Keep the momentom

  It is always exciteing and fun to see great weight loss in the first few weeks of making life changes to become healthier.  Some times the excitement and dedication can decreas as we are working month afte  month but this is the time to stay on track.  Don't let up!  Hopefully you have added these things into your life.

Eat more Whole Foods

Cardio Workout: 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes .

Strength Training: twice a week.

 

If you haven't added all three of these elements to your life add them in this week. 

 

This week we will focus in Whole foods.  I'll be sharing some meal ideas and recipes that I have tried.  Feel free to ask questions and leave your ideas and recipes in the comments.

 

Let's talk Whole Foods!

 "When you eat whole foods, you're getting the food in its natural state, you're getting it intact, with all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are in the food. Basically, it's the healthy whole food, rather than the bits that remain after refinement and processing.  It's the difference between an apple and apple juice , or a baked potato and mashed potatoes."



  

That quote comes from this 3 page article if you want to read all of it.   http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-benefits-of-healthy-whole-foods

 

So, Why Whole Foods?  You can get all the vitamins and nutrients that your body need with less calories and chemicals.  That last part is very important.  Less Chemicals!!!!  Your liver filters out all the chemicals and "junk" out of what we eat and drink.  As we eat more and more processed foods, our liver can't keep up and we also end up storing these chemicals in our body.  That isn't good.  We end up not feeling well, our body can't function as it should, and we will have health issues.  By eating whole foods we can cut down on the junk going in that needs to be filtered out and that cuts back on filtering the liver has to do.  Get it? Just like a water filter.  If you have water running through the filter it works great, but start pouring muddy water through that filter and it gets all backed up and doesn't work well. 

You want to find and eat the food in their natural state.  Think skinless chicken breast vs. breaded chicken patty, brown rice vs. a rice dish in a box or a peach vs. canned peach in heavy syrup.  When you are looking for something to eat I want you to ask your self, "Did this food have to go through a "process" to get to this state?"  If the answer is yes,  try to find a more natural form of the food.  Now I'm not talking about cooking the meat, that is ok, but NO FRYING OR COOKING IN GREASE. :)  You also can steam veggies and use a crock pot and those kind of things. So today I want you to pay attention to what you put in your mouth.  Can you find a healthier more natural form of things you love to eat?  And let's cut out the things that have all the processed chemicals and sugars and fats and give our body a break from the junk we try to filter through it.