We're Quitting Sugar.

Talk about new things.

After a long discussion with my husband the other night we came to the conclusion that the health of our family is a top priority. And the best thing we could do for our children is to quit sugar.

For well over a year I have been reading and re-reading David Gillespies books Sweet Poison, The Sweet Poison Quit Plan and Big Fat Lies. I have also done my own research and I am convinced that sugar is giving us all kinds of grief and that there can be no such thing as moderation. (At least for us. We always seem to go nuts with sugary foods.)

So on the weekend we began the process of removing sugar from our lives. To help keep me motivated and to remind me of why I am doing this I've started a new blog How I Quit Sugar.

So why such an extreme move? I've known about the effects of sugar for a while now and I've must admit I hadn't really tried too hard to eliminate it. Lately I've realised how much sugar my kids eat. It's steadily growing. I've always battled with my weight and I've always said that I don't want my children to go through what I went through (and still go through). But the other day that really hit home.

We were at Miss Berry's kindergarten orientation and there was a performance from some of the older students. Four pairs were doing ballroom dancing and three of the girls were slim and one was on the chubby side. Actually a bit more then just on the chubby side. The poor girl stood out like a sore thumb on stage, especially in comparison to the other three who really did look like you would expect dancers to.

My heart went out to this girl and it brought back all the memories of myself at that age. I was the fat one at school and back then I was pretty much the only fat one in my class. I was always the last in the sport races, the last to be picked on the sporting teams and the first to get puffed when doing sport or running around in the playground. Growing up is hard enough, let alone when you are different and seeing this girl made me determined to do everything I can to make sure Miss and Mr Berry do not become that child.

And guess what? Sugar makes you fat. As well as leading to all sorts of illnesses including Type 2 Diabetes which is becoming more prevalent at even younger ages.

Interested in my journey or to know more? Please come over to How I Quit Sugar and join me as I break our addiction.

Why is She Always on About Food

Here's the thing - I always seem to be talking about food and cooking.

Reading back through my posts, I often seem to bring most topics back to the kitchen. Why? Probably because it is one area in our life that we have a lot of really bad habits but also because it has such a big potential to make a difference to the environment and also to simple living. And, we spend a lot time eating. Most people eat at least three times a day - more if they are snacking between meals. That can take up a fair amount of time, especially if you are preparing all the meals for a family.

I am also on a quest at the moment to making sure we are as healthy as possible. I am currently reading Nourishing Traditions and am keeping an eye out for other books about the food we now eat. I am yet to come to a conclusion about Nourishing Traditions - it is so different from what we are told to eat - but what I have read so far does make some sense.

Our diet is full of refined products (especially sugar) and I think you have to wonder about the affect this is having on our bodies. (other than making us fat right?) Some people say the reason we (as a western population) have such high incidents of heart disease, obesity and cancer is because we are eating foods that we aren't genetically designed to, and that 100 years ago (or even 1000 years) people were not suffering from these illnesses.

Really? The skeptic in me has to ask this. Were people from long ago not suffering from heart disease or did they just not know about it and therefore could not diagnose it. I mean come on, they once thought the black death was caused by miasma from 'bad air'. If they thought that, how could they possible identify cancer or heart disease for what it was.

But I digress.

Although I haven't made up my mind on some things, I do know that we are what we eat and that eating foods that are unrefined and are free of additives must be better for you. The more I read and learn about what is in our supermarket foods, they more passionate I become about removing all additive and refined foods and junk food from our diet.

Which is what we are trying to do. As I said before, we have so many bad habits (and I mean 'we' as in the Berry Family) and we really want to break them. Not just for Mr Berry's and my own health but also because we want Miss Berry to learn healthy eating habits. Breaking these bad habits and adjusting our food is a really big job, which is why I seem to always write about it.

So, sorry if I seem to drone on and I can pretty much guarantee I am going to keep droning on about the kitchen. I love receiving comments about all my posts and a lot of the tips and ideas you have are very helpful so please keep them up and I will keep you informed of our progress to change our eating habits.