Originally this post started off on Facebook as a simply mention, then rant, then migrated over here to my blog because I felt more people should be reached and that I hope you will be so motivated for a diet cleaning.
This is VERY interesting. Here’s our discussion:
Me: They gave out Jello Pudding Cups to all the kids at church today and Brayden didn’t accept it. He went around telling all the kids it was sugars, chemicals, and that it would make them sick. I’m a proud Papa. 
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Then a couple friends mentioned that he’ll have some explaining to do when the other kids get served processed crap for lunch in school and he brings real food with him.
I said: Good! And I’m sure they’ll want some of his when he’s eating sushi, zucchini/ squash spaghetti and grass fed meat balls, grain-free pizza, vegetable casserole, and lots and lots more with so many colors a rainbow would be jealous.
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Then a Facebook Friend actually asked, probably joking of course due to the nature of our discussion, if he could have the pudding cup that was intended to go to Brayden.
I said: NO you can’t have the one they were going to give him. I don’t poison my friends. In fact my 5 year old niece was
there and had one in her hand when she came out. I swiped it out of her hands, passed it off to Brayden and he went and tossed it in the trash. We then told her that we don’t eat things like that unless you don’t care about getting sick, gaining fat on our tummies, and dying sooner than we should.
She, like most everyone else who consumes such food-like substances, was so fixated on “but I like it and it’s yummy” that she was upset. TOO BAD!!! I see myself as a hero for her today because that’s one less bit of crap that will be going into her body.
Brooke YOU ARE WELCOME!
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Some of my Facebook Friends then commented on how Brayden’s lunch sounds soooo good and that they wish that more schools would serve healthier choices to the kids. Well here’s the bottom line: Processed food-like substances is super cheap. Plain and simply why they do it… and frankly it’s too bad that it has to be like that. Every day, every meal, every bit is poisoning whoever consumes it, but all they care about is filling bellies as inexpensively as they could.
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In case you are wondering just why I am so fanatical about what goes into my son’s, my own, and my wife’s body; here are the ingredients for that particular product:
Skim[pasteurized] Milk, Water, Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, contains Less than 1% of Cornstarch, Salt, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate (for Smooth Texture)Sodium Alginate, Calcium Phosphate, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Artificial Color, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D.
Let me as you, anything in there jump out at you and MAKE you want to eat that “yummy” LOOKING Jello pudding cup? Hmmm… really?
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Nothing will happen unless people become educated on exactly what we are putting in our bodies.
There’s a quick and easy litmus test that I like to use: If you cannot go out and hunt it, gather it, pick it, and with minimal processing consume it then don’t eat it.
The ONLY way this will work to tell them that we don’t want this poison is that we must fight the corn and soy lobbyists in Washington. YES it does go that direction whether you want to believe it or not. Will it ever end?
Another one of my Facebook friends posted this the other day and it really is scary to see the direction big food industry is and is continuing to go.
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Let me first say that I totally agree with the idea of Paleo eating and installing habits into your children, which is something that I’m doing right now with my own son. I do, however, think you have to be a bit careful though as well.
You can take my opinion with a grain of salt. But, after working with many young kids (as a teacher and coach), The kids that i’ve dealt with that had eating disorders, came from parents who were very controlling over their children and were perfectionists. For those kids (almost all girls by the way), I think it gave them a sense of control that they didn’t have at home. It also seemed like you saw it on all aspects of there lives. The kids would do something wrong at practice or score poorly on a test, then feel guilty and rip on themselves for days later. Performance that wasn’t perfect was never good enough. Most of these kids were amazing students and two of them played collegiate sports on scholarship.
So I guess what I’m saying is I would install the good habits as much as possible, try to make them aware of what a good food choice is, but I wouldn’t get too worked up over an occasional piece of birthday cake or even a rare jello cup.
I don’t that the kids you work with with eating disorders are the same as this situation. Eating disorders aren’t typically about overly healthy choices, rather a focus on appearance.
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I agree with you 100% Shawn.Life is about balance.Let kids be kids and figure out certian things on there own.Having some cake or pizza is not going to make them “toxic” etc.We have all at one time or another eaten fast food etc .We are all still alive and kicking.Plus we don’t want our children to be singled out for being completly different from the others.Self esteem is very important for a child.We must not be cultish or fanatical with the eating thing.Its all about balance…….
I’m proud to say that Brayden, almost 6yrs, has never ever had any fast food to date. Lisa and I don’t view that as food, but rather “food-like substances” and a poison which is toxic to our system. Eat that often and it’s not a matter of IF you will become unhealthy, but when. Additionally if you feel eating convenience foods such as processed foods and fast food as options for your energy consumption then there probably not much to hold you back from cutting corners in other ways too.
