The One Ingredient Foods

Yesterday I blogged on From Beginning to End......about Pinterest. Please feel free to read the blog if you haven't already. Today is a bit of a carry over in the fact that if you are serious about a lifestyle/weight loss change....then never has so much information been at your fingertips before. Yes...literally at your fingertips by simply opening up the Pinterest website. Here you will find hundreds of weight loss programs, lifestyle ideas and workouts. There are also many inspirational thoughts to help keep you on track and remind you that you can do it! It is truly a treasure trove of links to information. Much of it is information that in all of my years of "dieting" that even I didn't know.

I think one of the most interesting things that I have read of late was on a site that I did not pin. Silly me. Well...actually I think I went from Pinterest to another site and then another site and the site where I read this was not pinable. None the less...the information was interesting and made a lot of sense. It talked about why sometimes we think we are doing everything right as far as how we eat....and yet time after time....the scales refuse to budge. It is probably one of the most frustrating experiences you can have. Especially when how we continue to eat is often based on current results. When you know that not one piece of cheesecake, not one McDonalds burger or one second helping has passed your lips and yet your weight has remained the same for one week, two weeks...sometimes even three weeks....you just want to throw up your hands and head for the nearest bag of jelly beans.

The fact is...if you are eating certain breads, low-fat and sugar free everything, then you may just be defeating yourself. According to the article....when they take out the fat and the sugar....they are replacing these products with additives and chemicals that can be much worse than eating the whole fat, real sugar items. Once eaten...your body often has difficulty breaking these additives and chemicals down....and these foods can cause even more of a fat store in your body than the real thing. Our bodies were not designed to process foods with additives that we can't even pronounce. It has also been shown through testing that foods like real butter are much better for you than margarine or diet margarine. And while we are taking about margarine....I heard the other day a little story about margarine. Not sure if it is true or not....but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. Do you know the origins of margarine? It was originally used as something to fatten up turkeys. Unfortunately....it was making the turkeys sick and even killing them. It was apparently made/manufactured in huge quantities and rather than waste that which was not used...yellow dye was added to it...along with some flavoring and viola....what was killing off turkeys is now what we eat on our toast. YUK! My point is....just because a commercial tells you that something is diet and you will lose weight on it...or that something is good for you.....doesn't mean it is true.

Going back to the article...it says what most of us already know if we use our common sense. The best foods to eat and make our bodies run optimally not to mention help us to lose weight and keep our metabolism in shape are single ingredient foods. We are talking fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats, chicken and fish. These are foods with no fillers or added ingredients and you know exactly what you are eating. You can even take your meat choices a step further and purchase only organically raised cattle and chicken and organic fruits and veggies are widely available too. Where we run into trouble is when we eat a lot of processed foods, boxed mix foods and again diet foods. So much that is unnecessary and actually works against our bodies go into these products and cause us not to lose and even in some cases gain weight. It can be a frustrating and health deteriorating cycle.

Now honestly.....at least 80% of us are products of the processed foods, fat free foods and sugar free generation. Since I had my first TAB back in the 1970's I have fallen victim to diet soda's and have such a taste for fake sugar...that often the real thing in soda's and other products tastes too sweet to me. The diet soda however....does not make me less hungry or crave sugar any less. On the contrary....studies have shown that diet soda's can make your sugar cravings even worse...and it is down right scary what these chemicals might be doing to our bodies long term. Water and tea can do far more for both your health and weight loss and they won't cause the cravings. However....living in a world of processed, additive and chemical ridden food....it is hard to quit cold turkey....especially when many of these foods come in quick and easy form for those nights when time is short and kids are hungry. Still....perhaps re-evaluating our diet and what we are putting in both our mouths and the mouths of our children is worth spending a little extra time in the kitchen.

So back to weight loss. If we stick to the single ingredient foods like fruits and veggies....we are giving our bodies healthy foods that work naturally in our systems and help us to stay fuller longer. Lean meat gives us the protein we need and a good whole grain bread with little added sugar will help to fill out a healthy eating regimen. Also....if you cut back to the basics....you are going to start seeing the scales move south while at the same time you will start to feel better and have more energy.....and the biggest added bonus is.....by eating one ingredient foods....you are no longer filling your diet with added salt, added sugar, added dyes and added chemicals and additives with too many syllables to even pronounce, let alone process.

Now no one is saying that you have to completely cut out that diet Coke, your sugar free yogurt or your once in a blue moon Chicken McNuggets. But I am betting that if you go the one ingredient route and start tasting real food not covered up by artificial flavorings and seasonings...that the diet soda and Chicken McNuggets just might not be quite as appetizing as they once were.

I myself am once again going to try to break up with diet soda and eat more one ingredient items. I am anxious to see how my scales react and how my body feels. I would also like to hear from you. Have you kicked the additive and chemical habit? Are processed foods a thing of the past in your life? Let us know as together we continue on our journey to health, fitness and lifestyle change.