Cleansing is the answer to diets. Regular cleansing takes care of diets–throws them in the trash.  American, though, are still obsessed.

My Oprah magazine just came. The cover story for the September issue, is ”Finding the diet that fits your life. 

Americans have a love/hate relationship with food. We’re dieting, counting calories, watching our weight, continually on some diet or restricted food plan. And yet, a high percentage of us are not only overweight, but obese.

Why do we have so much trouble with food?

Why can’t we relax and enjoy something that’s such a big part of living? Other cultures don’t seem to have these American hangups.  Look at the French, for example, and you’ll see a lot of slender French people eating gobs of saturated fat washed down with wine. These are a people who have a relationship to food completely different from ours, according to Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food.

The French eat small portions, don’t come back for seconds, and they spend considerably more time eating than we do. Taken together, these habits contribute to a food culture in which the French consume fewer calories than we do, yet manage to enjoy them far more,” page 183.

COUNTING CALORIES, RESTRICTING FOOD LOWERS METABOLISM

Americans avoid certain foods and then binge on processed sweets and high-fat items. Then we avoid those “bad” foods again,  and binge again. Back to avoidance…Round and round we go.
The food industry research that seems to say certain foods are bad for health. Certain foods are harmful to us, but it’s the processed stuff that causes problems, not natural, whole, real food. The only way out of this food dilemma is to avoid processed food and eat whole, natural, real food.
Restricting food/calories is not the answer. Your body needs protein, fat, and carbohydrate. Natural, whole foods contain a balance of all three because your body requires all three in a perfect balance. 
When you seriously restrict calories your body lowers metabolism and goes into starvation mode to save your life. Then every molecule of food, whether it be carbohydrate, fat, or protein, is stored.
Continue to eat food, but make it real, whole food, not processed frankenfood. 
Any food packaged, containing ingredients you can’t pronounce, should be left in the store. Don’t buy it. Eat whole, real food, organic and local, if possible.
Processed food is produced to make someone money, not to nourish your body. Processed ingredients do not nourish; they “fool” the body into thinking it’s full. They “fool” the brain into thinking it’s receiving nutrients.  Since it’s not real food, there is no real nourishment. Vital nutrients are lacking, nutrients your body must have to function. 
  • Drink a large glass of water first thing in the morning to hydrate your brain. Continue drinking water throughout the day.
  • Follow with breakfast, containing high-quality protein along with carbohydrate and fat.
  • Have a 100 calorie snack about 10:00 a.m. (raw nuts, celery, carrots, vegetables, nut butters, tuna, and crackers.)
  • Drink water throughout the day.
  • At Lunch include high quality protein with carbohydrate and fat. 
  • It’s another snack at 3:00 p.m. Aim for 3 snacks and 3 balanced meals every day.
  • Evening meal around 5:30, or 6:00.
  • Snack at 8:00 if you head for bed around 10:00.

EAT MORE FOOD TO RELEASE MORE FAT

  1. Three 100-calorie snacks a day. Eat more to get best results because you don’t want to go more than 3 hours without eating something with protein. If you restrict calories, don’t eat, your body will lower metabolism and drop into starvation mode.
  2. Avoid processed food, anything with high fructose corn syrup, long chemical names. These products are not food. Much of what we see in our groceries is a chemical rearrangement of three ingredients: corn, soy, and wheat, not real food.  When Pollan says, “Eat food, not too much, mostly vegetables,” he’s not referring to processed food which is fake.
  3. Don’t avoid good fats found in eggs from open-range chickens, avocados, coconut, healthy fish, olilve oil, and butter from grass-finished cows. America’s diet is devoid of Omega-3 fatty acids that are very important to all aspects of good health.
  4. Take time to prepare food, eat slowly, and enjoy it with someone you love.
 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post