10 things you can do to be healthier and fitter (Part 2)

Today, I’m doing the second part of a discussion we started last week about “10 things you can do to be healthier and fitter.” We talked about the first five in our last blog, and today we’re going to finish up with the last five

But first, let’s review some very frightening statistics. In today's world, it's harder than ever to keep your weight under control, as evidenced by the fact that more than 2/3 of all American adults are now overweight or obese.

In fact, in an alarming bit of information, the Centers for Disease Control statistics revealed that in the U.S., the number of obese people actually outnumber overweight people. And in 2011, one of three children is now overweight or obese; nearly triple the rate from 1963. The plain, unvarnished truth is the US has predominantly become a nation of fat and obese citizens.

Let’s review the first five items we discussed last week. The first thing to help you keep off weight is you must eliminate fructose from your diet. This is important, Number two that you must plan your meals. Very crucial. Number three is avoid all sodas, even and especially diet sodas. Number four is be sure to eat plenty of organic vegetables. Number five deals with proper exercise.

Now, we’ll discuss the last five things to keep pounds off.

Number six is to avoid drinking fruit juice. I thought that fruit juice was good for you. Fruit juice is probably the most requested drink by children of all ages, not because it quenches thirst, but because it tastes good. And fruit juice, it turns out, is not one of the best things you can put into your body, especially for children. Yes, I can hear all the fruitarians screaming that I am wrong and there are unusual situations in which this isn't true. For someone who is normal body weight with no insulin resistance it might not be a major problem, especially if you're drinking freshly squeezed organic juice in moderation.

However, that is clearly a very tiny minority of the population.  Drinking fruit juice is only slightly different from drinking soda. Both deliver a massive dose of sugar to your body unbound by any of the slow-releasing mechanisms provided by nature. So when you think of fruit juice, you should think of soda.

You should certainly by now be aware of the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, but please understand that simple fruit sugar extracted from fruit has virtually identical side effects and negative effects on your biochemistry. This means fruit juice will cause a major spike in your insulin levels. This is important because elevated insulin levels are one of the primary drivers for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and weight gain.

Number seven is avoid eating outside of your home. There's a reason your favorite restaurant food often tastes better than your home cooked meals: many times it's loaded with extra calories in the form of sugars, hydrogenated fats and artificial flavor enhancers like MSG.

And since most restaurants purchase the bulk of their food in advance, and frequently rely on frozen, pre-cut and pre-cooked foods, the chances are high that your restaurant meal is simply processed food, nutritionally far inferior to anything fresh and organic you can make at home. And unless your favorite restaurant is advertising its free-range meats and organic vegetables, chances are also high that you're consuming feedlot animals and conventionally grown vegetables that have been drenched in antibiotics and pesticides respectively. Neither are good for maintaining optimal health.

I'm not suggesting you never eat outside of your own home; I understand the pleasure and social importance of eating out occasionally. My suggestion is merely to keep eating out to a minimum, and try to frequent restaurants committed to buying organic and serving minimally processed meals. The other very real hazard of eating out is the temptation to order an innocuous looking dessert that is anything but innocuous when it comes to the caloric punch it packs.

Number eight is a no-brainer. Literally. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol is converted by your body into simple sugar, and it turns out the metabolic pathway converting alcohol into its simple sugar components is the same pathway your body uses to convert high fructose corn syrup into its component parts.

In a nutshell, you are basically ingesting fat. So any advances you may make by watching your diet will be more or less instantly wiped out by a night of binge drinking. I recommend no alcohol consumption at all, since it is a neurotoxin whose drawbacks far outweigh even the benefits found in a glass of red wine (one of the healthiest options when it comes to alcohol consumption).

But again, alcohol equals body fat unless you are in the minority and have a super-production of alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH), the enzymes that break down alcohol in your body. Most likely you are not in this minority.

Number nine is avoiding consuming fast or processed foods. We hear all the time but somehow, the message is not strong enough. There’s a recent article by Time Magazine has summed up the problem of fast food nicely. I encourage you to revisit both if you haven't been keeping up to date on all the health problems associated with consuming fast food.

Number 10 is avoid condiments and idle snacks. Cutting all of these things out would save you about 330 calories a day. That translates to a loss of about 1 pound every 10 days, or about 36 pounds a year. How much weight do you need to lose? How long would it take you to reach your goal by cutting out these unnecessary condiments?

For some final thoughts, if you're like most Americans, you probably have between a few and several unnecessary pounds you'd prefer not to be carrying around every day. I'm here to tell you that not only is it possible to take off the extra weight with a little thoughtful planning, it is also possible to keep the weight off simply by following a few sensible guidelines above.

Every purchase you make is a vote with your pocketbook about the kinds of food these manufacturers will continue to make.

The bottom line is very simple here, folks. Think VERY carefully about what you're eating so you and your family can take control of your health before someone else takes control of it from you.