Why America Keeps Gaining Weight

I picked up a copy of The Oprah Magazine this week because I wanted to read about Darin Olien, the man who developed Shakeology for Beachbody.  It's a great article not so much about Shakeology, but about Olien's trip (one of many around the world) to Peru to meet with natives who grow the superfoods that are used in Shakeology to make it so nutritious.

Did you know that Americans are the fattest people..ever...in history?  Not a great distinction for us.  Did you know 34% of the adult population is obese? (having a body fat percentage of 30 percent or more).  Did you know 29% of all children are obese?  So how did we get this way?  What can we do to reverse it?

Much of the problem is our diet.  We eat too much highly processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients.  It's cheap and it tastes good.  Who doesn't love a McDonald's burger and fries?  They taste great, but they are largely lacking in what your body really needs.

So you load up on this high calorie, nutrient devoid food and what happens?  Quite soon you are hungry again, because your body is starving for nutrients.  So what do you do?  Give it some more high calorie nutrient devoid food.  You are starving yourself into obesity.  What to do?

1.  Eat foods in their natural state whenever you can.  A good rule of thumb is if it's man made, don't eat it. If it's nature made, eat away.  Here's an example:

Carrots:  Come from the ground. Eat them raw or in the state closest to raw (ie steamed).  A steady diet of these will provide you with nutrients, like vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, water and other things your body needs

Carrot Cake:  Yes carrots are in there...somewhere, along with highly processed white sugar, white flower, butter and on and on. A steady diet of this will provide you with simple sugars and carbs your body can't really use or process well and eventually will lead to problems like overweight, insulin resistance, high cholesteral and the like.  Best to stay away from this type of food on a regular basis.

2.  Educate yourself about superfoods that are packed with the good stuff your body needs.

Consider a nutrient packed meal replacement drink like Shakeology.  You don't have the time, energy or the money to find all these superfoods from all over the world to bring into your kitchen.  Someone has already done the work for you.  Take advantage of it.

If you start feeding your body what it needs, it won't scream at you for more food all the time.  You will get control of your own obesity freight train and then you can educate others to help them take control too.