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More on Time and a Personal Note!

A while back I asked how much time do you spend in your kitchen. I can honestly say that unless I'm in a baking mood or I am serving a big holiday dinner I average less than an hour a day in my kitchen. I have learned the things that I need to have on hand to make many tasty dishes and I just keep them in stock. I want to try to type up a list of staples I keep in my pantry and post it soon. It really does help to have things on hand. I have tried menu planning and having a well planned shopping list but I just hate being that organized! Plus what if come Friday I don't want the meal I planned on Monday;) I really am all about keepin' it Simple! With my list of staples I will post my typical day and you will see that once you have things kind of set up dinner all but cooks itself;) I hear so often we would eat better but I hate to cook or I just don't have the time. It's really just about changing our thinking a bit! Just keep checking back here and keep trying to do your best; don't worry about being perfect and put your own personality into it! It really can be Simple, Healthy, Tasty!

Not only do you deserve to feel and look better your kids do to. I recently read in an article that "boys and girls in elementary school suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and painful joint conditions; a soaring incidence of type 2 diabetes, once a rarity in pediatricians’ offices; even a spike in child gallstones, also once a singularly adult affliction. Minority youth are most severely affected, because so many are pushing the scales into the most dangerous territory." This is not good to say the least. We can't be ignorant any longer if we want our children to have a healthy lifestyle. I know what it's like to be an overweight child and try so hard to loose a few pounds only to have twice as much come back as soon as I stopped dieting. I hope you don't mind but I'm going to take a minute to share some of my own personal experience.

Starting at age 11. Yep that's me;) It seemed so unfair to me that most of my friends and my sisters could eat what they wanted and didn't gain any weight. But here I was at 11 worrying about going on a diet (now really I don't think anyone should have to worry about dieting ESPECIALLY an 11 year old girl) To me now diet is a bad word and they so do NOT work in fact they have the opposite result. But you will see as I continue.


So as far as my childhood was concerned long story short. I had weight issues the entire time. I crash dieted and did silly gimmicks like Slim Fast and No FAT dieting. I had a very supportive Mom who helped and taught me the best she knew how and well with a lot of prayer I made it through I even had my "skinny" times.

Well I got married and a year and a half later had my first baby. And yep gained over 70 pounds in that time.


Now understand at this point I had picked up many "healthy" habits that stemmed from childhood. I ate very little ground beef (I ate ground turkey instead YUCK!) Everything was "light" or "low fat" I hardly ever had a candy bar or soda. I ate whole grain bread, fruits, and vegetables. In reality I have been "health conscious" for a very long time. I hate to imagine how large and unhealthy I would have been had I not been. Really when it came down to it I still had a lot to learn and I wasn't ready to give up some of my addictions. Which were mostly sweets. Well I started to learn more and I cut out all red meat from my diet and I learned that milk wasn't all it was cracked up to be especially for children. I also didn't give my kids much sugar although I still ate way to much of it. I started to understand about diet fads. And I started sweatin' to the Oldies ;) I lost a little weight and then I had another baby! By now I was starting to become very interested in natural healing and the role nutrition played in it.


By the time my third child came I was the size I was when I had graduated from High School and I was thrilled! I was pretty much vegetarian cause I had simply lost my taste for meat. Every time I ate chicken which I always had liked, it started to taste like I was eating well, flesh;) I know it's hard to explain it was just nasty OK! All this time I had been reading and learning lots about health and herbs and since I was thrilled to be the size I was (although still overweight) I quit worrying about my weight. I just wanted to be healthy I wanted to raise my kids with good healthy habits too. I studied with the School of Natural Healing and I finally cut out all processed sugars and dairy. (We were only eating a little cheese and egg by that time anyway;) Many people called me crazy and radical at that time. I wondered how come trying to go back to the way they were originally intended was radical. To me it seemed radical to in effect poison our bodies with overly processed foods and then drug them with more toxins to try to feel better. Anyway it was amazing the difference it made once I quit worrying about appearances and decided I wanted to truly be healthy and have a healthy family!


