Healthy eating equals “consistent and conscious consumption choice.” Say that five times fast! It also means eating quality, “clean,” often and in proportion.
The American diet has evolved over recent decades to rely increasingly on highly processed convenience food that has been developed to accommodate high production volume and our busy lifestyles. Often (but not always) these foods contain excessive preservatives, additives and other additional ingredients that not only diminish the quality of the food, but that are bad for your digestive system and health.
Rather than dwelling on the negative though, let’s keep things upbeat and focus on conscious consumption choices that we can turn into consistent habits to enhance our lives.
When developing more conscious consumption, looking at ingredient lists is key. As a general rule, the fewer number of ingredients the better. If the ingredients listed are real, whole foods with names you recognize and can pronounce, even better. Avoid long ingredient lists and ingredients that look like they came out of a chemistry textbook.
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Organic food will yield a higher quality of food and less chemical exposure, so buying organic is always recommended. Cage-free, organic and grass fed meats are recommended as well. When organic options are not available, eyeball your product choices and take the physically smallest one. Genetically modified meat and produce are unnaturally enhanced to be bigger and weigh more. Avoid giant produce and meat filets (especially chicken and fish).
Although changing, much of the country’s diet still consists of processed foods high in refined carbohydrates and sugar. Conscious consumption focuses on lowering consumption of refined, processed foods and consuming more organic choices, as well as a sufficient amount of protein. Your nutritional or wellness professional can help you determine what an adequate amount of protein is for you.
Eating well is critical to maintaining nutrient delivery and metabolic function. Because shopping, preparing and consuming food can often become burdensome and time-consuming, hundreds of convenience food companies have emerged to accommodate the demand for low-to-no-prep food. While appearing as otherwise healthy, many of these foods contain hidden preservatives used to maintain food freshness during delivery. This is where checking the ingredient list becomes handy. Again, fewer ingredients are better.
A good place to start is with those store-bought salad dressings in your refrigerator or pantry. Salad dressings are notorious for the diminished quality of their ingredients and the abundance of additives and preservatives. In fact, most store-bought dressings are full of unhealthy ingredients that sadly diminish the overall quality of that “healthy” salad you just made.
To point you in the right direction, here is a quick recipe for a wholesome and homemade salad dressing that is not only healthy but that tastes great too! Enjoy, and cheers to conscious consumption!
Coconut Cilantro Dressing
1 can coconut milk, chilled overnight
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
dash of black pepper
1. Chill can of coconut milk overnight. Do not shake the cans up AT ALL. Carefully turn the can over and open from the bottom. Drain out the liquid, and scoop the white cream into a blender. Discard liquid.
2. Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Chill 20 minutes and serve.
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Brian
A lot of this just isn’t true. It reads like debunked “Food Babe” hints.
If you can’t pronounce a word, then maybe you need to learn about it. One essential vitamin that all of us physically require literally every day is: 3-[(2,4-dihydroxy-3,3-dimethylbutanoyl)amino]propanoic acid. Fear of chemistry is just stupidity.
jbeau
Organic consumption leads to consumption of organic pesticides which, pound for pound, are far deadlier to you AND you’re more likely to get a food-borne infection from eating organic, so there’s that. Non-organic fruits and vegetables are just as good for you and numerous studies show they are nutritionally equivalent.
Bromancer7
Anyone know who the guy in the photo is? He looks really familiar but I can’t place him.
Bromancer7
@Brian: The issue isn’t a fear of chemistry, I mean, we all consume large quantities of dihydrogen monoxide every day. But we don’t put that on a food label, we put the colloquial term of water. So yes, one should be leery of chemicals they can’t pronounce and don’t know what they are. If in doubt, photograph the label and google the ingredients when you get home. This way you not only avoid unnecessary chemical intake, but you also educate yourself as to what these additives are, which are good, and which are bad. Education is never a bad thing.
Glücklich
Keep it simple. Exercise A LOT and you can eat pretty much whatever you want. Don’t make garbage a regular part of your diet, e.g. medicate with the Oreos on a bad day but don’t make them the go-to for every day snacking. Don’t kill yourself counting calories. If you must, decide what you want to save room for and work around them. Me, I like my booze so I don’t eat a lot of sweets. And nobody wants to hear about your cheat days. Luckily food means nothing to me, other than fuel, so I have no problem eating the “not-fun” stuff, since I’m likely doing it my desk or over the kitchen sink during the ads.
san39730
My main problem with these “health”/”stay in shape” articles is that they are generally written by people who are living off genetics more so then “healthy life choices”. The sheer level in which naturally thin/healthy looking people comment on weight is astounding. I’m sorry but over the years I have heard too many people act as if they are truely living and eating differently than everyone else and that’s why they have the body they have and the reality is they are living off their genetics. I’m sorry, this is been a personal struggle for me and I have just been through so many lies perpetrated by demographic of people who truly don’t know what they’re talking about.
jimh
@san39730: You’re right that most fitness advice writers have no idea what it’s like to actually work to stay lean. We all know those fuckers who can get ripped by cutting out the occasional soda. I hate them as much as you do.
