12/31/2018
Happy New Year!!!
Do you have a New Year’s Resolution? I’ve decided mine will be to take 100% responsibility for the foods I purchase for me and my family.
I’m going to start actually looking at the ingredients in my food. Sounds silly, right?
You’re probably thinking, “You are a trainer, shouldn’t YOU of all people be acutely aware of what you are eating”.
But I am completely guilty of delegating my personal responsibility for what I eat to food manufacturers who convince me their “low-calorie”, “diet”, “low-fat”, “no carbs”, etc. products are actually good for me.
We see the word “diet” slapped on a package and we think whatever it is will make us healthy and lose weight. We immediately drop our responsibility - I know I do.
Taking responsibility for what you consume is as easy as being generally skeptical of food and looking at the ingredients to know what you’re really eating.
If a a food manufacturer uses phrasing that seems healthy but has a potential loophole, beware!
Here are examples of such trickery from “Mini Habits for Weight Loss” by Stephen Guise:
100% Wheat:
All this means is that the product does not contain millet or quinoa. It doesn’t mean that the wheat is whole. Chances are it has been processed to oblivion and that there are other ingredients.
Multigrain:
More than one grain used is technically “multigrain”. So what! It can still be refined and devoid of nutritional content. These products usually contain more refined white flour than anything else.
Made with Whole Grains:
What this means is that whole grains are somewhere on the ingredients list - probably right after the refined grains (which make up most of the product). The magical phrase to look for? 100% Whole Grains!!
Made with 100% Real Cheese:
It just means that real cheese is used, but it might account for 2% of the total product. Usually just refined flour.