Extreme Pantry Makeover

Well Extreme is relative!  But here's the story.  I have a good friend and neighbor who is one of the most amazing people I have ever met!  She is very open minded and very willing to learn and try new things!  She has had many trials in her life yet she still keeps smiling and has a positive attitude!  Her name is Bonnie and one of her more recent trials has been some health issues.  She has been working for a while now hoping to slowly transition into a healthier lifestyle.  I really think this is the way to go.  You gradually find things that you can change and each change makes a difference in your health and before you know it you have a Simple. Healthy. Tasty.  Lifestyle.

But a few weeks ago Bonnie went to her Dr. and found out that her Bad Cholesterol was way too high and the Good was too low.  She also found that her Triglycerides where too high and she was very near if not already diabetic.  She was deflated to say the least and knew she needed to be more aggressive in her changes.

When Bonnie told me this I told her, "Bonnie I know I have knowledge that can help you but I also don't want to push my way of doing things on you.  I want to help you all I can!  Your kids need you, we all love you and we want to see you as healthy as possible but I'm not very conventional but of course you already know that!  I'll try to give you ideas and things you can do but I only want you to do what you think will work for you and what you feel good about!"

Anyway I gave her some ideas.  I told her that I thought it was funny that cholesterol was never really a problem until they came up with a medication for it.  Hummm ;) think on that one.  Then I told her that the only sources of cholesterol that I knew of was animal products.  I also told her that I feel like Partially Hydrogenated oils contribute more to heart disease then probably anything else.  I also gave her My Ingredient List to study!  The next day she emailed me a link to this article with a note saying.  "I was reading this article today, thought you would enjoy it, it TOTALLY talks about what you just taught me!"  I love it when that happens.  It's always good to have more then one witness! ;)

Anyway I also told Bonnie I thought it would be fun and hopefully motivating to blog about her experience and to do a pantry makeover.  I was actually kind of surprised when she said yes and even more so the fact that she seemed excited about it!  Within a few days I was cleaning out her pantry.

In the above photo, you can see all the stuff she gave to a friend in need with hungry teenagers. ;)  She said it was more then she thought it would be.  I told her honestly I thought it would be a lot worse.  There wasn't a bunch of candy, Twinkies or that sort of thing.  She had already transitioned to whole grain pastas and stuff.  The worst thing was probably all the flavored syrups for chocolate milk and too many things with MSG!  Obviously we got rid of the corn syrup and white sugar and flour and refined oils!  Everything else the main problem was too much sugar, corn syrup, and/or MSG.  I showed her ingredients in things and told her why they were bad.  I showed her the different names MSG is hidden under and what more then likely had it even if it didn't say Monosodium Glutamate.  I explained to her about artificial sweeteners and why we don't want any of those.  And of course I had to tell her what Propylene Glycol was. ;)  I think for the most part her eyes were opened to how many things contain sugar and/or corn syrup even things that aren't supposed to be sweet.  And how to be on the hunt for hidden MSG!

I asked Bonnie if she would like me to take a "before" picture of her!  Because although I don't like to focus on the weight (it's really all about the health and being able to go back to the Dr. in 3 months with a much better report) I know for Bonnie weight loss will be what I like to call a "positive side effect!"  She says she has already lost 5 pounds!  Way to go BONNIE!!!!!  Let's all give her lots of praise and encouragement cause I know it will help lots!  That's why she let me post her picture she said it would help her to be more accountable!  See didn't I tell you she was amazing!  Next I plan to teach her the difference between simple and complex carbs!  We will keep you posted on her progress!