Eat This NOT That For Healthy Weight Loss

When you get sick you will do whatever it takes to be well again.

So you cut out whatever it is that may be causing you problems and do whatever the doctor says to get better. Problem is, when you get well again, you often revert back to your regular diet or habits and forget what the doctor told you.

It’s often the same thing with nutritionist or naturopaths. You start feeling better and you go back to your old ways.

Over the years I’ve been gradually replacing foods and habits that may compromise my health. A lot of them have been quite ALTERNATIVE and outside of what most people would believe or attempt to change.

I am glad that I have gone through the process as it’s helped me move further down the line to improved health.

Sure there’s been a few speed bumps along the way, including my current major one, but the more I study, the more I’m convinced we need to be keeping up with these changes.

So here’s my list of foods, drinks and habits to start switching.Some may be easy to change and some may be quite difficult to change. Some you just won’t do, but they are worth it in the long run.

If you are not healthy, your body may be more stubborn to change and not drop body fat or increase strength or muscle tone like you want it to.

1. Eat organic butter NOT margarine.

Margarine is almost plastic. It’s solid at room temperature and there’s some artificial stuff in there that you don’t want in your body. Even the ants won’t touch it. OK maybe just one, but he’s just window shopping. Organic butter is far better for you.

2. Drink filtered water NOT tap water.

With all the metals that are floating around in our water supply, you really need to cut tap water out. Heavy metals can build up in your liver and cause you all sorts of health problems. Getting rid of them is not a pleasant process.

3. Eat real foods NOT boxed or bagged foods.

Yes it’s gonna increase your food preparation time, but it’s gonna increase your health too. Just find some time, cook a bunch of healthy meals in advance and reheat them whenever you need a meal. It’s far more time efficient and ensures you don’t eat boxed food or take out garbage.

4. Drink from stainless steel or glass NOT plastic.

Plastic breaks down and leeches into the water which you then put in your body. What chemicals are going into the production of the drink bottles I don’t know, but if you can taste the plastic, you know you’re taking in chemicals.

Same goes for storing your food. You can buy air tight glass containers, but I know how you love your Tupperware collection. It’s gonna be tough to part with them, but will be better for you in the long run.

Chemicals block up your liver, the bodies detoxification centre. When the liver gets overloaded it causes problems such as muscle aches, headaches and migraines as well as more dangerous consequences.

We are exposed to so many other chemical pollutants than 20 years ago so the liver has to work overtime to keep us going. These chemicals then screw up our hormone levels too which can cause weight gain amongst other major health issues.

All chemicals are just as bad so minimise their use around the house as well as your everyday exposure to them.

5. Eat free range, grass fed or organic meats NOT commercial stuff.

Most commercial raised livestock is fed grains to fatten them up. Grains have been cross-pollenated over the years to increase yield which has screwed up the nutritional profile of the grain. So the livestock may be malnourished.

Some livestock isn’t given enough room to roam around and live the good life either, so they’re often unhealthy too. If sick livestock is being sold to us we’re in for some real problems. Not to mention the hormones which may be added. Of course they say they’re hormone free, but we never know.

6. Eat gluten free foods NOT foods that contain gluten.

Its nasty stuff. Gluten is a substance found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Dr. Tom O’Bryan who specializes in celiac disease & gluten intolerance, suspect 7 out of 10 people will have some degree of gluten sensitivity.

Here’s a quote from Vic Shayne on the Nutrition Research Centre website:

‘[Gluten] attacks your small intestines by destroying the villi (finger-like projections on the intestinal surface) and leads to the formation of tiny holes in your intestines. The result is that food particles leak into your bloodstream and your body’s natural defense system sees these particles as “foreign invaders.”
This creates two major problems:
1. You can’t absorb important nutrients, and
2. Your body seems to attack itself’

When the body starts to attack itself, you start to develop chronic health problems such as Leaky Gut Syndrome. That was one of the factors that contributed to my Chronic Fatigue.

7. If you must drink alcohol, drink vodka NOT beer.

Beer has gluten in it.

Beer can also raise estrogen levels, which is also bad for everyone. When hormone levels are pushed out of their normal range, the body starts sending weird signals around and health problems increase, gradually at first until they build up to a more noticable level where you must do something about it.

8. Eat organic, free range eggs and chickens, NOT caged.

I think you get the picture.

9. Eat fruits and vegetables from farmers markets, the local fruit and veg guy, or buy organic if you can, NOT the supermarket produce.

With the amount of chemicals and pesticides used, its no wonder there’s little goodness left in our food let alone potential poisons. And I’m sure you’ve heard about fruits being stored for months before being put on the supermarket shelf! That’s not natural.

I am guilty of this one as I just don’t have the energy to get to another shop. But I’m sure I could find the products I want online and have them delivered, so even I have no excuse. I even stumbled upon this website the other day which looks promising www.aussiefarmersdirect.com.au and this one this morning which I’ll be looking at more in depth over the next few weeks www.perthorganics.com.

10. Use butter or coconut oil for cooking NOT olive oil or anything else.

Many oils go rancid at high temperatures which leave you ingesting more bad stuff the body has to deal with. No wonder the liver is overloaded.

11. Use the stove or oven to reheat foods, NOT the microwave.

We’ve all heard the reports about microwaves being a potential health hazard, but some people continue to use them for convenience sake. I don’t like the way it warms half the food and leaves the other half cold either.

12. Make fresh vegetable juice NOT any store bought stuff.

Drinking fresh stuff means you know what’s going into it and you get all the nutrients without any breaking down beforehand. You also avoid the preservatives that may have been in there.

You also have avoided the plastic bottle that it was stored in. And you can experiment with different flavours depending on what foods you have on the day.

13. Use stevia or xylotol to sweeten your foods if you need to, NOT sugar or artificial sweeteners such as splenda.

Artificial anything should be avoided altogether as it is another danger to your body and more work still for the liver.

If you are reading food labels look out for sweeteners such as sucralose or number 955 or 950. I personally don’t like consuming any numbers, just food.

14. Drink raw, organic milk, NOT the regular stuff from your supermarket.

If you can get milk from healthy, grass fed animals then go for it. If not you can live without it.

Coconut milk is a good alternative but very high in fat so go lightly if you are trying to lose fat. Some people use soy milk instead but I wouldn’t advise it due to soy’s over processing and inflammatory nature.

Almond milk or rice may be ok, but they are often stored in long life containers which means there is some sort of preservative keeping them drinkable. I wouldn’t go there but you should do your own research and make your own mind up if you can’t find a replacement.

If you look at all these things and think ‘it’s gonna cost me a fortune’ consider this.

Last year I spent over $10,000 treating health problems that were caused by much of what was mentioned above. That is far more than it would have cost to sort my diet out and eliminate as many of these potential health hazards, had I known about them previously.

So I pass on my knowledge to you in the hope that you will start making some potentially big, uncomfortable changes.

Your body will thank you by working better, getting rid of niggling aches and pains, gastrointestinal problems and all sorts of other issues you’ve just accepted as permanent.

If you’re in a chronic state as some of us are, you may need some testing to reverse the damage. Just think how many years you’ve had some of these habits and you’ll see why it may take some time to fix the problems they might have caused.

Good luck and I’d appreciate your questions or comments below.