This article is published in Yahoo’s Shine and we felt it was must share piece. We take no credit for authoring it. Links to the original article are scattered below.
Our sole purpose in reproducing it here is to share some great ideas to keep you healthy and to break the junk food addiction cycle. ~LnR
By Piper Weiss, Shine Staff, on Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:10pm PDT http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/how-one-family-broke-its-junk-food-addiction-2530910/
The Leake family are on a real food crusade. (photo credit: Shannan Casper Photography)
How long could you go without junk food? Last year, the Leake family attempted to abstain for 100 days. A year later, it’s still going strong. “Halfway through the first challenge I took the basket of Halloween candy I was hiding in the guest room for when we’d completed the challenge, and just threw it out,” says Lisa Leake, a stay-at-home mom of two daughters, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For tips on breaking your own junk food addiction, click here.
Inspired by an Oprah interview with food activist Michael Pollan, Lisa and her husband, Jason, embarked on the challenge as a way to rethink their unhealthy eating habits. Lisa was raised on Doritos and powdered macaroni and cheese. She tried to prepare healthy meals for her daughters, Sienna, then 3 and Sydney, then 5, but like most busy moms, she relied heavily on processed frozen meals and boxed groceries that had mile-long ingredients lists and the potential to cause long-term health problems, like heart disease and diabetes. Even the foods she thought were healthy weren’t as natural as she had once believed. “I was so surprised by how much food is processed,” says Lisa, “like for example, bread that lists wheat as an ingredient isn’t good for you unless it’s made from whole wheat. You really have to study the ingredients.”
In an effort to force themselves to consume more cautiously, the Leake family set some temporary guidelines: no refined grains or sweeteners, nothing deep fried, only local hormone-free meats and organic fruits and veggies and absolutely nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package with more than five ingredients listed on the label.
Lisa gave up her morning white chocolate mocha coffee drink ritual. Her husband, who works in technical sales and travels part of the month, gave up fast food pit stops on the road. But the hardest habits to break came into play when feeding the girls. An after-dinner treat meant getting creative with applesauce, fruit juice and yogurt. On grocery shopping expeditions with the kids, Lisa anticipated resistance as they skated past the colorful boxes of cereal and aisles of cookies.
Lisa’s blog, 100daysofrealfood.com, chronicles her family’s journey adapting to all-natural unprocessed food. There were hardships, like Sydney’s meltdown after being offered a donut from a friend, and the various birthday cakes they had to pass up. Lisa practically lived in the kitchen pre-planning meals and freezing homemade soups she could access in a pinch.
But after 100 days, their palates had evolved. “Artificial food actually tastes bad after eating fresh food for so long,” she explains. But investing in all those organic groceries and specialty ingredients, also impacted their bank account. So the family took up another challenge: 100 days of real food on a budget.
With a weekly budget of $125 for a family of four (around the same amount or less than required for a food stamps budget), Lisa was forced to get creative. She spent $30 on plants and seeds for growing her own veggie garden. She invested in a economy size bags of brown rice and occasionally employed martini glasses to make plain old yogurt or juice smoothies look like more indulgent parfaits.
Chronicling her daily inventiveness, from recipes to money-saving tips and candid I-can’t-take-this-much-more rants, garnered her blog a growing following and another idea. The 10-day pledge is a modified challenge that Lisa’s developed for readers who want to try the Leake model. So far, 1,500 families have accepted the challenge and in the past six months, Lisa’s Facebook fans have skyrocketed to 14,000.
Now the original 100-day challenge has become more or less a way of life for the Leake family. “Our new normal is that the kids can have one treat a week, whether it’s at school or at birthday parties or something we make from scratch at home like ice cream,” says Lisa.
But being a mom of growing girls presents new challenges. This week, Sydney starts first grade, and a whole new world of school-sanctioned food education. “Beyond cafeteria lunches, there’s so many activities based around junk food for kids,” says Lisa. “There’s an upcoming fundraiser at a pizza place, and something else where the kids all go to Krispy Kreme. These things all might happen on the same day that kids get Skittles as a reward for something they do at school, so I want to come up with new ways kids can be rewarded without using food.”
So far, she’s managed to re-issue a healthier snack-approved list for parents in Sydney’s school, encouraging parents to pack fresh fruits like grapes and cherries over Rice Krispie Treats.
But the danger of banning junk food, or anything for that matter, from kids, is the seduction factor. “I do worry that by banning junk, they’ll end up wanting it more, so I’m trying to let the girls start making their own informed choices,” she says.
“Yesterday I was sitting outside with my daughters and some other kids were eating those ‘freezey pops’ that are pretty much just artificial syrups,” says Lisa. “Of course they wanted one. So I said, you can either have one of those pops or some homemade ice cream. They chose the pops. But later my older daughter said she didn’t like how they tasted, so I figure she’s learning on her own why those foods aren’t good.”
And why is that?
“They taste gross after eating fresh food.”
If you’re interested in trying the 10-day challenge, or even just a one day challenge, check out some of Lisa’s most popular real food recipes from her blog in the gallery at Shine.
