if we are consistent in our attention, we get to appreciate the beauty of it.  But, we also have to pull the weeds.

My biggest weed right now is my left Achilles Tendon and the overuse injury that flares up when I go running.  I've rested it, iced it, strengthened my calves, avoided hills, changed my shoes...and finally decided to just pull the weed altogether and cross-train.  I've reduced my running and incorporated other forms of exercise, like biking and swimming, to replace the cardio.  Running was a weed that was keeping my wellness from going into full bloom.  Hopefully when it comes back, it will be in the form of something that is welcome to stay a while!

Are there weeds in your wellness garden that need to be pulled? Maybe some bad habits you picked up over the winter...or a nagging seed of doubt that you can pull off the next level of intensity in your workouts? It's time to pull the weeds, toss them out, and start fresh for spring!

Good day!

Preach On, Joy McCarthy Holistic Nutritionist

Just so we're clear, this is
not a picture of Joy.

I like to talk. It is a known fact! But today I am remembering the lesson that my son's Tae Kwon Do instructor shared last night: "the more you talk, the less you learn."  So I am going to stop talking and let someone else do the honors.  I know, it's weird for me too. :)

In this case, the lovely lady I am going to direct you to is a true inspiration of holistic health and a complete wealth of knowledge related to clean eating.  I listen to her a lot because she says a lot of stuff that makes a lot of sense, and she knows more than I do.  I think hanging around people who know more than you do is a good idea...but since Joy lives in Canada, I just stalk her on the Internet instead. Luckily she makes that pretty easy via her website and Twitter feed.

What I want to share with you today is her blog, which I received yesterday in my email. It is a great explanation of one of my favorite topics: how food works. What it does. And, of course, how we can work with it to do awesome things for our health.

I read this and thought you needed to read it to.  So, since I promised I wasn't going to talk today, I give you...

Joy McCarthy, Holistic Nutritionist and Wellness Muse (I added that last part).

Take it away, Joy!

RIP Jack LaLanne

I still remember the first time I saw Jack LaLanne on TV. This compact, pompadour-wearing muscle man dressed all in black, teaching housewives of America how to exercise at home had me staring at the screen in dumbfounded awe.  I didn't know whether to laugh or take notes. His earnest, optimistic, positive, and can-do attitude mesmerized me and endeared me to him for years after. Over the years I have grown to respect Jack LaLanne as a champion of health, pioneer of clean eating, mastermind of brute strength, and example of just clean healthy wellness without pity.


To say that he was an inspiration to me is an understatement. Jack LaLanne performed feats of strength and endurance that boggled my mind. He swam underwater for the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, loaded with 140 pounds of equipment, for pete's sake! He completing over a thousand pushups in a little over 20 minutes, and towed 65 boats filled with thousands of pounds of wood through the water.  He even had a workout for your face!

He also made juicers.


Jack LaLanne died yesterday at the ripe old age of 96. He often said that dying would ruin his image, but I think he showed us all how to live - clean, healthy, and embracing the benefits of health and fitness until the very end.


I hope you'll read up on Jack today and watch some of his old videos.  He was an inspiration then and still is today.  Run an extra lap for Jack!  Or, exercise your face!


Get inspired. :)

Crazy is the New Normal

Sometimes it seems like there are so many obstacles in our way to fitness.  Here we are three weeks into the new year and some of us are still trying to hit our stride and create the routine that will make exercise just another part of our day.  It can be really easy to throw our hands up and say, "I just need things to be normal again!"  Any number of things come up during the day or the work week that throw a hurdle in our way and make us think that we just can't work with this.
But here's the thing - there is a very good chance that things will never go back to "normal."

Work will always be crazy.

People will always have something for you to do.

Your kids will always have some last-minute thing come up.

Crazy is the new normal. You have to be able to work with that.  Luckily, it's easier than you think.

Think about it - the things you need to do to get and stay healthy - exercise and eat well -  are completely within your control (assuming that the thing that comes up isn't something that severs your limbs. In that case, yeah, you're screwed for a while).  I will pretty much guarantee you that no one is going to come up to you during the day, pry open your mouth, and shove food into it.  Even when your day is crazy, you control what you eat.

The other thing you need to do to get and be healthy is exercise.  Unless your limbs have been severed off or you are otherwise immobile, this is also in your control.  Yeah, I know you're busy, that's why the gym opens at 5:00 am and some are open 24/7.  Go there. Get up early and go!  Or stay up late and go!  Or go at lunch!  Just go!  I'm busy too, and that's why I go workout when the rest of my family is sleeping and no one needs me. 

Life is crazy and will likely never go back to normal.  Crazy is the new normal - work with it!