We’re here! I’m working with some shady internet here, sitting on the edge of the world in the middle of the Pacific. Here are some photos from today, but not nearly all of them. Wish me luck for better connection tomorrow!
All posts by Megan
Knowing Birth Series: Carmen (3)
WHAT IS KNOWING BIRTH?
Here is the link to the original Knowing Birth post.
There are so many books and studies claiming to know the truth about birth, but what I’ve found in my conversations with mothers and birth professionals are so many unique experiences surrounding each birth. A book or study can’t possibly take into account the actual voices of individuals. So what better way to find out than to simply ask.
That led me to what I call Knowing Birth interviews. I have come up with a handful of questions that, moms, dads and care providers will answer. I’ll then take their answers and put them directly on this blog.
The only requirement is honesty and openness, and maybe a few pictures too. If you would like to share your experience and answers to the following questions, please email me at doulamegan@gmail.com and I will get the questionnaire to you directly. Anyone can participate and there’s no judgment from me about your answers. I promise to keep a close eye on the comments and keep ‘em clean.
THIS WEEKS INTERVIEW IS THANKS TO…
Carmen Adams and her lovely family, husband Keith and baby Riley Keith.
Born: May 12, 2012 at 9:02PM at The Baby Place (now New Beginnings Birth Center) 6 lb. 9 oz. 21 ½ in.
Labor was just over 30 hours. You can read my labor story at: http://www.boldervisions.net/kcblog/?p=1963
Where did you choose to have your birth and why? What are your feelings about that choice now?
I received all my prenatal care and delivered my son at The Baby Place, now known as New Beginnings Birth Center. I chose this location because I wanted an all natural birth and a calm environment for my son to be born in.
I look back at my decision with nothing but pure joy in knowing I 100% made the right decision. I will be eternally gratefully for the women that gave me the secure and nurturing experience I was looking for.
How did you prepare for your birth?
I took in as much information as I possibly could! I read dozens of books, my favorites were Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and Birthing From Within. I read hundreds of women’s stories about their own labors. My husband and I took Kyndal May’s Confident Birthing class (the best thing we did). I also hired a doula to be there with us during labor. I recommend this for all first time mothers.
Who was invited and present at your birth?
Other than the midwives it was only my husband and our doula.
If it was not your first birth, please compare/contrast your experiences.
n/a
What qualifications do you look for in a midwife/OB/primary care provider?
Trust is the most important to me. I am putting mine and my unborn child’s life in their hands. I also want someone that I feel completely comfortable with. Someone that understands my needs, supports my decisions and encourages me during the natural labor process.
What is your ideal relationship with a birth attendant?
A very easy relationship that comes naturally. I want to feel comfortable asking any question I have without fear of being judged. Someone that is a knowledgeable provider but also someone that truly cares about me and my baby.
If you have received maternity care from both the medical and midwifery models of care, what are the biggest differences? Pros/cons of each?
n/a
Did you feel adequately informed of your options?
Honestly, no. There were lots of rumors and untrue stories being told about my birth center just a couple months before my birth. I started to doubt my decision. The birthing center addressed all my questions and concerns and it was then I realized I was making the right decision to birth my baby at their center. It saddens me that some mothers may have turned down this facility because of the false accusations they heard. I believe all birthing facilities should have to provide their statistics, including hospitals. I without a doubt believe more mothers would start delivering out of hospital.
Describe your ideal birth environment at this point in time.
New Beginnings Birth Center. I fully support women that birth at home. Personally for me I like the change of space when labor picks up pace. I absolutely loved the environment at the birth center. It was calm and peaceful and felt like being at home but everything is taken care of by them. To me it was like a “care center”.
How do you feel about the safety of birth in a hospital vs outside of a hospital?
Without a doubt I received the most personal, safest care available. I know many people argue that at a hospital you are where you need to be in case of an emergency. But they also fail to realize all the medication and interventions that the mother and baby are being subjected to. Midwives are trained to identify when labor is becoming a medical emergency and can get you to a hospital if needed. I feel labor is rarely a medical emergency. I also believe if I had delivered at a hospital I would have had a c-section. My son did not need a c-section, he just needed time. Thanks to my patient midwives he had that.
Is there anything you would change about public policy relating to birth/maternity care? Why/how?
