Over the past couple of months I have been trying to lose weight and reshape my body. My target is, of course, to look good on my wedding day. But my overarching goal in this plan is optimal health. Success so far is 3 pounds and 5.5″ gone. Not astounding results by any means, but considering that I am making minor but sustainable long-term lifestyle adjustments, the results look very very good.
As the above is my focus, I have been reading and researching a lot lately about different food choices, diets and lifestyles focused on food choices. And believe me, this is not hard to do. It seems our Western society is obsessed with this topic. The number of food bloggers alone on the internet is astounding.
Vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, primal, paleo, South Beach, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Flat Belly….these are just a few of the diets I have either tried or researched over many years. The often contradictory advice out there is most confusing. Carbs = good; Carbs = bad; Fat = good; Fat = bad; High protein, high fat, low carb; high carb, low fat, low protein…..etc. etc.
Two things I know for sure (my goddess, I sound like Oprah…sorry!) from all my research thus far:
1) Fresh fruits and vegetables are common to all scientifically sound diets out there.
2) We are so so fortunate to live in a time and part of the world where we actually have the luxury to have a choice about what to eat, rather than just being grateful to have enough to eat. Not everyone on the planet can say that. Something to remember every time I sit down to a meal.
Proud of you pal for doing this. Its something we ALL should be doing, I think – taking responsibilty for our health thru diet & exercise. Requires some research, but well worth it. After all, once you find out what your body requires & runs best on, you DO lose weight & feel so much better. Plus helps stave off illness & disease.
I've found out most grains (except rice, corn & millet) make me feel very ill. As do most food preservatives & additives. Refined sugar in any quantity. Dairy has a number of negative effects (though I still eat cheese). Switched to organic coconut oil & Olive oil. Works better for me. Soy, though some say is healthy, certainly isn't for me and most of what we have available is too highly processed & contains too much chemical residue. For me it's an instant weight-gain formula and causes arthritus like symptoms overnight.
It pays to pay attention to how you feel after you eat something. Your body will try and tell you what doesn't work… the hard part is getting your diet clean enough in the 1st place to be able to listen to it.
How are your nails growing? I recall you wanted to have long strong ones….. I have something here I have been meaning to mail as an early B'day gift, that may help with that.
Anyway pal… I certainly salute your efforts in the better-health direction!
Thanks pal – appreciate the feedback and insight!
There are a lot of people who say grains are not good for us. Even whole grains. Especially in the amounts we consume them. That evolutionarily speaking, our bodies can't handle them efficiently. I've been pondering that for a while, also my addictive love of carbs like wheat, rice and cornmeal! Need to tame my inner carb monster again I think.
About the nails, they seem pretty strong – not sure why the change?? I've recently cut them down as they were getting so long they were even creeping me out! But I do want to grow long them again. What is this miracle stuff of which you speak, hmmm?
I'll try and get off my fanny and send it to you- it's been sitting on my kitchen table for umm… weeks now.
Lafang