Hello, my friends! I hope you are treating life well! Today, I want to talk about three inescapable nutritional truths that will throw the typical American diet into a whole new light. I hope these truths will inspire you to pull away from the herd and to take control of your health and fitness.
Truth #1: Typical American Nutrition Sucks!
Depending on your knowledge of nutrition and your current nutritional habits, this statement will either come across as offensive or as disturbingly true. Regardless of where you stand, the fact remains that our typical American nutrition sucks.
Let me explain. Seventy percent of ALL the food that we consume as a nation is processed. This, by definition, means that essential nutrients, such as fiber have been stripped out of the food and replaced by bankrupt flours, sugars, syrups, processed fats, dyes, food colorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives and thousands (yes, thousands) of additives.
In other words, 70% of all of the foods that we eat are NOT food at all, but rather chemical concoctions of flavors, chemicals, and fillers that have been deliberately designed to tease our taste buds and destroy our health.
Among the consequences of eating this type of food are the following:
1-Increased chance of overweight/obesity
Currently more than 1/3 of Americans are obese, and over 64% are either overweight/obese. These numbers are not static, but rather they are, unfortunately, growing at an exponential rate that does not show signs of slowing.
2-Increased likelihood of developing diabetes
When your weight goes up, so do your chances of contracting diabetes! While the American Diabetes Association still refuses to concede that excess sugar intake leads to diabetes, we know for a fact that being overweight increases the chance. So, let’s just cut out the euphemisms and acknowledge that our own food supply is loaded with high glycemic, fiber-less, and sugar-packed ingredients that are slowly but surely destroying our health.
3-Increased likelihood of coronary artery disease
4-Increased likelihood of developing high blood pressure and arterial plaque
5-Increased risk of stroke
6-Increased use of prescription medication
7-Decreased energy levels, functionality, libido, vitality, and cognitive function
These are merely a few of the many consequences of eating the processed foods smorgasbord that our food supply so generously offers us.
Truth #2: You Must Be WEIRD To Be Normal!
If, indeed, the overwhelming majority of Americans are eating a typical American diet, then we definitely have a problem! The problem is that crap food is now viewed as normal. This, my friend, means that to remain healthy and fit, you must be abnormal! Yikes! How did we get so bass-akwards in such a short amount of time?
Eating healthy and choosing to exercise regularly will take courage, determination, and the will to forge ahead despite criticism and jealousy from others. Accept that you are a minority and will have to swim upstream at gatherings, work, and family events. There is no escaping this fact. You might as well embrace it, and declare your lifestyle to everyone!
Once you commit to changing your lifestyle, the next logical step is to lock down your mind against any and all opposition. You are who you are. If people call you a health freak, stubborn, obstinate, or bull-headed consider these compliments because well intentioned but, unfortunately, ignorant people are offering them. THEY will have to get over it, NOT you!
Truth #3: You FEEL What You Eat
I’ve often heard the following statement from those who don’t live a healthy lifestyle: “I don’t eat well, and I feel fine, so why should I change?” Besides the blatant ignorance of this statement, it is simply not true. I have personally coached clients who have ignorantly made this statement before they have changed their lifestyle.
Once changed, they invariably state, “I feel sooo much better than I did when I started! I can’t believe that I burned 20 years of my life feeling like I did!” This comes from the fact that we LITERALLY are what we eat. If we eat crap, we feel like crap even if our body in its resilient brilliance adapts to our slovenly ways. Fortunately, the opposite is also true.
Well, there you have it, my friends! I hope these bold truths help tpush you into the direction of health and fitness. If you need to change your nutrition, then by all means do so–no matter what and at whatever the cost! Life is good!
God Bless,
Griff