I think midwives and birth centers need to be praised and encouraged. Midwives, birth centers and home births are vastly more cost effective than a hospital birth. Insurance companies could save thousands of dollars if they would contract with these providers. Our insurance did not pay a dime for our birth and I think it is ridiculous. More importantly I think babies born without all the medication during labor will lead to a healthier future.
What do you feel were the most influential factors surrounding your birth? Why?
Personally I have wanted a natural birth since I was in high school. I watched a movie of a mother giving birth in health class and my teacher told me “The epidural is the greatest invention!” I thought “Mothers have been giving birth for hundreds of years without an epidural. Why do I need one?” Many years later, when I started to consider getting pregnant, I watched “The Business of Being Born” and knew if I wanted to have a natural labor the hospital was not the place for me. My husband had numerous people in his family deliver at New Beginnings and they all cherished their experience. It was through them and my determination to have a natural birth that I chose a birth center.
Who owns birth?
The mother and her baby. Every mother has a right to have the birth experience she wants. She should be able to birth in her own space, style and time. Whatever that is. Her body automatically does what it needs to do. But ultimately it is the baby. Babies come when they are ready. They know what to do and they take the time needed to get here. I had a 30 hour natural labor and my son was born at the exact moment he was supposed to. He needed extra time to turn and that was why my water didn’t break and why labor took so long. If you let birth be, it will happen all the same.
HOW TO JOIN THE KNOWING BIRTH SERIES
Email me at doulamegan@gmail.com and I’ll send you the questionnaire directly. There are no requirements, only that you have a voice about birth and want to share it openly and honestly.
THANKS FOR FOLLOWING AND BE WELL!
Weekly Link Love
Health
I’m considering a switch to a barefoot style shoe. As it turns out, however, it may take a lot longer to make the transition than one might think. Le sigh.
Black Gold Love
Singing the praises of compost and all the things that should go in it. AMEN!
Eat It
Do you love Nutella? Yeah, me too, right off the spoon kinda love. I can’t eat it because there’s so much sugar it literally makes my teeth hurt. Well, not anymore friends, not anymore. Here’s you’re real food alternative to the sweet, creamy, nutty goodness.
Even vegetarians can get in on the Paleo love. Grok on!
Upon arriving in Maui, I promptly went and got a coconut so that I could crack it. It totally works!
Political Eats
I was sure that the Whole Foods in Maui would provide some form of pastured eggs, since hens are technically a tropical bird. But alas, there were none. It makes me so sad to know that even my organic eggs could very well be from abused chickens.
Who doesn’t love a good political food message portrayed in a rap video?
Because It Feels Good
You know you should be planting flowers for the bees right? Well did you know you can help the butterflies by leaving out old fruit. I LOVE this idea.
This one’s for treehuggers and dog lovers alike.
Finally, because I think this video is hilarious and will be planning my own boat excursion in the next few days. (Beware: F-bombs present)
Get your kid an iPad mini and they’ll give you little gems like this.
Weigh In Wednesday #9
Another Wednesday, another weigh in! After the cake incident I had two really off days. There was a lot of leftover ice cream in the fridge and I managed to get two giant bowls in (one on Thursday, one on Friday) before I properly disposed of the contraband. I really tried to pay attention to how I felt those 3 days on my sugar bender and the first thing to go was my patience. Any residual injuries (from sports) came back and my yoga practice was more difficult than usual. I also felt really tired despite getting normal amounts of sleep. Thankfully I was able to reset on Saturday with Luke’s help and our mini-hike with Porter at the park.
Apparel
I had a great clothes moment this week. I’m starting to pack for our trip to Maui and pulled out my summer clothes from hibernation. In my haul there are a few pairs of shorts. I went for my standard shorts and buttoned them up and, behold, they were big enough to roll down the top. They’re a size 22. There’s another pair, size 18, that are more fashionable and I thought I’d give those a try. I pulled them on and buttoned them up. Just that easy! They were snug, (no camel toe thankyouverymuch) but fit well enough for me to decide on them for my trip. Giddy is the correct word for what I felt. Since I plan on maintaining my diet/exercise on vacation I don’t plan on ever going back to the bigger pants. So I’m thinking of taking the larger sized shorts and giving them to the thrift store. What do you think?
