Your Lifestyle Is Your Medicine

What is disease really caused from?

Understanding this requires thinking about the true, or “root” causes of premature death and disease. For instance, even as I write this, federal data just released indicate that diabetes has moved up as the third leading “cause” of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. Yes, it's true that your lifestyle or what your eating and what your doing is what shapes you. 

What most of us don't know is that the way you live your life will determine how long you live. That means "what you eat and how active you are" will determine how healthy you are. Many of us get the part about "what we eat", but what does activity have to do with your health? If you keep all your muscles active, all your muscles will retain their strength, but if you are only using some of your muscles the other muscles not used will shrink and become flabby. Those muscles will eventually be used to fuel the body's need for energy and that will cause you to become weaker over time. Becoming weaker over time will weaken the immune system and invite illness and disease to enter your body causing premature death. When you allow your percentage of muscle mass to shrink, your body mass will become the larger body mass and then your body fat will rob you of your energy, you become less active and you will build up more and more fat. 

Not eating a well-balanced diet will reduce your energy level and will also cause you to become less active; so both, your food and your active levels are the deciding factors in your health and how long you're going to live.

But the reality is, most diabetes is type 2, and nearly all type 2 diabetes is preventable through a combination of eating well, being active, and controlling weight. In other words, type 2 diabetes is not really a cause, it’s an effect. So, too, for heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia, most lung disease, and so on. These diseases are the effect of the way you live. All that money you spend at the doctor's office is probably caused by the way you are living your life.

The diseases we tend to think of as the causes of chronic misery and premature death are actually effects of your lifestyle.

The rest, as they say, is history.

One of my favorite studies showed that those people who didn’t smoke, ate vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and little meat routinely, were physically active, and had a healthy weight, were 80 percent less likely to develop ANY major chronic disease than those who went the other way. Just four modifiable factors could explain away 80 percent of the risk for getting ANY major chronic disease. That’s a very big deal.

Sometimes the best defense of the human body resides with the body taking action. So it's not about what medicine can do for you, it's about what you can do yourself to make your body a better place for you to live.

 How Do You Make the Best Choices for You?

While others may use different terminology, the simple fact is that where people live the longest and the best around the world, they are firing on these six cylinders every time. They eat well, are active, tend not to smoke, get enough sleep, aren’t overwhelmed by stress, and have strong social ties. Fire on those six cylinders and the path to more years in life and more life in years is the open road before you.

But of course, firing on those six cylinders is easier said than done, for a number of reasons. First of all, no everyone knows when their body is working properly. Your body is designed to work even under poor conditions, it just won't work as good or as long, but it will always work enough to get by.

You can know when your body is working properly, by the amount of energy you have. This is the first sign that your body may have a problem. Another sign would be weight gain. If your gaining weight as an adult and there's no reason for it, your body is having a problem. These two signs are easily overlooked. We need to be aware of the health signs our body is giving us.

Verywell, in turn, is a daily source of practical information about health—including frequent guidance about these very factors, and how to put them to use in your own life.

I added a few sentences to this very well crafted article by VeryWell.com.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Don't Diet, Just Change What You're Eating

Concentrate on improving your health and the rest will work out. What do I mean? Worrying about the problems in your life will cause you to forget about the big picture, that’s really a backward way to handle the problem. Worrying about money is the main contributor to obesity. Worrying starts a spiral downward that you can’t stop. Worrying starts by causing depression. You have a big problem that you have no solution for; maybe it’s about money or maybe something with your marriage, or maybe a problem with a child.

Yes, these may seem like insurmountable problems. And these types of huge problems in your life will cause you to make changes in your routine. You’re not thinking about your health, you’re not making time for exercise or relationships, instead you’re worrying. If you’re worried about money or your job, then your worrying about how you can cut your budget and that usually starts with the food budget. Personally, I think families today spend too much on cell phone, cable TV, and high-speed internet. I think those industries will come up with cheaper solutions on their own. In the meantime, will will just have to deal with the problem. We can all cut back on services if we really have to.

