What's Going On?

I was looking through my mom's old pictures and it struck me, everyone is skinny.  Really skinny by today's standards.  I was a baby in these pics...1967.  Once I got past the shag haircuts and double knit bell bottoms I realized there were no overweight people in any of these pictures.  I looked at my pictures when my daughter was a baby and EVERYONE was fat.  Especially me!   What is that about?  What happened in just 30 years time?

Two words...convenience food.  Mom's went back to work.  Families got busy ( busier ) and the food industry responded....responded with an abundance of pre packaged foods designed to "simplify" our lives and fast food restaurants that are "time savers."  The problem is...none of it is real food.  I mean, sure, we can eat it.  But that doesn't make it food.  My friend's daughter used to eat sand.  

I think we should all be eating real food.  If it comes in a box with an expiration date, it's not food, it's chemistry.  Food spoils.  Food wilts.  Food does not stay on the shelf for seven years.  Food does not have a list of ingredients.  Food has one ingredient.  Like apple.  Like broccoli.  Like chicken.  Real food is very close to it's natural state.  What is the natural state of a Cheeto?  Or Captain Crunch?  Food manufacturers put together edible substances in unnatural ways.  Then they throw in some cheap trans fat and high fructose corn syrup to make it addictive.  That  stuff can stay in our pantries for years ( and on our waistlines too! )

 

All of this processed, packaged food that we eat is garbage.  It's high calories, high in fat, high in sodium, high in sugar.  It's low in vitamins, low in minerals, low in fiber.  The truth is, our bodies just don't know what to do with that stuff.  It clogs our arteries, raises our blood pressure, increases our blood sugar and insulin levels and it MAKES US FAT.  Too bad it TASTES SO GOOD.  That's why we keep eating it.  The food industry knows what they're doing.  If they keep us coming back for more, it's more money for them.  They don't call it an industry for nothin'!!!   

 

It's easy enough to find real food.  You've heard me say to shop the perimeter of your grocery store and stay out of the isles.  Stick to produce department and the butchers counter.  You can also go to the farmers market on the weekend.  Blah Blah Blah.  But the sad fact remains, you HAVE to spend some time in your kitchen.  ( Real food doesn't cook itself now, does it?  Bummer! )  Don't let that scare you.  You don't have to be competing for your own Food Network show.  Keep it simple.  Grill your meat and steam your vegetables and you're done.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice and you're a gourmet :)  A skinny one at that! lol!

 

If you are like me and will eat anything, you are in luck.  Fresh veggies and salad and leans meats will make you happy.  If you are a picky eater and stick to chicken nuggets and mac n cheese, well then you have some work ahead of you.  But your taste buds will change, and once you are off the junk food for a while you will begin to enjoy the healthy stuff more and more.  One of our super star patients at Total Family Healthcare and Wellness, I'll call her Y,  wouldn't eat one vegetable when she first started.  Not one.  I asked her to eat cucumbers every day the first week.  She did.  Now she has lost 90 lbs and 24% body fat.  More importantly, she LIKES veggies now.  So put down the Twinkie and eat some cucumbers!!!