Happy Friday Beauties! You know what Fridays are, the day we share a little knowledge that we have learned from our years of experience in this journey of health and fitness. What we are sharing this week is 5 things we eliminated from our daily diet that have made a huge impact in our overall mind, health and body.

#1 Processed Foods

“You cruise down the aisle of most any grocery store, and what you're seeing -- despite what you might think -- isn't properly called just "food." Most of those items are what we've come to know as processed food. Cookies, crackers, cereal, even yogurt, crammed with various chemicals that'll let it sit on the shelf for a good long time, all the while containing enough sugar and salt to make it taste good. Processed foods are, plus or minus, 70 percent of what most of us eat.” learn more

There will be so many opinions on this topic and many will debate about what exactly is “clean eating”.  We like to use the rule that we learned from Jillian Michaels, “If it doesn’t have a mama, or it didn’t come from the ground don’t eat it.” So basically Cheetos doesn’t have a mama, and they didn’t come from a ground of the Cheetos tree so it’s probably very bad to eat because a factory made it. Now there are exceptions to this rule because we are only human and especially us mothers sometimes we need snacks on the go. Basically we just want to try to keep as much fresh whole foods in your home and in your body, and keep out all the factory made foods as much as possible.

#2 Fast Foods

We all know this is bad for us, and we are not just talking about the kind you pick up at the drive thru either. We are talking about any kinds of fast foods like those little pizza rolls you throw in the microwave to satisfy a fast hunger problem. The key to avoiding fast foods is planning. You know you will be going on a road trip, pack an ice pack full of healthy foods and snacks, you know baseball practice will be ending late, have dinner pre planned or made, plan, plan, plan. We know it’s hard and sometimes we just can’t avoid the fast food places but we can try our best to prevent it happening too often.

#3 Fatty meats

The federal government’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage us to eat protein that, like chicken, is low in saturated fat. Stick to chicken breasts, fish, and lean meats for meals. There are many recipes available online that you can make with ground turkey, or chicken we guarantee your week will not be boring by eliminating some of those juicy steaks.

“You may have heard a lot about protein recently, especially because of the part it plays in combating the ever-expanding obesity epidemic. Experts say we need to get the right amount of high-quality protein, and chicken fills the bill.

Protein is key to the human diet, especially for younger people, because the body uses it to create new cells and maintain or repair existing cells. The body also uses protein to produce enzymes, which help catalyze processes such as digestion, metabolism and storage of fat.

Chicken consists of high-quality protein (that is, protein that contains the eight essential amino acids) and a relatively low amount of fat.” learn more

#4 Sugary drinks aka SODA!

Reading over the statistics on this topic and these numbers are scary folks.  We have provided an overview of info from www.kickthecan.com…

“A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains the equivalent of approximately 16 teaspoons of sugar.

Sugar sweetened beverages are the single largest source of added sugars in the American diet,  with the average American drinking nearly 42 gallons of sweetened beverages a year, the equivalent of 39 pounds of extra sugar every year. 

Soda and other sugary beverage consumption has more than doubled over the past thirty years to an all-time high of 7% of daily calories, making it the single largest contributor to daily caloric intake in the United States. 

Over the past 30 years, adult diabetes rates have nearly tripled,  In the same period, soda consumption doubled.

We absorb liquid sugar in as little as 30 minutes, much faster than a candy bar, leading to a spike in blood sugar that the body is not well equipped to handle, particularly in repetition. These spikes in blood sugar can overwhelm the body and lead to the transformation of sugar into fat in the liver, which contributes directly to the development of diabetes.

After six months, daily consumption of sugary drinks increases fat deposits in the liver by 150 percent, which directly contribute to both diabetes and heart disease.

Individuals who drink one to two sugar-sweetened beverages per day have a 26 percent higher risk for developing type II diabetes. 

Obesity in the United States has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. There is overwhelming evidence of the link between obesity and the consumption of sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports drinks. 

Adults who drink one soda or more daily are 27% more likely to be overweight or obese. Among children, those who drink one or more sugar-sweetened beverages per day have 55% greater odds of being overweight or obese.”

 Bottom line the healthiest option of liquid to fuel your body with is H20. Water water water!!! Don’t fuel your body with empty calories that will do more harm long term. Think long term goals over short term satisfaction. read more

#5 Sweets

Sweets are bad for us, and we all know that women cannot live without chocolate so dark chocolate will be excluded from this topic! Girls get your chocolate on!!!  Just kidding but really dark chocolate in moderation is good for you “Good news for chocolate lovers: eating a small square of dark chocolate daily can help improve your health in many ways. Not only dark chocolate is rich in fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, manganese and other minerals, it is also believed that the cocoa bean has potential benefits on cardiovascular health”. learn more

The simple tip to limit sweets from your diet is DO NOT buy them, don’t keep them in your home or around you. If you’re craving something sweet and you they are not within your reach you will find healthier options to satisfy that sweet tooth.  Apples with almond butter, a fruit smoothie, greek yogurt with some sliced almond and honey or agave. Women will find ways to get her sweet tooth fix and they can be healthier options.

For the most part we just want you to be more aware of what you are putting into your body. Ask yourself “is this food nutritious? Will it benefit and fuel my body? Or will my body have to work extra hard to break down all the chemicals that are in it?” Plant those questions into your head and you will soon start to think before you eat.

We hope this little bit of information goes a long way for you. Eliminating and limiting these foods from your diet will make big improvements in your waistline, and soon you’ll find that is a lot more satisfying than any tasty foods :)

Happy Friday Beauties

We hope you have a safe and healthy weekend

XOXO

Flex it Pink