Healthy Eating...So Many Benefits

So a couple of months ago when Chad and I agreed to take all processed foods out of our diet and the kids diet I had to make sure that I was committed to eating healthier and not trying to loose weight otherwise the point would be missed.  Of course I hoped through eating better I would lose some weight (who wouldn't?) I just knew that could not be our focus or especially my focus.  In fact I refused to step on a scale knowing that if I had, and I had some underlying expectations that were not being met I would probably give up w/o giving our new life style a real chance.  But curiosity got the best of me as my clothes had started to fit a little better I just had to see what the scale said and I am so happy to say I am now 13 lbs lighter than I was when we started just 2 months ago and I am even happier to say that I did not 'diet' one day in the past 2 months.  I ate when I was hungry, I ate what I was hungry for, I indulge sweet cravings (with healthy sweets) and I even made myself a homemade mocha just about everyday using whole milk.  I can't tell you how freeing this is for me.  We have ate some extremely healthy meals and we have also ate pizza (with homemade whole wheat crust) and tostado's, I eat nuts, and avocado, and whole fat cheese and sour cream things that you wouldn't see on a  low fat/cal restricted diet...which means not only am I not hungry I am not feeling deprived.  What we aren't eating, and what has been removed from our diets (and I can say I don't miss any of it) is white flour, white rice, and other refined grains, no white/brown or artificial or other refined sugars.  I don't buy any prepackaged foods/snacks from the store.  So I basically make everything, brownies w/whole wheat flour and honey instead of sugar, whole wheat muffins, pancakes, waffles, corn bread, biscuits basically anything and everything we consume starts from whole, fresh, unrefined ingredients and I make it into a meal :-).  We buy a lot of local/organic produce and meats strictly from grass fed cows and or free range pigs and chickens. Yes, our food bill has gone up a little but not as much as you might think.  We are no longer wasting our money on junk and we eat at home a ton more than we used to so its working well for us.   I think I can speak for both Chad and I when I say we are so happy to have made the changes that we did and they are here to stay!!!!