Is the Food You are Eating Allowing You Survive or Helping You Thrive?

This concept was foreign to me 3 years ago.  I think the thing that changed it for me was when I started drinking Shakeology. Before that, I knew veggies were good but I didn't know why.  I knew I shouldn't eat pizza for every meal but it wasn't because of some knowledge that it contained little to no nutritional value...but instead because it was a societal norm that pizza isn't good for you.  I just thought food was there to fill you up so you weren't hungry any longer.  

So when I started drinking Shakeology I did some research into some of the ingredients that were in it and how they would benefit me and allow my body to perform better.  That led to more and more education of how food can either help or hinder our bodies from performing at its highest level.  I can't imagine going back to eating the stuff I used to in the quantity that I used to.  Key there is quantity, I still enjoy pizza, french fries, and cheeseburgers, they just aren't the norm anymore, and I'm ok with that.  I've found greater satisfaction in feeling fantastic and losing weight than in the temporary satisfaction you get from eating food that isn't the best for you. This mindset change didn't happen overnight. I just kept adding in the good stuff so that eventually a lot of the not so healthy stuff got pushed out.  

There are a lot of things that I have cut out of my diet completely or at least on a very rare occasion.  A couple things would be anything with high fructose corn syrup, boxed dinners or prepackaged meals, and soda. I started learning how to read food labels and pay attention to not just calorie levels but also protein, sugar, carbs and ingredients!

So for those of you that want to start eating healthy, my suggestion would be to start doing a little research into nutrition.  That sounds overwhelming and it can be hard to know where to start and who to listen to. There is so much information out there with varying viewpoints.  The spectrum runs anywhere from being a raw vegan to hardcore paleo....So how do you decipher through all of this?  The truth is if you spent all your time invested in reading and educating yourself you wouldn't get anywhere because there is SO MUCH information out there.  

What I suggest you do, is learn through experimentation.  There are some basics that I think would apply to any diet/lifestyle out there:  add more veggies, drink more water, limit your added sugar and cut out processed foods.  If you did these things, your energy levels would go up and you would most likely lose a little weight, if you have some to lose.  After you do that, you can try playing around with different quantities of grains, fats, proteins.  Try some supplements and see if they make you feel better or worse.  

There is no proven formally that works for everyone....it's a constant moving target so just dive in and have fun!!!