Healthy foods challenge

Our newest club challenge/goal is to eat healthier foods and be aware of what we are putting into our bodies.

Some tips:
- If you want, keep a food journal for a day or a week or for all two weeks before we meet again and write down any ingredients you've never heard of.

- Try to eat food that includes ingredients you know are wholesome, which is easiest if you eat things that don't come in packaging.

- Shop the perimeter of the store to find real food, rather than packaged food.

- Try to eat organically or locally--shop in the organic section of the grocery store or go to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning.

- Read ingredients labels and avoid the following: hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives, bleached or bromated flour, any ingredients that you aren't familiar with and/or can't pronounce.

- Eat mostly vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

- Avoid refined sugars and candy. (How and Why)

- Enjoy one meatless day during the next two weeks to reduce your meat consumption and your environmental footprint. (MeatlessMonday.com)

- Don't restrict yourself too much. Choose one thing to start with, like avoiding high fructose corn syrup. Then slowly add more things to avoid/be aware of until you are eating mostly healthy, wholesome, nutritious foods. Otherwise, you'll burn out on the whole challenge by realizing how difficult it is to avoid all of the bad foods. Start small.

Try to keep this in mind for the next two weeks so we can have a discussion about the challenges we've faced at our next meeting on February 12.