Good Mornings and Grateful Eating

I want to share a recent new find for my mornings. I never used to be a big breakfast person but it turns out that it is true, skipping breakfast is bad for you. For one thing if you don't eat enough your body stores everything you DO eat because it goes into starvation mode. This is why many people on diets don't seem to lose the weight even though they eat "like a bird". They aren't eating enough for their own body so it saves every calorie it gets. Eating revs up your metabolism so it can burn your fuel efficiently. Besides, who wants to be hungry all the time anyways? Not me. Eat frequently but eat well. Good fuel runs your engine better than bad fuel. Yes the engine will still run but it will just chug along instead of purring along with less effort. Not to mention the long term benefits. Exercise is important to be healthy as well HOWEVER if you eat junk you will still be harming your body. Food is the foundation to good health period.

While oatmeal is a great breakfast, or even eggs and wheat toast, I don't always have time for those meals. So my go to becomes cold cereal instead. I highly recommend Flax Plus Multibran Flakes. Not only is it organic and free of GMO's, you can find it at your local Hannaford store. As you can see I like to add some fruit to mine.

Berries are great antioxidants as well as a perfect natural sweetener. And they are a good source of fiber too.

Not sure about what the whole GMO debate is about? Check out this link: http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/   It sounds like the stuff of a sci-fi horror movie doesn't it? For a country that is supposed to be a super power we are so far behind other countries in many important ways. This is just one of them. Sadly I have a suspicion it is all about money. But I digress.

I was eating a grapefruit recently and had one of those moments of clarity. How lucky are we to have fruit available to us all year long? Seriously, some of our ancestors died because they lacked the nutrients we take for granted every day. Even having refrigerators and freezers to put our food in is a luxury we don't even think about. (aside from when we lose power that is) Someone picked that fruit and then it got put on a boat or a train or a truck and shipped to my local store. It wasn't grown here that's for sure. We currently have 10 inches of snow on the ground, yet I can enjoy a tropical fruit on a daily basis. (bananas are a daily staple for me) When I eat lately I think about where my food was prepared, and who made it. Is it a factory item from a big corporation or a local bakery made item? Do the people care about using GMO's and the environment or is the goal simply to sell a product to make money? Is what I am fueling my body with actually healthy for me? Is it good for the planet? (sustainable)

My family has made many changes to our grocery shopping habits in the last year. I know we are eating healthier than ever before. It IS doable for the average person! It just takes a commitment to pay attention and read labels. Is everything in my cupboard healthy? No. While I am sure that is possible in some houses, mine has 2 teenagers so there are some "junk food" items that may not disappear until they are grown and gone. But there are fewer of those than there used to be. And as I find healthy "options" for those foods they get replaced.

On the exercise front things are going smoother. I don't feel like I am going to die when I run now so that is good. A snowstorm kept me from getting to the gym on one of my days recently so I did a wii workout with a Jillian Michaels disc instead. Interestingly I was more sore after that than when I do go to the gym! The workouts are working though. I have muscles where I didn't have any before. They aren't huge but I can see them. It is a great motivator to continue. Maybe this summer I'll post some good before and after photos. We'll see.

Until then, eat well!