Do you ever feel like you are missing something very important and everywhere you look people seem to have it all together and you wonder what is "wrong" with you? Do you have brain fog that makes it difficult to think clearly? Do you have love energy and find it difficult to get off the couch? do your joints hurt and your body ache.
It could be your food that is causing all of this.
I watched a documentary film called, Fed Up (2014), which discussed childhood obesity and how since the 1950's every industry has systematically taken steps to increase unhealthy lifestyle choices and decrease opportunities for change. I have always said, if you want to know the truth, follow the money. When people are sick, multiple industries benefit:
If you are overweight you might think, "Maybe you think I should try exercising more" so you join a gym, buy a home exercise machine, or a stationary bike. You are motivated for a few days maybe even a month or two, but the motivation wanes and the exercise routine falls to the wayside. So you try dieting and join Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. You stay on it for a while and you feel good as you see you are losing weight. You reach your targeted goal and stop the program thinking you can do the same thing by counting calories and buying "low fat" or "sugar free" processed foods. Soon you notice you've put back on the weight you've lost and even added a few more pounds. Discouraged, you eat more "comfort foods" and look for "quick pick-me-ups" by consuming more flavored water, juices, coffee, and soda, but with the sugar-high also comes the sugar-crash and to get back up you have to consume more and more of the sugar infused liquids.
I have watched people change their way of thinking to improve their outlooks on life, yet refuse to look at the unhealthiness of their diets. It's not their fault, temptation is everywhere. But the same steps to finding recovery from drugs or alcohol is the same steps for a healthy diet. If you wanted to be sober you wouldn't go to a bar or bring home a bottle of booze, yet we want to be thinner but stop at Starbucks everyday for a Grande Caramel Macchiato (250 calories). If you want to treat yourself for a hard day at work you drive through for your dinner you might be consuming thousands of calories in the choices you make. According to EAT THIS, NOT THAT, a website designed to help you navigate to the better fast food choice, the #1 recommendation for Carls' Jr's menu is the Big hamburger with over over 480 calories and 13 grams of sugar. The #2 healthy choice lists a lettuce wrap 1/3 lb burger with 420 calories and no sugar because the sugar is all in the bun. Even the recommendations for eating healthy list the unhealthy choice first. Why? Well, follow the money.
Sugar is more addictive than cocaine. When you stop eating sugar you will go through withdrawal symptoms just like cocaine addicts. Quit caffeine like coffee or sodas and you'll get headaches and feel low energy and fatigue. You'll be super irritable and people will want you to go back to your old self which gives you permission to pick up that coke, eat the cake, or supersize the "happy meal." It only takes a week to detox from sugar and caffeine and to start a healthy lifestyle, but most people quit before they reach success. It's not impossible, but it is really hard to change the way we've been programed to eat our whole life. Usually, it will take a catastrophic diagnosis of cancer, diabetes, or a heart attack to force us to change. Why wait for that to happen? The next time you are at the grocery store and want to buy a case of soda, buy some lemons and limes and add the juice to your water. The next time you want to pick up a bag of chips, a box of cereal, or a package box of pasta, leave it on the shelf and buy real food that has been grown on a tree, vine, or in dirt. Buy NON-GMO fruit and vegetables because they are healthier for you and have more nutritional value. Slice up some watermelon and freeze it for those late night sugar cravings. Your taste buds will enjoy the natural sweetness and you won't miss the ice cream, cakes, or cookies.
When you replace one unhealthy choice with one healthy choice and , change can happen and you'll soon be living a healthy lifestyle.
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” THOMAS EDISON
If you'd like to learn how to live intentional, check out my book of the same name: Live Intention. Live the life you always wanted, but never believed you could. Available at Barns and Noble, Amazon, and iTunes https://www.christianfaithpublishing.com/books/?book=live-intentional