Screw The Scale — Healthy Comes In All Sizes in OK

I’m on a mission to feed my family good food that is good for them . . . and I’m determined to move my family away from the typical American diet to a better diet.

Why?

Because I’m fat.  And have been all my life.

But, here’s the deal.  Fat and healthy are one thing.  Fat and sick are another.  I’m fine with the first and refuse to live the latter, so we’re making some changes.  Did you know:  There are over 26 places to pay to exercise in Lawton.  There are at least 6 places to buy organic and / or locally-grown produce and meat.

The first change was because of Netflix.  I watched a documentary on Netflix called Fed Up.  And then I freaked out.

Could it be that the stuff in the grocery store that I would normally buy is really that bad for me?  Have we created a culture of convenience that is not helping us but is, in fact, killing us?  Maybe not you . .. but certainly me.

After I watched Fed Up and learned more about the types of processed food and what that processing does to my body, I started a mission in my home:  eat more things that are better, less things that are bad – and make it all delicious.

Because I can’t just jump into anything without an exhausting amount of research, I then trolled Netflix for other documentaries . . .and the results are amazing and universal:

1. We need to eat more plant-based foods
2. We need to look at ingredients and if you don’t know what it is, you might reconsider purchasing
3. We need to buy local whenever we can, buy natural whenever we can
4. We need to get more sleep

No, they are not radical ideas, but they have already changed my family.  We’ve done some slight modification to our diet and, with my going to the gym about 3 times a week here are the results:

1. I’ve lost 30 pounds since March.
2. My husband (who has always been in pretty good shape) has lost 10 pounds
3. My fingernails are long . . . for the first time in my entire life
4. My headaches (which are chronic and have been constant since 2007 when I had bacterial meningitis) are much more manageable
5. My husband is off his cholesterol medicine
6. I’m down to less than half of my normal headache medicine
7. I never wake up with swollen fingers or feet anymore

So, what are we doing?  Some of it might surprise you because it ends up being DELICIOUS.

1. Screw margarine and anything ‘low fat.’  We’re back to butter, baby!  The processing in things like margarine are really such taking one fat and replacing it with another.  Low fat usually just means higher sugar which screws you in the end.  If your butter substitute has more than one or two ingredients, ditch it and just use butter.
2. Don’t Partially do anything that is Partially Hydrogenated.  Those are key words to avoid on your labels.  That means trans fat and that’s bad.  Pick the option that is closest to the source.  For milk, pick milk that just has milk.  For cream, pick cream that just has cream, for bread, pick bread that has real ingredients.
3. Don’t diet – and don’t buy diet food.  Diets are short term and useless.  I’ve been on diets half of my life or more and I’ll never, ever, ever be on one again.  Change the things you eat by a small margin and you’ll never have to diet again.
4. Don’t eat a canned something when a fresh something is available.  This is so true with fruits and veggies that it’s crazy.  I’ve modified our shopping to go once on the weekend and once again in the middle of the week to make sure the fruits and veggies I buy won’t spoil.
5. Cook at home whenever you can.  If you don’t know how to cook, join a class online.  It’s better for you, your kids and your world.  Plan things in advance (like using a planning app on your phone) so you can set your menu, shop for the menu and then not have to worry about what’s for dinner.

Ok, I’m not crazy here.  This is all stuff we can all do.  And, my family still eats pizza (but we make our own most of the time now instead of ordering it) and we still have tater tots when we really, really need them . .. but modifying what we eat every day is the trick – and then when you need that cheeseburger from Meers, it’s ok . . . .

So, next time you’re shopping, think fewer ingredients in everything you buy, watch for sales on locally-grown or organic produce and meats.  Visit the farmer’s market and redefine what delicious is to your family.  Add color to your diet and in the fresh foods you eat.  Don’t be afraid to try something and hate it and don’t do anything to lose weight.  Do everything to be healthy whatever that looks like on the scale.