Where do you draw the line between real food and convenience food?

Hi reader, Whether you're just starting to eat real food or you've been doing this for a while, you know that there are general "rules" to eating real food. The biggest rule is this: Junk food isn't real food. I think we can all agree that soda, potato chips, and frozen pizza aren't real food, right?   But what if it's natural soda? Or chips fried in avocado oil? Or frozen pizza made with organic ingredients? Now the line between junk food and real food seems to be blurred, doesn't it? That's how I felt when I first went through my pantry, trying to figure out what was okay to eat and what should be tossed. We had so much food that wasn't exactly "healthy," but it didn't seem bad either (i.e. graham crackers or Italian dressing or chewy chocolate chip granola bars). I had to boil it all down to either "keep" or "toss," and it was so overwhelming that I nearly threw everything away just to start over with an empty kitchen! You and I both know though, that throwing EVERYTHING away would not have been smart for my grocery budget. So I created Rule #1 for my own family. I had been researching real food for a while and found that the greatest common denominator between junk food and real food was two ingredients: high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Most junk food had one of these two ingredients, and sometimes it had both, so Rule #1 became: No high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils allowed. Now, I'm not saying you have to follow this same rule too. But every time you grocery shop, you're bombarded with marketing tactics: "100% this" and "non-that" and "whatever-free" labeling on packaging "natural" and "healthy" sections in the grocery store Items that are "certified this" and "certified that" by various groups Really, it's enough to make your head spin! This is just one reason why having real food rules is so important. For us, Rule #1 means wading through all the options at the grocery store WITHOUT confusion. WITHOUT overwhelm. And WITHOUT second-guessing what we bought. If you don't have your own Rule #1, I encourage you to create one. You can use mine if you want, or you can create your own. The goal isn't to make real food legalistic by any means. Instead, we want to easily decipher between what's really real food, and what's junk food disguised as real food. Take a minute to think of where you are drawing the line in the same, and then hit "reply" and tell me about it! PS: Are you a little unsure what your "Rule #1" should be? Join me for our FREE Real Food Reboot: 10-Day Clean Eating Challenge! I'll give you practical, real-life baby steps toward eating real food on a budget. Every day you'll get an email with that day's teaching and corresponding 15-minute challenge. Plus, you're invited to join our LIVE teaching in a private Facebook group! Real Food Reboot starts Wednesday, January 1, 2025! I'm letting you know early so that you can mark it on your calendar and really COMMIT to making positive changes! This 10-day challenge is FREE to you, but you do have to register. → Click HERE to register for the FREE Real Food Reboot 10-day challenge. How we can work together: • Grocery Budget Mastermind • $5 membership making healthy food affordable in just FIVE MINUTES per week. Each week saves you $5, making the membership more than free. > Grocery Budget Mastermind • 30 Minute Dinners • Over 250 done-for-you meal plans for as low as 35¢/week, customizable to your family size, dietary preferences and busy schedules. > 30 Minute Dinners • Grocery Budget Bootcamp • The only course teaching you exactly how to eat real food on a budget. Learn a proven grocery budgeting system that outsmarts the grocery stores and lets you save money, time, and energy. Graduates from 24+ countries have saved over $20 million - and counting! > Grocery Budget Bootcamp • Meal Planning Bootcamp • Simple course teaching EVERYTHING you need to master meal planning, without the stuff that doesn't really matter (i.e. Pinterest boards) so you can easily decide what's for dinner and be done with it in just 15 minutes. > Meal Planning Bootcamp New Posts ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you enjoy a recipe, be sure to give it a 5-star rating! (You can also tell us why you love it so much in the comments ♥) Easy Oat Bread This simple oat bread recipe turns out moist, fluffy, and slightly chewy for the perfect sandwich or side to your bowl of soup. Slather it with butter and enjoy a slice hot out of the oven!   Read More Here   Oatmeal Chocolate Cake Make a cake with oatmeal left over from breakfast! 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