There is a lot more to being healthy and losing weight than “just eating less”.
Of course if you eat like a hockey player and the only physical thing you do is run to the fridge on commercials while watching the game, then yes, eating less is probably a good idea. It’s funny how everybody has an opinion on how YOU should lose weight. They may not be the best people to get advice from, but in today’s world of social media, everyone thinks they should share their opinion and of course it’s always right.
Now, in basic form, it really should not be any more complicated than consume less than you use. But most of us have no idea how much energy we consume or use in a day. Our world is not the same as it was ‘back in the day’. Once upon a time, most of us would have been very active all day. We did not sit in front of the TV at night, let alone have jobs that were just as sedentary. We would have been in bed earlier and stopped work when it was dark and only ate when hungry instead of bored. But that is not the world we live in anymore, so our diets and routines MUST change. Most of us are still thinking about food the way our parents did and it’s time to stop.
Because our lifestyle has changed so must our dietary habits. If you have a physical job where you are on your feet all day then you have the advantage that you can eat more, but are you eating the right food. Not only has our lifestyle changed but so has our food. Really it has. There are tonnes of studies out there that confirm that the nutritional value in most of our food has actually changed. Where we once knew exactly what vitamins and minerals were in everything we ate, the way our food is grown has changed. No longer are most fruit and veggies grown out in the open fields. There are now whole systems of gardens where the food is grown in water and nutrients must be added. Also, our meat is no longer just roaming the fields, there are hormones and antibiotics used. So, what do we do with this?
We must be more aware of our own selves. For years in our house, we simply just ate what we felt like and when we got sick, went to the doctor and moved right along. Things have changed. We now are being way more proactive. Living much more preventative instead of reactive. We have found that we are paying much more attention to what we eat in ways we didn’t before.
- Is it local?
- Can we pronounce the ingredients list?
- How much sodium?
- How many calories?
- How much fat?
- Is this the best value?
- Should I buy this or make this?
Some people look at our new way of eating and exercise as a little excessive. It may be for some people, but for us it is so much more than just a lifestyle. We have not made these changes for anybody else’s sake but for our own. We have moved past the critics who think we are little out there, to where we feel better now more than we did in our 30’s and 40’s. We still indulge in some excellent wine. Love going out for dinner with friends. We still have wonderful meals full of all of the foods we have enjoyed all of our lives, we just do it in moderation and enjoy the workout to balance those extra calories.
So, in this day of easy access to information from so many sources, do a little homework for yourself.
- Figure out if you should be adding some nutrients to your diet, or taking something out.
- Should you eat more of one thing and less of another?
- Should you keep track of your food?
- Should you track your steps in a day?
- Would making some changes make you feel better?
- Should you be taking supplements?
- Should you be adding protein to your diet?
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Pay a lot more attention to how you feel.
Be proactive instead of reactive. It is a lot cheaper to be preventive than medicate and repair.
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers
