The Perpetual Dieter Part 1

I'm sorry about the amount of time that has passed since my last post... I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this entry... there's so much I want to say, so much I want to make people understand, but admittedly I don't know if I have all the knowledge to convey my point as well as I would like to. So I hope you'll all accept that I think this entry will just have to be a continued work in progress, to grow and to change as I grow and change and learn more along the way. I also want you to know that I truly see this as a learning process for me... while I value and trust a lot of the information I'm learning from my book, I'm also taking the time to underline and make notes of things that are discussed that I want to look into further and not just take at the advice of one person. And I will do my best to keep you informed with the most up to date information I have.

So with that said... the perpetual dieter... as I've stepped back from the "old me" ... I say that in quotations because the perpetual dieter was me a few weeks ago... I see how ridiculously inundated our society has become with fad diets and quick fixes for weight loss...and the more I learn about how important it is to eat clean unprocessed food, the more I realize that people are just hurting themselves more and making true weight loss impossible with these diet foods and quick fixes. I see it everywhere!! It shows up in posts on my facebook stream...girls trying to lose weight fast for summer... it shows up on a local radio station I listen to ...they had a nutritionist on the other day who started out with how bad sugar is for you and how it's added to everything, but then started promoting a website sponsored by splenda ... because artificial sweetener is better!?!? I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about... it all just makes me cringe! I'm finally starting to understand... I used to have the mindset that if I ate less, focused on so called "diet foods" and worked out I could lose weight...and honestly yes, I've gone through two major challenges with my fiance and I've lost weight both times, but as I've said before I gained it right back. It was just a way of life I couldn't sustain. But I'm finally realizing that your body doesn't function properly on processed fake foods. If you just eat whole foods when you're hungry and stay active, your body will perform the way it was meant to... you can't exercise out the toxins, chemicals and added sugar that you've overloaded your system with, there's no 30 day challenge to fix everything and make you skinny... eating whole unprocessed foods is not a fad, it's a lifelong decision and commitment. And maybe if we weren't lied to by the food industry and who ever else is involved we wouldn't be in this situation... actually I know we wouldn't be in this situation. But we are...and now it's time for us to be more informed about what we're putting in our body... every bite you take is a choice about what you're putting in your body. Now I haven't counted calories, or "dieted" or gotten on a scale in a couple weeks... the world hasn't ended, all my clothes still fit just fine and I cannot even begin to tell you how liberated I feel, and how much more positive I am toward myself...I don't really miss all the old fake foods I relied on and I take pride in knowing more about what I'm putting in my body.

But if you're like me... you're a "show me" kind of person. Maybe you're thinking... "well the diet foods I eat aren't that bad for me".... so I did a little research. The other day I walked the isles of a chain grocery store in my area pulling out items that I used to eat during my dieting days (I should preface with previously, as in a year or two ago, I used to eat a lot more processed diet foods then I was when I first started this journey) and started reading labels and sugar content... and I thought I'd share that information with you. I thought maybe if you saw that most of the items I picked up had either added sugar or some unpronounceable ingredient, or both, you would realize how over processed our food sources have really become.

First let's start with popcorn... I was always a big fan of popcorn, it was my go to healthy snack and I always went for the reduced fat one because that was supposed to be the healthier option right? WRONG

First let's start with the popcorn they use... it's not organic, meaning there's a really good chance that the corn comes from genetically modified seeds... as I'm sure you know there has been a recent out cry regarding the use of GMOs. I personally don't want to put something in my body that has been modified to be resistant to pesticides and all the other chemicals they spray on plants because then they can just spray more!! So that's strike one... Strike two the use of TBHQ, or tertiary butylhydroquinone... I can't even pronounce that! It's an artificial antioxidant used in foods to prevent discoloration or changes in odor or flavor. They also use it in makeup, varnish, lacquer, resins and oil field additives. Probably not something you want to eat...I don't even want to know what it's doing to my insides. I pause at the palm oil... I am still learning about oils and fats, but I know it's best in it's most pure form... i.e. virgin cold pressed. I'm assuming that's not the case with the palm oil they used here. On a positive note... at least they didn't add sugar!

I have many more photos to share, with many more ingredients that just shouldn't be put in our body. Stay tuned for the perpetual dieter part 2!