Monday, June 17, 2013

Why Eat Whole Foods and How To Start Eating Whole Foods

So, What is this Whole Foods thing all about?  Eating Whole Foods is about eating food that is as fresh as possible, as unprocessed as possible.  It's about going back to eating the foods we were made to eat and the way we were made to eat them, fresh.  Not processed, not with added chemicals, additives, antibiotics and chemical experiments.  Take a look at the ingredients on the back of your "food".  What's in it?  Is it food?  Could you buy the ingredients yourself and make it at home?  If not, it's safe to say it's not a Whole Food.  Even something simple like canned corn has added sugar and added salt.  Two things you don't need more of in your diet.  Diabetes is on the rise ("...research showed that for every 150 additional calories of sugar available per person per day, the incidence of type 2 diabetes rose by one percent.  That is equal to the amount of sugar in one 12-ounce can of soda") and also in children none the less.  This is serious, but preventable, stuff!  And there are more and more E. Coli outbreaks in simple things like "fresh" Spinach.  Reading the story of a mother who lost her 5 year old son to E.Coli is enough for me to know it's becoming more important to know where your food is coming from, even "fresh" food.  Get your meat from a butcher.  Get your produce and eggs from a local farmer.  It may not always be possible to do this, but the more you can the better.  The more meals you prepare yourself, the better.

I don't recommend suddenly vowing off all processed foods and jumping to a Whole Foods diet overnight.  You probably wont be able to stick with it and your body will be screaming at you.  The thing is, this isn't a "diet".  This is a lifestyle change.  This is changing your eating habits, from here on out.  Not a temporary diet to lose weight or to try and be healthier.  If you want a diet to lose weight quick, do the Three Day Military Diet.  It's not healthy, but it'll help you shed some quick pounds.  But after that, come back to this.  And if you want to try and be healthy, don't try, do.  Be healthy.  It's really easy, I promise.

Take a couple weeks to start adjusting the way you eat.  Stop eating Fast Food.  Period, just stop.  Start transitioning processed foods for fresh foods.  One meal a day, two meals a day, three...  Stop drinking soda.  I know, I'm sorry. But you gotta stop.  Drink coffee, black coffee (Ok, you can have a little bit of creamer if you need to).  Drink lots of water.  Need to Spruce Up Your Water?  Try this recipe.  I will continue to post more ways to spruce up your water, making it easier to drink.  Take 2-4 weeks to slowly start changing your eating habits.  Then, do 30 days like me of getting yourself into the swing of it.  No more processed foods or if you must, barely processed foods.  It's not as hard at all.

2 comments:

  1. Think I may check out the "Military Diet" to get me started. ;)

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  2. Definitely! You could do this for a month, 3 days on 4 days off and on the 4 days of eating whole foods. Then you'd be ready for a month of just whole foods. I bet the results would be fantastic. :)

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