But don’t give up. And stop talking about genetics. Genetics is an excuse. It may even be a great excuse! But you don’t need an excuse. You need motivation. I assure you: you can get lean. It just may require a lot more sacrifice for you than for others. I once weighed nearly 300 pounds. Now, I can wear size 32 slim jeans. It takes daily sacrifice to maintain this, but the difference in how I feel is so worth it.
I would recommend taking a look at Tom Venuto’s materials (including his incredibly thorough book, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle). His speciality is fat loss; he’s seen every body type out there; and his methods work. Marc Perry is also very good.
Bromancer7
@san39730: Genetics has nothing to do with it. If you want to get fit, lean, and ripped you have eat the part. There are no genetic shortcuts. Some people may be naturally lean, or naturally able to gain more muscle mass, but being healthy, lean, and muscular still requires work and a strict diet no matter what your genetics say.
Stop blaming your genetics for your difficulties and re-examine what you’re eating. Diet is key. It’s 10x more important than exercise for losing fat. Go read about what some of these actors do to get in shape for movie roles and the kind of diets they have to eat, and the workout regimen they have, then you’ll have some idea of what’s required to get that kind of body. Anyone CAN do it, but must of us simply aren’t motivated enough.
kaldurahm
@Bromancer7: Genetics has plenty to do with it. Of course hard work is necessary but is a considerable contributing factor. A factor I believe a lot of people are loath to admit. There is this ever growing widely held belief that all bodies are created the same, that they will build muscle and/or burn fat at a equal rate. And if its not working for you then you’re the one who’s doing it wrong rather than taking the time to get at the reason why it works for some and not for others. Seriously, an in-depth study at genetics and weight is desperately needed because there is too much junk information out there.
kaldurahm
@jimh: I hate those fuckers. I use to weigh 270lbs. I worked out every other day, ate right, and got to the point where all I drank was water and would not lose a pound. However, I could gain weight with no difficulty(and I’m 100% not exaggerating). I started lifting weights and doing muscle training to gain muscle to burn the fat and all it would do was build muscle underneath the fat. I saw trainers and nutritionist who were little to no help. They just wouldn’t believe me when I told them I was doing everything that they had advised, they were convinced that the fault was on me. Until finally I went to the doctor and got a gastric bypass. I ate roughly a meal and a half a day. And slowly very slowly the weight began to drop, and people finally realize I wasn’t exaggerating. My body was just not burning fat the way others do and a lot of people had difficulty wrapping your head around that. I’m down to 160, what is the smallest I’ve ever been since I was a kid, even though my waist measures at a 34 I can’t wear anything smaller than a 40. Even at my skinniest have a big ass and thick thighs. Lol
Paul Schumacher
surely this means vegetarianism at the very least, veganism ideally.
blessingyou
What’s the point of writing an article that rehashes nutrition information that the average 10 year old is already aware of? Eat organic foods and avoid processed foods is what I took away from this article. The recipe does look good though–thanks for that.
@Brian: thank you–good point.
@jbeau: another good point–when I learned about this I was truly shocked. And the organic farms need to use much higher amounts of their approved pesticides in order to achieve efficacy. So our choices really are very high amounts of so-called organic pesticides or relatively low amounts of conventional pesticides.
Bromancer7
@kaldurahm: Sorry, but it’s bullshit. Don’t blame your genetics. The reason there is no study is because there is nothing to find. Yes, people metabolize food in different ways, but the end result is the same regardless of your genetics — a strict diet and workout routine. If you’re not seeing results it is indeed because you’re doing something wrong, not your genetics. It’s a cop out, and nothing more than a lazy excuse.
Bromancer7
@kaldurahm: Again, more self-delusional bullshit. You lost weight after the bypass because you were eating significantly less food. There is no magic in a bypass. That’s all it does. If you ate significantly less food to begin with you would have lost weight without the bypass.
All you did was prove to everything that no, you were NOT eating properly prior to the bypass despite thinking you were. When your caloric intake is lower than your caloric expenditure you lose weight. It’s literally that simple. If you’re not losing weight, you’re eating too much.
Bromancer7
@blessingyou: No, not all organic produce is soaking in pesticides. This is why it’s important to know who grows your food and what, if any, pesticides they are using.
Some organic farms use no pesticides, some use a small amount of natural pesticides, and some use large quantities of natural pesticides. And it’s simply not possible to say that a high level of natural pesticides is better or worse than a low level of synthetics. It all depends on the pesticide, the crop, and the environment. It’s much more complicated than people think it is.
Bromancer7
@Paul Schumacher: No. There is no reason other than personal choice for becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Animal products are excellent sources of protein and fats that are essential in our diet.