A Pain In My Foot
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I love to dance. The endorphins, music, sweat and comradery are all addictive. My entire reason for joining the gym was to take dance (with the added bonus of great yoga classes). Needless to say, dance brings me so much joy. It also brings me pain.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in my feet. It’s nothing crazy and it certainly doesn’t stop me from gettin’ my grove on, but after a few months of weekly dancing it’s getting pretty bad and makes walking uncomfortable. Since I’ll be out-of-town for 3 weeks I don’t plan on doing any high impact workouts in hopes that it’ll calm down.
I’ve done some research about stretches that can help and want to get into a daily routine of doing those. I’m also considering getting barefoot sport shoes of some kind. They’re supposed to help strengthen feet by allowing them to be used in a physiologically appropriate way. Once healed a little bit I think my feet should be strong too. Do any of you use barefoot shoes? What do you think?
Big Goals, Little Goals
In the end, my big goal is to lose 100 pounds. In order to get there I’ve naturally come upon some smaller weight loss goals to get there. I’m within 10 pounds of my first goal and that is getting to my pre-baby weight of 234. My second goal is to get below 192, the lowest I remember being since I’ve started weighing myself (that started when I was about 27). Obviously I’ve weighed less when I was younger, but ignorance was bliss. My last goal is my final destination of 154. I’m hoping to reach my first goal by the time I return home from Maui at the end of March.
This weeks Numbers
| #8 2/20/13 | Last Week | This Week | Difference |
| Weight (lbs) | 246 | 243 | -3 |
| Left Leg (in) | 31 | 31 | 0 |
| Hip (in) | 51.5 | 51 | -0.5 |
| Waist (in) | 43.5 | 42.5 | -1 |
| Chest (in) | 45 | 45 | 0 |
| Left Arm (in) | 16 | 15.5 | -0.5 |
| Neck (in) | 15 | 15 | 0 |
TOTALS: 18 pounds & 17.5 inches
Knowing Birth Series: Dawn of Small Footprint Family (2)
What is knowing birth?
Here is the link to the original Knowing Birth post.
There are so many books and studies claiming to know the truth about birth, but what I’ve found in my conversations with mothers and birth professionals are so many unique experiences surrounding each birth. A book or study can’t possibly take into account the actual voices of individuals. So what better way to find out than to simply ask.
That led me to what I call Knowing Birth interviews. I have come up with a handful of questions that, moms, dads and care providers will answer. I’ll then take their answers and put them directly on this blog.
The only requirement is honesty and openness, and maybe a few pictures too. If you would like to share your experience and answers to the following questions, please email me at doulamegan@gmail.com and I will get the questionnaire to you directly. Anyone can participate and there’s no judgment from me about your answers. I promise to keep a close eye on the comments and keep ‘em clean.
This Weeks Interview Is Thanks To…
Dawn, from the blog Small Footprint Family. Dawn writes about health, nutrition, green living and gardening. Her posts are insightful and her recipes are yummy. Definitely check out her handy work at www.SmallFootprintFamily.com
Where did you choose to have your birth and why? What are your feelings about that choice now?
I chose to have my baby at home in my apartment. I wouldn’t have had it any other way and I am eternally grateful for the experience.
How did you prepare for your birth?
I took Bradley birthing classes with my partner, maintained a strict Brewer diet with prenatal vitamins, received massage, chiropractic and acupuncture often, regularly saw a midwife, and tried not to vomit all the time. I read copiously and worried way too much.
Who was invited and present at your birth?
I had two girlfriends come by during the early part of my labor, but then it was just Papa and me until the very end. We feel birth is a very private experience.
If it was not your first birth, please compare/contrast your experiences.
n/a
What qualifications do you look for in a midwife/OB/primary care provider?
I looked for someone with a good reputation who would come to my home. In Washington, D.C. that gave me about 3 midwives to choose from. My midwife from Maryland was in fact not licensed for homebirth in D.C., since it is not permitted there.
I guess I had an illegal homebirth!
What is your ideal relationship with a birth attendant?
My ideal relationship would be one of support and camaraderie. Someone who can quietly assist, assuage and gently inform during a natural, but scary process.
Ideally, if I had another child, I would want a midwife with more of a background in nutrition, holistic health and/or acupuncture.
If you have received maternity care from both the medical and midwifery models of care, what are the biggest differences? Pros/cons of each?