Here I am with my fam at that time my third was about 2 years old. I wasn't even trying to loose weight and it just came off. And the crazy thing was I was eating whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. I had NEVER known what that was like it has been so freeing! I love it I still can't get over what a wonderful blessing it is to me! I can't even imagine the weight and health issues I may be dealing with now if I had not gone down the natural health path. I am so grateful and thank the Lord every day!


Processed junk food is no longer even appealing to me in fact it is pretty tasteless compared to full nutrition, full flavor food, made with ingredients you can understand;) Like I said this to me has been so freeing I was so addicted to junk food for so long. But once it was out of my system and my body was truly nourished the cravings stopped.


I now have four children I have not had to worry about my weight for over 7 years. I no longer kill myself sweating to the oldies! (in fact it was very fun throwing those away) I enjoy nice moderate exercises like walking, Pilate's, and jumping on my mini-tramp. I don't take drugs, I use herbs and more natural things as treatments, for illness. I always drink lots of good pure water. Mostly I'm just an ingredient freak! To see what I think are good and bad ingredients go to my Ingredients! What to look for when reading food labels post.



I always feel bad when I see women struggling with weight and health issues and it's very heart wrenching to see their little girls struggling worse than I did! I want so bad to reach out and help them. But I have learned that people have to be ready they have to do things in their own way and in their own time. I hope that things on this blog can be helpful and inspiring to those who are trying to have a healthier lifestyle. I know that the examples we set and the things we teach our children will carry on for generations. My oldest daughter is now 11, she is not at all over weight like I was at her age and she is learning to cook! We have a great time in the kitchen and she understands so much about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. We can make a difference in our families lives and reverse the health epidemic that is plaguing our Country. And we can have a Tasty time doing it too!

P.S. I was 4 month pregnant in the pic of me and my daughter. She was like 9! I need to get an updated picture of me and my girls;)

18 comments:

Lindsay said...

I loved reading this post... I love the personalization that you put into it! You and your family look great! Healthy, Happy, and Beautiful! I hope all is going well for you all... tell the family hi!

Trish said...

Hi Tammy, I found your blog looking at your profile on our neighborhood blog. I am very impressed. I love that you put recipes on her as well. I know the benefit of herbs and things as well, since in esthetic school I had a teacher who was very involved in all that. She also didn't eat sweets, and used Stevia instead. I picked up some things from her, but I would love to learn a lot more. I have said multiple times that I would love to eat more healthy, but it's just so expenisve. Hopefully I'll learn some tricks from you and realize that it doesn't cost so much. I can't wait for your "staple guide." ~Trisha

Amy said...

Wow! Tam that is so inspiring! You are such a great examlple and thanks for sharing your sucess! Ummm, yes I agree you do need to get an updated picture with you and your girls.

I love you and miss you so,
Amy

Emily said...

I loved your story Tam. I, too, am so grateful for the things we've learned about health food and the blessing it is in our lives. The Lord works in mysterious ways...that's for sure!

Love ya tons, Em

P.S. It seems like yesterday that your 11 year old school pictures were hangin' on the wall in the living room. Man....time flies when your eatin' healthy! :)

The Lazy Organizer said...

I love your story and you're absolutely gorgeous! I really need help getting off sugar. I have tried and tried but it never lasts long. Wouldn't you like to be my personal mentor?

I am pretty good at keeping the family off processed foods. At least I was until the last couple months. Now that my baby is here and I'm feeling better I need to get back to our old way of healthy eating.

I was drinking a lot of green smoothies and I want to start that again. Do you have a fancy Vitamix or do you just use a regular blender?

I have another question for you. What do you do when you are away from home? We live out of town so when we go anywhere we're too far away to go back home for meals. Do I need to start packing a cooler everywhere we go? I don't know if I'm organized enough for that.

Great blog! Thanks for sharing.

Trish said...

Hi! I happened onto your blog from the green smoothie girl website and it has definitely inspired me. I am on a mission to lose about 40-50 lbs. My last semester of college I took 21 credits and never had time to exercise, I also ate junk foods. The biggest challenge for me right now is continually being motivated to eat wholesome produce and not settle for what is easy. I'm going to put a link to your blog in my blog. Thanks!

