Check or Wreck Yourself!

Once I committed to dumping Diet Coke, I started to check other foods I was eating, and quickly learned that I was in jeopardy of wrecking myself for life! Hence the title. I consider myself an educated person, but I was earning an F in food knowledge. My goal is to share the most crucial steps I took on the road to Real Health, Wealth, and Happiness, and pass them along to you so you can join me!

1. Fat Free-The first thing that blew my mind was how bad packaged fat free foods are. I bought many fat free foods thinking I was decreasing my calorie intake, but found myself reaching for an extra handful on several occasions to help me feel full. The reason? They took out the fat when heart disease was on the rise and replaced it with addictive processed sugars. Plus fat free foods are often loaded with artificial flavors, extra preservatives, and other toxic chemicals. Luckily many are on the way off the shelf.

2. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)-The number of children with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is rising at an alarming rate in the United States. The amount of sugar people consume in the U.S. has increased from 20 teaspoons per person per year to 150 pounds per person per year. The problem is HFCS is everywhere in foods like barbecue sauce, ketchup, jelly, snacks, drinks and more. A few weeks ago my husband and I went on a date night and ate at a very well known barbecue restaurant in Cincinnati. I decided to splurge and get some ribs. The sauce was so good, and I just couldn't stop eating. At the end of the meal we were walking out and they had bottles of sauce for sale. I thought it must be made of high quality ingredients. #1 HFCS! Wreck myself! Capri Sun is another one I see children drinking all of the time. The packaging boasts 25% less sugar, #2 ingredient HFCS, and still has 16 grams of sugar.

3. Antibiotics in meat and dairy products-Some meat and dairy products are chocked full of antibiotics to help animals grow bigger more quickly. Antibiotics are also used to treat animals that live in cramped quarters and easily contract infections. Some research suggests that people can become over exposed to antibiotics, which causes antibiotics to be less effective when they are given to people. Plus I decided I didn't want my family to eat meat from sick animals.

4. Artificial Sweeteners- I mentioned reasons artificial sweeteners can be harmful in my post about Diet Coke. The problem is they are in thousands of foods and drinks, so you really have to start examining your food labels. Some studies link artificial sweeteners to cancer, but the most alarming problem is how addictive they are, which is why is makes it so hard for people to stop drinking or eating things with these sweeteners in them.

5. Sodium-When we got back from our date night I was a couple of pounds heavier, which was no coincidence. The amount of sodium that is in some processed foods, fast foods, and even restaurant foods is astronomical, and causes you to retain water. I gained fifty pounds when I got pregnant with my second daughter and was retaining tons of water. The culprit? Frozen meals, fast food, and processed foods.

Your goal sometime during the next two weeks is to look in your pantry and refrigerator and check the labels to see if any of the foods you have contain excessive amounts of these 5. Then start to turn over items you are thinking about buying at the grocery store and check those labels. Begin with reducing the use of 1 of them, and then continue to reduce the use of all of them. There are still times when we slip up (like date night), or make an impulse buy without researching it properly. My husband hasn't fully committed to all of the steps, but he is starting to buy in after continuing to lose weight and to feel better when we check ourselves. Take the next step on the road to Real Health, Wealth, and Happiness, and you won't wreck yourself. We are here to cheer you on, so let us know how you are doing and leave a comment!

My BFF

Several of you warned me, many of you silently watched me afraid to say anything, and some of you joined me. When I finally decided to break it off, they tried to win me back through fancy marketing (the BFF can was created with me in mind), but I resisted, and I hope that those of you I corrupted will break it off soon too. For those of you who don’t know me, I am talking about my addiction to Diet Coke.

As long as I can remember my family has been consuming Coca-Cola products. As a child we drank “the real thing”, or Coca-Cola, but sometime during high school we switched to Diet Coke. Some of my fondest memories include a Diet Coke, or maybe a few. I drank Diet Coke during college all nighters, and when I returned from studying abroad in Europe it was the first thing I wanted (with extra ice of course). When I was traveling between St. Louis and New York as a retail buyer I drank them, and when I was studying at night while completing my Master’s Degree I consumed them. During the last nine years my students brought me Diet Cokes for Christmas, my husband brought me numerous ones on his way back from basketball practice, friends brought me 32 ounces with extra ice when I needed a pick me up, and Black Friday with my sister just wasn’t the same without a Diet Coke from McDonald’s.

In January when I decided to start the journey to Real Health, Wealth, and Happiness, I knew I had to give up my beloved Diet Coke. As I started to do research about real eating, articles and reports pointed to how toxic Diet Coke is to us, and I just couldn’t justify my addiction any longer. I watched the The American Parasite (check it out on YouTube) and it made sense to me. Just recently an article about the declining sales of diet soda and the link between aspartame and health problems reinforced my decision, and my desire to encourage you to make the same decision. (http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12974-is-this-the-end-of-diet-soda.html?c=jer)

I am not going to lie to you, the first few weeks after giving it up were a little rough, and there were more than a couple of times I drove into McDonald’s and then found my will power before I placed my order. Proudly seven months later I am Diet Coke free! I feel better, my teeth and nails are healthier, my wallet is a little fatter, and I no longer crave it. Whatever your addiction is, make a decision to stop for your health and wealth, and then find a support system to encourage you. The community we are creating at Real Health, Wealth, and Happiness is here to cheer you on! I'd love to hear your comments about what food or drink additions you have that you want to break. Please encourage others to join us on Facebook and soon on Twitter. Next topic what the heck can I eat?

Welcome to Real Health, Wealth, & Happiness! About seven months ago during the holidays I had a reflective moment when I realized that my family was consuming TOO much of everything, and having MORE wasn't making me feel any better, in fact it was making me feel much worse. My daughters got more presents for Christmas than their rooms could hold, and we ate more food than our stomachs could handle. When the holidays were over I was still twenty pounds overweight (after already losing forty pounds after the birth of my second daughter), and my husband was holding on to the same twenty "sympathy" pounds. I made a decision to get REAL: real healthy, real wealthy, and real happy.

In January 2014 I had lunch with two of my good friends, and when I told them how I was feeling, they both had similar feelings. After that lunch I went home and explained to my husband that I wanted to make some major changes, and we slowly started to transform our eating habits and spending habits (we are still working on both). After six months we have both lost the twenty pounds we were holding on to, and feel so much better. My oldest daughter is making better food choices and can taste the difference between REAL and processed food. Overall this has made our family healthier and happier.

The issues that I will address in Real Health, Wealth, & Happiness impact me as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher, and former business professional. This summer my family and I have enjoyed our time off and as a result I have been able to visit several places, catch up with good friends, and observe people struggling with obesity, health problems, and financial challenges. When I start to share my story with people about getting real, they want to know more, so I decided to share my struggles and accomplishments with you. Together we can find REAL health, wealth, and happiness!