I definitely am more comfortable with myself as this goes on. It's very interesting--the psychological effects of this diet / lifestyle. It's making me a much happier person. I feel like I am in control of my health, my body, like it's not just running away from me and like I'm not just another "potential candidate of cancer." I don't want that. I don't want to die. I don't want to even get close to cancer, liver failure, tumors, etc., and knowing that the power of food can prevent soooo much of these things from developing is a humbling thought, and a thought that makes you take responsibility for your own life, and as they say, "eat to live, NOT live to eat."
As of right now I weigh 203.8 - this means I have lost a total of 24.2lbs in almost a month and a half. I've got 33 days left on this "diet" and then hopefully a lot more time to come living a healthier lifestyle. Like I said, after experiencing the amazing benefits of living this way, I am very confident that this will continue even when the blog has run its course.
I am still trying my best not to eat any processed food. The only processed food I've had in the last few weeks has been some bottled Guinness (which I admit I love), some dill pickles, and some whole wheat cereal. Not all at once...that's disgusting. That was mostly today when I had some carrots, dill pickles, oranges, and cereal. Granted, the cereal is not very sweet, there are no marshmallows or peanut butter cups, but there is corn syrup and sucralose, which are not good for the body! I need to switch over to that Ezekiel cereal that they sell at Whole Foods.
I was going to eat some bread from the pantry today but I realized that the ingredient list on the bread was longer than the Constitution, so I decided to wait until Sunday when I go to Akins. I haven't been in there in a while; what I got last time has lasted me a while. A great friend of mine got me a gift certificate to Akins for my birthday (which was just a week ago...did I even mention that?) so I will definitely be going there and getting stocked up on good stuff.
The whole concept of "eating to live" and not "living to eat" is very basic. It's the idea that in America we often turn food into a hobby. Not COOKING, but FOOD. We eat food when we are bored. We eat food when we watch TV. We do it almost habitually, in fact almost involuntarily. It's like a trance almost. We are so accustomed to eating in certain occasions, situations, or moments that we just feel like we have to. Snacking is a serious cause of weight gain, bloating, constipation, addiction, and in the long run, a slew of diseases. Let's look at some statistics:
- A survey by the NPD Group found that yogurt is the most popular snack among children ages 2-17. The rest of the top 10 snacks include potato chips, fresh fruit, string cheese and cheese cubes, hard candy, ice cream/fudge pops, chewy candy, corn ships, donuts, and snack pies/pastries. "Yogurt tops list of snacks,” by Karen Nachay in Food Technology, July 2010, Vol. 64, No. 7, p. 12.
Notice that only one of the things on that list are actually healthy - fresh fruit. Still, most of the others are ridiculously processed, refined, contain seriously high calorie counts, high cholesterol, and basically contain zero fiber.
A friend of mine and I were talking today about this documentary he watched about global crises. In one section of the documentary, a man was asking a group of African orphan children what they thought the biggest problems in the world were. He asked about war and a few raised their hands, asked about global warming and murder and a larger portion still raised their hands. Then he said "what about health?" It was after this question when all the kids raised their skinny arms and sadly looked around at each other.
Think about this - the amount of corn that we feed our livestock to fatten them up in order to get more meat and milk and eggs could feed 8 billion people annually. Let's sit for a minute and think about this. There are about 6.8 billion people on this planet. Alright, that's a little odd. We feed our cattle more than we feed our humans (probably because each one is 600 pounds). The World Hunger Education Service estimated that there were almost 1 billion people living in hunger in the world. Do you realize that by allocating only a 1/8th of what we feed to our livestock annually could END WORLD HUNGER. It could feed nations annually! It's ridiculous! And remember that whole thing about Global Warming? Remember what causes that? Hmm the main thing is Methane gas. Produced by what? Cow farts. I wish I was kidding! The UN said that the livestock industry contributes to global warming far more than the transportation industry! Why do you think that is?
Here's another thing to ponder. People whine and complain about the government spending too much money on wars, military, blah blah. Want to know the truth that's been pulled over your own eyes? In 2011, the US Government spent more money on healthcare than it did in military defense, and they estimate they will spend more and more over military defense in the next 10 years. We're talking TRILLIONS of dollars here. We're paying all of this money to keep sick people alive with pills and treatments and surgeries. A bypass surgery costs about $100,000. Guess how many bypass surgeries are performed each year? Over HALF A MILLION. That means bypass surgeries alone (which are solely causes by clogged arteries) are costing CITIZENS $50 billion ANNUALLY. The government is doing everything it can to keep up with a bunch of lazy, sick, diseased people that expect it to wipe their butts and keep them alive. It's pathetic!
It seems obvious. Poor personal health is the leading cause of premature death. Not murders. Not wars. Not car accidents. YOUR HEALTH. YOUR choices. It's been said that this may be the first generation that DOES NOT outlive its parents because of how many children are obese, have diabetes, and have early developing cancers and other diseases, all due to health of their parents and health of themselves! Parents are not teaching their kids how to eat. What's really disturbing to me are these few facts:
- In the early parts of the 20th century, Americans would each eat about 120lbs of meat annually. By 2007, that was no less than 222lbs each.
- In 1913, Americans ate about 40lbs of processed sugars annually. In 1999, our consumption of all refine sweeteners and sugars rose to 147 lbs each annually.
- 1909 - Americans consumed an average of 294lbs of dairy each annually. By 2006, it had doubled to 605lbs PER PERSON.
Let's add these figures up. Before 1920, we would eat about 454 pounds of animal products and processed sugars annually. By 2009, the average american eats 974 pounds of animal products and processed sugars annually. That is nearly 1000 pounds of food annually that we don't need at all. Sure, a lot of it tastes great, but it's terrible for us and we're eating an unbelievable amount of it. Granted, these facts are averaged among the very skinny to the very obese, however, that doesn't make it irrelevant. It's just more proof that there are so many unhealthy people out there it's "tipping the scale" so to speak and affecting the average in a serious way.
PLEASE take your health seriously. I decided to and it's changed my life. So much so that I am wanting to share it with everyone.
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