obesity in america... could this be true?

I came across the following article... which is scary, but perhaps unsurprising, if it is true.
The Toxic Triad: How Big Food, Big Farming, and Big Pharma Spread Obesity, Diabetes, and Chronic Disease Across the Globe

I know that America pushes the growth of corn and soy products based on incentives to farmers... and I know that most of that ends up as things like high fructose corn syrup and other things in processed, non-whole foods... the relationship between the food/farming/pharmaceutical industries making money off of us as a nation being obese is alarming.

I can speak from experience at the supermarkets how frustrating it is to buy whole foods versus processed foods.  the prices of vegetables and fruits (particularly organic ones) are very high compared to processed foods like pasta and bread.  Although I am investing money in myself by choosing healthier things to eat, I can totally understand that others may not have that luxury.  It seems like there is a giant culture shift that needs to occur before anything is done about it. 

Will it happen?  I don't know... maybe as the obesity figures in America continue to rise, there will be more pressure to find a way out that's not pharmaceutical related... but it will be a much more difficult path because it will require us to change the way we eat and what kinds of foods we value instead of popping a pill to make the problem go away.  Without the government doing more to push us to eat healthier, it may never happen.  Such an action may be a political death wish for any politician supporting such changes, as many people would likely view this as an infringement on their "freedom to eat whatever they want" (even though what they want to eat is processed garbage designed to be addictive).

One thing is certain... YOU can make the decision to eat healthier instead of letting someone else make that decision for you.  Speaking from my own change in eating habits, it is not easy... but it is worthwhile.  Can you make the change towards a healthier, whole-foods based lifestyle?

the role of diet in a healthy life

i'm not a doctor... at all... but i can speak from personal experience here.  diet has a giant effect on your overall wellbeing.

a few years ago, when i was in a much worse place, i was eating processed garbage.  Here's what a day of eating looked like for me:
breakfast: 2 eggs, cheese, sausage on a bagel OR mcdonalds breakfast(!!!!!), both with "OJ"

lunch: turkey/provolone/lettuce/tomato/mayo hero with a 1/2 pound side mozzarella/tomato salad OR a #17 from pete's deli in farmingdale (roast beef and mozzarella on a toasted garlic hero) with a 1/2 pound of mac and cheese or 1/2 pound of cajun chicken pasta salad (lots of mayo), both with a mountain dew (!!!!)

dinner: APPLEBEES, usually got an appetizer and a burger, and another GIANT mountain dew... OR taco bell.

besides my portion sizing being WAY out of wack, i can tell you that i felt AWFUL eating this food. it tasted good because it was laden with fat, simple carbs, and red meat, but it did quite a number on my body and how i felt.

my typical day now:
breakfast: soy milk protein shake (going to eliminate soy soon, using almond milk or something else instead)
brunch snack: greek yogurt with a little bit of honey and nuts (going to eliminate this soon because of the dairy, more on that later)
lunch: soup from my cafeteria (DEFINITELY eliminating this, but i didn't go food shopping this week...wayyyyyy too much salt/processed stuff)
afternoon snack: salad
dinner: quinoa, spinach, and some vegetables

it's like night and day how much better i feel, not even getting into the fact about how much weight i lost.  i'm looking to eliminate the daily soy (i don't like that i'm relying on that for protein when its health effects are up in the air) and the daily dairy (lots of studies are pointing out our bodies' inability to properly digest dairy and the effects of dairy on our bodies in general).  I've read about this in the China Study (although its logic was flawed, it did discuss the effects of casein on cancer) and also saw this article:
Dairy: 6 Reasons You Should Avoid It at All Costs or Why Following the USDA Food Pyramid Guidelines is Bad for Your Health (VIDEO)


so, based on my experience... i would recommend you change things up.  even if you just try it for two weeks, i guarantee you'll feel a difference. it's a little harder to stick to a diet with whole foods than one with processed foods, but i think it'll be worth your while.

update time!

i've been eating well consistently as of late but not exercising as much (it's in between seasons with hockey and i haven't been working out much besides that).  lost another 5 pounds in the past 2 weeks! awesome...

also i ran in the morning yesterday while walking my dog with my vibrams... shoes are awesome but i wasn't used to running in them.  as a result, a 3/4 of a mile run absolutely raped my calves... moral of the story is don't overdo it!

planning on doing a leg workout (not calves!!!) tonight... excited to be starting that up again!

lost 50 pounds so far since i started losing weight... still have a long way to go but the end is in sight!  

achievement

hit my mini goal weight.... was able to use my skates for the first time yesterday! (they're stiff as hell and i got the wrong sharpening, so i couldn't stop like an idiot.)

i still have a bunch of weight to lose, but i'm proud of my progress so far.

more small victories

since a lot of emphasis on this blog has been me getting back to my old hockey playing ability (or what i think of as my old hockey playing ability), i forgot to mention a minor milestone i hit this past season.  i've been playing both in the B and C level roller hockey leagues at the rink near me, and have had good seasons in both.  i actually finished first overall in points this season in the C league, and i think i would have placed in the top 20 if i had been to more of my B games (i just missed the cut by one point... if only they credited with me on an assist i had the last game of the season!). 

this marks the first time in years i've been in the top 20 for either league, so i'm taking it to mean that my hard work is paying off.  minor victories, but positive nonetheless.

busy week...

i worked out three times, played ice hockey twice, played roller hockey three times.  felt great during the week, played some really good hockey during my roller hockey games.  weighed myself somewhere in there and dropped 4 pounds (some of that was obviously water weight though).

i had my roller hockey college league's alumni game on saturday, which i was very excited for (given how well i'd been playing). i played awful but had a lot of fun playing on a line with some guys i played at school with. we held our own... up until the last shift of the game. we won't talk about that one again.

anyway, we went out to grab some food afterwards... went to outback.  ate some of the most calorie-dense food out there (blooming onion, anyone?) and had a beer too.  here's a picture i was forced to take eating said blooming onion.

results for this week... same weight as last week.  i've been working out and have been jumping up in weights there quite a bit so i think that i lost some fat and gained some muscle too.  also, i left out a lot of my cardio stuff because i had so many games, but with only one roller game this week (tonight) i'm going to get back at it without interruption.

one last thing--i bought my skates.  can't wait to drop 2 pounds and be able to use them!  carrot at the end of that string:

it's been a while...

after the two week challenge, we decided to take a break off from being hardcore about what we ate, starting with Valentine's Day.  we had some delish raviolis from whole foods (with weird stuffings like pumpkin, which was amazing, and broccoli rabe/moz) and some homemade chocolate truffle balls.  the day after, it felt like i was hungover.  that's how accustomed to the healthy food i had become... my body rejected the bad stuff!

anyway, another week or so following of burritos, pizza, and other less desirable food passed and i decided to hop back on to the healthy train.  i was lucky enough not to gain any weight in that time either, which was awesome!

started up again this week eating healthy and working out... sunday did weight training, tuesday did weight training, played open ice in the day, and had two roller games... tonight i have another roller game, looking to play open ice on thursday morning and work out at night, and then have my college league's alumni game on saturday.  lots of movement!  can't wait to see what my results are at the end of the week....

started a new simpler weight training program... bought the bowflex adjustable dumbbells and decided to utilize a different plan than what i was going to use with the barbell training... very convenient, i love being able to do this at home, and then walk into the kitchen and cook something healthy.