Saturday, June 30, 2012

How I became SANE

Behind me, a pot of water is boiling, waiting to be made into iced green tea. Next to me, a bowl of Greek yogurt is waiting expectantly with raspberries, blackberries, and milled flax seed.

Wait a minute. Milled flax seed? How did THAT happen? Well let me just tell you, some books can change your perspective overnight.

As my boyfriend well knows, I have been on one of my health binges lately. I guess that's what happens when you gain your Freshman fifteen as a sophomore (and only in a matter of four months!). A few weeks ago, I decided that I wasn't happy being at my heaviest weight ever, and I decided to make a change. Since then, I've been religiously tracking my calories and food groups on the USDA's SuperTracker and working out three to four hours a week. So far, the program seems to have caused some improvement (I've lost about three pounds). However, this program is NOT the one I'm here to recommend.

Late last night, I was Google searching and trying to find success stories of people who lost weight using the SuperTracker. During my search, I came across a comment that said the USDA's guidelines specifically went against research studies into weight loss. Even worse, the commenter mentioned that the USDA had a conflict of interest where food was involved because the organization needs to make a profit BY selling food (even if it's at the expense of others' health).

I was intrigued. The commenter said they had received their information from a book titled The Smarter Science of Slim, so event though it was well past midnight, I ordered the $9 book from Kindle. Once I began reading it, I was floored. The book proves (using FACTS, not opinions) that many things we have been taught about health is wrong.

The book is too full of information to summarize right now, but tomorrow I'll try to give you a better understanding of exactly what the book advocates. Until then, you can read about it on the author's website (http://thesmarterscienceofslim.com/) or even better yet, go ahead and order it.

I know I'm only on Day 1, but I think it's going to have a long term impact on the way I think about food.

Stay SANE.

-Lindsey