Now, I probably don’t need to tell you that eating low-cost food, is simply eating food with bulk and very little nutrition.  Foods that are high in nutrition are costly. Did you know, that when you eat food that lacks nutrition, you cause the body to crave food. We can find low-cost food with nutrition like canned tuna and frozen vegetables but you have to do some research.

We all know that the grocery stores charge more for healthier foods. Buy organic fruits and vegetables at an open market and see the difference in price from your supermarket. But wait, did you know that your parents and mine were paying almost 20% of their income for groceries. As the decades past by, food got cheaper. Today the average family only pays about 10% of their income for groceries. Some studies show that price takes some of the blame for the obesity problem. Over the past few generations we have become accustom to eating manufactured foods. And while they are cheaper those foods will lack the nutrition and have more chemicals, salt and sugar then fresh foods and therefore have more calories.

Could it be that cheap food and the availability of that food is causing the over-weight problem in America. I can’t help you with your family problems, but I can tell you that letting your problems affect your health is just insane. You’re only compounding your problems. If you’re in your best health, then you’re better able to deal with your situation. Being in good health and good physical condition will help you think straight and solve those problems. I get my best ideas when I'm walking alone or meditating. Meditating is a great way to relieve stress and to stop your mind from thinking about anything, then at that moment when your mind stops thinking, that when those ideas come out.

Maybe you’re a student or adult, you need a good diet to learn, or just to think straight and to concentrate.  Research shows that students that eat a good breakfast are more alert in class. But to take that a little further, a student in better health and good physical condition will do better in school. Any change in your diet like skipping breakfast will have an immediate effect on your concentration. And the same think will hold true if you're not eating the right foods. The same thing holds true with the over 60 age group, if you’re in better shape, healthier you’re more alert, you’re vitals are better. You take less prescription drugs, spend less time in the doctor’s office and usually are happier and enjoy life more.

Don’t let the problems in your life control you. Once you lose your health, you can lose control of your life. Gaining weight will start the cycle that’s very hard to stop. Gaining weight is the first sign that you could be losing control. Get your health back, you’ll feel better, you’ll feel happier and your problems won’t seem so big. When you’re in the right frame of mind, you’ll find that dealing with life is a lot easier.

Researchers examined the responses of 476 working adults who were surveyed about their exercise behavior and their confidence in handling work-family conflicts. Those who exercised regularly seemed to experience an increased feeling of competence that carried over into work and home roles, the study authors said. "If, for example, you go for a two-mile jog or walk 10 flights of steps at work and feel good about yourself for doing that, it will translate and carry over into other areas of life," said study author Russell Clayton, an assistant professor of management at Saint Leo University in Florida. "We found that [participants] who exercised felt good about themselves, that they felt that they could accomplish tough tasks, and that carried over into work and family life," Clayton added. The study was published in an issue of the journal Human Resource Management.

Volumes of research have shown that exercise lowers mental and physical stress levels. Just over half (55 percent) of the study participants were women. In addition, the study noted, participants worked an average of 40 hours weekly and their average age was 41. About 29 percent had at least one child under age 18 living at home.

"The associations between exercise and work-life balance are there, and they're very strong," Clayton said.

For those who don't exercise regularly, the idea of adding that regimen to a busy schedule to improve stress levels may seem counterintuitive, Clayton noted.

But he advocates the idea of "stolen moments" for exercise that add up, such as climbing the stairs for five minutes or doing jumping jacks in 30-second spurts. I do jumping-jacks first thing in the morning before I get dressed. You can do a lot in one minute and after that your blood is pumping and your awake.

You should think of exercise as a kind of investment. If you put some time into physical activity, for example, 30 minutes a day, the productivity and mental focus you're going to get out of it is going to far exceed what you put into it, from a work and family perspective."

