Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.
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product the members of the group were shocked to discover contained no strawberries at all. Around the same time, she saw award-winning food and agriculture writer Michael Pollan on TV and read his bestselling book, "In Defense of Food." It all motivated her to make major changes in the Leake family's eating habits. Refined Food: Out In May 2010, Lisa issued Lisa Leake challenged her family to give up highly processed foods and focus on healthy alternatives. sweeteners, deep-fried foods or fast foods. And nothing out of a box that has more than five ingredients listed. (Yes, beer and wine are allowed, "to help the adults keep their sanity!") From her home in Matthews, she started blogging, inviting her readers to join her on the journey to healthier eating. From her home in Matthews, she started blogging, inviting her readers to join her on the journey to healthier eating. Responses and questions flooded into her website, www.100daysofrealfood.com. a challenge to her family: to make better informed choices, get the processed and refined food out of their diet, and to radically change their eating habits. Not just for a weekend, or a month, but for 100 days. She set the ground rules: Eat whole foods that are "more a product of nature than a product of industry," locally raised or wild-caught meats and seafood, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Don't eat: refined grains or Lisa's whole-wheat pumpkin muffins are an example of a nutritious, tasty food. Responses and questions flooded into her website, www.100daysofrealfood.com. People were eager to learn how to make changes, but not everyone was willing to commit for 100 days. So Lisa developed a "10- Day Pledge," and at last count more than 13,000 people had signed up. She also devised mini-pledges that could be achieved one week at a time, and an abbreviated, eight-point guide for people who may "have the will, but not the skill" to attempt more than a few basic changes. "You have to do it long enough to form new habits," she explains. 54 BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012-2013