Sometime around Thanksgiving, I was doing really well with my diet. I'm not sure what happened to make me slide (besides all the holiday goodies sitting around). It's got me to thinking though, why is it so hard for us to make a lifestyle change that we know would make us feel better?
This past year we (Alpha Oxy-Med) were blessed to be offered the Hospice contract. It has been a ton of work and a ton of man hours but it is has truly been worth it. The people we have met have been amazing. Hospice isn't all about cancer but the majority of patients happen to be diagnosed with some type of cancer. A cancer diagnosis doesn't only effect the patient but effects the entire family. No matter the type, it is a devastating disease. To see what it can do to a human body is just overwhelming.
Back to my original question of why is it so hard to make a lifestyle change. I've been reading a really good book called AntiCancer A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber MD. Look at the way the American diet has changed over the years and compare that to how much the cancer rate has increased. Look at a food label and see if you can pronounce all the words. Its incredible to see the chemicals we put into our bodies and deny they're going to have some negative effect. I, myself am just as guilty. I'm naive to all the steroids and chemicals given to the cattle that produce our milk. Or the same chemicals that are given to fatten up the beef we eat. What's even more crazy is that the FDA allows it. Have you seen the commercial for high fructose corn syrup? This stuff is in everything!! And it's horrible for you. Read this article about HFCS (click here). Yet they claim in their commercial its ok in moderation. Cmon folks, it's in everything we eat so how can it be in moderation. I just heard a while back that Gatorade finally took HFCS out of they're products, good job!!!
Sugar, sugar, suger!!! We eat a ton of it! A German biologist won the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that the metabolism of malignant tumors is largely dependent on glucose consumption.(Servan-Schreiber pg61). White flour, processed foods, we all are guilty of eating it, yet it's proven that it's not healthy. Yet!!!!! We still fill our faces with it. If your thinking of joining in on the Challenge, then cut out sugar and white flour and see how much weight you lose. And yes that includes all the crap you put in your coffee. Try a flavored green tea with some Agave Nectar as sweetner instead. Speaking of Green Tea, one think I learned is that it should be steeped for 8-10 minutes in order to release the catechins.
Believe me, I am not holier than thou when it comes to dieting. I love my cinnamon dulce latte from Starbucks, but come January 1, it's all tea for me baby.
When it comes down to it, you can't look at dieting as a diet, but should look at it as a lifestyle change. Look around people, look at the foods you eat, look at the ingredients, most of us have a lot of room to change. Come January 1, plan on a healthier 2011. Give it 4 months and see how much better you feel.
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