When I went to the city clinic for prenatal care, I was treated like a number by incompetent nurses, some of whom were downright unprofessional. It was not uncommon to have to wait 2-3 hours to be seen for a scheduled appointment.
After one nurse failed to find a fetal heartbeat on my second visit, she brightly announced to me and Papa that she thought I had miscarried, even though the only sign of it was that she couldn’t find the heartbeat. We had to wait eight days in grief and terror until we could get an ultrasound. The ultrasound merely confirmed that the nurse was incompetent with a stethoscope.
The attending OB/GYN at the clinic was very nice, but overstretched and largely unavailable. She would whiz in and whiz out after answering a few questions. The most frequently she could see me was once every three or four months.
Later in my pregnancy, I went to the emergency room because I couldn’t stop throwing up and needed an IV. In addition to the 6-hour wait, I couldn’t help but feel like I was treated like a machine in need of repair. The doctors and nurses, while nice enough and seemingly competent at the technical skills they were required to perform, seemed oddly detached and dismissive. The place just felt soulless.
I left the allopathic model as quickly as I could find the right midwife, which was a bit of a challenge in Washington, D.C., where the region has some of the highest C-Section rates in the country.
After I hired her, my midwife saw me monthly or more frequently, as needed. She took her time examining me and talking with me, was accessible by phone, and was so relaxed about the birthing process, she put me at ease just with her presence.
She rented us a birthing tub, and helped me through a 63-hour labor that would surely have ended in a Caesarean at the hospital. My baby had her fist trapped beside her ear within my pelvis, and couldn’t turn face down, prolonging my labor greatly. I think I walked a half-mile of stairs trying to get her to turn!
But her heartbeat remained strong, and so the midwife was patient. I delivered her “sunny side up” and despite our best efforts, I had some tearing because I delivered her fist and arm with her head.
Papa caught Babyzilla, and the midwife untangled the cord and helped place her right onto my chest with the cord still attached. She latched on to breastfeed almost right away. Then, a bunch of other stuff happened that I barely remember; there was my newborn baby girl on my chest! I was a mom!
Finally, my midwife did the most amazing thing: She stored my placenta in the freezer, emptied the birthing tub, cleaned my house, fed us all from the food my friends had delivered, and tucked me, Papa and Babyzilla into bed! Wow!
Given the length of my labor, the challenge of my baby’s presentation and the fact that her fist was caught in the birth canal, I would surely have been a C-section in the hospital. But with patience, wisdom and an experienced stethoscope, my midwife enabled me to have the birth I dreamed of.
Did you feel adequately informed of your options?
Yes. I did a lot of homework around having a homebirth. I had no doubts and did everything I could to ensure I had a low-risk pregnancy.
Describe your ideal birth environment at this point in time.
Home.
How do you feel about the safety of birth in a hospital vs outside of a hospital?
I feel that in a hospital I would have had a nightmare birth experience. I am frankly phobic of allopathic doctors and hospitals. I utilize them only when I have an emergency that warrants chemical or surgical intervention, and then I do so reluctantly. If I had to give birth there, I would have been extremely stressed out, which is not conducive to having babies!
Is there anything you would change about public policy relating to birth/maternity care? Why/how?
Homebirth and birthing centers and prenatal chiropractic and massage should be covered by all insurance plans. (My entire midwife-led birth experience, including prenatal visits cost only $2,500!) Payments to providers should be outcome based, not treatment-based. Birth curricula should be overhauled in every medical school to reflect a new paradigm of birth as a natural process.
What do you feel were the most influential factors surrounding your birth? Why?
The contrast between my conventional medical experience and my experience with a midwife couldn’t be more stark.
For me, a birth experience in a hospital would have been tantamount to torture, and I am so grateful I had no complications that warranted birthing there.
Who owns birth?
Every woman who chooses to give birth owns birth, and no one else. Everyone else should play only a supporting role or get out of the way.
Want To Know More About Dawn?
Check out her blog Small Footprint Family to learn about gardening, nutrition, green living and health. Thanks Dawn!
How To Join The Knowing Birth Series
Email me at doulamegan@gmail.com and I’ll send you the questionnaire directly. There are no requirements, only that you have a voice about birth and want to share it openly and honestly.
