The FastDay Forum

I've been trying to cut out processed food for awhile. I found this article interesting: http://www.salon.com/2014/02/13/5_ways_ ... s_partner/

I think I need to try the "new recipe a week" idea for other reasons! I'm such a creature of habit; I use the same handful of recipes over and over...

[Tracieknits]

Good article!

slow and steady is a great way to go. I like to watch food network TV to get ideas too

I know I drive hubby mad when food shopping in a supermarket as I scrutinise the label on tins and packets of new items for the nutritional information! We eat very little processed stuff but I do like to know exactly what's in my food!

I like those last paragraphs:

No matter which of these strategies you choose, you’re only going to be as successful as your attitude will allow. So before embarking on any changes, it’s worth taking a little time to get your mind right. You simply cannot sit around having a pity party for yourself because you wish you had a personal chef or because it’s not fair that you have so many dishes to wash now or because it’s so hard to make these changes. Sure, these things may be true, but concentrating on your struggles isn't going to get you anywhere.

Take a bit of time to mourn these things if you must, but then ditch the pity party and get on with the business of focusing on your strategies. Be grateful that you care for yourself (and your family) enough to go through the trouble it takes to nourish your body to the best of your ability. Start viewing shopping, cooking and doing dishes as acts of love rather than burdensome chores. You’ll be amazed at how much happier you’ll feel.

Actually the realization of this kind got me started on cooking several years ago. And now, I am so full of ideas on what I want to cook/eat I sometimes can't make my mind up and have to keep "to cook/bake waiting lists". I still have to rely on some kind of inspiration and therefore started collecting cook-books and searching for inspirational food blogs.

What times we live in, when we have to bring ourselves back to basics as far as cooking/eating goes.

Nice catch, gorba. Actually those paragraphs apply to a lot if things in life.

I had another thought on this. I can see how it would be tempting to eat already prepared food from grocery stores because they have cals and other nutritional info printed on them. Its a pain, but totally possible, of course, to calculate cals in homemade food. I would argue that your estimates are as accurate as industry labels in that probably all counts are easily off by 10%.

I accidentally brought home someones discarded docket from Aldi and i was horrified what was on the docket. It totalled $155 and almost all processed food and a lot of cat food!

My bill was just $55 and nothing processed like crisps and biscuits and ready meals... oh apart from ice cream for tonights dessert.

Anyway i am always shocked by the contents of people's supermarket trollies.

One reason to cut out processed foods is the expense. I know that the person with the $155 docket does it all the time and if they shopped at a full price grocery store like Woolworths and Coles it would have been $200 or more.

Why are some people so silly?

I know I drive hubby mad when food shopping in a supermarket as I scrutinise the label on tins and packets of new items for the nutritional information! We eat very little processed stuff but I do like to know exactly what's in my food!

I am just like you @callyanna and my hubby has become as bad as me too....we don't buy processed food any more: reading the labels has put us off for good. We're not quite eating a paleo' diet but it's quite close to that now.

I accidentally brought home someones discarded docket from Aldi and i was horrified what was on the docket. It totalled $155 and almost all processed food and a lot of cat food!

My bill was just $55 and nothing processed like crisps and biscuits and ready meals... oh apart from ice cream for tonights dessert.

Anyway i am always shocked by the contents of people's supermarket trollies.

One reason to cut out processed foods is the expense. I know that the person with the $155 docket does it all the time and if they shopped at a full price grocery store like Woolworths and Coles it would have been $200 or more.

Why are some people so silly?

It's really unfair to judge someone, based on a receipt. I go to Aldi once a month and stock up on cereals, baking items, snacks for kid's school lunches, tp/paper goods and yes cat food I don't normally buy produce there, so my Aldi receipts would look unbalanced as well. That of course doesn't mean we're not eating veggies and fruit, I just buy it at a different store (and we also get some things like eggs and beef from local farmers, so no receipts there).

I see these kinds of posts a lot on other forums and it's a pet peeve of mine-you really have no idea what people's actual diets are, unless you are watching them every time they eat!

I accidentally brought home someones discarded docket from Aldi and i was horrified what was on the docket. It totalled $155 and almost all processed food and a lot of cat food!

My bill was just $55 and nothing processed like crisps and biscuits and ready meals... oh apart from ice cream for tonights dessert.

