Food as an investment

I will be the first to stand up here and say I do have the occasional junk food.  M&M's are a weakness, and I do snag a chip here or there.  As a general rule, though, my outlook on food has changed over the last 18 months.  I should say improved over the last 18 months.  With the knowledge that "I need to get my protein,  get my veggies, fruits, etc"  came the need to get more bang for my buck.

I know if I eat something with white flour, as good as it tastes, it won't last.  I will get hungry sooner.

 If something is going to have a lot of calories, I want to make sure it has more nutrition as well.  For example:  Sometimes I'll substitute peanut butter on toast as opposed to just butter.  Not always, but sometimes.  Gram for gram, peanut butter gives me a little more protein, a little less fat, and a few less calories.  Along those same lines, if I'm gonna pay for something, I don't want any fillers in it.  Hence I buy all natural peanut butter.  Have for years, even before the weight loss journey.

 I stay away from highly processed foods.  I try to eat as close to the natural form of food as I can.  Now as stated in the beginning of this post, I do periodically have my candies, and such, but as a general rule I eat unprocessed.  Even though I have my occasional bite here and there, there are things I stay away from:  Sodas, ramin noodles, lunch meat, boxed cereals(boxed anything except maybe pasta), american cheese, margarine, anything hydrogenated, anything made of soy, etc.

Fat is important for body functions.  Fats help with the absorption of certain vitamins, help with brain development, workouts, etc.  Check out this article from Medline.  You need fat!  Good fats; butter, olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, (real) lard (not the hydrogenated stuff).  I don't care what the diet gurus say, natural fats, which include saturated, are the best.  Your body knows what to do with it.  Trust me on this.  Just, as in everything, In moderation.  That doesn't mean frying chicken all the time or deep fried Oreos.  It means a little is good.  It also means it will help you get and stay fuller.  Stay away from ANYTHING hydrogenated.  I don't care if it says organic, all natural, etc.  Out it goes: corn oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, shortening, margarine.  Say BYE!  Also say Bye to whatever foods have these types of fats in them.  Cooking sprays, I don't use them.  It makes whatever oil you're using waaaay more expensive.  Just coat your pan or cookie sheet with one of the above good fats and off you go.  I usually use butter, lard, or bacon fat to coat my pans.  Yes I have bacon.  I brush the oils on with a pastry brush, or toss my veggies in a little (bout 4 gms)olive oil or sesame oil before I roast them (just about all veggies are good roasted).

Full fat dairy is AWESOME!  Even before I started losing weight, I had switched to whole milk.  I'm on the verge of trying raw whole milk.  Just have to go get it, but for now I use whole milk.  If calories are a concern, dilute it half and half with water.  It will still taste like 2% but only have 75 calories per cup which is less than skim.  FYI, Skim milk is a product of processing milk.  It's naturally blue in color.  Ummmm Ewww.  I use only full fat products including cheese (american cheese is not cheese.  Just sayin), Eggs (the whole thing.  Egg whites are nasty alone).  I'm not saying go organic or any of that stuff, but I do read my labels to make sure I'm only getting sour cream, or yogurt, and not a lot of filler.  See?  So try this.  Instead of a 6 oz carton of fat free/ sugar free yogurt for 90 calories.  Have 2 oz of french vanilla whole milk yogurt (57 calories) and 1 cup of berries or other fruit.  Mix it all together and voila!  The amount of calories will depend on the fruit, but it's way more food than a 6 oz carton of yogurt and the calories are still only around 130 at the highest.

SUGAR.  Yes, I do eat sugar.  I have sugar in my coffee.  I have sweets.  I like sugar.  I also use molasses, and maple syrup.  Raw honey is only used when making cough syrup or in unbaked items.  Raw honey not only loses it's benefits when heated, but it's glycemic index changes and it becomes no better than table sugar.  Molasses and maple syrup retain their goodness in baking.  I make my bread with molasses now.  While I do like my sugar, I have reduced it's use in my scratch baking.  I love my sweets, but In Moderation.  What I don't use is anything artificial.  No splenda, sucrolose, nutri-sweet, aspartame, etc.  Zip, zilch, nada.  Bad, very bad stuff AND studies are now showing that using products that contain this stuff can make you GAIN weight.

In the midst of all this great stuff you fill in with meats, veggies and fruits.  Find ways to incorporate them into your diet.They are the most important part of this.  If you just eat the fun stuff, it doesn't work see?

Portions and calories are important.  Don't let anyone tell you different.  Find your calorie range and stay there.  If you use these tips, I promise you, you will be satisfied.  Like I've said before, getting your calories from real food is way more filling and satisfying than the same calories in empty processed foods.  So what do you think?