By: Leo Fontana
So often in our society we hear the words coming out of someone’s mouth, “I’m on a diet, I can’t eat this.” The word “diet” should never scare you, being on a diet is something we have been doing since we were born, diets are what we are eating at that moment. Not something that is temporary or only certain food groups and when you’re not on a diet you eat all of the unhealthy foods. You’re still on a diet, just not a good one.
Dr. McBroom, Derek and I got into one of our conversations about nutrition, health, fitness and health care and we were looking at some numbers and we found that 100 million Americans have diabetes or are pre-diabetics. Take a moment to absorb what this means.
“More than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report finds that as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans – 9.4 percent of the U.S. population –have diabetes. Another 84.1 million have pre diabetes, a condition that if not treated often leads to type 2 diabetes within five years.” (source: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-report.html)
Also, according to some studies, if nothing is done about this, all of the government budget will be spent on health care. That means nothing else will be taking care of just our unhealthy, bad habit making population.
This is extremely scary and I think people need to be ready for a change. Changes are easy and it will take time but they are definitely worth it. The reason why this number is so high, in my opinion, is because people choose to be lazy and take the easy way out of everything.
They don’t want to exercise so they say they don’t have time or the money for it. They don’t want to eat health so they make the excuse that it is too expensive and time consuming. I think those are all ways to convince themselves that it is okay to be that way, and the sad part is that most of the population is this way.
When it comes to food, I am definitely no Tammy or Joaquin, my meals are big, I don’t weigh my food and my weekends sometimes can get out of hand. However I have a system that works for me and I am okay with it. I eat healthy as much as possible and I don’t restrain myself from eating things that I want to eat. I try to keep a balance. A lot of people in the Welded world call it the 80/20 approach, me I am almost at 70/30.
I start my day with a protein shake with a half spoon of maca powder and coffee. My breakfasts are almost the same everyday. 3 whole eggs, 3-4 slices of no nitrate low sodium bacon. A lot of times lately, I have been adding spinach and ground turkey to my eggs. My lunches I like to prepare on Sundays and most of the time it consists of steak or chicken breast with sweet potatoes or white rice. I eat my lunches immediately after I work out. For dinners, I have been much better lately on controlling my portions. I try to have mostly meat (steak, chicken or ground turkey), a small salad and white rice or sweet potatoes, if I am having white rice I try to keep within a cup to a cup and a half max. My wife and I are not that great at eating vegetables, however we are really trying to get better at it. For a drink I have been truly enjoying one can of Zevia a night. If you haven’t heard of them here is a link, they’re an amazing substitute of sodas.
The weekends… Weekends are hard because there are more opportunities to have social events that usually consist of eating a lot of carbs and sugars. If you encounter these situations, don’t panic. You’ll be okay if you decide to have a moderate amount of cake, or mac and cheese or chocolate chip cookies. My whole point of this blog is that eating health is a lifestyle change, just like exercising, it needs to be consistent and a part of what you do forever.
Why?! Because you care about your health and want to live as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Stay away from adult diapers and nursing homes. You need to understand that you don’t need to not have a burger when you go out with friends, what you do need to understand you can have the burger but instead of the fries you can choose the salad. Next time if you’re dying for those fries then have a burger with no bum and get the fries. It is all about moderation. Eat whole foods, not a lot, stay away from sugar and limit your carb intake and if you do this you will feel a lot better.
If you’re struggling with your lifestyle change when it comes to dieting don’t hesitate to make a complimentary appointment with Coach Tammy or Coach Joaquin and they will get you on track.
Also, don’t forget to come to our classes 3-4 times a week and get fit!!! If you have any questions concerns feel free to email me on [email protected] and I will be happy to talk to you with any struggles you have with food or exercise. Let’s make sure this 100 million people can be affected and motivated by what we are doing in our community so together we can change to world!!!
(featured image: Ang Fontana Photography)