Cut it Out
For most of my life, I had been under the impression that I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and still be fit and healthy. I was all, “I can eat four pieces of deep-dish pizza and breadsticks with a pint of ice cream for dessert and wash it all down with a giant Gatorade. I’ll just do an extra 30 minutes on the elliptical tomorrow.” You know, calories in/calories out.
Because I’ve always enjoyed working out, I reasoned I would simply exercise extra super-duper hard the next day. And I did.
And for a while, that worked for me. Right up until the day it stopped working.
There is a magical little metabolism switch—probably nestled behind the uterus somewhere—that flips automatically when a woman blows out the candles on her Crisco-frosted 40th birthday cake. There isn’t anything she can do to stop it, except have wonderful skinny genes
(not to be confused with skinny jeans, but they are closely related).
If you are a skinny-gene/jean girl, you are dismissed from reading the rest of this post. At the age of 65, you, my genetically-thin friend, will still cluelessly, yet blissfully be polishing off all the edges from the brownie pan; all the while, successfully rocking your mini-skirt and your 2-piece bathing suit. Enjoy those brownies, Girlfriend, because you will have no friends—we will all hate you, mark my words.
I am not bitter.
Though I jest about the weight thing, please don’t misunderstand me: It’s not just about being thin! It is also about having a strong heart, strong muscles and strong bones. It’s about having energy and stamina to work hard and carry out your God-given calling. It’s about glowing skin, shiny hair and bright eyes. It’s about reducing your risk of developing just about every disease known to man.
Therefore, for the remainder of this 31-Day series, we’re going to be talking all about food--what to cut out of and what to add into your diet for maximum health.
Paying close attention to what we put in our mouths is probably the single-most important aspect of staying healthy. If we want to remain fit and healthy into mid-life and beyond, we have to cut some things out of our diets. Probably for-like-EVER. But you can do a little at a time. It's a process. Just keep moving forward, that's the important thing.
I feel like a broken record with this next list, but just in case any of you haven't heard, here is a list of things you should eliminate from your diet, completely:
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils --Mostly in processed baked-goods and fried foods, but also hidden in many other processed foods. Also in Crisco-frosting, by the way. Read your labels, people. I just saw it on the package of barbeque- flavored sunflower seeds my daughter was eating! It’s poison. Don’t eat it.
Artificial sweeteners—Aspartame (Equal), Sucralose (Splenda), Saccharine (Sweet n Low). If a “sweet” product says “sugar-free” on the package, it has one of these. This is especially present in “diet foods.” Just saw it last night in a jar of protein powder from the “organic” section of our supermarket. It’s in sugar-free gum. It’s in Crystal-Light. It’s in diet soda. It’s poison. Don’t eat it.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup—A man-made sweetener with zero nutritional value. It is in most processed foods, even ones that are only mildly sweet or not sweet at all. Weird. You know the drill. It’s poison. Don’t eat it.
All sodas, diet or otherwise—Speaking of zero-nutritional value… there is nothing redeemable in soda. Absolutely nuthin. It doesn’t even effectively hydrate you. I know a whole lotta you drink soda (I’m looking at my husband right now), and I know it’s addictive. But for the love of humanity, please stop. It’s yuk. “Yuk” is scientific for “gross.”
Notice, if you eat a diet of whole foods, none of the preceding foods are an issue. Not-a-one.
Tomorrow, I’ll give you a list of foods you should greatly reduce and eventually eliminate all-together. There’s lots of differing opinions about the next list. I will give you mine. Because it’s my blog, that’s why.
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We're in the last few days of our 31-Day Fantastical Amazement.
Have you been over to visit these ladies yet?
I can totally feel that "I can eat anything and just work out harder" thing fading away, and it makes me sad. But, did I ever really need Ben and Jerry's? Probably not. It sure felt like it though. Good post!
ReplyDeleteAt least you had the eat anything you want in amounts you want & exercise away thing. Some of us never did - sigh...
ReplyDelete