How are you fueling your tank?

Which picture do you think most people are fueling their bodies with? The left or right? 

How do you like the images above? Pretty cool right….Well Yes and No. We all have heard of the term “You are what you eat” and it is a really true statement. The two pictures above really puts this saying into perspective. It took me a while to realize that the kinds of food that I ate either had a negative or positive effect on my health and physical performance. I’m not perfect, there are sometimes I will eat junk food when hanging out with close friends or if I am celebrating an occasion but I am sure to get back on track the next day.

Foods that are whole and natural are full of vitamins and nutrients that supply our bodies with energy and the fuel it needs for maximum performance, weight loss, and healthy blood sugar levels. Foods that are processed such as fast food, potato chips, cookies, and sodas does just the opposite. The body is not designed to digest processed, junk and fake foods and when it does most of all of it is stored as fat. Yes, this food can be worked off but you would probably have to triple or even quadruple your workout times just to burn off the calories. Is it really worth it?

Ultimately, it is ok to have cheat food from time to time but we should not make it apart of our daily eating routine. Some people like myself have it bad. Once I start eating bad its kind of tough to turn it off therefore I don’t do it much. On another note, some people can have one slice of pie and be perfectly fine after that. Fast food nutrition should make up a very minimal part of a healthy diet. Fast foods and junk foods are high in fat, sodium and sugar, which can lead to obesity and a wide range of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

Benefits of healthy eating

• Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
• Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.
• Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as some vegetables and fruits, may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
• Eating vegetables and fruits rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss.
• Eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Negative Effects on junk food

Junk food is often high in sugar, salt, white flour, and fat, particularly saturated fat. It is often heavily processed and prepackaged, making it easy to prepare and consume. A few examples of foods often considered to be junk food include fast food, sweets such as ice cream, candy, donuts, and prepackaged treats, soda, and potato chips, among many others. Most people have no trouble identifying junk food; it is when they want to stop eating junk food that the trouble starts.

The first effect of eating junk food is its impact on energy levels. Many people skip breakfast or other meals throughout the day, choosing instead to grab a quick snack or a soft drink. The junk food causes energy levels to spike, which people like, but then energy levels will quickly plummet, sending one back into the kitchen for another quick snack. In addition, junk food can cause moodiness, and make it difficult to get enough sleep at night, so energy levels are never restored to normal.

So I encourage you today to start thinking about the foods that you eat and how they will benefit your health and your physical performance before you eat it. If you are about to eat a piece a cake, think of all the nutritional benefits that it has…… which is probably zero unless it is a Paleo cake :). If it doesn’t have any benefits then you may want to choose a better alternative.

Thanks for reading as always,

-LJay

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