I so applaud this family! I can be a real junk food junkie, as well. I've actually just done a 3-day fast (with fruits and juices and one bowl of hot whole-grain cereal/day). Day 2 all I wanted was barbecued potato chips! But after 3 days, today I'm thinking, "Why do I even want those things — they're yukky!"
It really matters what we put into our bodies. Thanks for sharing this!
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My wife and I attempted to go vegan for a month. It was a huge shock to our system going through that, but by the end of the month we had sort of adapted.
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Thanks for posting this article Lynn and Rick.
I am the king oft he junk food diet. I use the excuse that I am too busy to eat properly.
I know I am just making excuses and fooling myself. I also know that I am truly addicted.
I guess the first step is acknowledging that.
Peter
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Well done achieving a junk food free diet especially with children.
My first son was brought up with no sugar for the first two years of his life, which was 26 years ago when most people are just started to become aware of healthy living. A lot of people wanted to give him biscuits when we visited somewhere.
It is good to know that after his teenage junk food phase he has gone to healthy living out of his own motivation.
Thanks for sharing this information.
Cheers,
Yorinda
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I so need to do something like this! However like Joyce I don't have the commitment to take the plunge yet either.
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Interesting and very health informative post!
It would really take a good commitment to make this better change! I hope my family is fully committed like your family.
Thank you for sharing!
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Great article to be read by EVERYONE! I am such an advocate for this. I’m basically a vegetarian and eat mostly organic foods. Once a month, though, I’ll eat fresh caught fish and organic free range chicken from a local farm. Eating fresh foods for a while does change your taste buds and stomach. If I eat a non-organic GMO piece of corn, I feel terrible. That’s how long I’ve been at it. After a while your body gets used to eating for energy and NOT for FILLING THE STOMACH.
That being said, If I take a bite of a brownie for instance, I can feel that sugar rip apart my throat to my stomach. That’s how sensitive I have become and happy for it. Junk food….Yuck!
Sometimes I see something in a store that I have eaten as a kid, and purchase it. When I taste it, it is not what I expected.
When your body is cleansed of all the junk, you feel alive and light and have so much energy.
As for the microwave, I don’t have one because it takes out all the nutrients and you might as well eat styrofoam.
I tell people don’t eat anything out of a box or package. That’s the beginning. OK, I’ll get off my soap box, but this blog got me all hyped up on the subject. It is one of my favorites!
Blessings,
Donna Merrill
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Hi there,
I love this story! I know how bad sugar and processed snacks are for you. It is so much better to eat whole foods and fresh produce and the plus side to that is we feel so much better! America would be so much healthier and better off if we would eliminate all the popular processed foods readily available in our super markets. It takes effort to eat healthy but the rewards really do pay off. I appreciate that you shared this with us. Thank you so much!
Lynn
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I’ve always thought of myself as a healthy eater; never a big junk food fan. I realized; however, that my downfall was snacking between meals and milk & cookies before bed (yes, at 50 yrs. old!). After gaining 15lbs. I decided to throw all the snacks and cookies away and I replaced them with almonds, baby carrots and greek yogurt. It’s only been a few days, so wish me luck!
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Hi Rick,
I am very conscientious about eating “food” that feeds my body; however, I also fall off the wagon at times. It seems the traces of memory of “comforting” foods take a very long time to disappear, even with conscious effort. I prepare a lot of fermented foods which are filled with nutrition and probiotics to feed our cells and since the process breaks down and eliminates any chemicals in raw food, it is okay to use non-organic vegetables. For the most part I am happy to eliminate all wheat, all sugars and dairy. I’ve been a vegetarian for many, many years but find many flaws in my diet, especially around the quality of protein. When I crave meat, I know I need to add more protein and I don’t hesitate to add a meat protein. I’ve just purchased “The Makers Diet” written by Jordan Rubin and am fascinated by his work and studies. His debilitating disease and subsequent actions took him from near death to a vibrant, healthy young man. Many of his books are found in used Amazon for under $2 and are well worth reading. I am seriously considering his food plan and re-incorporating healthy, organic meat into my diet.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article!
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Wow what an incredible story.
It takes great commitment to make big changes.
I’m a little health freak but used to be a total fast food junkie!
All the best,
Emma
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I am making some major changes in my diet, a little at a time. What may appear to be baby steps to one person are major steps to another.
I so admire what this family is doing. They are an inspiration and example to all of us… and a challenge to me. Thanks for sharing.
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It’s quite surprising, isn’t it, how we come to value ease of implementation or convenience over health? I would imagine that the biggest challenge to negotiate would be the school cafeteria.
You use the example of bread which is perfect. I read labels for I don’t know how long until I found a bread that fit the ‘requirements’ only to have it discontinued months later. Although many today now do use 100% whole wheat, many of them still an abundance of sugar, also not good. I found that making these changes gradually is what worked best for me.
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I realize that is a great and beneficial challenge to undertake and I almost said that I would not be able to do it. Of course, we can do most anything that we set out to do. I have not eaten refined sugar in approximately two months (a record for me) and I did begin purchasing only organic fruits and veggies over the summer. While this was a major change in my diet, there is lots of room for improvement remaining.
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Interesting post. I admit I agree with it but haven’t the commitment to take the plunge yet.
Interesting read. Thanks for sharing it.
Joyce
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