Check Your ingredients. Less is More!

March 20, 2013

Okay so hopefully some of you have taken me up on that "Research Phase" I was blogging about last week???? (http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2013/03/where-do-i-begin-eating-for-lifetime.html) Okay so looking at this picture common sense would say that these foods are some of the best for you. Why? Because they are raw, pure, untouched and are jam packed with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. 

When I first got married my cabinets were packed with boxed meals, pastas and quick dinners. Jars and cans galore. Nowwww I have happily reversed that. I don't have much in my pantry. Because I have realized the longer shelf life a food has the worse it is for you. Look at my picture again-Fresh fruit/Veggies. They will rot within days. It's "Alive" in terms of enzymes, vitamins, minerals therefore it will soon die :) that sounds harsh but lol it's a good thing. Okay now look at these pics. It's already "dead" & in a casket (a box). Not too good ingesting this stuff :( Our bodies need FRESH foods to Live.

These foods have "Shelf-Life"-They will last a very long time on the shelf.  Now in order for companies to get these foods to last a long time, they need to change it. Distort it. Which is called preservatives, additives, flavor enhancements, and artificial flavorings. Or in other words=FAKE. Fake foods are contributing to our nation's obesity rate because there's a whole bunch of junk in the ingredient list! Culprits like MSG (monosodium glutamate, that's a posting in itself) and High fructose corn syrup could be affecting your weight. 

So, to sum it up the less ingredients, the BETTER. Less is More :) The more ingredients the worse :( Because someone had to create it, make it a lab. Yuck. I shop weekly for our food and by the time the week is over, most of our food is gone. There are days that I will by a quick frozen meal from Trader Joe's but I feel better about it because they made a commitment in 2007 to eliminate added trans fats from all private label products (along with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives & GMO ingredients).  GMO is genetically modified organisms (which will be another postings).

I remember one time my husband brought home some Kroger brand "fresh" banana bread and I read the ingredients & almost um got mad. Lol. Sorry I didn't know what to say. There were like 25 ingredients in there! Seriously? I use like 6 in mine (http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2012/11/sweet-healthier-good-ol-banana-bread.html). I hope you're following me here. When people tell me they're going to go on a diet and go grocery shopping for "healthier" foods I'm always skeptic like "wait, I have to see what you're getting lol." Remember I've done all the diets. And I use to count calories (could be useful) and watch my portions. But the problem is you don't want to limit your intake and still eat processed foods. Meaning some guy in a white lab suit going through a process to create you a made up meal.  Because when you're done counting you still gotta eat & if you haven't learned anything about foods, then you're going to repeat the cycle of unhealthy eating. So let's do this the RIGHT way. Let's eat for a lifetime. Not eat foods that will last a lifetime. Lol. Like the ones sitting on a shelf.

I use to eat Special K bars because they were only 90 calories. SMH. Now I eat LaraBars because there's only 3-4 ingredients. I also like KIND Bars. Say it with me: Check the Ingredients!! Real Vs. Fake 

If you can't pronounce it, 9 out of 10 times you don't need to be eating it! Common sense eating. If you're buying apple juice there doesn't need to be anything in it besides apples. Lol.  The popcorn I buy has organic corn, sea salt and olive oil in it. That's it. I also don't like buying anything with added sugars. Why does peanut butter need sugar? Why does my strawberry jelly need sugar? It doesn't. Duh. Strawberries are sweet enough, so I check the back just to make sure. I am okay with sweetening something with other fruit. Sometimes you'll see other fruits (juices) in the ingredients which is cool :)

So we're not just watching our portions, we're watching the ingredients. Less is more on our plate and IN the foods we're eating! 

So if you're looking for a snack, go for your trail mixes (watch the added sugars), fruits, veggies with hummus (not ranch!), smoothies or snack bars with minimal ingredients. Combos I love: apples & almond butter, carrots & hummus, celery & hot wing sauce and peanut butter/frozen banana treat. There's a couple others, send me a message for other ideas if I haven't written another post soon!

p.s. Here are my other weight/health related posts:

• http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2013/02/no-grains.html
• http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2012/11/steps-towards-healthier-eating-kids.html
• http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2012/09/obsessed-journey-to-health-pt1.html
• http://aperfectfitministries.blogspot.com/2012/09/here-to-stay-journey-to-health-pt2.html

Forgive me for not posting a new recipes but there are at least 6 or 7? so enjoy :) I'll be back soon!

Love me,

Love God.