A Little Less Junk - A Lot More Healthy

Over the weekend I tackled the job of cleaning out our kitchen pantry and refrigerator. I got rid of everything that was bad for us - the buttered popcorn, the fattening salad dressings and processed snacks and goodies. Said good bye to the Top Ramen easily heated to perfection in minutes and the potato chips that hit the spot when eating a good deli sandwich.

When all was said and done, both areas of the kitchen looked sparse to say the least. I stood back and saw for the first time lots of room for healthy growth. I also felt lighter somehow, I know that sounds crazy but it's true. I filled nearly two large shopping bags of items that hadn't been opened. My frugal side felt little pangs of guilt but I'm hoping that will go away eventually.

Leo and I then made a trip to Stater Brothers and Fresh & Easy to do some healthy re-stocking. Instead of white bread, we opted for whole grain. Instead of canned and frozen vegetables, we bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. We bought low fat dressings (sorry - just can't deal with the fat free - yuck!) and healthy snacks like almonds and endamame.

We stayed away from the red meats and opted for fish and chicken. No more soda or fruit juices - just plain old water and sugar free sports drinks. We also found whole grain croutons - I didn't even know they existed. (we tried them on our salad last night and they were really very good!)
I also bought wheat pizza dough to make a veggie pizza and some extra virgin olive oil to replace my vegetable oil. We said good-bye to butter and hello to other much healthier options like nutella or honey.

For future grocery shopping trips, I created a reference list of all the items categorized as low g.i. items and posted it on the refrigerator door - there aren't many items but I am making a few allowances, such as with cheese. I can't imagine going through the rest of my life without cheese - I love it. So, I will allow myself a couple of ounces of cheese from time to time. And I could never really say good bye to chocolate.

I guess it's true what they say - it's all about eating in moderation. At any rate, I am glad I finally made the choice to make some real solid changes in my "lifestyle", as the Doctor so cleverly put it. Leo is definitely on board, which makes it SO much easier on me. He has been such a great source of support through all of this. (Thank you BB!)

Now that I've shown you what's in my pantry and refrigerator, I think it's only fair that I know what's in yours. Especially if you have some great low fat, low g.i. items I don't already know about. Please feel free to share because I can use all of the help I can get!

P.S. Update - as of late yesterday, all of my medical records and test results have been received at Doctor Jacobson's office - yay! Leo and I are so happy and ready to move on to the next step.