1. “Vitamins” are not the same as whole foods. Instant ramen and a multivitamin is not a healthy meal. There is no substitute for a diet of whole foods rich in vegetables, beans, grains and fish.
2. A healthy diet can prevent or even reverse four out of the six leading causes of death in the US. Evidence indicates that diet ismore important than genetics in the vast majority of heart disease, stroke, cancer and type 2 diabetes cases.
3. The thinnest, healthiest people in the world eat “high carb” diets. But they definitely do not eat the processed, refined carbohydrates that flood Western culture. If you want to lose weight and live longer without disease, eat more vegetables and whole grains.
4. You get plenty of calcium. Americans consume more calcium than most countries on earth, yet still sport some of the highest rates of osteoporosis. This debilitating disease is more likely caused by insufficient vitamin D, not enough exercise and/or too much protein. Also, excess calcium is linked to prostate cancer and milk to ovarian cancer. Calcium does not support weight loss either.
5. “Fiber” is not the same as vegetables and grains. Fiber supplements do not offer the same benefits as fiber-filled foods, and do not help with weight loss or protect against disease.
6. The best sources of protein are plants and fish. It is relatively easy to get complete protein (i.e., all the essential amino acids) from a diverse diet. Protein from red meat offers more risk than reward. (Yes, pork is red meat.)
7. Fruits and vegetables protect your vision. Both cataracts and macular degeneration are strongly tied to diet.
8. Fats from factories are dangerous. Processed oils and trans fats (not total dietary fat) are associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity. Replacing them with natural oils could save your life.
9. Fats from plants and fish are essential. Mono- and polyunsaturated fats protect against heart disease, type 2 diabetes and memory loss. In moderation they can also aid in weight loss, since they increase the satiety you feel after a meal.
10. You can lose weight on any short-term diet, but you will probably gain back more than you ultimately lose. This is often true even if you stay on the diet. Focusing on long-term health is the best strategy for sustained weight loss, but it requires patience.

If you subscribe to her food blog, you get a great book to download called ‘How to get started eating healthy‘.  I loved it.

Not only was it delicious, it was only 6 points. Back on the wagon today.

Did you skip breakfast today? If you did, you are probably already thinking about lunch. You’re probably pretty hungry. And so you’re going to eat a lot. In fact, you’re going to eat 4.9% more food at lunch. The longer you wait, the more you’re going to eat. Do that every day and it starts to add up:

And what will that food be? Probably something not so good for you. Eatery found that, regardless of whether or not you eat breakfast, you eat worse and worse throughout the day. Lunch is worse than breakfast, and dinner is worse than lunch (and don’t even ask about snacking). But breakfast is a good way to mitigate that. Eat a good breakfast and you start making better food decisions for the entire day–even late into the night.

Click here to see the most AMAZING infogram from the post.

I found this on the internet today and I just had to share it.

I real a lot for my work. A lot of books, newspapers and increasingly blogs about brands, advertising etc.  I have just come across this amazing post from Brains on Fire.  I had to share it with you here because I found it incredibly inspirational at a time when I really needed inspiration.  The day-to-day morass really gets to me sometimes and this made me sit up and think about firsts:

***

I love the start of things.

I love hearing stories of first kisses and first dates. And first jobs and first cars. I cry at weddings. And when babies are born.

I underline the first sentences of almost all my books as I imagine the author’s moment of quietly deciding:

This is where I will begin.

And since we are in the conversation business, I often think of the first conversations in my life.

How so many things get decided in that very first exchange. Sometimes those first conversations evolve into amazing friendships or wonderful business relationships.

So my advice for you this Tuesday morning is simple. Become aware of the firsts around you today. See the possibilities in each new conversation. Each new road. Each new meeting or phone call. Keep your heart and your mind wide open.

Chances are something really amazing and magical will begin today…

***

This is such wonderful advice and something I will carry in my heart this week. Photo thanks to Brains on Fire as well.

Lost 2 kilos.  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  And I walked back to the office from a work lunch today.  It took me 40 minutres.  That’s 4 WW points.  EVEN MORE of what I’m talking about.

Thanks for Wade from Flickr for the photo.

This was my lunch today. Just delicious but 10 points. Vegetables tonight.

An 8 point breakfast. Have to take it very lightly today. Bad Carolyn.