His trash was almost all wrappers from meal replacement bars, fast food meals and beverages. In short, virtually all processed food, junk food and fast food, and the same kind of beverages.
So what might the trash contents of a person on a healthier diet be like, I asked myself. My answer cuts to the core of why there is so much overweight in America and the world today. I only ask that you keep an open mind as you read my answer. At the same time, tally up where you are regarding the diet I recommend.
I say this because so many people are so far off of a healthy diet that they cannot even comprehend what the diet I recommend is all about. And that is a plant-based diet of whole, fresh, natural foods. That is, foods as grown.
Put another way, if man made it, do not eat it. That is huge. Most people do not want to hear that.
Chances are, if you are a typical American, most of what you eat is man made. Packaged foods. Pre-made frozen or ready-to-eat meals. Cans of soup. Hamburger and fries. Chicken nuggets. Snack foods. A so-called healthy sandwich made with turkey, cheese and tomato on a refined grain bun. Foods from bags, like cheese puffs, corn chips, potato chips, crackers, etc., including the so-called healthy varieties from the health food store. Cookies, doughnuts, pies, pastries and other baked goods. Canned, frozen or fresh fish or fish products. Meal replacement bars; power bars; protein shakes; meals in a can; meal replacement beverages, etc.
And all sorts of other junk beverages, including diet drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, designer coffee drinks and the rest. Tally up your score and see how you are doing so far.
Few of us get our the bulk of our food from the two most important sections of the store: the fresh produce section and the bulk section with products like whole grains, beans, legumes, raw nuts, seeds, the natural foods with nothing added, nothing taken away. That is what whole means.
Fresh means if not from your own garden, then foods grown in your area, as close as possible to your store or produce market. The closer the better. Natural means just that. Foods as grown.I cannot put it more simply than that. Foods as they come from nature.
To drive my point home further, here is an example: a loaf of enriched flour bread with words on the label like all natural, heart healthy, no added sugar, no trans fats, etc. Most people think this is a healthy food. It is not. The enriched flour means it is not a whole grain product, but made from a flour that has been processed and refined, then vitamins and minerals added back in, along with slick labeling designed to convince you it is a healthy food. Sorry, this not a healthy food.
The latest trick from Big Food are the small snack food items, 100 calories or less. Like Oreo cookies in a snack pack. This is a pure junk food and it has nothing to do with calories. It is loaded with refined sugar; the filling is made from partially hydrogenated fat, one of the worst substances you can ingest; and the cookie is a totally refined flour product. Total junk food product.
And those two words -- food product -- should be a dead giveaway to you by now. If you are interested in a healthy, nutritious diet that will ensure you lose fat and keep it off permanently, you will not eat any food products.
You will eat a plant-based diet of whole, fresh, natural foods. These are foods that are high in fiber, which make them naturally filling. The only foods on such a diet to be eaten in moderation are nuts. And besides eating nuts sparingly, make sure they are raw nuts, not roasted.
Here is the bulk of the trash generated by the diet I recommend: Food scraps. You can feed them down your garbage disposal, feed them to your pot-bellied pig or collect them as compost for your garden.
#1. Food Labels Are Truthful
Let's get this out of the way right now, food labels are designed to sell food, not to tell the truth. Through the magic of political lobbying its 100% LEGAL for food manufacturers to print outright lies on their products. Case in point: PAM.
PAM cooking spray is sold as "fat free." Normal people would think that "fat free" means that there is no fat inside that can of "fat free" PAM. Ironically, fat free PAM is actually 100%, PURE FAT. Check the ingredients list, the first ingredient is "corn oil." All oils are, by definition, 100%, pure fat and nothing else
How can they possibly be allowed to label pure fat as "fat free"? A simple FDA labeling loop-hole (and there are many!) that says, "so long as there is less than 0.5g of fat per serving, then you may label your food as fat free." So, the serving size of "fat free" PAM is .3g, or a 1/3 second spray - there should be over 700 serving per can (you and I both know you cannot make 700 meals with a single can). Since, there isn't .5g of anything in the serving it can, with all legality, be labeled as "fat free."
Solution: Read the nutrition facts label (ignore the %), and look at the serving size, total number of calories per serving and read the ingredients. This is where the actual truth of the food lives. Food manufactures have the FDA's blessing to lie to you on the front. It is buyer beware.