As you can tell, exercise plays a big role in lowering stress levels in your life and will help you to become a healthier, happier person.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Can't Do Yoga, Think Again

If you think you're not the yoga type, think again. Just about anyone can do it, and it's not about bending yourself into a pretzel.

For men and women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities, Yoga builds strength and balance. It's also a great way to ease stress. Yoga is the second most popular form of exercise next to walking.

"In a gym, you're really pushing yourself to go further when you're working out. In yoga, it's the opposite. The poses encourage all the range of motion that the body is designed to do," says Megan Dunne Krouse, a yoga instructor in Chicago.

Doing Yoga When You're Overweight

When Megan Garcia signed up for yoga at Smith College, she felt intimidated because she was the only overweight person in the class. She stuck with it, though, and noticed she started gaining strength, plus feeling and sleeping better, too.

Now she is a plus-sized model and Kripalu-certified yoga instructor who teaches in New York and specializes in teaching yoga to people of all shapes and sizes.

Garcia found that yoga changed her in unexpected ways. "Before I started doing yoga, I really lived life from the neck up," she says. "After yoga, I began to really feel at home in my skin. If I didn't have yoga, I can't imagine feeling so good in my body. Yoga has made it comfortable for me to sit on the floor, to twist, to bend. It grounds me in my body."

RaeAnn Banker, who owns River Yoga in Lahaska, PA, started taking yoga classes on her 42nd birthday as a present to herself.

"I was overweight, and since my mother was morbidly obese, I knew I better do something or I was going to end up just like her," Banker says.

"It took several months of driving by the yoga center before I got up the courage to go in. But once I started, I loved the classes. I was the weakest student in the class, but I kept going," Banker says. "I ended up losing 35 pounds over the next 2 years and becoming a yoga teacher. Yoga literally changed my life."

I personally started yoga at the age of 70. They were offering free classes at the senior center so I thought I'd try. I felt a little out-of-place at first, but after a few weeks, I was getting the hang of it. The instructor was older than me and most of the students were my age. After a few months, I started to lose body fat and build strength. The senior center only offers a class twice a week, but I do Yoga at home on the other days. I'm always trying to do the poses better each time. I don't have to go to class anymore. I know most of the poses but I go anyway, the instructor always adds new poses when she has time to fit them in. 

Today I'm a happier person who has more confidence and strength. I don't care how old I am, it's about how old you feel and I feel 30 years younger. If you're interested in changing your life I wrote two books on the subject.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Eating The Right Way To Lose Weight

A great post from VeryWell.com explains why diet is the important part of losing weight.

Forget about starving yourself, losing weight is about eating foods that burn more calories and stop eating and drinking the stuff that puts weight on.

Nutrition and weight loss go hand-in-hand. It really comes down to chemistry and math. Consume too many calories (energy), weight is gained. Creating a caloric deficit stimulates weight loss. Sounds fairly simple.

Everyone seems to be on the search for something quick and easy. Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs) are popular but disregard possible health risks. They are also very expensive. Seems like a risky high dollar cost to shed unwanted pounds.

I teach eating “real” quality food to maintain a fit physique and at a cost saving. Want to begin a healthy weight loss journey? Review what you're eating now in order to make healthy changes.

Healthy weight loss is no more than one to three pounds per week.

Time for a Lifestyle Change
Losing weight is a pretty straight forward process. It will require a nutrition lifestyle change together with regular exercise for best overall results. Quality healthy food choices are important.

Are you eating processed foods, dining out, drinking alcohol and soda regularly? Revising these choices will be important for success. Start by keeping a food journal. Write down what you're eating and sub out unhealthy meals for healthier selections.

Studies show people who maintain a consistent food journal have the best weight loss success. The journal allows for accountability. You will be able to repeat personal best weight loss weeks simply reviewing what has been recorded.

The Right Foods and Right Portions
Eating healthy should be enjoyable, taste great and never a burden. Essential nutrients for weight loss include lean proteins, fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats.