I do not feel I am cultish at all with my eating beliefs. I see myself as someone who is eating real food. We don’t eat the substances that are not from natural sources. We don’t eat food from anything man-made or involving chemicals to make it. We aim to eat foods that are close to nature, in that they are not too far removed from the farmer. The closer to nature the healthier they are to our bodies.
Fanatical? Thanks! I hope so. Freak? Why not… I’ll waive my Freak Flag high if that means I’ll continue to be healthy and train my son to be so for his life. Kids get picked on for many things. I hope I raise Brayden to not be concerned with stupidity of others making fun of his food choices due to their misinformation or misunderstanding of what and what not we ought to put into our bodies.
For us there is perfect balance in what we do. We have many colors in our meals. We have veggies, lean meats, nuts/seeds, fruits and it doesn’t get much better than that.
That is great if that is how you view things.All I am saying unless you live next to or near a farm andyou don’t get out much travel etc.It is very hard to maintain that regimented a lifestyle.I will agree my family and I eat organic and the Paleo way as well.I agree if you eat well you will up your odds for being and remaining healthy pending genetic predispositions of course.In the real world outside of your personal bubble it much more difficult to eat 100% Paleo.I try to adhere to it as much as possible.As I said for anything to work long term it all about balance.However to each his own I guess peace.
There’s nothing wrong with bubbles. We all have ours in some way or another, but no matter if you live near a farm or not you still do NOT need to eat processed convenience foods or fast foods. There are other and way better ways.
When we lived in Arizona, a desert, we didn’t live near a farm. We choice picked our foods from the grocer and ate healthfully even there. There are always ways, maybe not necessarily easy ones, or there will always be excuses people convince themselves of.
This will probably turn into “an agree to disagree topic.”
I guess my point behind my original comment was less of an argument about the Paleo way of eating (again which I agree with) and try to do the majority of the time, than getting worked up over one pudding cup.
For example, if Braydon followed your example and took a pudding cup from my son, there would be a brawl. If that happens at school, you’ll likely have a mess on your hands. Telling a little girl that she would prematurely die and be fat because she eats a pudding cup is a bit unrealistic and extreme.
Think about it, you and I both lived for years on MRE’s and other crap food in the military (maybe not thrived- but lived). Was it ideal- no. But is it going to cause you or me to die any sooner? I doubt it…
Allowing my son to have a piece of birthday cake allows him to participate with his friends and not feel left out. I don’t have to worry about him (as much) sneaking junk food and trying to hide it (and later feeling guilty about it). The hope is that later on he’ll make good choices and choose those things with his own free will.
Scientists don’t know everything about nutrition, and we might later find out the organic apples that you I are both feeding our kids cause cancer. Until that time I plan on doing the best I can and refuse to sweat the small stuff.
Shawn I completely understand what you’re saying and do agree. I wouldn’t allow or recommend Brayden take food away from anyone. It was me who took it away from my niece. She’s family and I was more watching out for her, but to do that to strangers or people we are uncomfortable with would be without tact or place.
My whole point here is that those processed foods are not foods at all, but moreover chemicals which resemble foods. Look at the ingredients again.
Regarding the military, well we didn’t have much of a choice there, but I also was uneducated in nutrition at that time either. I wish I would have known sooner so I could be even better strength, fitness, and overall health wise because of it. That, that right there, is what my goal is for Brayden. I want him to know all this now and be educated in it so that he can have what I did not. I believe every parent wants that in some way or another for their child.
I am not withholding from him anything. He very, very much enjoys himself food wise, but does so in a more nutritious manner. I also educate him on what the food he eats is, is not, and what the differences are to that of processed food-like substances. He is educated on consequences. Every choice we make has them and what we eat is nothing different. For every action there is a reaction.
You are a scary man Mr Garon. A bit on the extremist side and very mislead. If you don’t mind me saying it is sad.I will no longer be visiting your blog .Thank you it was eye opening.
Sorry you feel that way Rick, but if I’m extreme with eating fresh veggies, lean meats, nuts/seeds, and fresh fruits then what the other side is I don’t want to be. I’ve been there and paid a price for it. I used to weight 190lbs at 5’6″. I had digestive issues, an ulcer, acid reflux, a lot of excess fat, etc. I overcame that through an extreme commitment to nutrition. Excuse me for not wanting to go back to the way I used to be.
Would you tell an alcoholic that he is “too extreme” for not touching a drop after years and years of being dry. “Oh come on and just have a drink… live a little.” No you probably would not.
Case in point for where I sit in my life currently Rick.
I guess all I can say is thanks for being a part of our family as long as you have and if you ever choose to come back you will be more than welcomed with open arms.
