Why I Have Sworn Off Processed Foods

I have A LOT to cover here, but I'm going to try to keep it somewhat brief. This all started when I did the Dr. Oz 2-Week Rapid Weight Loss Diet. I almost didn't post at all about doing the diet because I HATE the word diet and dieting is not something I condone. It's all about a healthy lifestyle and making changes you can stick with forever. That being said, I did this "diet" because it's more of a cleanse and I knew it would lead me to make changes that I needed to make. 

A quote from "Hungry For Change", an awesome documentary on Netflix.

I've been doing well the past 2 years with counting calories and slowly losing weight, but I wasn't eating the most quality food. 1200 calories of processed diet food junk does not equal 1200 calories of whole nutritious foods. Sure, I lost weight but I still wasn't at a 100% healthy place physically. As someone with a family history of diabetes and heart disease, I knew I could be doing more. I've done a lot (and I do mean a lot) of research this past month and my eyes have been opened. I've learned that you can eat a normal amount of food yet your body can still feel like it's starving if you're not eating the right things. Do you know what your body does when it feels like it's starving? It holds onto fat and won't let go. Not good when you're trying to get to a healthy weight! Just by eating only whole, natural foods and not even counting calories, I have lost significant weight and inches in the past few weeks. The secret was right there all along! I knew about the "Eating Clean" movement and I knew it was something I should try. Shoot I had pinned tons of clean eating recipes on Pinterest but had yet to try them. 

So what does clean eating mean? It means eating foods in their purest form. Basically, no processed foods. For me, it means no wheat, no sugar, no dairy and no artificial sweeteners. 

I'll start with wheat. Why wheat? Well, wheat is overly processed, low in nutrients and contains phytic acid, which literally stops your body from absorbing important nutrients. Bread that is sold in stores today is so overly processed and breaks down in your system so quickly, which then turns to glucose which spikes your blood sugar. Also, wheat products contain gluten which can damage your intestinal tract and cause other problems you don't want to deal with. You do not NEED grains in your diet. Period. 

Ryan Gosling. Nuff said.

Next I'll go into sugar, the most important one in my opinion. This one is pretty simple and the more I read about it the more I was like, "Duh! Makes sense!" I'm talking about refined sugars. The white sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar you buy in the baking aisle....oh and let's not forget the worst offender of all: high fructose corn syrup. That crap is in everything! Seriously, look through your fridge and cabinets. It's in stuff you wouldn't even think of, like your bread, spaghetti sauce and in most of the stuff your kids are drinking. The bad thing about refined sugar is your body's response to it. You eat something with sugar and instantly your body has to release insulin. The more sugar you eat, the more insulin is released- whether you need it or not. Excess insulin in your system prevents your body from burning fat. That is why the quality of calories matters so much. Higher-quality calories trigger fat-burning hormones and low-quality calories trigger fat storing hormones. That's just one problem with sugar. Another is its addicting properties. Refined sugars have a similar effect on your brain as heroine and cocaine. You get a "sugar high" and once you come down from it, you're starving again and craving more sugar. It's a vicious cycle. I could go on and on about how harmful sugar is, but I'll just stick with this for now. I can speak from experience. The first 3 days of my cleanse were horrible. I was ready to kill someone for a cookie. I have kicked the habit and I feel amazing.

The biggest junkie of all, Cookie Monster! 

I'll get into dairy another time. Just like most other man-made foods, dairy is overly processed to the point that it has no redeeming health qualities. I'm sure you've heard this before, but your best bet is to stick with the perimeter of the store. 99% of the stuff in the aisles of the store are manufactured by the food companies and they can put some very deceptive things on the boxes. They care about making money, not about your health. Did you know that the FDA doesn't actually do the studies and research about the products? The food companies themselves do it and submit it to the FDA. Do you think those are slightly slanted or what?! What a joke. Read labels and if you see things that you aren't sure what they are, do your research. There's nothing more important than your health and the health of your family. I think it's time for us as a society to take some responsibility for what we put into our bodies. Maybe if we do that, the food companies will be forced to follow suit. I know it's a pipe dream, but you never know! Education is key. Read everything you can and learn about the foods you eat. There are some great documentaries out there about food. A few of my favorites are Food, Inc.; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; Hungry For Change; and Forks over Knives. All of them are on Netflix. I highly recommend the Jamie Oliver TED Talks (google it). He's a great source of information about feeding your children things that nourish them and help them grow. 

Sorry if I got too scientific on you, but I just felt like I had to share some of my new-found knowledge. Keeping it to myself just seemed rude. I'm passionate about this and I want to start a mini-revolution, even if it's just me and one other person (besides my sister. She's already my "clean eating cohort"). In closing, I'll post a few of my clean meals I've had lately. I'm seriously loving cooking new recipes and trying new things!

Chipotle cauliflower soup (same cauliflower soup recipe I posted last week,

 only I added chipotle lime seasoning instead of curry)

Paleo banana nut muffins

Paleo peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

Organic chicken meatballs, brown rice chips and veggies/hummus

 Taco salad with mango salsa and a homemade vinaigrette I came up with

(1 TBS oil, 1 TBS balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp lime juice and 1 tsp taco seasoning)