Eating correctly portioned meals is essential. A portion size is what can fit in the palm of your hand and simplifies eating healthy. It also reduces the need to continuously count calories.

Normal hunger occurs every two to three hours so many people take advantage of nutrient timing. Eating several small meals per day keeps our metabolism boosted. It also promotes satiety and eliminates urges to binge on guilt laden food.

Keeping the focus on consuming healthy foods will be the success in adopting a healthy lifestyle and reaching your goal weight.

Enjoy a Variety of Healthy Foods
There are a wide variety of healthy foods to satisfy the pickiest eater for weight loss and overall healthy lifestyle.

The following foods will be helpful to start your eat-right journey for successful weight loss.

Best Proteins
Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless) – 3.5oz, 30g
Turkey – 7g protein per ounce
Tuna – 6oz, 40
Salmon – 3.5oz, 27g
Halibut – 4oz, 30g
Trout – 4oz, 28g
Sardines – 4oz, 10g
Eggs (high in EFA) – 1 large, 7g
Milk – 1 cup, 8g (1% or skim, if tolerated)
Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup, 15g
Almonds 8g, Peanuts 9g, Cashews 5g – 1/4 cup
Peanut Butter – 2tbsp, 8g
Kefir – 14g per cup
Yogurt – 8-12g per cup
Tofu – ½ cup, 10g

Top Antioxidants
Blueberries - at least a fistful a day
All rich colored berries (strawberries/blackberries/raspberries/cranberries/aroniaberries)
Sweet potatoes – at least ½ cup serving daily
Broccoli – eat ½ cup raw or 1 cup cooked daily
Tomatoes – One medium
Acai – look for quality juice
Beans - Eat two 1/2 cup servings a day of cooked or canned beans
Oats (steel-cut is the best) - Eat at least three servings of whole grains per day. A serving equals one cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats
Spinach – one cup cooked spinach or leafy green vegetable per day
Dark chocolate - Eat a one-ounce serving daily
Red wine or Concord grape juice 4oz – 1 glass daily
Green and white tea – up to 4 cups daily

Eat Healthy Fats
Extra virgin olive oil
Coconut oil
Wild salmon (fresh, frozen and canned)
Ground flaxseeds
Flaxseed oil
Walnuts
Herring
Sardines
Sablefish
Anchovies
Farmed oysters
More »

Stay Consistent
In order to lose weight being consistent with healthy food intake will be necessary. There is no such thing as perfection and only progress.

Take one day at a time and know there will be slip-ups. If you do get off track, let it go and make a better choice with your next meal. Food guilt only drags us down and prevents moving in a positive direction.

Use the palm as your portion size, selecting healthy foods as listed above. Eating every two to three hours is a great beginning to reaching your goal weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Some Exercise Will Cause Weight Gain

Are you exercising and not really seeing the results you hoped for?

Maybe you're actually GAINING WEIGHT (very common, actually). Weight Lifting, for example, will cause you to bulk up and put on weight. Yes, weight loss exercise will help you to loss weight and inches.

Fact is, numerous research studies have shown that individuals who start on exercise programs actually subconsciously eat MORE calories due to the fact that exercise also stimulates your appetite.

This is why folks who begin exercising--without consciously getting their diet under control at the same time--often actually GAIN body fat. By eating the right foods your body will eat up the body fat  with just a minimal amount of extra activity, like an extra one hour of walking every day.

Do you want to put in the time and the effort in the gym to GAIN weight? Some people do but not me.

Actually that's what happens to more people then you might think. I had the same problem. I was getting too heavy and the first think I thought of was joining a gym. So I spent $40 a month for many years and got nowhere. I’d lose a little and then gain it back and the cycle would repeat itself over and over.

