Nutrition and Weight Loss Ideas

What Makes Us Fat?

What Makes Us Fat?

So far we’ve talked about how much water we drink, how many miles we walk, what effect genetics might play, how getting older might play a role in our nutrition and weight loss goals, what that awful junk food will do to us, our need to avoid calorie-rich foods, how eating out can be fun if we use some caution about what we order and how much we eat, and yesterday, how alcoholic drinks can have a major effect on the size of our waistlines.

Today I want to revisit a topic that I’ve talked about rather frequently in these articles — Reading Food Labels

I guess my mantra is something like this:

Just as an example — the other day I made the mistake of NOT reading the food label on a product. I try really hard to avoid products that have a lot of sugar in them, and I am also careful to stay away from anything that has bad fats in the ingredients.

There I was in the “health food” section of a large supermarket and saw a package of “Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies”.

Oh, my!

Back in the days when I was busily putting a rather sizeable spare tire of fat around my middle, I was an avid “cookie-monster” — especially when it involved a chocolate-chip cookie. I loved them!

So, to find a chocolate-chip cookie that was SUGAR-FREE was the ultimate discovery — so I bought them — and I did so without taking a minute to read the label.

When I got home — and after eating a few of these cookies (they really tasted quite good, by the way!) — I noticed that the hydrogenated fat content was much higher than good health would allow. Since I also try to avoid anything that isn’t whole wheat, this package of cookies also lost in that regard — they were made from the usual enriched, bleached flour.

No — I didn’t eat any more of them! But, I should have read the label.

For anyone who is working on their nutrition and weight loss goals, not knowing what the calorie count is for the food they are consuming is a pretty silly way to meet your goals.

If you don’t read the labels, how do you know if the food you’re buying is even healthy? Just because the big print on the package says “fat-free” or “sugar-free” doesn’t mean a hill of beans if you don’t check the label to see the calorie count or how many other refined carbohydrates there are.

And when you look at the list of ingredients, pay attention to how long the list is. Those really long lists are a major clue that there’s a bunch of glop in that product. And — if you can’t pronounce most of the ingredients, then you’re probably better off just not eating them at all.

So, why not adopt my mantra — you will lose weight!

I’ll be back on the weekend.

Until then, remember to follow a good-fat — good-carb diet and stay with your regular exercise.

Here is some information about the nutritional supplements I add to my nutrition and weight loss program. These have helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I’m not kidding. Click on the links in the box below — you won’t be sorry!

Have a great day. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more nutrition and weight loss thoughts for you.

Shanti,

Ron
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