Real Food: The Cure for Obesity?
According to the CDC 36.5% of American adults are obese. Because obesity increases our risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and several types of cancer, this is a serious and costly problem. In 2008, its medical cost in the U.S. alone was $147 billion. The emotional price is incalculable.
Sadly, although we spend $20 Billion dollars a year on weight-loss products, and an average of an hour a day exercising the obesity rate keeps climbing. Maybe weight loss products and exercise gadgets aren’t the answer. Could something as banal as eating only real food (nutritious substances) be the solution?
I’m not a weight loss expert, but everyone I know who has managed to lose weight and keep it off attributes most of his or her success to a commitment to eat only real food. This means different things to different people. Some followed a paleo type diet, some became vegetarians or vegans, others simply gave up fast food and Frankenfood; but they all stopped eating processed junk and started eating the dictionary definition of food. Most importantly, they didn’t start eating junk again because they got bored. They started eating for health.
What exactly is junk food?
Miriam-Webster defines junk food as: (1) food that is high in calories but low in nutritional content (2) something that is appealing or enjoyable but of little or no real value. This is a good definition, but I would also include (3) Any food regardless of its nutritional value that you can’t seem to stop eating, even when you’re not hungry.
The foods that I personally make a strong effort to never eat, because once I start, I have trouble stopping are include:
- Ice Cream and store bought frozen treats
- Cookies and most baked sweets
- Chips,crisps, pretzels and snack crackers
Your personal trigger foods may be different. The important thing is to discover what they are and eliminate them from your diet completely. Stop buying your trigger foods. Throw away anything that stands between you and your best self. It doesn’t take long for cravings to completely disappear once you make a decision to do so.
If you can’t quit cold turkey, find easy to make, nutritious substitutes to take their place. You can replace ice cream with smoothies; make your own baked goods with nutritionally dense ingredients; bake or air fry vegetables for healthy snacks… be creative.
What should we do if we give in to temptation?
Take a few minutes to think about why and come up with a plan to do better from that moment forward. Write it all down to solidify your plan in your own mind. Don’t beat yourself up. Just press your own reset button and keep moving forward.
I’m not interested in changing my career, nor do I want a share of the weight-loss industries earnings. My only goal is to share what really works.
We should kindly encourage each other to be our very best.
Following are a couple of great resources to get you started:
- NutritionFacts.org
- Never Binge Again
- Resist the Five Biggest Food Industry Lies mp3, transcript
Every now and then, I plan to share my progress, other free resources and some of my family’s favorite healthy recipes.
Your comments, ideas and suggestions are welcome.
