Eating Well-- History

I'm finally doing it. 

I'm starting my own series on grocery shopping, staying within your budget, and still eating well.

Last year I taught a 45 minute class on the subject.  I had so much fun preparing and then presenting it, but even better, getting a positive response.  Throughout the year I had several people inquire about how I do my shopping and eating better.  I never back down on sharing my thoughts on this subject.

I love food.  I love reading about food, not really the cooking part but the science of it.  Note:  I love FOOD, not COOKING.

I have no background in food science or nutrition.  I'm no expert.  Yet, neither are half the people out their giving advice on some major blogs and websites about eating "healthy."  Which gave me a little boost to step into this adventure.  All things listed in this series, will be things from my personal experiences and things I have read and learned for myself.  Take it as you want.

Let's begin with a little history:
My dad was always kind of a stickler on the things we ate.  Only wheat bread, cereals were limited to bran flakes, granola, corn flakes/chex, and maybe one other kind.  It was offered with strawberries or bananas.  I remember as soon as I got to college I bought myself a huge bag of Lucky Charms cereal!  That didn't last long. I would say food awareness started at home.
When I reached seventh grade, it really began to intrigue me.  I did my Science project on Yo-Yo dieting.  My interest just grew from there.  As a teen I was very active, so eating wasn't something I had to watch but was always aware.  I never ate butter, sour cream, never salted anything, and no mayo.  I rarely drank soda and never caffeine.  I once drank a Slim-Fast drink and I thought I was going to have a heart attack (literally).  However, I never turned down ice cream.  We all have our limits.  Can't say I still follow these habits but that was were my style of eating was in high school. 
I also, witnessed several friends suffer from eating disorders.  My dance teacher, being a dancer all her life and finding this almost surprising, once asked me why I never struggled with this issue.  As I reflected, I had only one thing to fall on and that was my faith and testimony of doctrines in my church.  I knew I was a daughter of God, which helped me on those low self-esteem days. 
From there, I continually thought about that question realizing that food is probably one of the greatest powers that Satan can hold over people and no one even bats an eye.  It's that truth that we need it to survive to feed our "temple."  But really food has become a trap for so many people I know, whether it's starving oneself to over indulging, or constantly dieting.  It controls our lives.  I try hard to not let food control my life, despite as a mother, it's one of the main things I manage in my home. 
When I was pregnant with two of my children (out of five) I had gestational diabetes.  Let's just say I cried A LOT and went through some denial.  It literally sucked!  I didn't fall under any of the "possibilities" that might cause one to have GD.  That was even more frustrating.  Testing your sugar, monitoring everything you eat...NO THANK YOU!  However, I learned even more about the science of food, which only sparked my interest.  Something to help me survive.  Thankfully, the diet restrictions only lasted for the pregnancy.  What I learned in the process has never left.  Yes, I still see food and they all have a "carb" number in my mind.
Here I am today, finally writing my thoughts and methods to eating WELL.  I hope you enjoy the series and find things that will help you feed your family and make for a better life.