There is no shortage of information about healthy eating and ways to improve your overall health. All hail the Internet! The Internet can provide an endless source of all things good and bad. But what I have found is the Internet provides me the opportunity to empower myself by gaining knowledge. I can read many articles about any given topic, both good opinions and bad. I then can make an educated decision about something.
As I mentioned in the opening our health is becoming a very big topic early in the 21st century. Obesity is a serious problem in North America. I for one have become very aware of my own health. I am not unhealthy per say, but still had some additional changes to make. But having finally got my act together I have lost about 30 pounds and a couple pants sizes. It wasn't an easy process. No wonder drugs or diets. It was common sense, exercise and education about how my body works with the fuel I provide it.
I honestly don't know how anyone can be confident about their approach to healthy living. We are enveloped in societal 'norms' that are anything but healthy. Especially the with regards to food and how we eat. Also, we are surrounded by so much poor information; the worst possible information is the easiest to get our hands on it is compounded by the fact it has such a powerful influence over us. And of course, like anything else, if it is too easy it is perhaps not the best course of action for 95% of people. To find the good information, what I have been relying on has been diligent hard work. Searching for information that wasn't filled with hype and empty promises is, to say the least, like finding a needle in a hay stack.
I can understand the frustration and continued disappointments others have when trying something new someone told them about when all the information they receive regarding this miracle is hype and non typical results. My favorite of the last little while was the "soup diet". For starters it contains the word diet so it can't be good. Dieting is for people not willing to do the work it takes to change your lifestyle in order to become healthy. But how can anyone believe a diet consisting of only soup is a viable option? Our bodies need better fuel than that. Our bodies should be treated like a Ferrari, not a busted up '83 Ford Ranger missing a headlight and McGiver like skills to start.
My advice is always education. Educate yourself and take action based on education. Now let's be clear. I don't mean educate yourself regarding the 'diet' because you will only find hyped up baloney regarding the diet itself, I mean educate yourself about how the human body works. How biology holds the answers on how to be healthy. Our bodies are a series of complex systems all running with synergistic precision. Learning about how our body talks to us and tells us what it needs is key. Think about children, especially before they can talk. Their brains listen to their bodies signals and react accordingly. It isn't until the outside influences they experience growing into adulthood create so much interference they can no longer 'hear' what their bodies are saying. Over eating is the best example. Watch a kid eat; they will shovel it in and suddenly (like a switch) they are done, regardless of how much food is left on their plate. Why? Because their stomach sent a signal to their brains saying "you are full, stop eating". As adults we eat with all the distractions in the World and never listen for the signal. So we eat until all the food is gone or my personal favorite...once we have cleaned our plates!!
Bottom line is this. If you want to be healthier and gain the benefits of healthier living (losing weight, having more energy, sleeping better, etc, etc.) then educate yourself about how your body works and work really hard at listening to what it is trying to tell you and then of course don't ignore the instructions or override them. Without a doubt, the hardest part is listening to your body and NOT the outside influences around you. People WILL look at you strange when you start leaving food on your plate and will think you are starving yourself when you only take an ACTUAL portion of food instead of enough food to fill your plate. If you have to; take a smaller plate and it will look more full for all the critics analyzing your quantity of food.
Well I could ramble on for days about the subject of food and societies role in making unhealthy living easier than healthy living!
My Two Cents
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