As a fitness professional, I’m always amazed (and confused) by the conflict people seem to have with losing weight, yet they refuse to stop eating junk food. One interesting thing I’ve noticed over my many years of weight loss is that just about every single person who’s told me they’re trying to lose weight has almost always filled their house with all kinds of junk food rather than whole unprocessed natural food.
It’s not uncommon for people to tell me they’re really trying to lose weight, but I’ll still see boxes of apple jackets and fruity pebbles on their counters, cakes, candy and chips in their cupboard, and sodas or syrupy juices notice in her fridge.
The question that always baffles me is that if all these people really wanted to lose weight so badly, why on earth are most people still filling their homes with junk food instead of healthy food?
Interestingly, the answer is usually that they don’t want to give up their favorite foods because they think eating that junk food will allow them to “live a little”… it sounds more like it would if you ask me die a bit with each bite!
My take on this is that eating junk food has nothing to do with enjoying life at all… In reality, cutting out junk food makes you enjoy life more because you feel better and have more energy every day Has. Additionally, getting in shape by cutting out junk food can obviously help improve the look of your body (and thus boost your confidence), allowing you to enjoy life even more.
One thing many people don’t realize is that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean eating bland and boring food. If instead you learn to enjoy natural, unprocessed foods and explore all the varieties of natural foods this planet has to offer us, you will learn that you can enjoy the natural flavors of real foods more than the overly processed aggressive tastes that are so common with overly sweet and salty junk food.
An example of this is the other day I wanted unsweetened iced tea while I was out and about, but the store only had these bottles of heavily sweetened iced tea available. Well, I guess I haven’t bought fully sweetened iced tea for a few years… I’ve actually gotten used to drinking unsweetened iced tea and have come to appreciate the natural taste of tea without sugar or other sweeteners.
When I sipped this sweet tea from the bottle I almost gagged because it was so syrupy sweet it was absolutely gross.
A similar example… I used to need a lot of sugar in coffee, but after slowly reducing the amount of sugar I would use in coffee, I can now actually drink black coffee and enjoy the natural flavor without the need for sweeteners (although I rarely drink coffee).
These are just a few examples of how, once you start appreciating the natural flavors of real foods, you’ll find that you no longer need the super-aggressive salty, sugary, or artificial flavors we’ve been fed by food companies and all the junk Food they foist on us.
My belief is that everyone should enjoy what they eat and can do so without eating overly processed junk food… In fact, people are often surprised to hear that many of the foods they mistake for junk food are actually healthy Have alternatives you never thought of.
Some examples:
junk food: a chocolate bar, a chocolate donut or a piece of chocolate cake
Healthier alternative: a few pieces of extra dark chocolate (only more than 70-75% cocoa content) … this contains more fiber and much less sugar than milk chocolate or even dark chocolate with less than 70% cocoa content
junk food: Fried and breaded chicken fingers and fries on the side (lots of nasty trans fats)
Healthier alternative: grilled chicken breast strips with peanut dip and vegetables on the side
junk food: a cheap fast-food burger on a processed refined white bun
Healthier alternative: A grass-fed burger (higher in CLA and omega-3 fats) with raw grass-fed cheese on a sprouted grain bun
How about eating healthier yet very tasty foods!
I hope this article will teach you that there’s more to life than eating junk food, and eating junk food doesn’t necessarily mean you “live a little,” as so many people say. Instead, I feel like the opposite is the case.
Eat healthier and discover the natural taste of real food (not processed) and you’ll soon find you don’t need junk food anymore. Enjoy!
Thanks to Mike Geary
