Ok, I've just watched that documentary "Fed Up"...

I haven't watched it yet, but we've tried to cut sugar as much as possible for a long time, though we don't cut it out entirely. I've been a low-carb advocate for over a decade, and I've really been paying closer attention to what I feed my family. All my kids have a predisposition towards being heavy and insulin issues. We don't do low-fat anything, because they often do have much worse things added to them to make them palatable after removing the fat. Whole foods are really what I try to buy, though it's still not so easy or cheap in this day and age of convenience.

I always send lunch with my elementary school kids, because I can choose better foods for them that I know they'll eat. But around middle school that's become the "uncool" thing to do. I may start doing it again next year, when I have another entering middle school, coolness be damned.

I haven't seen that movie yet, but we have removed all sugar from our diet, in addition to going nearly 100% vegan. I can't tell you how much better we feel removing all these horrible things from our diet. We really eat nothing but foods that come in their natural state, i.e. fruits, veggies, beans, rice, etc. It's difficult at first, but once your sorta "detox" from having that stuff in your system you realize how much it effected you.

The whole 30 is a great starting place. I think the book is called It Starts With Food. But there are tons of websites and Pinterest boards for whole 30.

For your coffee, I would recommend trying different types of coffee.  The better your coffee tastes, the less you will need to doctor it up.  

I was just on the Fed Up website and on their 10-day sugar challenge page there is a section of resources that has a lot of what I was looking for and maybe someone else here would be interested in too: Fed Up Resources

I have a browser open ready to watch this. I need to watch it.

I literally just watched it on Netflix and came back here to post about it. Wow, it really is eye opening! My daughters are skinny so I have never really worried about what they eat. It's not that I don't care at all - they do eat healthy but they do get a supply of junk as well. I never knew you could be skinny on the outside and fat on the inside. 

It's so hard to cook healthy every single day. Especially with all the activities. Girl Scouts, Girls on the Run, Soccer, tutoring, speech therapy.... We definitely eat better in the summer when we have more time and can pick food right from our garden.

I'm interested in watching this after almost three weeks without sugar.

I am following Sugar Busters! diet plan for the most part although they "allow" and pretty much advocate for artificial sweeteners and I have given those up as well.  I stopped all bread since I know that is something that I'd have a difficult time regulating.  I'm also not eating any rice or pasta.  Their plan doesn't allow white potatoes so those went away as well.  I am eating lean protein, most fruits (I eat strawberries, blueberries, clementines, and an occasional apple for the most part...they don't "allow" bananas, pineapple or watermelon which I love but can live without).  I switched from sweetened yogurt to plain non fat Greek yogurt to which I add berries. 

I have a lot of weight to lose.  Sadly, for the second time in my life after losing 100+ pounds I managed to regain most of it...one would think I'd have learned   I expected to see big results after three weeks and the scale I got on this morning had me down significantly.  We bought a new scale today and that one has dh at the same weight as the old one and me almost 18 pounds higher than the old one.  I'm trying desperately to maintain my drive and determination but am feeling discouraged.  I see my doctor three weeks from tomorrow and will know for sure then how successful I've been.  Unless you count pity parties, hanging out at the cancer center, and watching a lot of tv, exercise has been nonexistent in my life for far too long.  I'm working on that.

Sorry to go off here, I really need to vent about my (lack) of progress.

There is actually a challenge group that a fellow pea Steph (can't remember exact name on here) mentioned which is what lead me to this lifestyle change. It's a group of people (around 100) each month that is lead by a couple who developed this plan. For the first 21 days, it's a raw vegan diet. It's $21 for the month, which gives you a program with the first 2 weeks of shopping lists, recipes, etc as well as a FB group with all the challengers so you have a community for moral support. It was fantastic. It really kick started me into this lifestyle. Not everyone stayed raw vegan after the challenge, but it shows you how to change your entire eating habits to make it clean, healthy, and sustainable for a lifetime. Many of the ladies and men in the previous months have lost a lot of weight, feel like a new person, have eliminated heath issues, all with a change of their diet. 

If you are interested I can link you to the FB page so you can see what it's all about. This month they are doing a 2 for 1, so if you have a friend or family member who wants to do it as well then they are free. 

It honestly changed my life!

I agree this is great resource. I have the book, watched the movie, and cook some of the recipes for dinners. 

Have you seen "The Plant Powered Way" that Rich Roll is releasing on Tuesday? It looks fantastic. I've already pre-ordered it!

oh I agree with you whole heartedly! I was one of those sugar addicted people, it was out of control. I would hide food from my husband and snack when he wasnt around because he was worried about my health. My doctor was getting on my case because I had high triglycerides at a young age (even though I was skinny). That documentary was what opened my eyes!

I just wish the documentary didn't make it seem like there was no other option and that people will fail to be healthy until the food industry changes its practice. It made me feel like it was hopeless to be healthy again, then I researched other options and started buying from the perimeter of the grocery store and have been doing much better. Maybe I just felt all doom and gloom when I watched it because I liked my cake and candy!

2 years ago I read the book Wheat Belly and it led to my husband and I going grain free/sugar free/processed foods free. We both feel wonderful, have not been sick in 2 years and have each lost about 35 lbs simply by eating well, real whole foods. I would not go back. We're both off of our cholesterol medicines and hubby's blood pressure has been significantly reduced. I'm thankful for movies like Fed Up that get this out to the masses. Our country needs a health overhaul and most illnesses relate to poor food choices.

A good book about this subject is Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss. It talks about what is in the food, why, and how it is marketed to us. It's an eye opener as well.