Diet Foods: This is why you’re still fat!

I was watching the "Today Show" this morning as I was getting ready for work and was able to catch enough of a story called "Which Diet Foods Exaggerate Claims?" to nearly enrage me. These "Diet Foods" are frozen "Lean Cuisine" type meals. Precooked and frozen, shipped to the masses who eat this crap and expect to lose weight. They go on to bash these companies for being up to 20% off on their food labels. "Why?" asked one woman interviewed. While I hate to defend food manufacturers (notice I didn't say growers) here is an analogy to help you understand.

Make a salad tonight. (If you don't know how to make a salad this article is for you) Then tomorrow night, make another salad. Do you think both salads had the same amount of calories? No, they don't. Certain things need to be taken into account, such as amount of dressing, if you used chicken in your salad, did you use the exact same amount? Does the chicken have the exact same fat content? If you use spinach instead of lettuce are the leaves the same size? There is no way to properly determine exactly how many calories are going to be in the box you take home, and so these companies have to print averaged numbers on the labels, they can't test every individual box before it ships. Okay, enough defending...

There is one really good way you could eliminate this problem. I'm going to let you in on this secret. This is going to help you lose weight, keep it off, be healthy. STOP EATING FROZEN AND PRE-PACKAGED FOOD! CARDIO! BE ACTIVE! You want to lose weight? Stop relying on companies to make healthy choices for you. (And while you're at it, stop letting school teachers parent your children and stop letting the TV be your baby sitter) Take your health into your own hands. Go buy celery, carrots, lettuce, fresh chicken, fish. Better yet, grow it yourself and teach your kids that food doesn't come from a grocery store, stop this downward spiral of unhealthy food decisions before another generation grows up on happy meals and hot pockets.

"Treadmills aren't cheap and neither are gym memberships!" True but shoes are a necessity and you probably already have those. Chances are you have a sidewalk in your neighborhood. Hydrate, throw on your shoes and introduce them to the sidewalk, that's free.

"Eating healthy isn't cheap!" And excuses are a dime a dozen, so stop spending your dimes on excuses (Read: triple mocha frappa latte) and buy a tomato.

One woman from the story this morning was so surprised by these findings. "I eat those frequently, very often actually. Maybe that's why my weight has stayed the same." No kidding lady... or maybe the starbucks is catching up to you. This is no laughing matter, this is a society issue and the only ones that can fix it are us. It's not hard to eat healthy. Let's get back to basics. Think about what your great grandparents probably ate. Eat that. Now think about the kinds of activities they probably did. Don't go trying to find cows to milk, or fences to mend, but think about how active the average person must have been 100-200 years ago, before obesity was an issue. Try to be about that active 2-3 times a week and you'll be in better shape a year from now than you are now, I promise you that.