JohnnyBoyLeroy
@Bromancer7: You’re the one who is delusional if concede different people have different metabolic rates but that major aspect in biology has nothing to do with genetics. Weight is the complex combination of a multitude of different metabolic processes, from brain systems that regulate appetite to enzymes that control how efficiently calories are turned from food into energy to undeniably diet and exercise. Current knowledge regarding the connection between weight and genetics is in its infancy because the stigma of obesity was to simply call it laziness and gluttony. There is no denying that diet and exercise play a major role and for lot of people it is the only factors in their weight. To deny genetics as a factor will be to never gain a comprehensive understanding of how our bodies work.
da90027
Studies have shown organic food doesnt make you live any longer…Lynda McCartney was a vegetarian and died at 59…i eat tons of crap and at 54 still have a 30 inch waist I also bike 15 miles a day and dont sit on my ass for long. We all process chemicals differently what works for one doesnt on others just eat what makes you feel good
kurt_t
Certainly genetics factor into one’s risk for obesity. You might, for example, have a resting metabolism that’s significantly higher or lower than average the average person, which would mean you’re burning calories at a faster or slower rate than the average person, and genetics is a factor in your resting metabolism. But if you want to be intellectually honest about the question of genetics you need to ask yourself why the adult obesity rate in the U.S. in the past half century went from about 14 percent to about 34 percent. Our genes didn’t change.
So what did change? Well, all sorts of things. I think one small part of the answer to the question of “What changed?” is overeating has become the last socially acceptable addiction-driven behavior. I’m 54. I can remember a time dads would come home from work, drink a pitcher of Martinis and chain smoke watching the Dean Martin show. Moms also chain smoked and were usually half in the bag by the time you got home from baseball practice. Hell, my mom used to bring a thermos of Bloody Marys to the playground. Nobody thought a thing of it.
Most of us don’t work in a place where you can go out and get buzzed on your lunch hour, right? And forget about smoking. Most businesses where I live won’t even knowingly hire smokers. You go in to the interview smelling like a Keno lounge, you won’t get a second interview.
But if I want to sit at my desk and eat a box of donuts and suck down a 1500-calorie coffee drink and go eat batter fried bacon at the Cheesecake Factory, nobody’s going to give me any grief about it. Nobody’s going to tell me I have a problem or I need to get help or I’m killing myself or hurting my loved ones.
So that’s my theory anyway. I think overeating is the new smoking. Or the new functional alcoholism. And we need to treat it the way we treat addiction. And that means treating it as a medical condition, not as a character flaw or moral failing or a deficiency in the area of willpower or what have you.
jimh
@kurt_t: It’s an interesting idea that food has displaced the vices of smoking and alcohol consumption. I don’t know if I’m convinced that food addiction is the main culprit, though. I’ve known a lot of overweight people, and few of them show signs of addiction.
I think there are some other factors at work. At the top of my list would be wage stagnation since 1980. People have to work longer hours to have the same inflation-adjusted income as before; and in most households, women have to work, too. The result is that families now consume a large percentage of their meals from restaurants rather than home cooking. The economics of the restaurant industry dictate large portion sizes. (Consumers tie value to portion size. This means that they will pay 2x the price for 2x the portion size. Since restaurants can double portion sizes without doubling their overall cost structure, there is a systemic bias favoring larger sizes.)
jimh
@Bromancer7: No, your assertion is false, actually. A gastric bypass brings about changes other than just reducing the quantity of food a person can eat. One of the main ones is that it creates a state of malabsorption, so that even the food you do eat is not absorbed well. It also has been shown to drastically alter the composition of gut microflora. In fact, that may be one of the main ways it works — scientific knowledge about the role of microflora in metabolism is not well understood at the moment.
NJjoe
@da90027:
+1
Bromancer7
@jimh: This is true, to an extent. The body compensates for the malnutrition and the loss of appetite that is very common in the beginning fades after the first 1-2 years. This is why the majority of people who get bypasses lose a ton of weight in the first 2 years and then put it all back on again — because they never changed their eating habits and once the body adjusts to the bypass, the pouch stretches, and they learn how to cheat in order to eat more food than they should, they get fat again.
@JohnnyBoyLeroy: kurt_t said it better than I can. Genetics can play a role in your metabolism, meaning one might have a predisposition for obesity, but the simple of rule of “calories in < calories out = weight loss" holds true no matter what your genetic makeup. Those with a propensity for obesity may have to adhere to a more strict diet than those that don't, but saying your genes have made you fat and is what's keeping you fat is hogwash. It's a lame excuse.
And yes, there are things like diabetes and metabolic syndrome that are very common in the morbidly obese, both of which make losing weight difficult, but not impossible. Diabetes can be controlled and metabolic syndrome can be treated. A very strict diet along with light to moderate exercise and you'll lose weight.
@da90027: This is about as ridiculous as saying “smoking will kill you”. Some people who smoke get lung cancer, COPD, or emphysema and die. Some people who smoke live to their 90s and die a natural death unrelated to cigarettes. Smoking will *increase* your chances, but nothing is guaranteed. Just like how eating fresh-off-the-farm and/or organic food won’t necessarily increase your lifespan, it just increases the chance by not only providing your body with better nutrition but also a reduction in exposure to unwanted hormones, antibiotics, and synthetic pesticides.
TrueWords
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/stop-emotional-eating-deepak-chopra_n_5732184.html
TrueWords
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar7g_26QWu0
TrueWords
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cpdb78pWl4
TrueWords
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-nc6G1Zg0
TrueWords
STOP DRINKING YOUR CALORIES