#2. Skipping Meals Will Help You Drop Fat
In fact, the opposite is true. In Japan, sumo wrestlers have discovered something very effective for massive weight gain (fat, with not much muscle) - skipping breakfast! When you wake up you've been without food for 6-12 hours, depending on how long before bed it was you ate your last meal, this means that your body has essentially nothing to run off of. This, in turn, means that your metabolism stays depressed until your first meal, and that in the mean time your body is burning muscle - NOT fat - for fuel. This is great if you are interested in losing muscle and water, but bad news if you were hoping to drop body-fat.
Solution: Eat breakfast (duh!), no matter how short on time you think you are. There are a lot of quick breakfast ideas on my web-site that won't leave you fat and tired - one is as quick as 1 minute to prepare. If you can't wake up 5-10min. earlier (prepare and eat) to take care of your physique, then you should probably give up now.
#3. Smoothies Are Healthy
While my smoothie recipe would make a very healthy, lean-body breakfast or post workout meal, what you will find commercially available would be the equivalent of drinking almost two an a half 12oz. cans of regular, high-fructose corn syrup filled Coca-Cola. They also have NO protein to speak of either - that's a recipe for weak flabby arms, and a big old jelly belly. (A medium Banana Berry Smoothie from Jamba Juice has 93g of sugar and 4g of protein, and a 12oz. can of Coke has 39.9g of sugar).
Solution: The next time you get a smoothie tell the guy at the counter "just fruit, yogurt and protein powder. No juice or sweetener.". Pick the flavor you want, and tell them to hold the sugar (honey, juice, sorbet...), and pay for a scoop or two of protein powder so that you end up with just fruit, yogurt, protein and ice and maybe Splenda too. Or, just make it yourself at home.
#4. Low-fat Fruity Yogurt Is Good For You
Low-fat or fat-free "fruit" containing and/or flavored yogurt is essentially candy in a cup. An 8oz. serving of fruit flavored fat-free yogurt has 250% more sugar than it's non-fruit flavored counterpart. There are 43 grams in a single cup! That's the equivalent of eating 1.5 cups of mini-marshmallows! Tooty-fruity, big-fat booty:-)
Solution: Buy your own fat-free yogurt, preferably FAGE, and add real fruit to it. It tastes better, actually has protein and fiber, and no where near as much sugar as the pre-mixed stuff.
#5. Moderate Drinkers Live Longer
From very respectable sources, you've heard over and over again, "people who drink 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day live longer than those who do not drink at all." What they don't tell you is that the research that "proves" this is questionable at best. The researchers divided people up into three categories: Group A: heavy drinkers, Group B: moderate drinkers, Group C: non-drinkers. Then, over time they gathered data on how long these groups lived. The problem is with Group C which had both those who do not drink because they choose not to (a very small number of people), AND those who CANNOT drink because they are either former alcoholics or are so sick that they just can't drink. Former alcoholics, and people who are so sick that they can't drink do not live very long. When you average the short life spans for the very sick and the former alcoholics, with the much longer life span of the choice-non-drinkers, you get a number that appears to be smaller than the number for the moderate drinkers.
Furthermore, if you currently average 1-2 drinks per day you could drop between 13.5 and 27 pounds in a year if you stopped (those numbers are for very small drinks: 5oz. of wine, 12 oz. of beer - you have never seen a 12oz. glass of beer at a bar in your life).
Solution: Don't kid yourself. Drinking is something you do because you like to do it, NOT because there are any well established health benefits associated with it. Red wine has some good stuff in it because it's made from whole grapes, not because there is something special about alcohol. So, you'd be better off eating the whole grapes. The less you drink, the better off you will be. That doesn't mean don't ever drink, it just means be aware of what moderation really means - infrequent.
Both Jerome Kellner & Josef Brandenburg are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jerome Kellner has sinced written about articles on various topics from Nutrition, Health and Fat Loss. Jerome Kellner is a fat loss and fitness professional and author of The Maui Diet. Find out more about fat loss the easy, healthy way, by of who. Jerome Kellner's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Josef Brandenburg has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Fat Loss and Fat Loss. Josef Brandenburg is an award winning Washington, DC personal trainer and author of The Body You Want. To get your hands on tons of free fat-burning recipes, articels and exercise tips head over to. Josef Brandenburg's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.