I heard someone say this the other day... "Those are daddy's breakfast for tomorrow" he had two breakfast cereal bars sitting on the counter. I wont mention the brand but I will show you the ingredients:
Breakfast Bar Ingredients:
What is all that?? How about I go and research each one of those ingredients one by one and see what they are and how they affect the body. No thanks! I'd rather eat clean... and have an apple, eggs, and oatmeal for breakfast. I know what the ingredients are in that: apple, egg, and oats! Sounds pretty clean!
I do know this... meals should never come out of a package unless the ingredients are natural and under five ingredients!
During college I studied international marketing and actually lived in a foreign country. I lived on my own in Mikkeli, Finland for the very first time in my life and with that, bringing all the responsibilities of living alone such as paying bills, buying groceries, cleaning, etc. In a foreign country, when you don't speak the language, it's hard to read the package labels but it is easy to spot what you know, like apples, vegetables, meats, and fish. Another good thing about the grocery store in Finland was that it was about a 1/3 of the size of the grocery stores here in the states. Why? Because they didn't have all the isles of man-made processed (packaged) foods. It was eye opening to me as to why Americans are so overweight.
What is our solution? Eating clean! Stick to the perimeter of a grocery store, grabbing the fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, fish, and whole grains. Eating clean is wonderful way of life. You eat the foods nature intended for our bodies to function best on, and that make you feel and look great! When you eat clean your body will balance out by losing weight if needed, gaining if you're too skinny, and/or maintaining a healthy weight if that's where you are. Eating clean is what nature intended, you will never have to count calories again, and you will begin to know what your body needs and craves.
So without judgement on yourself or anyone else... go through your pantry and read all the packaged food labels (ingredient list) and get rid of all the packages that have:
Trans Fats - Anything with the words: "Partially hydrogenated," "fractionated," or "hydrogenated"(fully hydrogenated fats are not a heart threat, but some trans fats are mislabeled as "hydrogenated"). The higher up the phrase "partially hydrogenated oil" is on the ingredient list, the MORE of this ingredient there is in the product. Toss it and lower your heart attack risk by up to 50%! Replace bad fats with good fats such as fish oils, avocados, nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, & pumpkin seeds.
Refined Carbs - White bread, rolls, sugary low-fiber cereal, white rice, and white pasta! Toss them all and ward off high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks, insulin resistance, diabetes, and belly fat!!
So what can you replace that with...? Whole grain breakfast cereal (not wheat flour!), popcorn, oatmeal, brown rice, bulgar, kasha, and beans & lentils. A caution to the wise... some people still have problems with whole grains if they are gluten intolerant. There are blood tests that can be done to see what types of foods and/or additives you are allergic to. It's money well spent!
Sweeteners - High-fructose corn syrup & aspartame. Toss it! Research is suggesting that these man-made ingredients upset the body's metabolism and insulin levels raising the risk for heart disease and diabetes. Researcher suggest that these ingredients encourage over eating because your body doesn't know how to process it. The body over reacts when you eat high-fructose corn syrup and the liver pumps more heart-threatening triglycerides into the bloodstream. Additionally, this ingredient zaps the body's reserves of chromium, a mineral important for helping the body maintain healthy levels of cholesterol, insulin, and blood sugar.
Get rid of the soda's and especially diet sodas! Learn to love water... add lemon, add lime, add strawberries, cucumbers, or orange slices and your water will never have tasted better!
Change can be tough... so start slow, and allow yourself a treat every now and then! Get rid of the BAD foods in your house so that on a daily basis they are NOT in your face and easy to grab! Stop buying them and start making the healthy choice.
Live long and in time, you will start loving the way you feel and look!
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