Many who have been reading this blog for a number of years know of my health struggles. They also know where I am now. Nearly six years ago, I was at my wit's end where my health was concerned. I was severely overweight and my health was on a downward spiral and showed no indication of improving. Now, several years later, I have lost nearly 80 pounds and my health has markedly improved. Was it solely due to the fact that I lost weight? No, though certainly, losing weight helped, but it was how I lost weight that made the difference. In fact, the weight came off not because of a consistent workout program (which I was not involved in), but it came off as a natural result of changing my eating habits.

We just celebrated New Year's Eve from 2017 to 2018. Gyms and exercise places normally have an uptick in new members this time of year because everyone knows they have a few to many pounds to lose and their resultant New Year's resolutions to lose the weight. They believe that exercise is the best way to achieve it. Obviously, exercise is good for you (unless you suffer from a number of maladies that don't allow it). But if you don't change the way you EAT, all that exercise doesn't do much. It simply makes you think that you're becoming healthier because you might see a difference on the scale or in the mirror.

The plain fact of the matter is that the processed foods that most people eat today are simply not good for us. I know...I know, that sounds so conspiratorial, doesn't it? The truth is that more and more people in the medical/health professions are coming out to warn us of the fact that, for the most part, highly processed foods are nutrient poor. It's natural to wonder how this can be since so many food products are labeled "enriched," or advertised as being "heart healthy," and other things.

In their book, It Starts with Food, authors Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig highlight the problems with highly processed foods. The reality is that food that goes into the processing plant often nutrient rich comes out lacking in any valuable substantive benefits. This is because of the processing that the foods undergo. Often, nutrients are stripped away from the foods and while the manufacturers do add things, the things they add don't really benefit us much because of the way our bodies absorb (or not), those substances.

I wish I had time to go into all the facts regarding our foods, but I can provide something to help folks understand the problem. In general, if we can come to the realization that most of the foods produced today are created to have an extraordinary taste for us. This actually tricks us into thinking that if it tastes good, it must be good. This of course, extends to foods labeled non-fat or low-fat. The FDA will tell you that if you are going to diet, choose low-fat foods. The problem with this is that our brains actually need fats to work properly.

But this is also part of the problem - the word "diet." Several years ago, I realized that dieting is not the answer because it implies a temporary nature. In other words, people go on a diet and eventually get off the diet to go back to whatever way they ate prior to being on the diet. This does nothing to solve the underlying problem and the underlying problem is how and what the average person eats...