Weight loss

Hello Sonoma, I guess the fact that you decided to read this means that you have some sort of interest in the topic of weight loss. I commend you for braving this vast and often confusing subject, as you search for a revelation in the never-ending battle to stay trim.

High protein, low-carb, no-fat, low-cal, which is it? There are thousands of books out there about weight loss, yet waist sizes continue to grow. Diseases related to obesity are on the rise at alarming rates, while the weight loss industry’s sales are skyrocketing. What gives besides our waistlines?

Here’s the skinny. We are over-fed and under-nourished. The amount of nutrients per calorie has greatly decreased with the invention of factory-processed foods and commercialized farming. Unfortunately, we have failed to address the “root” of the problem – no pun intended – yet we have made an industry of weight conscious madness. Yes, folks, there is big money in the weight loss industry, and it’s not going to education and prevention, as it should be, which means you have to take matter into your own hands.

But how? How about by making sure you eat nutrients, not empty calories. A healthy metabolism requires lots of nutrients, so with each calorie, we need to get as many nutrients as possible. Whole Foods market has a list on their website of what they call the world’s healthiest foods. It features 130 foods that are considered to be nutrient-rich. I suggest you download and fill your diet with these foods as much as possible. Remember, the more you process or cook something the more it loses its nutritional value, so try to incorporate as many raw and fresh foods as possible.

Other weight loss tips: drink water, not sugar or fake sweeteners. Reduce toxins, such as coffee, alcohol, fried foods, and fake colors and preservatives. Exercise at least 30 minutes per day. Avoid so called diet foods or lite foods, which usually have harmful chemicals replacing the sugars and fats.

Okay, let’s see what you learned. Take this quiz and see if you are on the right track to good weight management habits:

• A salad from McDonalds is good choice since it is a salad. True or False.
• Low-cal frozen dinners are a good option as a dinner choice. True or false.
• Diet Snapple is better than regular Snapple. True or false.
• Yoplait Yogurt and granola is a healthy breakfast. True or false.
• Gatorade is a healthy option for kids in sports. True or false.
If you answered false to all of the above you are correct. Remember, we are talking about maximizing nutrients and reducing chemicals that are unnatural to the body. All foods above are low in nutrients per calorie and high in chemicals and/or sugars.
Better options would be:
• Stop at Whole Foods salad bar, for a little more money, your nutrient per calorie is much higher.
• Prepare the meal yourself with high quality ingredients from the healthy foods list.
• Neither Diet Snapple nor Snapple yields much nutrition per calorie and both are harmful due to sugar or fake sugars. Drink water!
• Yogurt is one of those foods that can be healthy when done right. Not all yogurts are created equal. Yoplait is high in sugar or fake sugars and yields minimal nutrition. If you love yogurt learn to love the healthy stuff. How do you know it’s healthy? You will most likely not like the taste, because it will be sour, not sweet. Granola, again, cooked, processed, grains that are sweetened. Not the best bang for your nutrition per calorie buck. Try a hard-boiled egg with tomatoes and fresh fruit.
• Gatorade, I love this one. I see kids walking around drinking this as if it were water. Again, the benefits don’t even come close to the deficits of this product. I’ll start with fake colors and end with refined sugars. How about coconut water instead to replenish electrolytes?
If you would like to join my two week cave man diet program in November, you will learn first-hand how to maximize your nutrients per calorie intake. For more information on this subject please call 343.1102.
Be well!