You know there is a lot of talk about what is healthy and what is not healthy and all of that. I used to be a believer in things that were healthy – you know like whole wheat bread is somehow healthier than white bread. Well no more, I don’t buy into any of that and I’m no longer going to say that something is unhealthy.
For example, the pizza to the right, that’s not an unhealthy pizza is it? No, no, I know exactly what your thinking “Oh yes it is!”. But let’s look at the pizza – its nourishing right? So what makes it so unhealthy then? The high amount of calories or fat? If that’s the case, let me ask you this – if there was a 1 inch by 1 inch square piece of pizza there would you think: “Wow, that’s one unhealthy piece of pizza there!”? Or would you think “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza, and not all that unhealthy.”
For me, I would most likely say the second “That’s a pretty small piece of pizza….” Then I would most likely, without thinking about the health consequences , pick it up and eat it. Eating that small piece of pizza hasn’t deteriorated my health in anyway has it?
So let’s be clear about something – food isn’t unhealthy – its the proportion of food you eat. If you ate the entire pizza above, that’s clearly not healthy – that’s over 5,000 calories!!! Likewise with salad – if you ate 5,000 calories of salad – that’s not healthy either and I would argue it is just as unhealthy as eating the entire pizza above.
You see my Dr. once told me that ANY diet in the whole world will work. As long as you burn more calories in one day than what you consume. And that is absolutely true. I’ve done several diets:
Atkins – worked amazingly for me! I lost close to 60 pounds on Adkins – and before you start saying that’s not a healthy diet – it is, my cholesterol shot way down, as did my blood pressure and everything else. However, Atkin’s isn’t realistic to live on for ever – sorry, it just doesn’t seem possible.
Weight Watchers – another great diet, it taught me a lot about proportions. After coming off of Adkins – I had no clue how much food I was allowed to eat – so Weight Watchers really taught me a lot there.
MGPoE – This is my own diet – I eat whatever I want, but I don’t go crazy like I used too. Don’t get me wrong, I stick with lower calorie foods because you get more “Bang for the Buck” not because they are healthier.
I’m Mark Graham and I’m a recovering foodaholic. I used to weigh in at 350 pounds – since then I’ve lost over 130 pounds – so I like to think I’m a self proclaimed expert on this matter. For anyone that is trying to lose a lot of weight, understand that food is absolutely an addiction – and it is something that I battle everyday, and will for the rest of my life. Sadly, I’ll never not struggle with food, this will always be a hard journey for me. But knowing that simple fact is half the battle, the other half is the willpower to say ‘no’ to eating too much – regardless of how “healthy” it is.