Eating unprocessed foods isn't always a walk through a sun-drenched farm picking fresh tomatoes from a vine. Read below for the three biggest challenges I face with this lifestyle and how I overcome them to keep this experience fulfilling and rewarding.
1. My mental load is heavier.
Unprocessed eating is another thing to think about, think through, process, and execute - not just for me but for my kids as well. And as the day or week goes on, my willpower may wane, sometimes piling on guilt to the mental load. For women, our mental load is already heavy, and decreasing processed foods in your life is yet another thing to think about, especially in the beginning when you are breaking old habits.
How to overcome this: Practice, grace, and systems. This is hard work, and it's totally worth it.
Practice: keep at it if what you're doing didn't work the first time. The longer you do it, the more comfortable it'll feel. Do make note, however, if something truly isn't working and adjust until it makes sense for you and your family.
Grace: I do my very best every time I eat to ensure it's minimally- or unprocessed as it can be. That's why when my willpower wanes (and it does), I have learned not to let it get me down. Be sure to approach this lifestyle as practice and give yourself grace when goshdarnit, you want some Doritos. As we say in our home, let's try again tomorrow.
Systems: Set yourself up for success by creating just one system that will support your journey. That can look like creating a go-to meal list and adding a shopping list for those ingredients on an online grocery ordering app. As you get used to that, add more to automate and decrease the mental load.
2. I miss the convenience of highly-processed food.
It's so much easier to pull out a bag of something from the pantry to put in the kids' lunch or bring with me as I'm heading out the door. I miss making pizza by simply pre-heating my oven and pulling a pizza out of the freezer.
How to overcome this: I had to change my mindset about food and stop overcomplicating meals and overthinking snacking. Just because a snack is unprocessed, it doesn't mean it's not convenient. A piece of fruit is just as easy to grab on the way out the door as a mini-bag of anything. Some things will take prep work, like peeling or cutting up veggies, so I try to do those tasks when I'm in the right headspace, and maybe my kiddos can help.
As for dinner, my go-to meals are key. As I have been making them for a few months now, I can do them by memory and move more quickly in the kitchen. Practice is as important as your mindset!
3. My kids don't like what I like.
This wasn't surprising, but a challenge nonetheless. My three girls were on a steady diet of chicken nuggets and frozen pizza, and they didn't really care about the benefits of eating unprocessed when those nuggets tasted so good. I had to rethink what I feed them and what they would be willing to try, no less actually eat. Admittedly, this was hard and takes time. For more on this, check out a previous blog post here.
Similarly, packing school lunches for three kids with different tastes and keeping them unprocessed is challenging (see point #2). I would for real reach my decision-making capacity by 6:30 am after assembling their lunches.
How to overcome this: First, I had to accept that my kids have different tastes, not just from me, but from one another. I did not want to force them to eat anything they really didn't like because if someone forced me to eat okra, I swear...
Let's start with dinner: I picked something we ate a lot, pizza, for example, and tried to make it at home. Turns out, what I made (even the first time!) tasted way better than the processed version, and we didn't skip a beat. I also make variations on meals that will be more appealing for them. On nights I make eggplant pasta, I simply take the eggplant off their dishes. At the same time, I ask them to try a bite to see if they like it (they usually don't), and that's ok. Again, this is where your go-to meal list for the whole family comes in handy (sensing a theme yet?).
The other way I am overcoming this challenge is by inviting the kids to help me make dinner. Here's why it's important: we get to spend quality time together, they get to see what goes into their food, and they feel pride because they played a role in making it. All that adds up to a greater chance they will want to eat it.
As for lunch, I had to write it all down. It was too much for me to remember who likes what. I tried making the list in the Notes app, OneNote, in a spreadsheet nice and neat, and at the end of the day, a plain piece of paper with three columns worked best. The real-life list (food stains, kid's edits, and all) is below.
I have the list out while I put their lunches together, and my hazy brain can look at the list, see what we have, and toss it in there. And yes, I sometimes send my kiddos with a sweet treat like marshmallows or chocolate chips if they're on hand (I'm not a monster).
While this is a rewarding process that has so many benefits, it's important to acknowledge that it's also difficult. But just because something is difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Finding ways to make something challenging easier is all part of the joy in it!
Are you finding challenges in eating unprocessed or minimally processed food? Please share below how you are overcoming them!
Great article that speaks to how to not overthink this and it is worth the effort!