Daniel 1:11-16, “Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.”
Daniel knew that healthy living comes from healthy eating. We are what we eat! There are several successful ways to lose weight. The quickest and most effective short-term method to lose weight is an all out fast, where you just stop eating and drink only water; however, this is not healthy, nor a wise long-term decision. In fact, sudden crash fasting can even be dangerous. The best and most effective sure long-term method of losing weight is to simply eat healthy foods.
What foods should you eat? To lose weight you want to eat foods that are high in fiber and protein. These foods will make your body feel full and satisfied for longer periods of time, causing you to eat less food overall. But it is important, if you want to lose weight, that you have a little bit of discipline to LIMIT high caloric, highly refined and high carbohydrate foods.
Let me also say, before I say anything else, that to be successful you SHOULD have a meal plan for each day. Either the night before, or when I wake up each day, I plan my meals for the day. By deciding ahead of time what I am going to eat, it avoids my indulging on junk foods. Now, sometimes I PLAN to eat some decadent junk foods (e.g., ice cream, boxed pizza, processed foods, boxed mashed potatoes, candy, snack chips, donuts, Pizza Puffs, fruit gummies, deep friend shrimp, et cetera). There is no set plan that you have to follow. Each person is different. So it is very important that you choose a meal plan that is enjoyable. If you go on a sudden healthy diet, completely devoid of the foods that you love, it is very likely that you won't follow through on your new healthy diet.
This morning when I woke up, I thank God for another day, and told Jesus that I love Him. Then I picked up my big sized Nutri-Ninja cup and started to choose what I fill it up with. I start with some water, so nothing sticks to the bottom of the cup. I put about 15 big red grapes in the cup. I cut up and added one Ambrosia apple. Yesterday I used a Gala apple, and the day before a Cosmic Crisp apple. Walmart sells at least a dozen different kinds of apples. I switch each time I go shopping, to try different apple varieties. Variety is the spice of life!
Every morning I add 2-4 Tablespoons of whole or ground flaxseeds to my Nutri-Ninja cup. I prefer whole flaxseeds because I can just pour them into the cup. With the ground, you'll need to use a spoon. Either way is good. The flaxseeds are high in Omega-3 oils, which your body needs. Flaxseeds are GREAT for improving and maintaining great heart health. Just 2 Tablespoons of flaxseed each day, provides 100% of the body's RDA (Recommending Daily Allowance) of Omega-3 oils. I added some crushed ice today to my cup. I also added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon for flavor. I bought a Trilogy of Chia, Hemp and Flax seeds in a big plastic container at Walmart (by the oils). So I also usually add 1 Tablespoon daily of these seeds. Then I press the "Smoothie" button on my Nutri-Ninja and 60 seconds later it is ready to drink, 100% liquefied finely. That is a GREAT breakfast!
To keep my meal plan enjoyable, I allow for one regular tasty meal per day. So one some days I'll cook some bacon, eggs and hashbrowns, and also eat 2 slices of buttered raisin Ezekiel (flourless) bread. NEVER use artificial butter, like Margarine. Only use real butter, which is high in fat. There is a popular misconception that fat is bad for you, but the opposite is true. Foods high in fat make you feel full (satiated), which reduces cravings. The best cuts of beef are the ones full of white marbled fat, which I always look for when I go shopping. I try to avoid lean cuts of meat. The best tasting hamburger is regular hamburger with the most fat.
Now today I just had a super healthy breakfast (no bacon, hash browns or eggs), so later I'm planning on eating a barbequed 1/2 pound ribeye steak and a bag of mixed vegetables. Yesterday I ate tacos for dinner. That was my one regular tasty meal for the day. By "regular" I mean a high carbohydrate meal. If you want to lose weight, you need to reduce your carbohydrate intake. All of the diet plans (vegetarian, carnivore, Atkins, Jenny Craig, Keto, et cetera) all have one thing in common—they all focus on drastically reducing your carbohydrate (carbs) intake. All of your favorite foods are high in carbs, which the body converts into glucose sugar, and stores excess amounts as visceral fat, especially in your belly (men tend to store more fat in their upper body and belly, but women in their thighs, belly and buttocks).
If you will just start eating healthy food every day, you will lose about 1-2 pounds per week. Yesterday for breakfast, in addition to my Nutri-Ninja drink, I ate a bowl of 'Great Grains' (whole grain) cereal, sprinkled with cranberries and almonds that I bought in a package at Walmart. It tastes great. I prefer to use whole Vitamin D real milk, but almond milk (sweetened or unsweetened) is also great (and contains only a fraction of the calories of whole milk). Today for lunch, I ate a can of Great Northern Beans that I microwaved. I put 1 Tablespoon of Louisiana spicy cocktail shrimp sauce in there for great flavoring. Just that 1 can of beans provides 100% RDA of fiber for my body.
Dear reader, you CAN lose weight if you are obese. I read last week that 40% of Americans are now obese. More important than losing weight so that you can look and feel better, is the prevention of many chronic diseases that being obese and eating processed foods causes. I read a study this week from Europe, in which studies they performed on about 175,000 people, showed that for every 10% increase in eating highly refined processed foods (ice cream, boxed pizzas, white breads and pastries, white sugar, sugary sodas, sausages, Tv dinners, et cetera), results in a 6% increased risk of getting cancer. So if all you eat is processed foods, you have a 60% chance of getting cancer, likely in your colon.
Now, I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of having medical devices shoved where the sun don't shine to probe me. I think I'll eat healthy and try to avoid contracting chronic disease. It may still happen, but I am going to eat a lot more healthy foods to try to prevent unnecessary manmade diseases. Last night before bed I drank another smoothie, which had several big fresh strawberries, 1/2 small tray of fresh blackberries, 1 Tablespoon of flax seeds and 1 yellow kiwi (peel, seeds and all). Good stuff!!!
When I put any fruit into my Nutri-Ninja, I never peel anything, I eat the whole fruit (seeds, stem, peel and all). But I do remove the stickers on the fruit from the store. For some reason each kiwi has a sticker on it. I hope I am encouraging you to take control of your health and eat better. That is why I wrote this blog, to be helpful and help others, to be a better you.
I try to drink mostly water, very little classic Coke, and once in a while diet Coke. I love the bite in the Cola. I've had lots of people warn me about Diet Coke, but my humble opinion is that Diet Coke is MUCH better for you than all that toxic corn syrup in regular Coke. I've done a lot of reading on Diet Coke. Unless you're drinking 1 1/2 gallons per day of Diet Coke, you've got nothing to worry about.
And for that matter, drinking too much water is unsafe, which can kill you. It is a true story, that a radio station in California held a peeing contest. One woman drank so much water, trying to win, that she literally died of water intoxication. The radio station was sued and a jury awarded $16,577,188 damages against the KDND radio station. So my personal opinion is that it is best to drink water (one ounce for every 2 pounds of your body's weight; so if you weight 160 pounds, you should drink 80 ounces of water per day; one gallon is 128 pounces). If like me you love Cola-Cola, I think Diet Coke is better than regular Coke, especially if you are diabetic). Diet Coke WON'T spike your sugar, but classic coke WILL. No doubt some people will disagree with me on this last point about drinking diet sodas. To each his own.
God bless and thank you for reading.
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