It’s Not Too Late to Change
When we were young we did not worry too much what we ate or drank; we lived for the moment in many respects simply because we were young and saw life stretching endlessly before us. As far as we were concerned then, the future could look after itself.
But time ticks away more rapidly with each passing year and, before we know it, we have become older. Unfortunately, by then our body shape has changed to something resembling less of the fleet arrow of our youth and more like the medicine ball we exercised on in school fitness classes.
Statistics tell us that by middle age, say 45 onwards, thousands of our counterparts will be suffering from heart disease; tens of thousands will have some form of cancer; hundreds of thousands will have attracted diabetes; and millions will be overweight and heading towards any or all of the above.
The worst thing is that most of it was because of our own choosing.
When we continue to eat the wrong types of food and drink the wrong drinks, then eventually, with no care or attention to a proper diet, we will pay the price in some way with our health.
Shocking Fact...
Recent studies have revealed that by 2020 over half of the USA’s population will have some form of diabetes and many will have died long before they should have due to this and related problems.
But there is hope -
If we want to avoid a place in that statistic and others like it; if we really want to live long and healthy lives, we need to take action now...
First and foremost -
We must change the way we think about food and the liquids we imbibe. The manufacturers are not concerned about our wellbeing; they are in business to make a profit, not to look after our health. That’s our job.
Secondly -
We are not all athletes, or hard manual workers, or fitness freaks. Therefore the majority of us need to start understanding the facts. The sugar we put into our coffee, the cakes, the cokes, sweets, chocolates, breakfast cereals, tinned fruits, tinned anything (most tinned products contain heaps of sugar); these will all turn to fat without a lot of exercise.
Fast food, starchy potatoes, pastries, white bread, white rice, full cream milk and cream, to name just a tiny number of foods that threaten our health, will not help us to return our bodies to the fit leanness of our youth.
Nasty fact - the manufacturers add excess sugar and salt into their processed foods to capture our taste buds and make us want to come back for more.
Thirdly -
There is a ton of healthy food out there and, combined with herbs and spices and other non-threatening taste additives, our meals can be just as, and even more, tasty than before. Once the other stuff is out of a person’s system, a natural realisation occurs when they discover how much better they feel and what they have been missing out on.
If you have drifted into the habit of eating the wrong foods; processed foods, fast foods, because you are busy, in a hurry, eating on the run; then the advertising companies are going to love you. Their advertising is not developed around how good the food is for you; it’s about the taste and the convenience; it’s generated towards the company’s bottom line – how much profit they expect to make from us, the consuming public.
Fortunately the choices of good foods far outnumber the bad ones. The trouble is that it’s a twofold change and one that many of us have trouble sticking to. When we make the decision to reprogram our thinking about the food we eat; change lifetime habits to ones that will create a healthy lifestyle (and hopefully give us more years on Mother Earth); we must also make a commitment to stay away from the bad foods that to date have done us no favours and have put us in the position of needing to make these changes in the first place.
In my book, ‘How to Eat Healthy Foods and Live Longer,’ shortly to be published on Amazon as an e-book; I include a week’s recipe list for breakfast/brunch, lunch and dinner that will provide the beginnings of a healthy diet to not only lose weight and feel better, but also will help to change your thinking and show you how to develop a lifestyle that you can live to without feeling disadvantaged or feel that you are missing out.
Here is a sample of one lunch-time meal:
Stuffed Pepper (Capsicum) with Salmon
Prep time: 7 minutes plus boil eggs
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 large Pepper (Capsicum)
1 egg
1 small tin of red salmon
10 slices of cucumber
14 olives
1 tbsp. Low fat mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Boil eggs for 6 minutes then remove from pot, peel, and mash with mayonnaise.
Add salt and pepper to taste, cut pepper (capsicum) in half and remove seeds.
Fill with mashed egg then sprinkle half a tin of drained salmon on each serve.
Place sliced cucumber and olives on the plate and serve.
A high value meal with lots of protein, vitamins, and minerals; quick and easy with lots of taste. Being on a diet has never been so easy.
For those who already have diabetes, it’s comforting to know that many experts now believe that this condition is reversible in many people..
Some herbs are known to offset diabetes in conjunction with a healthy eating and exercise regime. One effective helper is Cinnamon which helps break down the fats, making the management of blood sugar levels possible. Good news for dieters.
More on herbs in my next article.
Remember always, if you have any concerns about changing your current diet; check with your GP before changing anything.
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