America is becoming more and more obese. Its a fact.
Not to mention, its getting worse and worse every year.
But how is America managing this? By diet pill commericals and reducing the size varieties in clothing stores.
If you are like me, your wardrobe has now been reduced to about 2 stores at the mall...and Victoria's Secret is NOT one of them! Not to mention, the stores we CAN still shop at just happen to be conveniently more expensive than most others. awesome.
America must think this is going to motivate us to lose weight? nope.
In fact, its going to make us freak out and turn directly to diet pills, starvation, or purging.
Truth is, the majority of people who are overweight dont understand fully WHY they are overweight.
Not to mention, our culture doesnt really promote this type of healthy lifestyle anyway.
After reading Skinny Bitch, I had a new understanding for the importance of whole foods in our diet. When treated properly, your body works as a perfect machine. But your stomach and pancreas are not scientists. Can you look at an Oreo and tell me exactly whats in it? If so, when broken down, can you tell me exactly which parts of the body can utilize that oreo? Well if you cant tell me, than lets just assume your organs cant either.
Our bodies were designed to understand REAL food....food that grows from the ground or has a mother (as Jillian Michaels would say it). When fed real food, your body will understand what to do with it....what can be used for energy right away...what can be stored as fat...and what can be filtered out by the liver.
Bridal Bootcamp's personal trainer Carlos Aprea once told me: " when you go to the grocery store, you are only allowed to shop around the outside edges of the store....try not to go in the aisles. you wont find anything in the aisles that will help you lose weight."
Skinny Bitch also made me realize the importance of ORGANIC.
Before I go on, I know what you are thinking. "I cant afford organic". Shut up - you just dropped $40 on a new shirt with hopes of it flattering your oversized gut. I dont want to hear it. This is your health.
The book talked about all the chemicals and pesticides farmers have to spray on their crop and how these chemicals effect our hormones....preventing us from losing weight. Understanding how our hormones help us lose weight is an important read. Jillian Michaels really breaks it down in her book "Manage your Metabolism". Your hormones effect your metabolism...and when your hormones are out of wack....so is your metabolism...preventing you from losing weight. Not to mention, hormonal imbalances can lead you straight to icky diseases....like diabetes, high blood pressure, infertility, and even cancer to name a few. Going organic reduces your intake of hormones.
Same thing with meat. non-organic meat is filled with chemicals, pesticides, and steriods. I'll leave it up to you to read Jillian Michael's Manage your Metabolism book to understand the effects of those on your body. Otherwise, I'd be writing this blog post forever.
But I'm not a nutritionist. this is MY blog. So I'll tell you what I did and what has been working for me so far.
I switched to a "select vegetarian" diet. vegetables + fruit+ ocean fish. making everything as organic as possible. If I am going to get rid of fat, I might as well get rid of the chemicals while I'm at it.
After analyzing my "old" style of eating...I realized I had less than 10% whole foods in my diet. I.E.- Why would I eat an apple when I can have processed fruit snacks? it tastes better. Why would I eat eggs in the morning when I can have a quick bowl of processed cereal? I'll be hungry in less than an hour and will most likely buy something from the vending machine...but I dont have time to cook before I go to work in the morning.
The horror of this realization made me want to eat as many fruits and vegetables that I could get my hands on!
Like I said earlier, you can buy organic meat. I didnt stop eating meat for animal cruelty reasons or anything like that....(PETA, dont come after me...)...I just wanted to limit my chemical intake...and lets face it...there is less calories in black bean burrito than there are in a plate full of plain boring chicken.
win-win.
so more whole FRUIT. more whole VEGETABLES. nothing canned...nothing processed...just good ol' WHOLE stuff that I have to wash and peel and possibly cook.
Everything refined and enriched is now in my trash can. I eat carbs. I definitely eat carbs....but its all 100% whole wheat. I switched my milk to almond milk for more nutrients. I swapped my yellow cheese in for white cheese....and then look for the fish that is "in season"....limiting my intake of "farm raised" whenever possible. my condiments are all organic (eliminating high fructose corn syrup) and I try to make my own salad dressings whenever possible.
add in exercise and WALA! - I am magically losing a steady 2 pounds a week.
Mind you- I have not been able to lose a single pound in the past 4 years.
you have to eat right and exercise. you cant screw this process up.
there is no such thing of dieting without moving your ass. you will just gain it all back in the end.
you can not exercise and go get taco bell after....you wont see any results.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment