Tuesday, April 26, 2011

There's No Food in Your Food!

One of my favorite all time feel-good 80's movies is Say Anything.  And even though it came from the same era that gave us stretch-stirrup pants and Paula Abdul, I did learn something from it.



Kidding.  Mostly.

There's one scene where John Cusack is running out the door and eating something that causes his sister (played by real life sister Joan, say whaaat?!) to exclaim,

"Why do you eat that stuff?  There's no food in your food!"

Part of the whole healthy lifestyle thing is food.  Gah, food.  My favorite being those of the chocolate variety.  I'm pretty sure I could eat chocolate all the time every day forever.  Unfortunately, neither my pants nor my decision to live a healthy life agree with that statement.  Thus, chocolate is a treat (as it should be).

When I first started trying to be healthy and lose weight, I subscribed a lot to the mentality that all calories are created equal.  I ate a lot of diet foods.  A lot of hundred calorie snack packs.  A lot of Lean Cuisines.  A lot of spray butter.  And a lot of Diet Coke (still inching my way slowly away from this one.  Yes I know it's cancer juice, but this is a process people). 

And you know what?  I was hungry all the time.  I didn't understand.  "Wahhhh, dieting is hard.  Waahhh, I'm so hungry."  There was a lot of whining. 

And then one day I realized something.  There's no food in my food.  I'm hungry all the time because I'm eating high fructose corn syrup, beef extract and maltodextrin.  Yum.

I decided to swap out my $3.00 Lean Cuisine for lunch with a turkey sandwich with lettuce and cheese.  I noticed not only was I not ready to devour an entire cake or seven an hour later...I wasn't hungry again until dinner time.

It took some adjustment and I definitely don't subscribe to any kind of raw or no processed food ever type of lifestyle (though I admire and applaud those that do, I hope someday to be where you are!) but I can happily say that around 90% of the food I eat is REAL food. Breakfast:

Hard boiled egg and Greek yogurt with granola, blackberries, and chia seeds.

and Lunch:
Turkey sandwich with lettuce, cheese, and hummus on sunflower seed bread and a salad with Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette.
So to those of you out there doing your best to live a healthy life remember this...just because something is "Lite" or "Low-fat" or even low calorie does not mean it is good for your body.  Give your body what it needs to be healthy and strong and to work at its peak level of functionality.

Maybe Lloyd could have made it as a kickboxer (a new and exciting sport back in '89) if his diet had consisted of more than beef jerky and slurpees.

3 comments:

  1. Great post! I love the breakast idea! Sounds so yummy! I've basically cut out junk foods and notice a huge difference in my energy level! Lots of delicious fruits, veggies and grains! Keep up the good work! And share more yummy recipes! P.s. tonight I had sourdough bread with pesto spread, sliced tomatoes with provolone cheese all melted in the oven and balsamic vinegar on the side. So good!

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  2. That sounds delicious! I am on a sweet potato fries kick right now! You can slice them yourself and bake them in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, or cinnamon. Sooo good!

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  3. ok what is your secret! I tried making sweet potato fries and they turned out mushy and nasty...was not happy, because I have some from a bad, but obviously that is not as healthy!?!

    Also, I LOVE you post! It's so good and I hope that more people SEE this!! I'm so sick of all this "DIET" food! It may be a good place to start, but like you said it really doesn't satisfy your hunger and you end up just wanting and needing more!!

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