Thanks for following and be well!
This post featured on Party Wave Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday, Small Footprint Friday
Weekly Link Love
Know Your Ingredients
Sugar. As you know it’s a weakness of mine, but I’ve kicked it to the curb. If knowledge is power, then you’ll want to know which types are real so you can be powerful too.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all the food we eat came from the sunny pastures that are so often portrayed on the packaging? All too often, however, the animals raised for grocery stores are treated so so poorly. Where do you buy the meat you eat?
Try Something New
My son drinks kefir everyday. He calls it yogurt, but it’s better for him with stronger probiotics and no-lactose. Folks who can’t handle milk can often tolerate kefir too.
Considering the vast quantities of kefir consumed in my house, I’ve considered making it. I’m not sure yet.
Gettin’ Dirty
As if you need more reasons to grow a garden? Ok, here are 10 more.
It’s time to start planning your Spring garden! Oh how fun planning can be. Garden Girl videos on raised be gardening gave me the confidence to build my own.
Aspire
I went on a Zero Waste bender this week, reading post after post of how to create less waste. Man, I’m inspired. Bea makes it look so easy.
Because It Feels Good
Parenting myth busters, HILARIOUS!
People watching at it’s very best.
This will make you laugh. Best First Lady EVER!
Real Food Butter Crackers
We like crackers in this house. Who doesn’t, really? We especially like them salty and with cheese. Porter’s Grandma T came to visit this weekend and since we didn’t have any crackers in the pantry, we took a trip to the store and picked up the kind my husband and his mom like. I won’t name the brand, but here’s a picture:
And this is what the ingredient list looks like:
Did you read that? I didn’t either. I didn’t need to because anything with that many ingredients that look like they belong on the periodic table can’t be Real Food. And what is TBHQ anyways?
We Ate ‘Em
They were crispy and gave off a buttery appearance despite the lack of any actual butter whatsoever. Of course, my son LOVED them. So then it became my job to come up with a recipe that I feel good about feeding to him. I scoured the internet and tried my own recipes and this is what I came up with.
Ingredients
2 cups flour – I used Einkorn, but will be using Spelt in the future
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt, plus some for sprinkling on top
6 tbsp cold butter, plus 2 tbsp melted for topping
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup milk
Make It
Preheat oven to 400* F
Put the flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. You can do this by hand too using knives or a pastry blender.
Add cold butter, small pieces at a time and pulse to combine.
Add honey and coconut oil and pulse to combine.
Add milk and pulse. It should start to form a ball of dough.
Divide the dough in two and roll each half out onto a separate Silpat mat or parchment paper. I used wax paper on top to prevent sticking.
Using a knife or pizza cutter score lines in the shapes you want your crackers to be. Poke holes in each cracker.
Cook in a 400* oven for 10 minutes.
When golden, take out and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Let cool and separate.
They still make plenty of crumbs, Porter proved that immediately. Enjoy!
This post featured in Fight Back Friday, Party Wave Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday, Weekend Gourmet, Small Footprint Friday
Real Food Easy As 1,2,3
Birth, Parent, Live…Naturally & with Real Food
The tagline for my blog is pretty self explanatory. I’ve written about all of these topics for a while now and I’ve gotten great feedback about my birth and parenting posts. While I’ve written about Real Food in the past I want to give any of you who are interested some concrete ways to bring a little more of the good stuff into your life.
If you’re a Real Foodie and you already know what’s up, then you probably won’t learn anything new in this post. You’ll just be totally reaffirmed that you are indeed making the right choices and obviously being the best possible you.
You Might Be Interested In Real Food If…
- The food you currently eat gives you the blahs, the sads or the crankies.
- There are chronic health issues that you’re dealing with, and you either can’t find a solution or want to try to heal on your own before totally giving yourself over to modern medicine. (source)
- You want to lose weight and be healthy.
- Caring for the environment means something to you.
- You want to teach your children healthy eating habits.
- It’s time to change up your old routine and learn something new.
- There are babies in your present or future.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Real Food is for everyone: men, women, children, babies, omnivores, vegetarians, conservatives, liberals…YOU.
Easy As 1,2,3
It’s taken me years on my path to Real Food, and I’ve really just gotten into it full time. Like any change, it helps to start small. Change one thing at a time, get used to it, and then take another small step.
