Looking to Lose Weight? Stop Dieting - Start Eating Real Food

As the New Year settles upon us, we once again find ourselves inundated with information about the latest diet craze. While the fervor to start over and revamp our bodies is generally a positive result of the transition from December to January, it presents most people with the difficult task of figuring out how to make it happen.

The diet industry—which earns a staggering $20 billion (yes, I said BILLION) per year—will tell you that it can make your dreams come true in a few short weeks through the consumption of a myriad of diet pills, meal-replacement shakes, and portion-control classes. However, if all of that TRULY worked—if taking a pill or shaking a powder over your food really allowed you to lose weight and keep it off, the diet industry would cease to draw such unbelievable profits.

Therefore, if the goal is to tell the truth so that people can actually make long-term, healthy changes, we have to begin by stating that there is no miracle cure—there is no easy fix to the rut we’ve gotten ourselves into by thinking that health can be found in boxes of highly processed, chemically altered foods.

It can’t.

For that reason, instead of approaching 2015 with weight loss or a certain pant size in mind, why not go forward with the intention of eating real food—meaning items that maintain their natural integrity such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, meat, and fat. Sure, many of our favorite processed food companies present the illusion of health through claims that their products “Contain Omega-3’s!” or are “Vitamin Fortified!”, but the truth lies in the fact that those “healthy foods” are directly related to the creation of people who are unhealthy, sick, and overweight. In fact, a large portion of the dominant chronic and fatal diseases in the U.S.—coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer—can be traced back to the consumption of processed foods.

Plain and simple, if you take the time to look at the ingredient label on most boxed or bagged foods, you’ll probably find that instead of words you know (like milk, tomato, oregano), you’ll see a long list of chemicals that are not only designed to taste like certain foods, but are also included to keep the product from rotting. Ever.

Let me repeat that. The chemicals in your food are there to stop it from rotting. Think about that for a second and tell me how your stomach feels.

Real foods are alive, which means they are perishable. If the goal is to nourish your body with a constant stream of nutrients that will fight disease and keep your organs functioning properly, then you need to make sure that what you’re giving it for fuel hasn’t been altered and stripped to the point that all of its good nutrients disappear.

Therefore, instead of fixating on the number on the scale or berating yourself over that small, medium, or large tag under your shirt, start your journey from a place of kindness—a place where the focus is on fueling your body with nourishing real foods.

I know you can do it. I’m with you all the way.

If you have any questions or you’d like to learn more about how you can take control of your health, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Joe Krzemien, D.C. | Georgia Spine & Sports Rehab | www.GeorgiaSpineSports.com | 770-614-6551

Official Team Chiropractor for the Atlanta Falcons