Cheryl A. Major is a volunteer contributor to WestfordCAT News. Subscribe to our free, online newsletter for all your local news.
Have you ever tried to go without eating junk food or fast food? It’s tougher than you think. You need to be mindful of what you’re eating, as junk food is everywhere, and is even disguised as a healthy choice more often than you may realize.
Here are some thoughts and suggestions for you to consider…
Avoid processed foods that have little or no nutritional value by eating more plant based and complex foods. Most processed foods and snacks are really just “empty foods”. These foods have plenty of calories and preservatives but little nutrition. They are usually filled with starch and sugar. All of this will lead you down the garden path to unwanted weight gain and an ongoing feeling that you aren’t satisfied and need to eat more of the stuff that is making you fat in the first place.
Did you ever consider that you might be addicted to fast food and why that might have happened? Researcher Paul H. Kenny, associate professor of molecular therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute reports that “… over-consumption of highly pleasurable food triggers addiction-like neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitries, driving the development of compulsive eating. Common mechanisms may therefore underlie obesity and drug addition.”
Do you think there might be a chance the fast food companies have refined the pleasure seeking aspect of their fast food so we crave more and more of it? Do you think this might have anything to do with their bottom line? Unfortunately, the facts show that their bottom line is having a disastrous effect on our bottoms!
I challenge you to dump the junk food for three days. Do you think you can? Challenge yourself and find out how addicted (or, hopefully not) you are to your fast food, your boxed dinners and your frozen stuff. Think it’s easy? At that morning office meeting, just say “no” to the donuts and muffins. Go with a piece of fresh fruit to get a bit of energy that will last for a change. Add a handful of nuts to your piece of fruit to slow down your body’s assimilation of the natural sugars.
Will you feel weird and different from your office mates? Sure you will, but you will also feel better. That is, better after you are off the fast food for a week or so. First, you have to commit to breaking the chains of the FFA, or Fast-Food-Addition. The cheap, simple carbs and sugars will beckon you. You’ll need to be strong. Can you do it? Can you last for three days or a week without them?
What should I eat instead? Eat salads with some protein. Eat green things; eat colorful vegetables and fruits! Eat avocado and mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower. Eat nuts. If you eat at a restaurant, go for a salad with some protein like salmon or shrimp, and pass on the bread and butter and the dessert!
There’s so much more to this, but you have to start somewhere. Leave me a comment and let me know if you’re up for the challenge, and if so, how it goes…how do you feel?
Cheryl A Major lives in Westford and is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Her TV show Thin Strong Healthy airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of her blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com Cheryl offers ongoing information and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier. Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CherylAMajor. She is also a full time residential Realtor with Coldwell Banker with more than 25 years experience.
Questions? Email Cheryl at cheryl@thinstronghealthy.com and be sure to put Health Question in the subject line. Your question and its answer will be included in a future article
