Eating Whole Grains is a Whole Lot Harder Than I Thought!

Here is a picture of products in my pantry (I live with two room mates so they're not mine) that do not contain whole grains, therefore on my new diet I can not eat them. Each of these products contains Wheat Flour, Enriched Wheat Flour or Durum Wheat Flour. None of those types of flour are whole grain.

Chips Ahoy, Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, Bisquick Pancake Mix, Ritz Crackers, Carrs table crackers, pretzels and plain (non-whole grain) pasta products are all made with white flour.

But here's a few that threw me for a loop....

Wheat Thins - made with enriched flour, not whole grain

Lipton's Rice Sides - you would think it only contained rice and seasoning but there's pasta mixed in so it contains enriched flour.

Barrilla "Whole Grain" Pasta - I put whole grain in " " because if you read the label whole grain wheat is not the only ingredient, the second ingredient is durum wheat flour, which is not whole grain. Don't let the advertising on the packaging fool you... make sure you read the labels so you know what is in your food!

So as pictured there's an infinite number of products on the market that are made of whit flour. It's difficult to find whole grain products that are truly whole grain....

BUT IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE! :)

Here's a picture of products I have that are made of whole grains and some are easy to find:

Breakfast options: Shredded Wheat, Barbara's Shredded Spoonfuls (available at trader joes), Raisin Bran, Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Pancake Mix (not pictured), Wheat puff cereal.

Bread options: Trader Joes Multigrain Fiber Bread, Toufayan Wheat Wraps, Bakers Whole Wheat Pita (not pictured).

Pasta options: Trader Joes Organic Whole Wheat Pasta, DeBoles Organic Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta (available at most healthfood stores).

Just remember these aren't the only options, there are lots of different breads, pastas and cereals out there to choose from but make sure that you read the label and double check that the product is whole grain.

I'm not suggesting that you give up all white flour like I am for thirty days, but the health benefits are amazing if your replace maybe a few things. Consider switching white bread to whole wheat or plain pasta to whole grain.

Start out small, replacing a few products at a time. Dieting is all about baby steps and sooner or later it adds up to a whole lot of change!

DON'T FORGET YOUR PORTIONS THOUGH!!!!
Remember just because a certain type of food is delicious and nutritious for you,
doesn't mean you should eat a lot of it.
You can still over eat even if you're eating healthy.
Make sure you still measure out your portions of pasta whether its plain pasta or whole grain pasta.

And next time you're cooking Italiano for dinner, think about serving whole wheat pasta instead!