Food - Friend or Foe

Our body needs it to survive, but too much of a good thing is well..... disastrous.

Our cars need gas to go, but what happens if you try to fill it up too much? It just overflows...gets everywhere...and it stinks! All the extra gas you tried to put it doesn't do your car any good because it doesn't need it! Or what happens if you put diesel fuel in a car that only takes unleaded? Ummm...problems are definitely ahead!

The same goes with food and our bodies. Food is not the enemy, we need it to survive..simple as that. We are our own enemies, because we do not know when to stop. We keep shoveling it in even when we are not hungry...even when we do not need it to "fuel" our bodies. Not only that, but when we are hungry, we tend to fuel our bodies with the wrong kinds of foods. Foods that may satisfy us at the moment, but down the road...we conk out.

Our bodies can do amazing things when we feed it properly. Food is not the enemy and we need to condition our mind into thinking that way.

So, now I am climbing off my soapbox, going to the mirror and reading aloud to myself what I just wrote. Why? Because, it's easy to write what you know to be true. But it's another to make sure that you really hear it and take it in and make it part of your daily life. I don't want to just talk the talk. I want to walk the walk.

It's a battle I deal with daily. And if someone tells you that they never struggle with food issues...they are lying. It's a learning process....all part of the journey.

I hope everyone has a wonderful "hump" day. I'm off to meet with my personal trainer at lunch to see what new torture he has devised for me. Just kidding...I really look forward to the new challenges.

My Sleep Problem Last Night.....

I re-wrote the title of today's post no less than five times.

Let me first say that this post really doesn't have anything to do with sleep. Tracking my food is the real culprit. I have been pretty lax when it came to actually writing down what I have eaten during the day and coming face to face with what I am actually putting into my body. I kinda new what was going in, the amount of calories, yadda, yadda, yadda. Why would I need to keep track of it...I'm doing perfectly fine....or so I thought.

So, a couple of days ago, I decided I would be more consistent in journaling my food, along with calories and nutrtional value. I answered a few questions to set my nutritional goals. Goal for calories, carbs, fats, and proteins which are necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Each one of these is needed in your eating plan in order for your body to function properly. You shouldn't cut any of these completely out of your eating plan.

After tracking my food for just two days, it has come to my attention that I am depriving my body of necessary items it desperately needs. I thought I was doing great...but my calorie intake is too low. Too low of all things!

Did you know that when your calorie intake is too low that your body will go into survival mode? This means that your body thinks that it is starving, that there is not enough food for it to function. It will then start holding on or storing what little it has so it can keep on going. So, really instead of losing weight ....you will see that you might even gain weight at this point.

You really DO have to eat in order to lose weight.

Okay...back to post title. The last thing I did last night before going to bed was to enter in my last snack of the night and run my daily nutrition report. Yes, it came up short - again.

All night long, that is all I dreamed about...tracking food...how many calories...etc, etc, etc. I woke up this morning and thought..."I can't believe I have been thinking about food all night long!"

Yes, I'm sleepy this morning. Yes, I'm going to continue to track my food. Yes, I'm going to post the progress.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday...gott go and try and get some exercise in before heading off to work!

What's all the Hype about Fiber?

When I started on this journey, my main focus was to get healthy and be able to lead a more healthy lifestyle. Losing weight is just part of the transition.

I started trying to read everything I could get my hands on. What I like the most and could relate to was The Biggest Loser - 6 Weeks to a Healthier You.. It helps to explain what our body needs and why it needs it.

We have watched commercials about this food or that food is high in fiber. We have seen food in the store where the box states "high in fiber". It seems everywhere you look, foods that are high in fiber are the latest craze. But why? What does fiber do for our bodies? All I have seen on commercials is that it is good for your heart.

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate. Our bodies cannot absorb it, so it needs to be replinished. There are two types of fibers: Soluble fiber and Insoluble fiber. Each performs differently in our bodies.

Soluble fiber will dissolve in water and become a gel like substance in your digestive tract. Sounds gross, but this is important because it will help trap fat and cholesterol so can't get through the wall of your intestine and into your bloodstream. Therefore, the fat and cholesterol won't reach your heart.

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and improves your digestion. (I'm sure you have heard people complain about constipation - they need more fiber).

How much fiber should we strive to add to our diet? The National Institute for Health recommends at least 5 grams of soluble fiber a day in addition to insoluble fiber. You should try and get 10-25 grams of fiber per day into your diet.

So how can you do this? What foods are fiber rich?

**For soluble fiber, eat plenty of fruits, beans and whole grains.
**For insoluble fiber, try some of these: cauliflower, brussellsprouts, cabbage, whole wheat breads, and wheat bran.

**Try and stay away from the "white stuff" (more on that later), such as white bread and white rice and go for their whole grain counterparts.

**With your veggies, make sure you are getting some raw veggies in your diet (especially those with skin)- they have the most fiber. When you cook these veggies, it could reduce the fiber content.

**Make sure that when you are increasing your fiber intact, that you are drinking plenty of water which will help to keep your digestive tract moving.

**Don't forget about those snacks! Try air popped popcorn, small serving of dried fruit, whole wheat crackers, or a small serving (2 tbsp) of humus.

All in all, eating fiber is an excellent way to help protect our heart from fat and cholesterol. Which is why on the Cheerios commercials you hear them say it will help to lower your cholesterol. Now you know why and how. It also helps aid in the health of our digestive system.

So the challenge for today is look at the foods that you are eating - are you getting enough fiber? Find ways to incorporate more fiber in your diet.