What are your food rules?

[busyshrew]

There have been quite a few enjoyable threads on this board & the family / budget boards about foods and what we eat.

Do you have "food rules"? We do, so I'll start;

1) We avoid trans-fats (hydrogenated whatever, shortening, etc) as much as possible (so we buy very little processed dry goods).
2) We avoid HFCS (not hard, EXCEPT it's in a LOT of brand-name breads).
3) We eat all our meat & animal products local all year (pork, beef, chicken, eggs, milk, cheese).
4) We try to eat all our produce local from May to October (Mother's Day to Hallowe'en).

What does your family do?

 

[Nancy]

No food rules here.


the only thing I will say is we eat and drink whatever we want but don't overdo it. Even going to fast food is ok as long as you don't supersize everything.

 

[Mandychelle79]

No real big food rules here.

Ive found if I have the food here in the house to eat, no one eats it, but if we dont have it its what they want.

 

[FireDancer]

There have been quite a few enjoyable threads on this board & the family / budget boards about foods and what we eat.

Do you have "food rules"? We do, so I'll start;

1) We avoid trans-fats (hydrogenated whatever, shortening, etc) as much as possible (so we buy very little processed dry goods).
2) We avoid HFCS (not hard, EXCEPT it's in a LOT of brand-name breads).
3) We eat all our meat & animal products local all year (pork, beef, chicken, eggs, milk, cheese).
4) We try to eat all our produce local from May to October (Mother's Day to Hallowe'en).

What does your family do?

Pretty much the same for me except while I do try to do #3 I sometimes get frozen fish or chicken that is wild (fish) or organic (chicken).

I read labels and do my best to avoid added sugar period but this is especially true of HFCS and artificial sweeteners.

I view food merely as fuel. It isn't a friend or something I do when bored or depressed or anything dumb like that. I try to choose the best source of fuel as opposed to the easiest, cheapest, or best tasting if it is full of chemicals and science experiments instead of real ingredients. I pay attention to service size and while I don't journal my food everyday I do so at least a couple of times a month to make sure I am not under or over estimating what I am consuming.

I cook the majority of the time and when I eat out I am very specific about eating at restaurants that use natural ingredients and don't eat at chains like McDonalds, BK, or even Applebee's.

Thankfully we have a Trader Joe's which makes all of this much easier.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Hmm...

Certified Angus Beef ONLY.

Heinz ketchup.

SOFT croutons.

Miracle Whip.

 

[clarabelle]

Pretty much the same for me except while I do try to do #3 I sometimes get frozen fish or chicken that is wild (fish) or organic (chicken).

I read labels and do my best to avoid added sugar period but this is especially true of HFCS and artificial sweeteners.

I view food merely as fuel. It isn't a friend or something I do when bored or depressed or anything dumb like that. I try to choose the best source of fuel as opposed to the easiest, cheapest, or best tasting if it is full of chemicals and science experiments instead of real ingredients. I pay attention to service size and while I don't journal my food everyday I do so at least a couple of times a month to make sure I am not under or over estimating what I am consuming.

I am not dumb
I am weak willed. I have problems with food -but I am not ignorant. I am glad this all comes so easy for you. Some of us struggle with it. Even though we know better

 

[PaulaSB12]

Meat from my local butchers, veg from the local shop (until the allotment stuff comes through) ONLY free range eggs (they have a stamp on them 0 for organic 1 for free range, 2 for barn, 3 for caged) until I get my chickens. I prefer to make my own bread and no peanut butter because it looks gross.

 

[jrmasm]

I have only one rule:

If I actually cook you better not complain about what I made.

 

[Cornhusk]

Technically no. The family can eat what they want, however fast food is something seen as a rarity around the house. Not out of health or anything but mostly because there are not a lot of good places around here to eat. I usually leave fruit out for the kids to eat. We consider meals a time to not only relax but to also show expression (ie Letting the children make their own salads) instead of a mundane thing to get by. Also, I am not running a resturant, eat what I have made and if you don't like it fine, have a peanut butter sandwich but I don't want to hear it if you are still hungry, you should have had dinner.

 

[FireDancer]

I am not dumb
I am weak willed. I have problems with food -but I am not ignorant. I am glad this all comes so easy for you. Some of us struggle with it. Even though we know better

I find the behavior dumb, or at last silly, not the person. Many very intelligent people make dumb decisions form time to time, including myself. It is when one continues to make the same poor choices that it becomes a reflection of the person.

 

[mking624]

We don't have any real rules.

However, I'm careful with my red meat intake because my body doesn't process the protein from it very well. As such, we primarily eat chicken here.

I'm also careful with my sugar and carb intake because I have gestational diabetes.

