Getting started

There is so much information I want to share right away, but I don't want to overwhelm you in the first post! I will try to take things slow and mention a few things that I believe are very important basics. Many people want to lose weight, they try to do so by starting a diet. Well, I will tell you that you should focus more on becoming healthy and starting a lifestyle. When you start a lifestyle that means you are committing to living this way the rest of your life. When you diet you are only committing to a period of time that you will eat well (or not so well) and you will lose weight, but when you come off the diet you gain the weight back. With a healthy lifestyle, you can find a way to eat everyday that works for you... and become a healthier person.

Where to start?

Start by going through your pantry and fridge and read the ingredients list. How many of those items have ingredients that you can't pronounce? Why would you want to put something into your body that isn't real food? Those chemicals were created to keep you, the consumer, coming back for more. Those chemicals make the food tasty, cheap, and worst of all they don't fill you up... so you eat more, so you buy more. Food lobbyists have a very very heavy influence on the government, they ensure that the government does nothing to impede their clients from selling more of it's products. (More on this topic later!)

The closer a food is to it's original form, the better it is for you. Ideally you should be eating only whole foods. After a week or so, your body will crave fresh, whole foods... Not the chemically enhanced byproducts of science and greed you see advertised. The next time you go to the grocery store, see how much of your time is spent in the aisles. The foods there will be more processed and are more likely to contain ingredients that your body doesn't need... though marketing has told you you'll like. I personally try to avoid any products containing the following:

• 
  
• High fructose corn syrup
• Lard shortening (any kind)
• Oil (any kind)
• Sugar
• Artificial ingredients (coloring, flavoring, etc.)
• Sodium
• Preservatives
• Anything partially hydrogenated
• Anything high fat or high sugar

Stick to the perimeter of the store and you won't even have to read labels!

So, what would you like to learn? What information is important to you?