Food is the key

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist (yet).  I am just a girl who lost a lot of weight by making dietary changes.

I learned a lot about food and fueling your body during that experience. Because I believe that we are life long learners, I've continued to read and learn about food and how/what we should eat to be healthy.

I know for me, being prepared is the key. I stay on track with clean, healthy eating if I have plenty of healthy meals and snacks on hand. I almost always take my lunch to work and it is usually over flowing with healthy food. I enjoying meal planning, but I don't do it as regularily as I should. Not only does meal planning help one to stay on track with their diet, it helps to save money at the groucery store by decreasing impulse buying. I have been a member of eMeals for about 6 months now. I love this service!!  It is affordable, Dave Ramsey approved and they have lots of options including: gluten free, low carb, low fat, potion control, clean eating, paleo and the new slow cooker plans. They even have lunch and breakfast plans. You get a weekly menu of 7 meals and a shopping list. Easy peasy!!  I don't always use every meal on my plan but it gives me a good starting point.

I digress, I really wanted to share a couple of things I learned during my sugar detox. They are kinda my pet peeves, so this might sound a little "rant-ish"....you've been warned!!

People: sugar is EVERYWHERE!!  It is in nearly EVERY food that we eat!!  I heard someone say the other that she was not eating sugar as she was pouring ranch dressing on her salad. Guess what the 3rd ingredient in the dressing was.  Yep, it was sugar!!  And another one that absolutely bugs the crap out of me is peanut butter (any nut butter, acutally) We know that nuts are good for us and food companines are taking advantage of that. They are misleading us!!  They label their products as "natural" and we believe that it is good for us. But, then they add extra sugar and oils. So, essentially, if you don't have to stir the oil into your nut butter, it isn't really natural. I use 100% natural peanut butter. I have to stir the oil into it everytime I open a new jar and the only ingredients on the label are: peanuts and salt!!  It might take a little getting used to it and if you like it sweeter, because food companies have conditioned us that way, then add a little bit of honey to it.

Ok, off my soapbox now. And now, to get to to my point, for several years now, I've toyed with the idea of taking nutrition classes and becoming a health and wellness coach. More than 30% of the population is classified as obese. And as a nurse, I see first hand on a daily basis how this affects people. I hear my co workers say that patients don't really know how/what to eat. That's why I think education is so important. Therefore, with nudging from my friends and husband, I've decided to pursue that dream!!  I'm going to become a health and wellness coach!!  I've decided on a program and I'm going to call them to enroll today. I'm so excited!

Ok, now.....go have yourself a great Thursday!!  :-)