100 Days of Real Food

When you're raised on not-so-healthy food, it can sometimes be hard to make an adjustment later in life.

Lisa Leake grew up in Tennessee, eating snacks like Doritos covered in melted cheese.

Her husband, on the other hand, grew up with whole, real food -- even living on a "hippie" compound for a period of time -- where every bit of food was hand-grown and locally raised.

Their upbringings could not be more different. Even after marriage they ate their different ways... Lisa would eat white bread to her husband's whole grain.

It wasn't until she had a wake-up call by author and healthy eating expert, Michael Pollan, that she came to understand some of what all the healthy eating buzz was about.

What Lisa realized was that "eat your veggies" doesn't really mean anything if you don't know the WHY behind it.

If people have that information, however, they are more likely to make healthy changes to their diets and keep to those healthy eating practices.

That's when she decided to blog about her family's pledge of "100 Days of Real Food;" a journey where her entire family eliminated things like white flour, sugar and factory-farmed meats.

The tricky part is that many Americans are primarily dependent on processed food, and this is a completely new perspective.

So, even if you're on a healthy eating track, how can you get your entire family on board?

Older individuals in your family circle may need their own wake-up call, particularly if healthy eating is an entirely new and foreign concept.

Little ones are more adaptable to healthy eating. The key is to keep introducing your kids to new foods all the time. It doesn't have to happen all at once, either. Try incorporating different vegetables into their favorite recipes, such as putting bell peppers on pizza.

It helps tremendously if everybody in your family eats the same thing and also if everyone shows that they're open to new foods.

You can also get your kids involved by having them pick out a dinner recipe for the week and even get them to help in the preparation. It may take a bit longer than if you just did it yourself, but at the same time, they might surprise you with what they come up with.

While Lisa's journey over those 100 days was a great lesson in healthy eating, it's not always possible to eat that clean all the time.

So, what are her top things to avoid no matter what?

Lisa advocates staying away from artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners and factory-farmed meat at all costs. In fact, if she doesn't know where her meat is coming from, she won't eat it.

Listen in as Lisa joins Andrea and Lisa to share what she's learned prior, during and after those 100 days of eating real, whole food... and how you can also incorporate healthy choices into your own family's eating habits.