Here’s what to stay away from if you are trying to lose weight this year

Trying to lose weight in the new year? We are here to give you the good news that you don’t have to diet! In fact, you shouldn’t.

Is your resolution to lose weight this year? Don’t do what you’ve done in the past. It didn’t work then, and it’s not going to work now. Diets don’t last. Lifestyle changes do, and making small, healthy switches over time. The best thing you can do for you and your family is to get back to the basics of eating real food instead of packaged, convenience and fast food.

You know how slow your phone goes when your storage is full? You try to open an app and it keeps quitting. You get frustrated, closing your phone for a little rest. But then 20 minutes later when you need to send a message to a family member your text app is even working slowly and the letters keep freezing. You finally get the text out and then ask your spouse what’s wrong with your phone. Storage is full they say. You realize you have pictures from 10 years ago, apps you’ve never even opened and your junk email all taking up valuable space on your phone. You clean it down to the things you use daily, restart your device and it's working pretty well again! A full phone is like a body full of fast food, convenience food and over processed, packaged food. All of these seem so great, they save time and when you look on the nutrition panel it's low fat and low calorie! Win-win? I’m sorry to say it's more of a lose-lose. Here’s why:

What comes out of a wrapper and goes down fast, slows down as soon as it's in your body. We’ve added so many ingredients in packaged foods to increase flavor and shelf life that our body doesn’t recognise as food. Some of these are chemicals that can really do harm to our systems and some don’t directly do damage to cause disease but indirectly because they can’t be processed and digested like real foods, causing cell damage because they overload our organs, just like a full phone is overloaded. Our organs can’t keep up with all the foreign ingredients and it slows way down. Instead of apps crashing we get cellular damage which leads to faster aging, eventually even to organ damage and then causes illness and disease. 

What can you do about it? Become informed. It can take time to read labels, learn what each ingredient is and which are healthful or harmful. If you are as overwhelmed as I am, start with the basics, eat food that you recognize the ingredients in, or choose whole, single ingredient foods at every opportunity. Adding more produce is the best way to start. Try swapping one processed and packaged snack food for a fruit or vegetable you enjoy. Keep it simple and make one small change at a time. Don’t overload yourself with a whole new diet just yet. See what healthy food you can add into your family’s meals. Then over time, clean out your fridge and pantry to see what swaps you can make for healthier options. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Take this information and chew on it for a while. It’s not easy to change and to make lasting habits, but your health and quality of life is worth it! 

What’s one healthy swap you can make this week?