Top 3 things I've learned

[Streetcorner Philosopher]

I'm certainly not an expert on weightloss. But over the past 8 months I've learned alot of things about my body. Here are the top 3 things I've learned.

#1 Buying a juicer -- Juicing fresh, organic raw vegetables has been one of the best things I've ever done for my weight and health.

I would have never believed it before, but I'm now totally convinced that hunger initially starts at the cellular level. When your cells are not receiving adaquate nutriton you're more likely to feel hungry sooner. This is the absolute gospel for me. As proof, it used to take a large plate of cooked food -- plus seconds -- plus dessert to make me full. Now I can drink a glass of fresh juice (Carrot + apple, beet, celery etc) and be satisfied for hours. Not FULL, mind you....but satisfied. (By the way, I'm not suggesting replacing a meal with a glass of juice.) The key though is that the veggies have to be raw. Cooking them destroys most of their enzymes and vitamins, which lessens their effectiveness.

The same goes for fruit. I know some fruits have sugar in them, but I believe these sugars do not act the same as a twinkie or a sweet tart. They actually FEED your body with wonderful vitamins and minerals and enzymes. Of course you can overdo fruit, so you have to budget them a bit....But since they are LOADED with nutrition, your body won't feel like it's starving...thus your metabolism will stay high for hours. Fruit does that...it's an energy booster....which will help you stay more active and burn more calories. It's amazing how long your body feels satisfied when you feed it correctly.

#2 -- Discontinue milk products. Cows milk (Specifically Pasteurized milk) has virtually no health value...unless you happen to be a baby cow. It's one of the most over-hyped, over-estimated foods of all time. All calcium and minerals that milk supposedly contains has been erradicated by the heating process it goes through. Milk is nothing but empty calories that can wreak havoc on your digestive system.

#3 -- Reduce/Discontinue bread and most wheat products. Obviously total elimination is not absolutely necessary....but this stuff does little more than gum up your intestines and reduce absorption. I used to be absolutely addicted to bread. Now I just occasionally indulge...which is never as satisfying as I would have imagined. Granted, whole wheat/rye bread has some fiber, which is nice...but that's about it. Any other vitamins are probably the fortified/synthetic type. Fiber can be added to your diet from lots of other foods.

These are the 3 main things I've done to change things around: Juicing...eliminating milk...eliminating most breads. Good luck, S