Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

It often amazes me to see all of these studies published on the web or pitched in the media that persuade people to into choosing one food choice over another. Eggs are good for you with one particular study and then they are bad for you with another study. Many of these "Studies" are all part of the marketing machine and more times than not, aren't ground in truth. Personally I know that many foods out there can be good or bad for you based on the foods they are combined with.

But there are some foods no matter how you combine them that will have negative affects. Enough so that they are BANNED from most countries because of the ingredients they contain. It is one thing to try to determine if something is good for you based on studies. It is another thing when countries make foods illegal and charge hefty fines to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars per offense. I always knew that pre-packeged foods were not good for you because they were "processed". Do you know what they were processed with?

I read this in the news the other day. Stories like this make me proud... it's nice to see people losing weight with just diet and exercise. Papa Joe Aviance proves you can lose weight without spending too much money on groceries. He also shed the weight without resorting to surgery. 

Papa Joe Aviance basically did what I did... threw out the candy, gave up the soda and ate better food. He also started a walking routine. You might remember that I lost weight with walking myself. I still to this day walk 10,000 steps every day. This story proves that walking is a great form of exercise.

I still find it hard to believe that people think of me as "slim". I know I'm not fat anymore but somehow, hearing names like "Hey Slim", or "wow, you're skinny", I think to myself, they can't be talking about me!

It's hard to get used to it. Most people were kind over the years and never really came right out and said I was fat back when I was obese. There were different things I would hear like "you're a big guy, you're gonna need a car with more room" (car salesman) or "Are you sure you're not diabetic?" (eye doctor).

Someone recently asked me about how I stuck to eating so healthy and maintain my weight. She was saying that she has trouble staying with healthy foods. After a while the food gets boring to her. This was someone who did a wellness challenge... as you know I participated in two challenges last year. One thing I learned from the challenge is it's a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to incorporate the habits from the challenge into your daily routine, even after the challenge ends.

So many people will go back to the foods that got them overweight in the first place. I think one reason that it's hard for some people to keep a healthy diet is that they didn't find food that they liked enough to stick with. If you don't like the food you're eating, eventually you will give up and go back to your old style of eating. It's important to incorporate a large variety of healthy foods and be creative. If you hear of a food that has a lot of health benefits, try it and see if you like it.

In a recent post I mentioned a pivotal "moment of clarity" most people experience when they resolve themselves to lose weight.  Mine was somewhat embarrassing to say the least. However... as clear as that moment was... it came with another reinforcing experience that definitely sealed the deal with my need to live a more healthy lifestyle and to achieve a healthier weight.

Often for work I would travel to Boston, MA.  One of my offices was there since the product management team was run from that location.  I would travel there 2 to 3 times every other  week.  I would take the long drive from Bristol Connecticut to one of the outer lying towns near Boston and take the T rail into the city. I would get off at Government Center station and walk 4 blocks to the office.