Finally my wife told me I wasn’t counting my calories and I was eating the wrong things. "Exercise is good for your heart not your waistline.” Finally I started to listen to some of that advice and slowly straightened out my diet. I wasn’t very happy about it though. I had to stop drinking alcohol. I’m a guy and I like beer, but I knew if I didn’t stop drinking I’d never lose any weight. The good part is you don’t have to give it up forever. Only until you lose the weight.

Now that I lost the body fat I wanted to lose, I drink in moderation. One or two drinks a day and I’m not gaining any weight. The trick is moderation of course, but by losing the body fat my body burns more calories naturally so those extra calories don’t bother me. I know it sounds crazy, but the more body fat you have the less calories your body burns. That’s why heavy people can eat like a bird and still don’t lose weight, their not burning any calories. The heavier you are the less activity you want to be because your tired all the time. It’s the cycle that keep fat people fat. And besides that, when you're heavy your body is using all it's available energy just to keep the extra body fat alive, so walk around all day tired.

I know many people overweight and they don’t really understand why thin people can stay thin and heavy people stay heavy. Thin people will burn more calories then heavy people mostly because thin people are more active, but if your heavy you can do something about it. First, take a good look at your diet and cut out foods or drinks with no nutritional value. Why would you pay for food or drinks if it doesn’t help your body, if it has no nutritional value. Your wasting your money. If you eat the right food you will lose weight. Yes, calories are important, but some meal plans will let you eat all you want. Just stick to the plan. And some plan say you can eat anything in moderation. That's the key word"moderation". Those are usually starvation diets, so be careful. I like the plans you can eat all you want just stick to the plan. The food pyramid shown below are all fresh food. Make food choices from the pyramid and stick to it and you will lose fat. Nothing happens overnight so be patient and as your body gets used to the diet you will lose inches. Stick to the plan, that's the secret.



Forget about those foods that only taste good. Those foods are just empty calories. Eat fresh foods. Read about the “Mediterranean Diet” on the internet or go to my other blogs and look under “diets”. The website is “blogonlosingweight.blogspot.com"
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My new ebook is in online bookstores now. You can go to Amazon.com and type the title in the search bar: How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight? The price is $3.99. I think you'll find it interesting. I write about myself and my battle with weight and all the mistakes I made and how you can avoid the mistakes and lose the unwanted body fat.

The ebook is also at http://barnesandnoble.com and they have a special introductory offer right now $2.99. Also available on Ibooks, Kobo, Scribd, and others worldwide.
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The New Year's Resolution

This is the one big promise we make to ourselves every year but seldom keep. I can't speak for everyone, but for the ones obsess with losing weight, don't make that resolution about the bathroom scale. If this is the promise you have been making for years, "this is the year I'm going to lose weight", it's time for a change. This year you want to promise your going to "live a healthier life".

Step off the scale now and no one will get hurt. Focusing just on weight loss can lead to cycles of losing and regaining weight, lower self-esteem, and a preoccupation with food and body image.

“You’ll do better if you have goals that have to do not with weight, but with health,” says Carol Landau, Ph.D., clinical professor of psychiatry and medicine at the Alpert Medical School, Brown University. While a New Year’s resolution is a great way to get in touch with what’s important and how you want to change, “Most diets don’t work,” she says.

“A focus on weight loss tends to result in a quick-fix approach to a permanent challenge,” she says. “Instead, focus on finding health results in lifestyle changes that are more likely to last.”

The irony is, if you make your resolutions about wellness, rather than weight, you may get the best of both worlds: You’ll feel better, get healthier and yes, lose weight. By eating the right foods and being more active your body will burn up that excess body fat.

"The reason most people fail to lose weight is that they don't realize that it's their lifestyle that caused them to gain the excess body fat and it's their lifestyle that prevents them from losing their fat." In most all cases when an adult gains weight it's because they're gain body fat.

