Explore2Learn
United States
The most important freedom in your life is your good health, without it you have no other freedom at all. Cut right through all the media hype and people selling miracle cures to line their pockets. Go straight to the source of real nutrition information that you can not just live by, but thrive on.
Normal people in America eat a normal American diet and get normal American diseases like obesity, heart attacks, and diabetes; and suffer normal American old age pains like arthritis, and osteoporosis and surgeries.
For real freedom, you have to break out of that kind of normal.
Real food is the key. Eat whole (unprocessed) fruits and veggies (cooked and raw), and cooked whole grains. Processed foods (like cheese, packaged dinner mixes, and juice) are too concentrated in calories and fats to use as normal food, the more processed the worse for your health. Processing removes the real vitamins, micro-nutrients and fiber that your body needs to be able to judge it's own food intake and calorie needs. High fat foods make you fat, so to lower your weight and still eat to satisfaction, you must change the composition of foods on your plate. Choose foods that are fresh and clean like Veggies, fruits, potatoes, beans and rice, and you will feel and look fantastic while eating as much as your body needs. No guilt, no pain, no suffering.
Changing what you eat will help you prevent or manage serious illnesses, get off many prescription drugs, and lose weight. It's the type of food that will make the biggest lasting difference in your life, not the quantity, the exercise, or the vitamin supplements. You can excercise for fun and fitness, but it is not the most important part of succesful long term weight management.
Remember running, climbing, and playing sports as a kid? The fun is still there, we just have to get off the treadmill and go outside, preferably with friends and family.
The Slow Fat Triathlete: Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now is a book that I read recently about the fun of moving, and exercise as a means to an end. It is for everyone, not just triathletes, and it is funny, and inspiring.
The other very important part of exercise & play is they help you maintain functional independence as you get older. You need to maintain the strength, balance, flexibility, and aerobic endurance you have now (or improve it) so you can still be independent as you get older. Many injuries that can disable older people can be prevented by keeping a basic level of fitness.
Make the changes as small or big as you want, but they all add up.
Enjoy a fresh salad with a no fat dressing before your lunch
Have a bowl of soup before dinner (choose one that has less than 15% of it's calories from fat)
Add fresh fruit before breakfast
Change the composition of your plate to 50% veggies, 25% potato or rice and 25% of a more calorie dense food such as beans, or casseroles, stews, or lasagna type dishes (or lean meats if you are not ready to toss the meat yet.)
Make a few simple changes and you can feel the difference. Make the commitment to the whole thing at once and you need to talk to your doctor first so you can monitor them taking you off your meds for good. Real food is that powerful a medicine.
Explore2Learn
United States