tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post2511458519146170094..comments2011-11-14T00:26:25.501-08:00Lauren @ Hobo Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07500733577920040395noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-70649195224603971092010-07-16T13:13:58.794-07:002010-07-16T13:13:58.794-07:00Yes, all those baby steps add up to some big changes over time. One of the small changes I made was to start reading ingredients lists on foods in the grocery store. Once I did that, I stopped as much &quot;bad&quot; stuff.navelgazingbajanhttp://navelgazingbajan.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-19038691955523292552010-07-15T21:58:59.256-07:002010-07-15T21:58:59.256-07:00Wonderful article - lots of great ideas. I just feed all my kids vanilla sweetened whole organic yogurt. Then we add berries to it for taste. No need for special yogurt for babies! (they would eat plain, I am the one that likes a little more taste)Christyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129372114193004027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-90290317124602005742010-07-15T14:22:56.822-07:002010-07-15T14:22:56.822-07:00Great Article! I discovered grape stevia drops and have died and gone to heaven - SO yummy and SO much healthier.Armando Codinahttp://www.nasacolab.org/armando-codina-names-larry-gragg-coo-of-codina-partners_378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-87715322705187145652010-07-14T08:09:37.901-07:002010-07-14T08:09:37.901-07:00Another informative post from the astute Hobo Mama. :-) Seriously, this post is full of great info. Thank you.<br /><br />And your photos are wonderful.Kate Wicker @ Momopolyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08275574075771328329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-60417019289611412010-07-13T23:37:28.993-07:002010-07-13T23:37:28.993-07:00I saw Supersize Me a while back and I&#39;m almost done reading In Defense of Food. I&#39;d like to read/watch more, as long as it isn&#39;t redundant.<br /><br />Yes! Dairy should have fat in it! I don&#39;t even bother with lowfat yogurt, I eat the YoBaby stuff myself. <br /><br />Yay, butter!<br /><br />There were two things that pushed me past the cost of organic: Having a baby whose body I wanted only the best for, and attending a weekly parenting group at our natural food store, which happens to be a short drive from our house--it was just so convenient! And I totally feel like I&#39;m casting a vote when I buy organic. I find it interesting that Americans spend way less of their income on food than people in other industrialized countries. We are cheap-aholics. When I was in college, food was the easiest place to cut spending, so I did. I had no idea how bad it was for me, and every year ever since I have come a step closer to eating the way I should, and every year I can tell a difference in my health.<br /><br />I shudder to think the kids of food I used to eat. *shudder*<br /><br />The beauty of shopping our the natural food store is that all the ready-made stuff is so expensive. I don&#39;t buy chips and other junk food. I do buy chocolate there, but the cost of it helps me regulate how much of it I eat, and getting a piece of cake from the bakery is going to be a special treat. If I want inexpensive sweets, I have to make them myself.<br /><br />It&#39;s all about the baby steps, though. I think &quot;eat healthier&quot; has been my goal every year for the past ten years of my life!Lisa Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00110779167509779880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-49314454865452305892010-07-13T23:21:09.313-07:002010-07-13T23:21:09.313-07:00Baby steps all the way, for sure. :) Every now and then I read or learn something that is a real &quot;ah-ha!&quot; moment and I feel like I take ten baby steps at once, but actually implementing changes is always slow.<br /><br />Great post! I have my own fast food confession: while I was pregnant with Bea I had a major McD&#39;s breakdown - I saw the poster of a cheeseburger in the window and was suddenly overcome with the urge to go in and buy a cheap cheeseburger. And I did. And then I went right back to the counter and bought another one. (gasp! the horror!) I was probably needing the iron or something, but never before had a cheap, crappy cheeseburger tasted so good!Michelle @ The Parent Vortexhttp://www.theparentvortex.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-7450750729019977982010-07-13T20:50:16.012-07:002010-07-13T20:50:16.012-07:00First of all, you pictured my water bottle (which I am in love with - I asked for it for Christmas!) Having water bottles I love has certainly helped me drink more water. I also like flavoring with lemon or cucumber, and in the summer, herbal or green tea iced tea is tasty and healthy!<br /><br />Second, I had the same experience as you with trying to locate full fat yogurt for kiddos. I couldn&#39;t believe how hard it was!<br /><br />Great post! :)Andrea!!!http://www.blogger.com/profile/08992756315636193722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-45768870598107390502010-07-13T19:23:32.490-07:002010-07-13T19:23:32.490-07:00Thank you for this - so much appreciated, I got some ideas I haven&#39;t tried (and failed at) yet. One thing I have to laugh at, though: &quot;If you don&#39;t buy it, you can&#39;t eat it.&quot;<br /><br />Only if no one ever gives you food. My coworkers bring donuts, cake, etc. into the office and oh it is so hard to walk away from it.<br /><br />And I need to, because they&#39;re all store-bought bunches of...whatever.kyriellehttp://kyrielle.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-9373610226758140862010-07-13T19:19:17.648-07:002010-07-13T19:19:17.648-07:00There is *so much awesome* in this post, I don&#39;t even know where to start. Wait, yes, I do. With the paragraph about how beating yourself up never works. You rock, Hobo Mama!<br /><br />And its nice to have a place to admit that, even with everything I know, and all my priorities, I hear the siren call of the Coke aisle every time I go to the supermarket. Sigh. It&#39;s so much easier to do the right thing if you don&#39;t happen to want to do the wrong.Seonaidhttp://onthequest.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-84761504083295431232010-07-13T18:45:24.539-07:002010-07-13T18:45:24.539-07:00Wow, what a great, detailed post! You have so many fantastic suggestions. I agree about the whole dairy products. When I start reading all the ingredients in the &quot;lite&quot; dairy products, I become dizzy. Plus, the no fat dairy products usually taste sooo bad. But the whole fat, organic, natural ones - delish! And a little goes a long way!Sheryl @ Little Snowflakeshttp://www.lilsnowflakes.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-12072837166814673982010-07-13T18:44:37.169-07:002010-07-13T18:44:37.169-07:00I&#39;m lucky that I was raised by a mom who was frugal but also encouraged healthy eating. I&#39;m happy drinking water for every beverage during the day except breakfast. (Not sure why, I just need something with a bit of flavor to wake my mouth up in the morning!) My husband and his family all drink soda. Constantly. Can after can, glass after glass. It&#39;s a habit that&#39;s so ingrained in him that I don&#39;t know if he can break it. He doesn&#39;t like the taste of water. So I want to do everything in our power to give our kids the advantage of healthy habits from the start! Now that my son is getting old enough to demand a taste of everything I eat, I&#39;m taking extra stock of everything I snack on.MJKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16837874903198668708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-71308799683795088312010-07-13T17:15:46.819-07:002010-07-13T17:15:46.819-07:00Great post! I think you are doing better than you give yourself credit for :-) I just LOVE the pictures of your kiddo, he&#39;s too cute!!!Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05724365531064024636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-31971037031374168882010-07-13T17:15:30.573-07:002010-07-13T17:15:30.573-07:00Great post! I think you are doing better than you give yourself credit for :-) I just LOVE the pictures of your kiddo, he&#39;s too cute!!!Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05724365531064024636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-35209107109010090912010-07-13T16:54:15.355-07:002010-07-13T16:54:15.355-07:00Wow! So many great ideas! I love the idea of just staying away from things that are bad for you, at least in large quantities (like restaurants with drive-thrus or stores with unhealthy foods). I don’t keep ice cream at home for that reason.Deb Chitwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16665549481411417908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-13235930354159913852010-07-13T15:40:32.932-07:002010-07-13T15:40:32.932-07:00Baby steps are the way to go sister! It all adds up over time. One thing that really helped me at the grocery store was to read the labels on things. When a brownie has five times as many ingredients as it should, it suddenly doesn&#39;t sound as good as before.PurpleDancingDahliashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589793024632933098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-58096100929672774072010-07-13T13:42:06.058-07:002010-07-13T13:42:06.058-07:00I am a huge believer in baby steps. The