I’ve thought about this long and hard and here are my top 3 ways to start getting into Real Food. It doesn’t involve cleaning out your pantry and replacing all your food (I’m for less waste too) so fear not. Use up whatever goods you’ve already got and start replacing them when you need to, but with the Real Food alternatives.
1. Change Your Fats And Oils
Are you still using Canola oil, Vegetable oil and Crisco? They’re BAD. You can learn more about that here and here. Are you concerned about saturated fat and cholesterol? Guess what, we’ve been fed a whole lotta mumbo jumbo about how bad they are for you. If you’re up for some myth busting, check this out. Or you need something more mainstream and scientific, here’s a video from Dr.Mercola.
Here’s what you SHOULD use:
- Coconut oil. The unrefined has a coconut flavor and smell which puts me off, but some people love it. I use the refined which has no odor or flavor. It’s GREAT for cooking foods in high heat. In the winter mine gets solid on the counter, but can easily be melted and used as a liquid. Bonus, I use it in the shower to shave my legs and as a facial moisturizer before I get out.
- Organic butter from cows raised on pasture, which means they eat grass and non-GMO grains.
- Olive Oil for your cold oil consumption i.e. dressings. Don’t use it for cooking, it’ll go rancid.
- Tallow (from cows) & lard (from pigs). These can be harder to come by, but they’re great for cooking on high heat and lard from the pig underbelly is good for baking. If you want to render some of your own, check this blog out.
2. Shop At The Outer Edges Of The Grocery Store
Better yet, shop at your Farmer’s Market where the produce, meats, cheeses and grains are prepared locally and have a good chance of being non-GMO and/or organic. If you’re not sure you can easily ask the farmer who grew them, because they’re usually behind the stand. Better yet, grow your own.
If you’re like me, however, you have to go to the grocery store in the cold seasons. It makes perfect sense that all the fresh food is at the edge of the store because that’s where the refrigerators are.
Real Food goes bad, so it often has to be kept cold. If the fresh veggies are too expensive, go for the frozen ones. I stay away from cans as much as possible because of BPA and weird chemicals used to coat the inside of aluminum cans.
In the beginning it’s not the most important thing to buy all organic, but try to shop your fruits and veggies from the Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen list. In general, pesticides and genetically modified foods are not “real”. Organic or not, whole fruits and vegetables are best.
When it comes to meat, organic is good, but pastured and humanely raised is better. Just because an animal is raised on organic feed does not mean they were treated humanely. If we’re going to consume an animal, make it a happy one!
This is the nice part about knowing your farmer. I have no concerns that the chickens, beef and pigs that we consume had happy lives living as nature intended, because I speak with my farmer every other Friday through the winter and every Saturday during Farmer’s Market season.
I even went so far as to find out how they butchered the animals. My brother makes a good point when he says that slaughter can never be humane, but it can be done with respect towards the animal in the time before they die. Sorry if this is too much friends, but this is what real looks like.
Want to know what healthy animal husbandry is? Check out Joel Salatin and his family farm, Polyface Farms.
It may take some asking around, but chances are good that somewhere near you is an ethical farmer who wants your business. Search the web, ask the butcher at your local natural food store, find that crazy friend who’s into Real Food and ask them (wink wink).
3. Eat At Home More Often
This was really hard for me. It’s so convenient to eat out or get take out for home. Especially when we work non-stop and are generally worn out by a diet and lifestyle that doesn’t give us the vitality we need to go-go-go. We still eat out every Friday night and sometimes more depending on, you know, life.
Mostly I cook at home these days. It takes a bunch of extra work, but it’s worth it to feed myself and my family right. Meal planning helps, and I’m planning a post in the near future that will help with that.
The deal is that most restaurants cook with rancid vegetable oils, use meat from abused animals (have you seen Food Inc. yet?) and don’t cook with organic veggies. Plus they charge you a whole lot more to cook the food for you than if you just bought the Real Food ingredients and prepared it at home. We’re paying for convenience and any $$$ not spent out is a nice wad of dough you can put back into your wallet.
There You Have It, You Can Do Real Food Too!
Remember to take it slow and steady.
1. Change your fats and oils.
2. Shop at the outer edge of your grocery store.
3. Eat at home more often.
This post featured on Party Wave Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Small Footprint Friday