why we eat what we eat . . .

It has been about a year since we started our journey to eating organic/"real food" so I thought it would be a good time to write about our journey.

1. What is "real food"

Real food to me is something where you can read the ingridients and know what everything is on the list. None of this chemical crap that my body doesn't need. There are different scales of chemical crap. Some are in the "you should never eat this" category. Others are in the "there are some products that are always going to have this (thickening agents) so you are going to have to eat it sometimes" category.

2. What made you start thinking about eating real food?

It all started with water and sickness. You see, a couple of years ago I got pretty sick with some really bad heartburn and GI symptoms. It took them a while to figure it out, but eventually they found out that I had H-pylori bacteria. Two weeks of hardcore antibiotics later and I was "cured." My H-pylori came back twice over the next year and a half and it was really hard on my body. Specifically my stomach. I haven't had H-pylori since, but it left me with a much more sensitive digestive system. I could no longer drink milk or orange juice, and cilantro was off the list as well. If I ate any of these I would get horrible heartburn and end up drinking milk of magnesium for 12 hours. The next thing that ended up on my no-eat list was fried foods. I could take them in small doses, but a whole fast food meal always put me over the edge. This was just the beginning. I started having to look at ingredients when I bought food and I became more aware of what I ate. I also cut most fast food out of my diet (with the exception of Arby's, I could still handle Arby's)

Then came law school. I met a girl who always had water with her (Maureen), she said she couldn't be without it, she was always so thirsty. I thought that was really healthy of her, but I didn't think more of it until I showed up in the urgent care three times in a month with a sickness that they said could possible be prevented if I drank more water. I wondered how much water I actually drank in a day and decided to keep track. To my horror my running total EVERY day was . . . two sips, when I took my pills at night. I knew that could not be good. So i decided to be more like Maureen. I bought a water bottle that I liked (it had a straw) and made sure to have it with me at all times. It was amazing the difference it made. I felt better, didn't end up in the urgent care, and I also noticed a difference in my skin.

Those two events made me more aware. Aware that what I put in my body makes a difference. I wondered what else I could be doing that wasn't good for me.

My first chemical cut was high fructose corn syrup(HFCS). Why do I need chemicalized sugar when i've got the real stuff? It was shocking to me where I found HFCS, it was in EVERYTHING: Soup, stuffing, and other things you would never imagine needing sugar in!

After that eye-opening experience I started checking labels like a maniac and wondering what the other chemicals were. It was then that I decided to cut most of them out. I don't need antibiotics in my meat, or pesticides on my apples. So they look less red and delicious, they still taste awesome and I can feel good about eating them

3. Does it cost more?

Meat definitely does. Other than that our grocery bill hasn't gone up. Why do you ask? We make more "real" meals rather than just eating frozen, processed stuff. These meals last for a while with leftovers and are usually cheaper to make. I think it also makes a difference that I was never one of those "coupon cutter deal finder" shoppers. So our grocery bills haven't changed much.

4. Have you become a crazy nazi organic food person?

No. To each their own is my opinion. Eating like this makes sense for me and my health. I can know what I am putting into my body and if something affects me, it is easier to figure out what it is. However, we still order little Caesars pizza when we are feeling lazy, and it tastes as good as ever :)

(as a side note, **said in the kindest voice** now you also know why I get annoyed when pregnant ladies complain and complain about how horrible heartburn is . . . at least yours leaves in 9 months)