changes are too massive to make at once, however, one small step at a time leads to big change eventually. Great article, fab advice!!Earth Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15710411111509993401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-46212807380388172032010-07-13T11:15:35.996-07:002010-07-13T11:15:35.996-07:00You&#39;re far ahead of most people Lauren. I think all your baby steps are adding up to being quite a big one. Growing your own veggies is a big part of that because it forces a person to stay home for a meal and cook their veggies!Melodiehttp://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-45092366175911630202010-07-13T08:01:50.972-07:002010-07-13T08:01:50.972-07:00This is really great because you are so honest. <br />Cooking with real butter, and drinking fat milk and having whole everything is something I&#39;m a big fan of. I think &#39;low fat&#39; tastes bad. My son&#39;s doctor told us to make sure he&#39;s eating lots of fat for his brain and she asked if we eat low fat (to make sure that we had some fat on hand for Luke) and I was like, no I eat whole fat lol.<br />Thanks, this is such a great carnival topic!Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955575057654804783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-52678791096370037712010-07-13T07:41:55.226-07:002010-07-13T07:41:55.226-07:00Great article! We started making changes to our diet towards the end of my pregnancy with my daughter a little over a year ago. We are already soooo much happier and healthier! What&#39;s hysterical to me is that I had to get a wellness exam for insurance and the nurse raved about how healthy I was. &quot;You must be doing some incredible cardio!&quot; Nope, eating 2-3 eggs a day, eating plenty of butter, drinking whole milk, making my own bread, eating lacto-fermented foods, eating plenty of local meat and veggies, and taking fermented cod liver oil/butter oil every day. Haha. I hope it continues to go well for you! It can be so overwhelming at times, but oh so worth it.Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11578454673778135275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-44755457594846864532010-07-13T07:10:33.601-07:002010-07-13T07:10:33.601-07:00Tophat just did a post about this that really got me thinking about what we eat. I am super interested in the CSAs that have been mentioned.<br /><br />I must say, though, after reading your post, I do feel better about what my family eats. We do love our junk food and eating out, but we don&#39;t do those things very often. Now I just wish that I could grow a garden...Malloryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04991788960863652000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-83493518864794781072010-07-13T05:49:17.747-07:002010-07-13T05:49:17.747-07:00Don&#39;t beat yourself up, you are so not alone. I KNOW soda is a hard one - Tom is completely addicted, and I had kicked the habit years ago (and then Tom snuck it back into my life - damn it!). You want to try a substitute? Flavored Stevia drops. If you are at all cool with propel (another drink that&#39;s not high on the health food list), it&#39;s comparable to that. My fave drink ever (while pg!!) was grape flavored propel, much watered down. I discovered grape stevia drops and have died and gone to heaven - SO yummy and SO much healthier. I also drink iced coffee like it&#39;s going out of style - I almost feel ok about it b/c I use organic half &amp; half and plain stevia to sweeten it. We all need our indulgences ;)Dionna @ Code Name: Mamahttp://codenamemama.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218426698401036731.post-43699911095183527022010-07-13T04:04:21.023-07:002010-07-13T04:04:21.023-07:00Fantastic article! When you spoke of your deeply ingrained frugality as a roadblock to eating organically I could totally relate. When you have been budget-conscious your whole life, you really to have to make a focused effort to change your priority away from the cost to focus on the benefits.<br /><br />In addition to the books and movies you suggested, I would add &quot;The Future of Food,&quot; a Morgan Spurlock-produced film from 2004 which examines, among other things, the political driving forces behind what&#39;s in our grocery stores. Jamie Oliver&#39;s Food Revolution is another must-see, particularly for parents of school-age children who eat lunch at school. It is much more than an eye-opener: it offers real solutions.<br /><br />I rarely bookmark individual blog posts, but this one is bookmarked thanks to the very useful links you&#39;ve assembled here. Excellent Carnival post.Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05203022500889188554noreply@blogger.com