Thanks,
Bob
Ok but really though… who do you think is filling your heads with all this information??? Look at the TV for example… You see all day commercials about “oh here drink milk! Its GOOD for your bones! makes them strong and healthy, especially for women and children!” Now who paid for that commercial? YES THE DAIRY ASSOCIATION!!! Got milk, huh? GOT PROOF?!?!?!? You know what milk ACTUALLY does to your bones? LEECHES calcium from them! The only thing that makes your bones stronger is weight bearing activities and movement..
It would be like somebody drinking protein shakes all day and expecting to build muscle… You can’t build muscle, unless you do weight bearing exercises.. and you can’t build strong bones unless you condition them to be strong…
Same thing with the whole grains thing… yeah yeah white bread is bad for you… so eat WHOLE GRAINS! Yeah… NO! You MUST MUST MUST CONSIDER THE SOURCE!!!
Our bodies are NOT meant to digest grains or dairy… Look back to the stone-age hunter/gatherer tribes… They would hunt their food every day and walk 20 miles a day gathering food just for survival. Their whole life revolved around finding enough food to survive… They ate the wild game, IF they caught any that day, and vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts… They NEVER ate grains or dairy.. they never ate sugar either! If they came across a bee hive, they would risk their lives and be stung a thousand times because they knew that was rare and that it was high calorie, high energy to sustain them… but they didn’t have it EVERY DAY! Americans typically eat a minimum of 4 CUPS of sugar a day! REFINED, tumor cell proliferating, cancer causing SUGAR…. And thats on a “good” diet…! We need to bring it back to basics and EAT FOOD. Not “food-like substances”… If your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, or couldn’t pronounce the ingredients, its probably NOT REAL FOOD…
Should I continue???
After re-reading what I said, I left out a BIG PART about the hunter-gatherer tribes….
I can’t stand when people try to blame their genes… “oh yeah my dad had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so do I”… THATS A BUNCH OF CRAP!!! Our genes haven’t changed in 40,000 years!!!!!!!!!! You kno what HAS changed??? our LIFESTYLE HABITS!!!!
These stone-age tribes did not get all the crazy chronic health disorders that we are dealing with now… like heart disease, cancers, obesity, diabetes, etc..
It is all a result from the way we eat, move and think… or LACK thereof… To achieve optimum wellness, you need to eat well, move well and think well… all equally important.. and you need to educate yourself about what that means.. NOT by watching tv but by reading books!!!
John Ratey – Spark (about how important exercise is for not only our bodies but our brains)
Michael Pollan – Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Rules
Any book by Anthony Robbins for Thinking well..
these are just a few books that have TRUE, scientifically proven facts about optimum wellness…
Until I started eating “mindfully” I had all kinds of health problems brought on by my poor diet and lack of exercise. Processed, starchy, fast “food” and a sedentary lifestyle were the reasons for my health issues and since I’ve cut out bad for you food-i.e., things that have ingredients I can’t prononuce-I have reversed all my symptoms and lost weight. I feel so much better when I eat pure food, and that’s enough proof for me that processed foods is not good for me. I don’t need statistics, I am one.
There is truth to what Bob (and Jessica) say about eating foods close to nature. Our bodies do not know what to do with a cheeto, they do know what to do with a cucumber. Having said that, I have told Bob before, I’m a work in progress and not a perfect eater. The difference is, I now think about what I put in my mouth instead of popping everything in sight into my mouth just because it has a pretty package or it’s on a tray at a party. Do I slip up/give up to temptations? Yes, but far less often and then I don’t let that turn into a binge of bad eating. Most of the time, when I go back to the “bad” food, it doesn’t feel good in my body-it rejects it-so I don’t eat it again.
As far as Brayden, how lucky is he that he has Bob and Lisa to guide him! The comment about being “singled out for being completely different from others” is crazy-are we trying to raise a bunch of conformists? History was made by people who thought out of the box-read the constitution! I’m a high school teacher and I see the options available to our students-TOXIC. You can argue that school’s should not be responsible for all the nutrition a child gets, but for some kids lunch and breakfast at school is the only meal they can get. Why shouldn’t it be healthy so they can have nourished brains to do well in their studies?
No, Bob is not an extremist, he is a realist and educating his son to make good food choices is just as important than any fact or knowledge about math or history he will acquire in school. What good is an education if you die at 40 from heart disease? You can have all the PhDs in the world, but none of that matters if you don’t have good health.
