About a year ago, I watched a documentary that changed EVERYTHING.A good friend of mine was going on a journey of eliminating as much processed food as possible from her family’s lifestyle. I was somewhat baffled at the time not really knowing why she was doing it or what she meant by “processed food”.
I chatted with her at length one day about the steps she had taken and was shocked at some of the facts and figures she shared with me. She handed me a DVD with the title, Fed Up!, and said, “You need to watch this.”
I waited a few weeks to watch it as I wanted a time when I would be uninterrupted and could really listen to what was being said. You can imagine how hard that was with two small kids in the house. One afternoon all the stars aligned with nap time so I knew it was time to watch it.
Here’s the trailer: Fed Up!
It was numbing to watch it. It was incredibly informative but it was also scary. I sat there thinking, “How did I not know this?”
Since the 1970’s, we’ve been told that FAT is the enemy. All of the sudden we saw products that were low fat, fat-free or zero fat. You know what happens when you take fat out of food? It tastes horrible! What did the food industry do to it to make it taste better? They loaded it with sugar! Fat is not the enemy. Sugar is!
Here’s what excess sugar does to our bodies: Sugar
Start looking at food labels. What part of the label do you read? While it’s important to read the entire label (or just buy foods that don’t have labels), start paying attention to the carbohydrates.
Did you know that 4 grams of carbohydrates = 1 teaspoon of sugar? Next time you look at a label, figure out net carbohydrates. How do you do that? 
Take Total Carbohydrates – Dietary Fiber (fiber counteracts carbs) = Net Carbs
Net Carbs divided by 4 = Total Teaspoons of Sugar
Once you start doing it, you will be amazed! And I’m just scratching the surface here.
You might be wondering at this point, “Wow. What do I do?” There are many things you can do!
- Watch the documentary. I’m telling you. It’s a game changer. You will learn so much.
- Be a curious shopper! Start reading labels on your food. If there is an ingredient you don’t recognize or added sugar (there are many names for it), stay away!
- Educate yourself. Look up the different names for sugar. Find recipes that have real food in them. Read as much as you can about nutrition and healthy foods.
- Try a Whole 30. This diet is based off a book called, “It Starts with Food.” The book is fantastic if you’re looking to learn more about nutrition. We’ve made several Whole 30 recipes here at the office so we could answer any questions you have.
We’ll continue to write about this but wanted to give you a basis for why we are so passionate about trying to educate and communicate the importance of nutrition to our community. Stay tuned! I’m sure we will talk more about this!
Enjoy this Beautiful Weather!
-Katy
Function.Fitness.Fuel 