EditMe said...

Tammie- I absolutely love you and love reading your blog!

You are so inspiring. I know I have told you this before but having you as a friend has been such a huge blessing to me. Thank you for sharing your story and always answering all of my quirky questions. You are such a wealth of information and you are always so willing to share your knowledge. Thank you!

Natee

fitncrafty said...

Tam, I came across your blog through Permission to Mother(she's my sister) SO glad that I found your blog, congrats on your weightloss and good health! I also lost lots of weight, and now I am studying to get my Master's in Holistic Nutrition. Where did you study?
I can't wait to try some of your recipes, they look delicious!

Tammie said...

fitncrafty: I'm glad you came across my blog too! Cause I am loving yours! And your Sister's too! So inspiring! I studied with the School of Natural Healing! You can find them at www.snh.cc I have loved all the things I have learned through them and hope to do more! I hope you enjoy my recipes and be sure to comment and let me know how you and your fam liked them and/or how you changed them to fit your tastes!

I love creative cooking;)

Permission to Mother said...

I am enjoying your stories... I'll be back!
Denise

Cinnamon said...

I am so glad I came upon your site. It's been healing just to read it as I've been dealing with so many digestive problems and food allergies that my head swirls every time I read a new book to figure out what's wrong with my body!

I love your post on "taking the 30 day challenge". Wow! I am challenged to give it a try.

Thanks for sharing~ Cinnamon

Tiffany said...

Tammy,
Where do you live? We have to meet because we are seriously twins! You have studied longer than me, but everything you say I can seriously end your sentences. I am on my way to losing my "emotional" weight, and to see your pictures is very inspiring, but I agree wholeheartedly when you said you no longer wanted to "just lose weight". You want to be healthy and fit and raise your kids to be healthy. Wow. I am seriously so glad I found your blog. I have one too, but I can now end it because I found yours :)

The great thing about your blog to me is this: I know what's healthy, I know what's not-we stay away from what's not, but I don't have the great skills of actually making things taste very good, so thanks so much for all you've posted. My family's life is about to change!

I'm so excited.. you can visit me at wheatgeek.blogspot.com, but everything I've said, you've already said too!

Amy said...

Tammy,
I am trying to figure out this healthy eating thing. I feel like you described me in the beginning of your journey. We eat quite healthy, very little red meat, some poultry, a lot of beans and rice, quinoa, and fresh veggies etc. But I just can't figure out how to proceed. Did you learn more about the herbs etc. before taking the class? I've looked at the class and am hesitant to jump in with both feet. I would like to lose some weight, but find it hard to do it alone. I do have some support from home, but not total support. My hubby will eat most of what I make and is verbally supportive, but then if he happens to stop at the store will get a dozen donuts because "we don't have them very often" etc. I also get a lot of complaining from my six children. I have followed Robyn at green smoothie girl for about a year and have her 12 steps, but have had a hard time with some of the recipes and have heard some contradictory things about the amount of sugar in the fruits I use for my green smoothies, so that's been on hold for a bit. I'd be interested in any information you can give me. Changing our eating has been an interest of mine for at least the past several years, but I don't know where to go at this point without breaking the bank and getting a lot of negativity from the kids. Thanks for your site. I love checking it at least weekly for your recipes etc. I'd love your input.
Thanks!

Tammie said...

Amy:

Well let's see I'm not quite sure where to start. I totally understand what you are talking about. It can be quite the process but there does come a point (at least it did for me anyway) where you just kind of have to say, "do I really want to take it to the next level or am I happy with where I am at?" For the most part I have found if we are not progressing we are going backwards. I still have to keep learning and trying to progress. My goal this month is to learn to make coconut milk Kefir (something I have been putting off for ummm YEARS ;) I feel like my family is just not getting enough friendly flora though and I need to do this! Anyway that's just an example. Just know I'm not perfect either!!!

