In America, we refer to most snack foods as "junk food." What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it chips? Doughnuts? Soda? Candy? Nachos? Corn dogs? Chili fries? Deep-fried Twinkies? Pizza? Burgers? You can make arguments about the last two since many pizzas and burgers contain all of the food groups, HOWEVER, their fast-food versions are still pretty trash to your health.
The expression, "you are what you eat" comes to mind when I think about what I stuff my face with. While I was studying psychology in college, I did a lot of research into behavior and mood in relation to diet, anxiety, daily stressors, exercise, etc. In all of these aspects, you are affected by what you do, which extends to what you eat. In other words, the things you stuff in your face will have a direct impact on your mental and physical state. Unfortunately, I feel like most health classes don't emphasize this enough and its already hard for pubescent teenagers to focus and/or care about this stuff when they have a million other things to worry about. It also doesn't help that schools have been filled with vending machines, junk food is inexpensive, abundant, and it's satisfying.
True story: I used to have a huge sweet tooth as a kid, but during my summers working in Alaska, I had limited resources available to me and I ended up drinking mainly water and milk. For food, I was working long hours and doing physical work, so I needed a lot of carbs and forced myself not to eat too much sugar so I didn't crash during my shifts. I'm going to be completely honest. The first week or so sucked. It sucked, BUT it was totally worth it. In the end it's your choice what you eat, but I think it's good to at least know what sort of effects your diet has on your life. I digress...
As a result, I can no longer eat too much candy before it starts to make me sick. I used to love Oreos, but now more than two is too much. After my first summer in Alaska I began to realize how desensitized I was to sweetness, especially as a kid. Now, I'm able to taste the sweetness in vegetables and fruits just fine. The difference is that they don't taste too sweet and I can eat them for days. They've become my new candy. I love bananas and strawberries! Especially in smoothies with some mangoes or blueberries. Even water tastes sweet to me. And as much as I used to love candy, I don't really think about it anymore, so I don't really miss it. I'll pour me a glass of dat H20 and munch on some bananas any day, and I do so every day.
The best part is that I have more energy than before, I'm able to think clearly, I'm much more positive than before (I still have a bad day or two, but I bounce back really fast and life is just good), my senses have improved (I can hear very subtle sounds that others often don't notice), and I don't experience any crash. I often see people drinking energy drinks and many look miserable. Why do that to yourself? Here's an experiment you can do: try drinking only water for a week, write in a journal every day about your thoughts on your diet, and try comparing how different you feel. After water, try cutting something else out, like candy and do the same. You're going to notice a difference. Simply changing your diet can have drastic effects on your workouts, study results, mood, and pretty much every aspect of your life. Even your sex-drive.
Be warned; don't just go cold turkey and try going vegan right away because you're going to have withdrawals...hardcore. I still eat meat, just in smaller and less frequent doses. Same with junk food (mainly pastries because Japan is filled with devilishly good bakeries). I'm not telling you to abandon junk food altogether, either. I still eat junk food from time-to-time, however, I don't consume it on the daily. I've found my balance by researching what it does to your body and by forcing myself to eat healthier. As a result, I no longer crave it as often as I used to. I've naturally started wanting to eat less processed and unhealthy foods.
You think about eating healthier because you eat healthier. I think about eating carrots, bananas, and eggs because I've made a routine of eating them all the time. Thankfully, they're also pretty cheap and really good for you. You think what you eat, so by eating junk food a lot, you think about eating junk food more. By thinking about eating junk food, you may think about going to the gym and losing weight, but your mind knows that you crave junk food, so it then responds by making it harder for you to commit to making healthy life decisions.
For those thinking about wanting to eat more healthily, try drinking only water for a week. If you force yourself to drink only water, and you think about drinking only water and you learn to taste its natural sweetness. You'll come to depend less on sugary drinks, some of which might even taste too sweet for you now. You'll eat healthier, feel, and think better.
Love yourself. Your body is a valuable treasure. It's only natural that your mind reflects how you treat it. This includes what you put into it for nourishment. Find the balance in your diet. Experiment, write down your results, and find what works for you. At the very least, it's interesting to see the results, like a game.
