A touchy subject….ranks right up there with politics, religion, and your momma…as far as things not to talk about, but I believe it is one of the most important discussions that we could have with our friends, families and even coworkers.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm
But according to the statistics on that page, the leading causes, by a long shot, of death in our country are lifestyle related…..in fact last year there were ten times as many deaths by Heart Disease than by Terrorist Attacks….yet our focus in the media would have you believe Osama was a far greater threat to the U.S. than Ronald McDonald…or for that matter than our own lack of self-control. It’s not even just the media’s fault. While we fill ourselves up with triple vented frappalatte’s our topics of conversation are all too often completely unoriginal regurgitated samplings of what we watched on fox news or CNN, depending on which side of the fence we lean…we complain about our country as if it is an unloved uncle who comes to the family reunions, hungover if not still drunk, and sits in the corner mumbling to himself during dinner. We, for the most part, have little to no respect whatsoever for our government, if we did, we wouldn’t accept the fact that they “lie” to us daily. You cannot respect something that you believe is built on false pretenses. At any rate, the question everyone should be asking…. why are you continuing to eat like that when you know that it is killing you?
Is that harsh? Perhaps. Perhaps we might look in the mirror and ask ourselves the same question. I’m sure addicts of other drugs do it all the time. (I would like to think so at least) But somehow the high they get is so much better than anything else.
I know what you are thinking…” I am not an addict.”
Yes, you are. You are addicted to sugar.
Ok. Now those of you who still hung on, after all of that, how do I convince you through this post that you are indeed addicted to sugar, perhaps we can rename your addiction carbohydrates but in some ways that is a little 6 of one half a dozen of another…..I digress….if you do not think you are addicted to sugar, I issue a small challenge…go without it for 24 hours and see how you feel.
that means no:
Bread
Pasta
Muffins
Bagels
Cookies
Crackers
Rice
Potatoes
Cereal
Ice Cream
Candy
Milk
Yogurt
Juice
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Glucose
Fructose
Tums
Chewy Multi Vitamins
Most Drinks at Starbucks
Alcohol
…..just off the top of my head….oh…and of course no SUGAR
Give that a shot for a day or two and see if you don’t feel like mainlining 6 frosties from Wendy’s.
So there is what you have to give up….although I’m thinking the term have to give up is crazy. It is kind of like …”what do you mean I have to give up Crack?” you should think look at that list of things that I “get” to give up…..how awesome is that? That small adjustment in your self-talk could make all the difference. Imagine how empowered you will feel when you start eating real food. Real food……think about that for a second….I am telling you by giving up those things and by eating these things, whole organic, colorful veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds and a bit of fruit here and there….not only will you be eating well….but you will be eating the “real Food” that your body desires, and those foods are chock full of not only the macronutrients that you need most, fat and protein, but also plenty of micronutrients *vitamins and minerals* to boot….how crazy is that? A quote that has been tossed around I will paraphrase here…think of what you should eat like this. If your 15000-year-old cousins from back in the day were to step into your kitchen today I would want you to eat only what they would recognize as food.
so……there is your assignment…. what if we just do this. How about you start from tomorrow morning, and we take it day by day….
I can promise you this. After about 2 weeks of it…you will not want to go back……
Thanks for reading.
best of health