How do you know what is good food?

That's an interesting question. I was reading an article I saw on yahoo about the "5 Worst Fast-Food Breakfasts ( and what you should order instead)" . Interesting article that goes over Starbucks, Mcdonalds, Jamba Juice, Subway and several others menus. I didn't think they could find anything that would be actually "good" but there are a few options. Besides looking at calories you should also look at content of the food you are consuming. A common themed option they approve of is oatmeal which I agree with too. It's a good alternative than any deep friend breakfast. Also when you get anything from Mcdonalds it's not really cooked for you it's usually thrown into the microwave. Same thing goes for any of the sandwiches you pick up at Caribou Coffee or Starbucks right now. How healthy can that be?

First off what is a calorie? I mean in this society we are surrounded by calorie counters. Do they know what they are counting? According to Dictionary.com is the "a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy." Now that we got that on the table how much energy does your body really need? Well if you try out the Calories Per Day Calculator  it gives you an idea and that varies by several factors such as your height, current weight and how active you are. So my final conclusion, as nice as calorie counting may seem if you aren't watching what you eat and how active you are, you're not necessaricly being healthy.

You can eat 1500 calories of candy for the day and all your meals but is your body receiving everything that you really need? You rather eat that 1800 calories of healthy stuff and trust me your body will appreciate it more. You may also see some results in weight loss too. One thing I noticed is that when I eat more greens, things that don't have preservatives and that are fresh my body responds better. I feel better, not sluggish, not sick and that is how I like it to be. 

Maximized Living : Advanced and Core Plans

Ok so for the past few weeks I have changed my diet slowly but surely. I have cut out sugars, a lot of grains and processed foods. Which it is amazing how much of it is in the grocery store. It's near impossible to just walk into the store and find things that fit right into your Core plan for Maximized Living not to even mention Advanced Plan. My Advanced plan breakfast has been the green 3 gods Greed Organic Yogurt mixed with my Maximized Living French Vanilla Protein Powder and my Dynamic Greens. Then to sweeten the deal for myself I put in frozen berries and I throw it into the freezer so the whole mixture is a bit more palatable. And I won't deny not feeling less as complete without sugars and grains. There are days I go without grains and even so I'm full I feel deprived. It's hard but you have to work at it and try to cut it out.

It's like when I crave pizza when my brother buys it. I drink a whole bottle of water and then I snack on some frozen fruit. It tends to help but it takes time. Amazing enough a few months ago when I started cutting out processed foods little by little I was amazed how my taste buds changed. I went to Dunn Bros with some coworkers for a meeting and saw a "fruit" smoothie. I got excited and ordered it... blah!!!! It was like drinking syrup, I never realized how much sugar was in it. Put it this way my taste buds had gotten sensitive which is a good thing. It was that moment I realized that there are so many foods out there that has been dumped in sugar that we don't need but because we are so used to eating and drinking it our taste buds don't know the difference. Did you know that my first encounter with soda/pop was in a hospital when I was sick? The nurse gave me coke so that it will help me lower my high fever. I hated it, because I never had it before. Now after growing up I'm used to it and every once and awhile I crave it.

Today, think about three processed foods that you like then go a week without it. The purpose is to be healthier but also it's a self realization that it is very very polluted with things we don't need. Lunch today I am going for an Advanced meal which is chicken wrapped in spinach. Yummy! I'm slowly accepting the lack of grains with my meats but as I said before it takes time.