Peace
The expression, "you are what you eat" comes to mind when I think about what I stuff my face with. While I was studying psychology in college, I did a lot of research into behavior and mood in relation to diet, anxiety, daily stressors, exercise, etc. In all of these aspects, you are affected by what you do, which extends to what you eat. In other words, the things you stuff in your face will have a direct impact on your mental and physical state. Unfortunately, I feel like most health classes don't emphasize this enough and its already hard for pubescent teenagers to focus and/or care about this stuff when they have a million other things to worry about. It also doesn't help that schools have been filled with vending machines, junk food is inexpensive, abundant, and it's satisfying.
True story: I used to have a huge sweet tooth as a kid, but during my summers working in Alaska, I had limited resources available to me and I ended up drinking mainly water and milk. For food, I was working long hours and doing physical work, so I needed a lot of carbs and forced myself not to eat too much sugar so I didn't crash during my shifts. I'm going to be completely honest. The first week or so sucked. It sucked, BUT it was totally worth it. In the end it's your choice what you eat, but I think it's good to at least know what sort of effects your diet has on your life. I digress...
As a result, I can no longer eat too much candy before it starts to make me sick. I used to love Oreos, but now more than two is too much. After my first summer in Alaska I began to realize how desensitized I was to sweetness, especially as a kid. Now, I'm able to taste the sweetness in vegetables and fruits just fine. The difference is that they don't taste too sweet and I can eat them for days. They've become my new candy. I love bananas and strawberries! Especially in smoothies with some mangoes or blueberries. Even water tastes sweet to me. And as much as I used to love candy, I don't really think about it anymore, so I don't really miss it. I'll pour me a glass of dat H20 and munch on some bananas any day, and I do so every day.
The best part is that I have more energy than before, I'm able to think clearly, I'm much more positive than before (I still have a bad day or two, but I bounce back really fast and life is just good), my senses have improved (I can hear very subtle sounds that others often don't notice), and I don't experience any crash. I often see people drinking energy drinks and many look miserable. Why do that to yourself? Here's an experiment you can do: try drinking only water for a week, write in a journal every day about your thoughts on your diet, and try comparing how different you feel. After water, try cutting something else out, like candy and do the same. You're going to notice a difference. Simply changing your diet can have drastic effects on your workouts, study results, mood, and pretty much every aspect of your life. Even your sex-drive.
Be warned; don't just go cold turkey and try going vegan right away because you're going to have withdrawals...hardcore. I still eat meat, just in smaller and less frequent doses. Same with junk food (mainly pastries because Japan is filled with devilishly good bakeries). I'm not telling you to abandon junk food altogether, either. I still eat junk food from time-to-time, however, I don't consume it on the daily. I've found my balance by researching what it does to your body and by forcing myself to eat healthier. As a result, I no longer crave it as often as I used to. I've naturally started wanting to eat less processed and unhealthy foods.
You think about eating healthier because you eat healthier. I think about eating carrots, bananas, and eggs because I've made a routine of eating them all the time. Thankfully, they're also pretty cheap and really good for you. You think what you eat, so by eating junk food a lot, you think about eating junk food more. By thinking about eating junk food, you may think about going to the gym and losing weight, but your mind knows that you crave junk food, so it then responds by making it harder for you to commit to making healthy life decisions.
For those thinking about wanting to eat more healthily, try drinking only water for a week. If you force yourself to drink only water, and you think about drinking only water and you learn to taste its natural sweetness. You'll come to depend less on sugary drinks, some of which might even taste too sweet for you now. You'll eat healthier, feel, and think better.
Love yourself. Your body is a valuable treasure. It's only natural that your mind reflects how you treat it. This includes what you put into it for nourishment. Find the balance in your diet. Experiment, write down your results, and find what works for you. At the very least, it's interesting to see the results, like a game.
Peace
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| Food for thought |
What kind of food choices have worked wonders for you? Do you follow a routine?
ReplyDelete