Outside of being pregnant, I do still watch what I eat and limit my fat and cholesterol. I have endometriosis and notice that the less I eat of it, the less severe my pain is.

I do indulge myself once in awhile and don't completely restrict certain foods, but I am careful.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We usualyl have rules--but when I am pregnant they often fly out of the window due to my intolerance for so much.. and me being able to eat and tolerate the cooking of a food becomes more important than keeping my family healthy. So sad--but so true. ( I was crying one day b/c DH was cooking eggs...the smell was so bad and I got sick--he had to cut the burners immediately and stop cooking.)

But even when I am well, I'm not ballistic about it.

But our foundational rules that we strive to acheive:

1. No HFCS
2. No partially hydrogenated oils
3. Whole grain breads and pastas (which I can finally eat again!!!)
4. Limited or zero canned veggies. Frozen or fresh only.
5. No dyes. I've always hated them and strive to avoid them. But I'm not crazy about it. IF I can find something dye free, I'll get that instead. If I can't and it is something that will leave its mark--I personally don't eat it. Yes, we do dye easter eggs. Wanting to learn how to do it naturally though.
6. Was doing free range stuff--but for cost cutting purposes have reduced that somewhat.
7. Juices are 100% juice.

Despite this--we still eat out at fast food and other restaurants, little debbie and company make appearances throughout the year (love their christmas tree cakes).

 

[Mrs. Charming]

No food rules here.


the only thing I will say is we eat and drink whatever we want but don't overdo it. Even going to fast food is ok as long as you don't supersize everything.

Same here. Moderation is our thing.

No real big food rules here.

Ive found if I have the food here in the house to eat, no one eats it, but if we dont have it its what they want.

Haha.. that's always me, whatever we don't have... I want it! lol I guess that's because we don't have a Dairy Queen in the house, lol.

 

[pearlieq]

My basic rules:

1.) Fiber is your friend.
2.) Consuming meat and animal products is acceptable to me, but I think they should be treated as well as possible (right up until we kill them and eat them, I guess ). Buy food that supports this.
3a.) Eat some of what you love.
3b.) Be flexible about what you eat to get the best value and the best quality.

While it works for some people, I personally don't believe in "food is fuel" as the ideal, or as how I want to live my life. If that were the case, I'd just have a big dispenser of kibble like my cats.

For me, food is many things. It's pleasure, comfort, communication, creative expression, nuturing, and connection. Food has been at or near the center of our society since the beginning of human existence and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

[Aisling]

I have only two that I can think of.
No sugary cereals for breakfast and no caffeine in the soda.

 

[Kitty 34]

The only food rule we have is NObody eats my bag of Doritoes!!

 

[Explodo]

1. No HFCS
2. No Transfats
3. No limits on Meats
4. No limits on Dairy
5. No Limits on fruits and veggies
6. Limit use of salt
7. No Canned tomato's (The lining in the can leeches into the food)
8. Whole grains
9. Beef Jerky is a wonderful snack food (Robertson's real beef Jerky...it's a perfect snack food)
10. Cook most dishes from scratch when possible.
11. PAy attention to where seafoods are from...and if they are farmed or caught wild (Caught wild is a much better choice)

12. Don't let food purchases kill your budget (Meaning, eating smart and healthy can kill your bank account if you let it)

 

[luvsJack]

Its gotta be in the budget and it has to taste good. That is about it.

I am eating less calories/less fat to lose weight. I do buy lots of fresh fruits and veggies and will have my own in a couple of months. But, its not like a rule or anything.

 

[Nennie]

I don't know if I would call it a "rule," but we don't drink soda, and don't have any of it in the house. If someday in the future we are at a restaurant or party and DS wants to order a soda as a treat, I think I would let him. Just don't want it in the house, and don't want it becoming a habit. We drink water or milk usually.

I'm not opposed to any other kind of "junkfood" in the house, as long as it's eaten in moderation.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Our one real rule is No PB, peanuts, or anything that "may contain or processed on machinery w/ peanuts" are allowed in the house. DD is allergic and me and fiance don't really care for PB or peanuts so its not a big deal for us to just NOT have it in the house.
Chicken from the butcher.
We are trying to get "5 a day"
Pizza does not come from Dominos or Pizza Hut as they don't use real cheese.

Another thing that we do (well me and DD anyways, fiance would die) is we don't drink soda. I mean on occasion I will, like when dinning in WDW, but DD wants nothing to do with soda, she hates it, hates all the gas. So she really only drinks water and occasionally milk and hot tea. But like I said, fiance lives on soda and iced tea.

I personally am trying to watch the carbs (which is so hard when your Italian ) and HFCS.