PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Shireen Johnson knew she had to make a change in her eating habits if she was going to set a good example for her daughters.
The Plymouth woman has two girls, 11-year-old Leanne and 8-year-old Emma.
Johnson said that over the years, she found herself eating more and more frozen processed food.
"I had gained an insane amount of weight and I could see that my girls are looking up to me," Johnson said. "I would buy all the frozen stuff and packaged stuff and canned stuff, and then as I read and, you know, everything that comes through social media, I started realizing that I'm not doing a good service to my kids. I stopped cooking and I was, like, 'I needed a change.'"
Johnson met Maureen Stoecklein, a registered dietitian and owner of Stoeck the Pantry, at the gym and asked for her help. Stoecklein did a pantry purge and restock service with Johnson. They went through her pantry, fridge and freezer and got rid of foods that don't fit a person's goals and made a trip to the grocery story that included a lesson on how to read labels and a meal plan.
"I was so intimidated by the aisles at the grocery store and the organic aisles and all the stuff that's in there, and I didn't really understand what all those greens and products were and even nuts; what are good nuts, and what are not," Johnson said. "Everything I read, it was so confusing, and so I needed just somebody to come help me."
Changes included swapping cereals, syrups, ketchups, snacks and protein bars with better options. That included making homemade protein balls, muffins and granola bars.
Stoecklein or Kristie Zebrowski, a chef at Stoeck the Pantry, helped Johnson prepare meals.
"We're talking about really clean and simple cooking," Stoecklein said. "So what that means is we cook using fresh vegetables, we use some whole grains, complex carbohydrates, and then we use organic meats."
At first, Johnson's girls were a bit iffy about the change, but as time went on they decided to give it a try.
"I don't really like fruits and vegetables. I only like yellow tomatoes, but because they came over now I like a little bit more vegetables," Leanne said.
The hardest part wasn't the food but deciding to make the change, Johnson said.
"We're all busy, we're all running around, but just sticking to it and really allowing (Maureen) to come in and truly help you and do what she's good at (is important) because I can't imagine going back to how we were," Johnson said.
The biggest challenge is giving up favorite foods, Stoecklein said. She suggests foods that taste just as good but are cleaner with no preservatives, less sugar and less salt. Here are some of her substitutions:
Stoeck the Pantry offers other services, including prepared meals. For more information, click here.
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