Monday, December 3, 2007

Is it FOOD or FOOD PRODUCT?

Nutrition Suggestion #1:
Eat ONLY whole foods (whenever possible)! If your grandparents wouldn’t recognize it or it’s ingredients, don’t put it in your mouth!

Nobody’s perfect, so follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of the time, eat whole foods. The rest of the time, eat things that are as whole as possible.

Your assignment: Take a look at the foods in your home. If they have more than 6 ingredients it’s probably a food product, despite all the healthy labeling. If you don’t want to eat it THROW IT OUT! It’s way easier than trying to burn off the calories.

The next time you are at the store…
· Look at the labels: Is it FOOD?
· Skip the cracker & cookie aisle: There’s zero FOOD there.
· Skip the liquid calorie aisle of juices and soft drinks (not FOOD!)
· FOOD never uses any of the following words:
hydrogenated
high fructose
· FOOD usually has:
an expiration date
little or no colorful packaging
few health claims

Brief Disclaimer: xo fitness, LLC and employees do not claim to be dieticians and cannot render specific nutrition advice related to a medical condition or provide detailed nutritional analysis. Individuals seeking these services should see a registered dietician. The information provided here is intended to reflect healthy eating habits as promoted by the USDA’s ‘My Food Pyramid’.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I try to eat whole grains as well as as much natural food as we can and exercise pretty regularly, but I really can't seem to lose any weight. Do you have suggestions?

xo said...

Hi Greg: I just caught your comment. It's fantastic that you are exercising regularly. Be sure to change up your routine as your body gets really efficient doing the same thing over and over. You may be stuck on a fitness plateau.

As far as nutrition, there are tons of tips and tricks out there, but one of our favorites is load your plate so that 1/2 your plate is covered with vegetables, 1/4 is your protein (the infamous 'deck of cards' size portion of meat/fish/tofu/beans) and 1/4 is your whole grain pasta, brown basmati rice or slice of whole grain bread. If you go for seconds, fill your plate with the same ratios. It's a great way to get your vegetables! -Ryan.