Anyway i am always shocked by the contents of people's supermarket trollies.

One reason to cut out processed foods is the expense. I know that the person with the $155 docket does it all the time and if they shopped at a full price grocery store like Woolworths and Coles it would have been $200 or more.

Why are some people so silly?

It's really unfair to judge someone, based on a receipt. I go to Aldi once a month and stock up on cereals, baking items, snacks for kid's school lunches, tp/paper goods and yes cat food I don't normally buy meat and produce there, so my Aldi receipts would look unbalanced as well. That of course doesn't mean we're not eating veggies and fruit, I just buy it at a different store (and we also get some things like eggs and beef from local farmers, so no receipts there).

I see these kinds of posts a lot on other forums and it's a pet peeve of mine-you really have no idea what people's actual diets are, unless you are watching them every time they eat

I take your point and sorry if i offended. I guess the "docket" thing is just a sample of what they buy but they did buy a lot of packaged goods that are just unnecessary for any family. Yes they may have bought the good stuff somewhere else but why by the crap at all. We only encourage the "food marketing companies"

But outside the docket situation I do stand behind peoples trollies and shake my head, particularly if weight is an issue for the whole family. That is a pet peeve of mine. Yes they are probably the nicest of people and no, i would never say anything and yes, i do think they can improve and have more money for the better things in life. And be healthier in the process.

Over the last year in my work with 5:2 i have become more judgemental about what people put in their mouth. And what people feed their children.. I know ive gotta get over it and mind my own business but we are only human.

No problem with the cat food .. my cat loves Aldi wet cat food and its so much cheaper. However, serve it the dried stuff in the boxes from Aldi and it runs for the hills. I must write to Aldi one day about that as a few friends of mine agree about the dried stuff. I guess someone must be buying it.

I accidentally brought home someones discarded docket from Aldi and i was horrified what was on the docket. It totalled $155 and almost all processed food and a lot of cat food!

My bill was just $55 and nothing processed like crisps and biscuits and ready meals... oh apart from ice cream for tonights dessert.

Anyway i am always shocked by the contents of people's supermarket trollies.

One reason to cut out processed foods is the expense. I know that the person with the $155 docket does it all the time and if they shopped at a full price grocery store like Woolworths and Coles it would have been $200 or more.

Why are some people so silly?

It's really unfair to judge someone, based on a receipt. I go to Aldi once a month and stock up on cereals, baking items, snacks for kid's school lunches, tp/paper goods and yes cat food I don't normally buy meat and produce there, so my Aldi receipts would look unbalanced as well. That of course doesn't mean we're not eating veggies and fruit, I just buy it at a different store (and we also get some things like eggs and beef from local farmers, so no receipts there).

I see these kinds of posts a lot on other forums and it's a pet peeve of mine-you really have no idea what people's actual diets are, unless you are watching them every time they eat

I take your point and sorry if i offended. I guess the "docket" thing is just a sample of what they buy but they did buy a lot of packaged goods that are just unnecessary for any family. Yes they may have bought the good stuff somewhere else but why by the crap at all. We only encourage the "food marketing companies"

But outside the docket situation I do stand behind peoples trollies and shake my head, particularly if weight is an issue for the whole family. That is a pet peeve of mine. Yes they are probably the nicest of people and no, i would never say anything and yes, i do think they can improve and have more money for the better things in life. And be healthier in the process.

Over the last year in my work with 5:2 i have become more judgemental about what people put in their mouth. And what people feed their children.. I know ive gotta get over it and mind my own business but we are only human.

No problem with the cat food .. my cat loves Aldi wet cat food and its so much cheaper. However, serve it the dried stuff in the boxes from Aldi and it runs for the hills. I must write to Aldi one day about that as a few friends of mine agree about the dried stuff. I guess someone must be buying it.

