31 Days of Healthy Eating - Wholegrain

A lot of diets I see mentioned online these days seem to be low carb or grain free. That sounds much too complicated and restrictive for me, and unless people are gluten intolerant (whole different ball game!) I'm afraid I don't get the point. I'm fortunate in that I don't have any food intolerances, so far as I'm aware, so that isn't a factor for me. It also seems to me to be common sense that a healthy diet should be varied, mixing all the major food groups. Another piece of common sense is that food should not be over processed and that whole foods will be more nutritious than refined ones, so I try to stick to wholegrains - wholemeal bread and pasta, and brown rice.

Brown rice I found easy as I actively prefer it to white. As a family we don't eat much rice and I'm more likely just to cook it for myself, which means I don't face resistance from other family members who are less enthusiastic about healthy eating. Pasta is another matter. Everyone else grumbles at wholemeal pasta. Sometimes I cook a portion of wholemeal separately for myself, but for something like a pasta bake I generally succumb to mob rule and settle for the refined version. I also have a family of determined white bread eaters, so I buy wholegrain for myself, keep it in the freezer, and defrost slices as needed. I'm afraid forcible conversion of the rest of the family to wholegrains is just not a battle I'm prepared to fight! I'm not obsessive about diet rules and I do eat refined flour (and sugar) in cakes and biscuits (cookies), but as I only eat them as occasional treats rather than as a regular part of my diet I don't see it as a problem.