Jul
27
2010
I have completed the most unusual of tests, sacrificing content on my site for 7 months. But, it was well worth it and I wanted to share it with you. During this process I have been actively writing and posting articles on other sites, so I felt that I did not really just throw away most of this time.
What I am referring to is essentially a follow up article on my January 2010 article about a New year’s resolution that surrounds my new eating habits. You see, when January of this year rolled around, my wife and I made drastic changes to our diets. But instead of a diet designed to loose weight and take into account the “general” knowledge of nutritional information, it was a different kind of diet and literally turned a blind eye to said nutritional information. Instead, we focused primarily on the ingredients of the foods we ate, when they were not whole foods, and made absolutely sure that the foods we did eat were 100% organic, or as close to that as possible. We also took the extra time to ensure that there were no GMO contents or anything else that should not be there. Rule of thumb: if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.
So we did. Not once did we care about the number of calories, carbohydrates, fat, cholesterol, etc. any of the foods had. We just made sure it was as wholesome as possible. And after well over 6 months later, something expected occurred: we became healthier and even lost weight in the process. While this has all been confirmed physically through me, we were not able to do the same for my wife, Shannon. She was pregnant during this time, making it difficult and practically impossible to analyse the data with her.
So, turning back to me… my health has improved significantly in virtually every aspect of my being. I have improved energy levels, changes in skin tone, elimination of graying hair, regular bowel movements, less flatulence (I know, a delicate matter for most), less stress and irritability, improved physical performance, and, yes, weight loss.
Years prior to this new found self-created diet, which was essentially nothing more than a switch based on common sense, I have dieted and yo-yo-ed my weight between 185 and 200 pounds… never passing 200, and never being able to go under 185. It was a vicious circle that has been with me since 2003. But this new diet has brought my weight down to 180 pounds, and still dropping. I currently have a goal of about 170 pounds for my 5′9″ frame. Some argue it should be less, but I have a greater body density than most, and anything less than 170 would be too thin for me.
Anyway, keep in mind that I am still able to eat the things I enjoy: burgers, pizza and chips. So how can this be? Simple. Proof that nutrtional values alone mean absolutely nothing, and must be enforced by the foundation of ingredients. For example. I eat organic pizza which is made of home made or store bought organic dough. This means that while the average American eats a pizza dough consisting of a dozen or more ingredients, most of which are genetically modified or chemically derived, my pizza dough consists of just 5 whole organic ingredients. The same thing goes for the toppings: all organic, all limited to nothing more than wholesome ingredients. Like the cheese, made from organic goat milk instead of the cow milk infused with growth hormones found in every supermarket shelf.
Chips, anyone? The same thing holds true here. The average potato chip bag has over a dozen ingredients, many that cannot be pronounced. My chips consist of potato, sunflower oil, sea salt and vinegar… that’s it. And even my potatoes are not GMO, like the majority of Russet potatoes found in just about every other potato chip bag on the supermarket shelf.
I can go on and on with examples of these changes, but why? The proof is in my health and appearance. Now, I will admit that the process is not easy, nor does it come cheap. You must be willing to spend a little more and do a lot of homework and research to find the right products. For example. Prior to this new diet, my wife and I bought all our groceries at one single location: the local grocery store. After discovering that more than 90% of the foods there are really nothing more than a concoction of chemicals and foods, we started shopping at different markets catering to more wholesome foods. We now shop at 2 different markets for most of our foods and at local farmers markets for fruits and veggies.
It does take a little more time, but well worth every second and penny of it.
