So you may have been reading this blog from the beginning or just found it and are thinking “that’s great for them but it would never work for me, I am too busy, I like the foods I eat now, it’s too expensive to buy all that stuff, I am not familiar with many of these foods, etc.” Whatever your reason is, I assure you we thought the same thing before we started!!
I want to briefly tell you why this lifestyle has worked for us and is beginning to instill some lifelong values in us.
Time While Craig and I started this journey less than a month ago, we have already seen a decrease in the amount of time it takes to go through each meal from start to finish: less time to plan, less time to prepare and less dishes to do since most are all cooked in the same pot or pan or are assembled from items fresh from the refrigerator. Most of the recipes we have tried so far have been from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook and The Primal Blueprint Quick &Easy Meals. The ingredient lists are short, the recipes require very little food preparation and minimal time in the kitchen and that makes for more time with the family!
Food While it doesn’t happen overnight, eventually as your waistline is decreasing so will your appetite for the foods that you used to love….you know, the ice cream, Belgian waffles, beef and noodles and oh wait, we can eat all of those things! Of course the recipe has changed slightly but each of these things can be made with a little tweak in the ingredients list. This lifestyle has forced us to consider eating foods differently than before and even try new things we never have. What the heck are parsnips?? Ok so they are like a white carrot thing that I used to avoid in the grocery store because I was too afraid to try something I had never heard of before. Well what can I use parsnips for?? How about as a mashed potato-like topping for shepherd pie!?! It has been exciting to see what all we can substitute for our old favorites and find something we actually enjoy eating while feeling good about fueling our body with wholesome and natural foods.
Expense Ok so no more shopping in the middle aisles. You have probably heard this before and can’t stand the thought of not grabbing a box of your favorite crackers to snack on (I mean they are only $3.00 right?) and really we have to have bread for our sandwiches every day for lunch and it’s only $2.00 a loaf which lasts all week! I am here to tell you that our grocery bill has not gone up since starting this lifestyle. We buy all of our meat from Whitefeather Meats, along with our apples, milk and lettuce. We shop for most everything else at a local family-owned grocery store. The vegetables tend to be fresher than at the local Wal-…… well you know, but if you are on a tighter budget you should most definitely search out for the best prices. In the summer we plan on having our own vegetable garden to save more and shop for local produce to freeze or can for the next winter. This factor really didn't matter to us as much because we knew, in the long run, we would be investing this money in our health which is something we value.
I haven’t touched on the numerous health benefits of eating this way but there are some wonderful success stories here are Mark's Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/success-story-summaries/#axzz1ocgyvZ4C Mark's Daily Apple is written by the author of The Primal Blueprint which we have been following. We hope this has answered some of your questions about it. We were far from eating a natural and healthy diet before this and it has really changed our view from eating because it tastes good to eating to fuel our bodies.
Congratulations to both of you - it's a great lifestyle. The longer you go the more you will enjoy eating this way and finding new and different ways to prepare this stuff.
ReplyDeleteI would contend that grossery store meat is really much more expensive when you consider that it is based on petroleum, government subsidies and tax breaks. What is being pushed off as cheap food will kill the people and the environment. Nobody advertises real food.