The FINAL Blog… The family interview and wrap up!

This is my final blog about my family and the food challenge we all completed. What started as "journaling" for a 4H project for food and nutrition has turned into a lifestyle change for me and my family.  We learned a lot about the foods we eat in the last 10 days and why it is so important to eat "real" food and take care of our bodies.

I finally got all 5 of us together to sit down to discuss the 10 day challenge/pledge and to ask everyone the same questions. The following is a summary of my family's thoughts.


What was your most favorite meal?

Trent: " I liked the Proscetto wrapped asparagus and the spaghetti and meatballs"

Melissa: " I liked the french toast with 100% maple syrup"

Trey: " I liked the chicken nuggets"

Tytan: " I liked the biscuits and fruit kabobs"

Me: " I liked the Cuban sandwiches"


What was your least favorite meal?

Trent: " I did not like the egg salad spread on the triscuits"

Melissa: " I did not like the coconut chicken satay"

Trey: " I liked them all, except the mac-n-cheese and the thin pancakes (crepes)"

Ty: " I did not like the pop tats"

Me: " I did not like the pop tarts or the smoothie with spinach in it"


What was hard for you to do during the challenge?

Trent: " I thought not eating snack crackers at night was hard"

Melissa: " I thought being in the kitchen so much was hard"

Trey: "I thought eating no unhealthy food and not eating candy at the parade was hard"

Ty: " I thought no eating fruit snacks was hard."

Me: " I thought cooking the food and making two well balanced meals a day was hard"

What was easy for you to do during the challenge?

Trent: " I thought changing to whole wheat bread and using 100% maple syrup was easy"

Melissa: " I thought having the 100 days of real food website as a guide made it easy"

Trey: " I thought it was easy to realize what was healthy so I could eat it"

Ty: "I thought it was easy to eat the yummy food"

Me: "I thought it was easy already having recipes and having a family willing to try new foods"

What should we keep?

Trent: " I think we should keep the whole wheat bread and the 100% maple syrup"

Melissa: " I think we should keep buying and shredding our own blocks of cheese, whole wheat flour, whole wheat toast, seasalt, unsalted butter, the 100% maple syrup,  eating high volumes of fruit and vegetables, and continue eating at home more often.

Trey: "I think we should keep the banana pancakes and the chicken nuggets"

Ty: " I think we should keep the pizza, the new yogurt (greek), and the freeze ice pops"

Me: " I think we should keep almost everything; the grilled cheese, grilled asparagus, and the ice pops"

Did you feel any different during the challenge?

Trent: " I felt like I had less high and lows in energy level"

Melissa: " I maintained good energy for running, swimming, and biking; I had no high and low blood sugar changes because I had minimal caffeine (coffee) and minimal sugar and no high fructose corn syrup"

Trey: " Yeah, I felt like my body was really healthy"

Ty: " I felt better"

Me: " I did not have any ups an downs in energy level throughout each day and I did not get any stomachaches after eating or anytime during the day"

Would you do the challenge again?

Trent: " Yes"

Melissa: " Absolutely"

Trey: " Yes, but only 5 days next time because it is half of the challenge and we already did it once and if we did it for five days we could all pick one food to eat every day"

Ty: " Yes"

Me: " Yes it was a great experience and I think there is still a lot more to learn"

What was the hardest thing to give up during the challenge?

Trent: " Desirable ketchup"

Melissa: " I missed chocolate, candy, and the convenience of fast food"

Trey: " I missed mac-n-cheese and McDonald's chicken nuggets which I really liked but I like the new ones better but I miss the old ones"

Ty: " I miss fruit snacks and getting candy at the gas station"

Me: " I miss eating out and the convenience of regular granola bars we used to eat"


Overall we will continue to eat much healthier from now on. We are keeping almost all of the recipes and have only eaten out twice since we finished our 10 days.  We have eaten no fast food and have no plans to go to McDonalds or Subway anytime soon! We are going to keep using whole wheat flour, sea salt, whole wheat bread, unsalted butter, 100% maple syrup, homemade granola bars, organic or homemade mac-n-cheese, whole wheat pizza, whole wheat pastas, jams/jelly and ketchup without high fructose syrup. We also plan to keep pop out of the house, no candy or chips. All of us were happy to complete the challenge and learn together.  THANK YOU so much for following my blog!  Wish me luck at the Martin County Fair when I present this project to the 4H judge!

Taryn