"A healthy outside starts from the inside."

Its always nice to see that the lifestyle change that me and Mrs M have made is rubbing off onto the boys. Juicing has become such a big part of our days and Opeie's love of green vegetable and fruit juice or hulk juice as he likes to call It is great. It's so good for him and because it's something me a Mrs M have most days, to the boys there's nothing odd about it.

Yesterday Opeie ran into the kitchen and informed me that swiper the fox and little brown mouse needed a hulk juice, so I pulled up a chair for him to stand on and we went through the fridge looking for ingredients. Spinach, kale, celery, kiwi, apple, lime and a little touch of ginger, Lush.

  

As with everything we do together I explained what we were doing as we were chopped up the veg and fed it to the machine. Opeie loves putting things in the juicer and watching the pulp come out. It's a little like a grown ups play doh factory.

 

Swiper and little brown mouse were happy to get involved and in no time at all there were two great vegetable juices ready for consumption. Hulk was close by lurking in the shadows though making sure that his name wasn't being used for any unhealthy produce.

An introduction to Natural Vegan Eco Mom

In our house the food that we eat and products that we use are so important. We're really picky about what we buy when shopping. It wasn't always like this for me though. Taking care of my physical well being definitely took a back seat and going out, partying and generally living a care free life took president. It's amazing though how dramatically things can change. Although I have always been a good eater when it came to fruit and veg, years ago i would (as much as it sickens me to say it now) frequent KFC more than I would have liked (gross I know). 

Back in 2010, Mrs M while pregnant became really ill and it changed our opinions about food and pushed us into making some dramatic lifestyle changes. It wasn't just about what we were eating but also about where it came from and it's life before reaching our mouths. To many it probably sounds insane but with pesticides and other chemicals on the supermarket veg, unnatural sweeteners in food and just the general unnecessary rubbish that is put into food for preservation you've got to eventually start to wonder what it is doing to our bodies. I for one want to live a long and fruitful life and to do that these changes needed to be made.

Our diet isn't to most people's taste, we know that from the reaction we get when it's talked about but it has been the necessary element firstly for our weight loss (which will be in a post I have written and will publish soon) but also for having the best possible lifestyle for us and the boys. Eating this way has given us all the extra energy and motivation that was needed for us to fully take advantage of our time together.

I know that eating healthy can come at a higher financial cost, especially if like us you also eat as much organic produce that is available but there are so many more benefits. With the ridiculous GMO foods scenario looming over us in the UK and the pressure for the country to get on board this seems like it was the best time for us as a family to make this change. This post isn't supposed to be healthy living shoved in your face like many, (not all) of the vegan sites that are out there, promoting how amazing they are as a person for being a vegan. I'm not concerned with what other people eat apart from the people who are closest to me and anyone that asks, But as the blog is written for my boys it's an insight into why sometimes we say 'we would rather you didn't eat those sweets' or we offer the boys a healthy alternative to something that to them seems harmless to eat. They will understand when they are older why we don't allow them to have McDonald's or most processed foods and I think they will appreciate the effort we (especially Mrs M) go to to prepare their daily meals. 

Which brings me to the main reason for this post, i thought that a post about food would be a perfect introduction. If healthy living is something that interests you or like us you or a family member suffer with food allergies then Natural Vegan Eco Mom (written by my beautiful wife to be) is a must read for spicing up what could possibly be a boring diet. I know that without her cooking flair or crazy food prep knowledge I wouldn't have shifted the weight I have. Having a stash of her homemade healthy peanut butter cups has been motivation enough to keep me eating well knowing that there is a chocolatey treat waiting for me as a reward for my healthy eating throughout the day. To have a mooch through some great recipe's Please click on THIS LINK .

Thanks for reading xx

"If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice."

My diet has changed so much over the last 6 months, the main reason is to help with weight loss, i want to feel healthier and have more energy but also because on a daily basis we as a family are becoming more aware of the things that we are eating and the rubbish that is in a lot of food. We don't eat take away or excessive amounts of rubbish but I do have a sweet tooth and found it really difficult at first, but now that I have cut cows milk, bread and refined sugars (apart from Opeie's birthday cake of course) out of my diet I feel a lot healthier. The boys have a great diet which is so important and they get their 5 a day every day. Our fridge is always packed solid with greens.

 It's a random way to be starting one of our posts but I'm writing this post because last week we brought a new juicer and juicing has been taking up lots of our time spent in the house and the boys are loving it too. It's been a great way of getting the boys to have even more of the good stuff and they have both been getting involved and making their own. I though that it would be all fruit juices with them but Seth has been having broccoli, aubergine, kale, spinach and even red cabbage, he's been quite adventurous.

It's been amazing how nice it all tastes juiced and juicing is now a permanent part of our daily routine.