They Say Women Change Every Decade

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It is generally said that every new decade in a woman's like brings marked change and growth. We mature, grow, and typically improve with age. Looking back upon my own life I can see now points at which I changed and grew into the person I am now. However, never before did I realize I was in the midst of a change as it was happening. That is until now.

I can see it, I can feel it. The change is dramatic. It is life changing. Life altering. My family and I will never be the same because of this change, a dramatic change in our eating. From the outside the change seems simple but the difference in my mindset is dramatic.

This change in our eating habits has been slowly growing over the past few years. However, a few months ago after educating myself about the food handling industry in this country my mindset about what I feed my family has changed 180 degrees. Sure I have always cared about what I fed my family, made sure there were vegetables at nearly every meal, tried to cook low fat recipes, and overall tried to give my family well balanced food options. But we all still enjoyed plenty of junk food. Fruit snacks, processed foods of every kind, and never gave any thought to where our meat and dairy products came from. I have bought as much organic vegetables as our budget could allow for quite sometime but didn't give enough thought to what it meant when we didn't buy organic.

Enter the documentaries Food Inc. and Food Matters, both of which can be found on Netflix. Food Matters is regularly offered for free on their Facebook page. These two films were the springboard for the complete overhaul of my cooking and grocery purchasing choices. Organic fruits and vegetables only enter this house now. If I can't afford grass fed beef or organic chicken then we do without and make what we have last longer. I bypass 90% of the grocery store aisles now, opting only for the organic and health food sections. Organic vegetables, homemade goods and unprocessed foods have invaded our home and I couldn't be happier.

Why such an overhaul and drastic change in our eating habits? Simply put, it now sickens me to think about all of the preservatives, genetically modified, and empty calorie food that was being brought into my house. And keep in mind we have always eaten "healthy" compared to most families. I can no longer in good conscience purchase preservative and genetically modified laden foods for my family. It makes me sick to think about putting that stuff on their plate or mine. Also, I am a strong believer in using the blessings that God has given us to the best of our ability. In this case that means using the financial means that He has bestowed upon us the best that I can and I do not believe that God ever intended for us to be putting all of that unnatural stuff into our bodies. Therefore, I can not with clear conscience purchase those things for my family with the money he has blessed us with.

The way I now grocery shop, prepare meals, and feed my family is a complete diversion from earlier times in my life. I am also creeping up in age and nearing the infamous "40". Growing older hopefully means also growing wiser. My new way of thinking is not a fad, a new craze, or a passing fashion. I don't have the mindset of "oh we will just do this for a while" like most of us think when we embark upon a new diet. There is no end in sight for this new "me". This is simply just "me". I know now what happens to our meat supply, I know what is in that genetically modified (GMO) fruit and vegetable. I know what all of those preservatives do longterm to our bodies. Please research these topics for yourself, watch documentaries on these subjects. The truth is not pretty and is frankly digesting.