Pinch My Salt

Food, Recipes, and Photography

I Took the Pledge… Again!

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October Unprocessed 2013

First of all, thank you so much for all of the support that poured in after I published my previous post about our struggles this past year with recurrent miscarriage.  Of course I was extremely nervous to open up and share something so personal in such a public way, but the positive response was immediate and really helped to me put me at ease.  You guys are wonderful.

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to commit to October Unprocessed again this year.  We both signed the pledge in 2011 and it was a lot of fun, although I think we may have given in to a tempting bag of Halloween candy on the last day of that year’s challenge.  Because we enjoyed the challenge so much in 2011 and because I like to support Andrew in his mission to help people learn more about what they are eating and make healthier choices, we signed up for the challenge last year as well.  But I was recovering from my first miscarriage last October, not to mention completely gutting and remodeling a house we had purchased, and the October Unprocessed challenge didn’t work out so well.  In fact, my diet was pretty terrible last October and it’s pretty terrible now as well.

I’ve been trying to decide whether to give myself a break, skip this year’s challenge, and just focus on eating better on my own or to join this inspiring group of people to help me make the changes I know I need to make in order to clean up my diet again and start feeling better.  Last night I decided to go ahead and join.

For those of you new to October Unprocessed, the goal is to completely give up processed foods for the entire month of October.  For more details, including an explanation of what the term “processed foods” actually means in relation to this challenge, visit Eating Rules.  I know it’s a last-minute decision at this point, but I hope some of you join me!  I’ll be posting tips and links to recipes on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest and will do my best to come up with some new recipes for this blog as well.  Wish me luck!

Join me for the October Unprocessed 2013 challenge at Eating Rules.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. JFR says

    i don't understand why you are making such a big deal about avoiding processed food for a month. it's obvious that you know that processed food is bad for you. Why do you eat it for the other eleven months of the year? Seems very silly to me that a) you eat it at all, and b) you act so self-righteous for avoiding it for a few weeks. Stop patting yourself on the back for doing such a little thing...
    Reply

  4. Nicole says

    Dear JFR, It's wonderful that it's so easy for you to eat well all the time. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I need a little help keeping on track in a country where we are constantly bombarded with unhealthy choices and stress. I hope that by writing about my struggles, other people who aren't as perfect as you might feel like they have some help and support as well.
    Reply

  6. Shona says

    Fab idea - We are in! Well done for starting this challenge and for sharing it with us all. I think most people would honestly admit that sticking to their 'Healthy plans' need a bit of help - after all if it was so simple there would not be a global obesity problem! Once you start looking at labels you realise just how much is added to processed foods! Once you start cooking with fresh seasonal foods you realise just how much pleasure and flavour there is in good food. I'm thrilled to have found your site through your Pistachio recipes, having just returned from our first visit to Sicily I am inspired by the simple but beautiful food! Thank you for sharing!
    Reply

  7. Denise says

    Hello, Someone just turned me on to your blog and also "Cooking With Mr. C." on Facebook (also a blog). I'm so excited to look through your blog. Denise
    Reply

  9. Reagan says

    I've been reading your blog for years. Always love the photos and recipes. Love this idea. I'm in as well. I blog for the parents of my preschoolers and just re-shared a list of top 100 foods for health and budget from the environmental working group (published last year). It's a helpful tool for times like this when I am thinking about whole and natural foods and working on a budget. Might be helpful for others as well! http://greenlifeundergraysky.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/top-100-foods-for-health-and-budget/
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