My cat is an Aldi food snob too lol. That's the only brand he'll eat

Thanks for this Mary Ann. This article inspired me to check Google to see how others cope with stirring natural peanut butter with all the oil on the top of the jar and the dry peanut puree underneath. I had always turned it upside down for days before opening, but still oil would spill over the sides and make a big mess when stirring.There were many suggestions but they all required stirring in the jar or returning to the jar--messy (Permanently smooth peanut butter has hydrogenated oil--and usually sugar added, too)

After many years, I recently had a brain wave. So I dumped the whole jar into a big bowl and started stirring with a wooden spoon. As it became almost smooth, I switched to a wire whisk. It was so easy with no mess. Then, instead of trying to get it all back in the jar I spooned it into a refrigerator storage container with a very wide mouth. It's now in the fridge so there's no more separation. If desired, I could get the nutrition label from the internet.

Just a suggestion to help make one kind of "real food" easier to deal with

Great article, thanks for sharing MaryAnn!

It's really unfair to judge someone, based on a receipt. I go to Aldi once a month and stock up on cereals, baking items, snacks for kid's school lunches, tp/paper goods and yes cat food I don't normally buy meat and produce there, so my Aldi receipts would look unbalanced as well. That of course doesn't mean we're not eating veggies and fruit, I just buy it at a different store (and we also get some things like eggs and beef from local farmers, so no receipts there).

I see these kinds of posts a lot on other forums and it's a pet peeve of mine-you really have no idea what people's actual diets are, unless you are watching them every time they eat

I take your point and sorry if i offended. I guess the "docket" thing is just a sample of what they buy but they did buy a lot of packaged goods that are just unnecessary for any family. Yes they may have bought the good stuff somewhere else but why by the crap at all. We only encourage the "food marketing companies"

But outside the docket situation I do stand behind peoples trollies and shake my head, particularly if weight is an issue for the whole family. That is a pet peeve of mine. Yes they are probably the nicest of people and no, i would never say anything and yes, i do think they can improve and have more money for the better things in life. And be healthier in the process.

Over the last year in my work with 5:2 i have become more judgemental about what people put in their mouth. And what people feed their children.. I know ive gotta get over it and mind my own business but we are only human.

No problem with the cat food .. my cat loves Aldi wet cat food and its so much cheaper. However, serve it the dried stuff in the boxes from Aldi and it runs for the hills. I must write to Aldi one day about that as a few friends of mine agree about the dried stuff. I guess someone must be buying it.

My cat is an Aldi food snob too lol. That's the only brand he'll eat

Does yours only like the wet food one from Aldi.

I would give my cat Dine but at the cost/kilo i dont want the cat costing me more than the humans in the house.

Other ones it rejects is Whiskas Dry food in a box and Snappy tom canned

Speaking of processed, is having 2 x Lean Cuisine or Weight watchers ready made meals bad for a 5:2 day if you havent had much else or even one meal.

this is the type i mean (selection from one of the main grocery stores in Australia but i think these are marketed internationally

http://shop.coles.com.au/online/SearchD ... reId=10601

and
http://shop.coles.com.au/online/SearchD ... reId=10601


I'm not asking for myself as i would have to be desperate to buy one of those meals because i'm anti frozen food ready meals and processed food and the taste wouldn't possibly be as good as what i can do in the kitchen. Even if im short of time i can do an Asian soup in like 10 minutes or a low cal stir fry with beef or chicken.

Anyway, just asking as i see them in the frozen food section of my grocers when i go in to get frozen peas or frozen raspberries (or ice cream) which is pretty much all i consume from the mile long frozen section. Yes, the grocery companies would not like my buying habits.

For those of us who work long hours (and who are trying to train for a new career in our spare time) frozen - or fresh - ready meals are a godsend. Not everybody has the gift of time to either shop or experiment - or even spend much time cooking - in the kitchen. Bought with awareness, ready meals can be excellent.

I think we are right to be concerned about our food. Thinking of @rawkaren 's difficulties finding good food to buy on moving to the States recently, as well as @Debs problems at camp, and other people who are in a similar situation.

But if there is one thing that 5:2 and the various fasting methods have taught all of us it is that there is no one way of eating / cooking / shopping, and as has been said elsewhere on the forum this morning, we are lucky to have the choice. If you are also lucky enough to have the time to shop, and then the time to look at websites / cookery books / etc, and finally the time to prepare food from scratch, well that is great, and it is fantastic to read about all the results that come out of this -@fatdog being the prime example. But please be aware that this is not the only way, and there are many of us on here who have the challenge of adapting fasting to much busier and more difficult lifestyles.

Be careful what you say and how you say it. I'll shut up now.