Good: Resolve to change daily behaviors

“If you’re totally inactive, it may be walking a mile every day". “If you’re already pretty active, it might be training to run a 5k race.” Or it could be a promise to cut out processed foods. Let your goals be achievable and based on things you can actually do, rather than weight-loss results. It could be eating a healthy breakfast every morning, or eating fish twice a week and making sure you sit down when you eat.

You might resolve to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal of the day. Eating more fruits and vegetables, along with drinking plenty of water and walking daily, has been shown to be a pretty powerful combo when it comes to weight-loss success. But that’s not your concern now. Before you get there, your goal is to create a healthy habit you can sustain. Same goes for exercise: Your goal is to create a habit that will improve the health of your body and mind.

You won’t have to rely on the scale to know if you’ve been successful, either. If you have an orange at breakfast, a salad at lunch and a green vegetable at dinner, you’ve won. Took a 20-minute walk during your lunch break? Pat yourself on the back. Any improvements you can make in your diet or your activity level will improve your health.

That said, The more improvements you make the quicker the results. Yes, any small improvements will help over the long term, but big improvements can show results in a short amount of time.

When I first decided to "get healthy" I stopped eating my normal diet and started to eat a low-fat, low-carb diet of meat and vegetables. Oatmeal for breakfast and a salad for lunch. That it. I didn't skimp on food, I ate a small amount of food every two hours or so. Between my three basic meals I'd eat fruit or a yogurt cup. I was eating 6 times a day in small quantities. I never got hungry. I was eating all fresh foods. That alone will curb your appetite. Fresh food is more sadisfying than manufactured food and yogurt is manufactured, but I stuck to Greek yogurt, it has less sugar and has more protein. Eating protein is important and you should try and eat protein at every meal.

I write several blogs, Check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog

idropped40pounds.wordpress.com

howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com

blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

5 Reasons To Eat Real Food

This is a great post that I'm re-blogging from the 'MyFitnessPal' website. The post is about the 
advantages of Clean Eating. This is only a portion of a larger post that I hope to reblog at a later date.  For people who want to have a better diet but don't know were to start, this article should help you.

1. Eat “healthier” without thinking about it. It’s useful to think of food as nutrients (macro- and   micronutrients) so we can better understand our body. When it comes to healthy eating, it’s more useful to think of food simply as food. Choosing “real” foods lets you eat healthier from a nutrient perspective without thinking too much about nutrients.

2. Redefine your relationship with food. Do you find yourself labeling food as “good” or “bad” based on a predefined notion of what healthy eating looks like? Nothing should always be that black and white, least of all a healthy relationship with food. Choosing real foods forces you to reevaluate the foods you think are healthy (aka processed foods labeled “low fat,” “sugar-free” and so forth). That being said, if you’re willing to buy real food ingredients to bake a cake, you should be able to enjoy a slice of dessert without a side of guilt.

3. Get the most nutrients out of the foods you’re eating. Processing foods usually removes or destroys valuable nutrients. The two exceptions are fortified foods (think: orange juice with added vitamin D) and preserved foods (think: canned and frozen). Choosing mostly real foods helps you maximize the nutrients you get from the foods you eat.

4. Cook, connect and celebrate with friends and family. Real food means real cooking! Since real foods come in the most natural form, it pushes you to be creative in preparing and cooking your meals. Cooking is an essential skill when it comes to living a healthy life. Since good food is a cause for celebration, get your friends and family members involved if you can.

5. Live a longer, healthier life. “You are what you eat” is a simple mantra capturing the impact that diet quality has on your quality of life. Eating mostly real foods will decrease your chances of getting a debilitating chronic disease like heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer. After all, the goal of being physically healthy is to live a long life whilst avoiding these pitfalls. 

I think people have forgotten that first line in #5, 'You are what you eat'.  This phase isn't new. I remember being in school some 50 years ago and reading the same thing. I think people use to pay more attention to what they ate. Today all we look for is convenience and price. Isn't that the real problem with our overweight population? We want to spend more time relaxing and less time worrying about our health or our appearance.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.