I agree that LIFE is about balance. However, FOOD is not LIFE. We do eat a well variety of foods: fruits, veggies, proteins, nuts, etc… We will eat raw dairy. We will get veggie chips and coconut ice cream once in awhile. Brayden is not growing up deprived or out of balance. We recognize the wanting to splurge every once in awhile, so we make up an alternative to enjoy, like grain free carrot cake or grain free cookies… When we are at a large gathering with food, we teach him the things he can eat by walking through the line with him. Funny, this whole post started because Bob was proud of our son for turning down a pudding cup. That is something we would applaud our peers! “Way to go! Steer clear of the temptations!” But for a child, it’s depriving them. Why brainwash our children to think it’s ok to eat McDonald’s or Jell-O when they are young, but then they will need to spend their whole life reversing their thinking.
Watch Fresh, Food Inc, King Corn, and (the ever famous) SuperSize Me. Read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Do some ACTUAL research, then we can chat. What it boils down to is this: Eat the hamburger. Just eat a hamburger that is made from a cow that eats grass (in it’s natural habitat), and that is ground up without sugar, salt, or other additives.
Well first off, I think children should be made aware of what they eat and put into their bodies. Not only will it help ake them healthier but it will improve the growth and development of their young bodies. I agree in some regard to letting kids have birthday cake or pizza at a friends pizza party, as long as the kids realize that its not optimal food and its only a sometime food. My kids will eat pizza at a party but they also talk about how they realize its not a healthy food and they would prefer something else. My 8 and 9 year old daughters know how to effectively read a food and nutrition label. Not because I made them, but because they have learned from me setting a good example. It not unusual to hear them educating other kids about what is a proper food and a bad food source. Basic rule of thumb for your foods, if you cant pronounce whats in it, you shouldnt eat it.
This one blew up way out of proportion. In my original post I wasn’t saying not to eat Paleo, just saying stick with Cordain’s and Sisson’s 80% rule. Eat Paleo the majority of the time and you’ll get the majority of the results.
I’m not trying to say my way is right and Bob’s way is wrong. Evidently, it works for him and his family. In my case though, I don’t sweat the occasional (rare) non paleo treat and my kid can still enjoy Halloween and won’t tick off Grandma Edna with a Christmas cookie. Is it perfect, no. But life is not perfection. From what I’ve seen with the older kids, he’ll be less likely to binge on 40 Oreo cookies or trade his lunch when I’m not around or when he’s at school.
Shawn you know me so please picture what I’m gonna say next with a smile on my face and my personality right after a hard workout instead of how it may seem on here like it’s coming from Dr. Hannibal Lectur. LOL
That being said, OK have some cake here and there, BUT why let your kids think that it’s ok at every birthday party, every family affair, or especially Holloween’s highly marketed high fructose corn syrup & sugar candyfest, etc. People don’t have discipline and growing up if it’s ok to have this “yummy” cheat treat here and there what’s better is if I have it all the time. Oh wait… now I’ve done that and the years have escaped me and I’m hiring a nutritionist, trainer, chiropractor… because I’m overweight, unhealthy, out of shape and don’t have the drive to climb out of my own dug hole on my own.
I see something wrong with that picture AND it can, as well as should, be not only controlled, but stopped at the youngest age possible. I do have to admit, however, that the only child I have is Brayden and don’t have experience raising other children in the manner in which I am raising him. It may backfire. I sure hope it doesn’t. The feeling I get is that it won’t, but we will have to wait 13 years and see if he sticks with it.
I am doing the BEST I can not to shelter him from fine eating pleasures. We very much enjoy what we eat when we eat it. We alter and substitute certain foods to be enjoyed as some of the junk food is. Example: We eat Coconut Dream ice cream which is both dairy and soy free. It’s made with coconut milk. We also eat chocolate cake and chocolate cookies. Both are grain free and actually taste much cleaner to me than the grain and sugar counterpart. We really enjoy this lifestyle and that’s what it’s all about. Our life is healthy. We are trying our best. All that can be expected is based on our practices. Our habits must reflect our goals. My goal is to be the best I can in every health and fitness regard.
I’m NOT perfect either and have cheats of my own. Know what I mean?
Bah. This whole series of posts came out totally wrong. On almost all counts we agree on the same thing.
We both agree with eating Paleo and we both are doing what we feel is best for our own children. I understand what you are doing with Braydon and I respect that. Both of our children will benefit from eating whole foods.
I’m a bit looser with my approach because of my experiences as a teacher and coach. In my original post, I just wanted to make people aware that things don’t always work out the way they expect and because of the mess I saw with a few kids at school, an occasional cheat meal MIGHT not be a bad thing. In my case with my child, this is what I follow and why. For others, like yourself, a stricter approach may work better.
I don’t have the right to tell anyone how to live or raise their kids (and that wasn’t the point). I just wanted to point out what I observed and my approach… nothing more.
Shawn I couldn’t agree more bud! That’s exactly my philosophy in a manner of speaking.