Tips

Anyway, here’s how I eat healthier. I remind myself that I must eat at least one of the following food groups every day:

• some kind of protein, preferably fish (I like to eat cooked mackerel that comes in a tin – an easy source of omega 3 fatty acids).
• some kind of fruit (smoothies are great for this).
• some kind of “good” fiber like oat bran or wheat bran (good for lower cholesterol).
• some kind of carbohydrate – preferable low GI.
• some kind of vegetables (this is my hardest one because I simply don’t enjoy eating them, especially greens!).

Good Diets

I’m overweight and I know my diet is not good but frankly many people who don’t look overweight eat unhealthily too. They are still at some increased risk of heart attack, stroke or cancer.

The bests diet to eat is the Mediterranean Diet, The Okinawan Diet (similar but more fish) or the Raw Food Diet (all cold food, no meat).

Although I would really love to be able to eat only raw food, I can’t see myself pulling it off – the temptations of modern day foods and recipes would make it difficult to eat.

Breaking The Addiction

Like I said, being fat is being addicted to food. It’s no secret to me but to the rest of the world it seems to be. How can I overcome this addiction? That’s the million dollar question. I’d love to hear your advice

It’s a diet where all the food you eat is raw. When food is cooked, many of the nutrients and enzymes are destroyed. Think about it – how did nature intend us to eat? Do you really think that nature intended us to cook all our foods?

Fruit

The most basic concept is the fruit. I first came across this line of thinking in the book, Allen Carr’s Easyweigh To Lose Weight. He spoke of how the fruit is nature’s perfect food. You get a waterproof package full of solids and liquids, tasting great and refreshing. What’s more, it even looks good to attract you plus it contains seeds so that you will eat them and distribute them later!

Diabetes Cured?

The next time I heard anything about this diet was a video I saw online called Reversing Diabetes Naturally. It follows a group of six diabetics who agree to try the raw food diet for a month. Incredibly, they no longer need to take insulin!

There are many different versions of the raw food diet but most of them are about eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and no meat products. Some of them allow dairy and some don’t.

Meat!

What! No meat! Before you dismiss the raw food diet because you love your meat, think about it for second. Why do we eat meat? Does it really taste that good? If you take out the flavours that we add to meat in sauces and marinades, does meat really taste that good? Are you aware that meat takes twice as long for the body to digest compared to any other food? Not to mention all the higher incidences of cancer and heart disease that arise from the animal fat that is part of our meat.

Benefits

So if we eat naturally, what are the benefits? Basically, you do not realise how much you are already being dragged down by eating a modern, adulterated diet. Going back to eating normally, to eating raw, does the following:

More energy
Better quality of sleep
Better digestion
Get closer to your real ideal weight
Youthful appearance
Stronger bones, skin and teeth
Better eyesight and hearing
No more junk food or complicated recipes
Better at sports (yes, you there are even raw food bodybuilders! You don’t need meat!)

My Situation

I think it’s damn near impossible to change the habits of a lifetime and overnight become someone who eats only raw foods. I’m starting slowly by drinking smoothies and also lowering my intake of meat.

The big obstacle for me is to eat more greens. Personally I hate salads with green leaves. Actually, there is a branch of raw foodism that rejects leaves because they are eaten by herbivores with several stomachs to digest them properly. There are still many other good greens that you should eat such as legumes, beans etc.

So I’ll start slowly and report my progress later. How about you? Have you recently improved your eating? Do you have any suggestions? Do you disagree with the above? Please leave a comment below with your thoughts