I do highly recommend the School of Natural Healing courses. Especially the Family Herbalist Course and the Nutritional Herbology! I would also really like to take the Herbalist courses but yeah unfortunatly so many decisions come down to money! But if you click on the link on my sidebar you can get the online Family Herbalist course for only $195 (reg. $495) TOTALLY WORTH IT! And I believe a lot of their other courses that have been moved online are cheaper because of the online feature.

Herbs and Nutrition is their Legacy. They know it well, I think they are a great resource. Plus taking the courses has saved me so much money in Doctor bills. We have not needed to go to the Doctor for over 10 years now! Also if you find you like the Family Herbalist course and want to learn more they do offer scholarships at least that's how I was able to afford it!

As far as you husband goes; It sounds to me like he is much more supportive then a lot of husbands. So kudos to him. But and especially if you want to loose weight he needs to step it up a bit too. Tell him it needs to pretty much follow my ingredients list and if he wants junk food to get the glorified kind from the health food store. Hopefully the price will really keep him saying "we don't have them very often!" ;) I have found you kind of have to be a stickler with the ingredient thing for at LEAST a few years to truly be able to be "moderate." That's my experience anyway! And really after more then 8 years using my list I have found too much of even the glorified junk food is too sweet and rich for me. (This comming from someone who, back in the day would eat a case of 24 day old doughnuts in just a few days!)

As far as Green Smoothie Girl's 12 steps I think they are WONDERFUL and perfect for people trying to transition to the whole foods lifestyle! But yeah her recipes; some of them we have really liked and some well let's just say tasted too healthy even for us. Maybe we are just not as far as her I don't know. Her principles are sound though and I think she's right on! I have found very little that I disagree with her on. Except maybe taking her kids trick-or-treating ;)

HEALTHY does NOT have to taste like it! That's a lot of the reason I started this blog. I wanted people to see that they could cook for their families and really find healthy options everyone likes. I want people to learn to "healthify" their own family favorites. And I want them to know that healthy really can taste GOOD!

I don't think we need to feel deprived because we want to eat healthy. I think it's a lie that health nuts can't ever eat good tasting comforting food! But people must think we don't have taste buds or something. I know this is probably way too long already so my story will have to go in another comment! ;)

Tammie said...

Amy: Here's my little story. ;) Sorry to go on forever hopefully you or someone will benefit from it!

This past weekend I was in Moab with my husband. I was very excited to go try this pizza place because they advertised a whole grain spelt crust vegan pizza. I was very excited because even though you can find veggie pizza without cheese they usually have a processed white flour constipating crust. ;) So anyway we get the pizza and it was okay but really anyone who isn't a health nut would have hated it. I was telling Ryan (my husband) I could make this taste so much better. In fact I do make pizza that tastes so much better. But it would be so nice to have someone else make it for me once in a while. ;) I bet they even had the ingredients right there too. I could have gone back and made a killer pizza. There was some roasted mushroom, squash and sundried tomatoes on it. But I know they also could have thrown in onions, olive, peppers, artichoke hearts, etc. and put some herbs and sesoning on them while they were roasting. Anyway maybe I should stop blogging and go around teaching restaurants how to make GOOD tasting HEALTHY food! I know it can be done I do it every day!

Anyway It's like I said you can have your cake and eat it too you just have to healthify it! Keep it up I promise you won't regret it! I have found that those who stay persistant with the ingredient list find it pays off in the long run!

Take Care and Be Healthy,

Tammie

Amy said...

Tammie,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so excited to recommit again to healthy living. I have found some great recipes and appreciate your site. I have also loved http://www.deliciouswisdom.com. You may have to change a few ingredients, but they have some great healthy recipes.

If you ever teach a class, post it...it would be so fun to have some hands on learning from you. I live in Utah County and assume you do as well. Thanks for all you are doing. I will check your site often for new great recipes. Thanks for the response!
Amy

Regina said...

I have so much in common with you. Anyway, I've really had some challenges getting my family to eat whole foods. I have a hard time taking a stand and usually end up just eating healthy myself instead of sharing with an unwilling family, but your story has given me a bunch of ideas! Thanks for the inspiration.

Myrna Foster said...

Tammie, you were always beautiful. I didn't even know that you worried about your weight.