Healthy food/ingredients does not automatically equal weight loss

Well, I'd like to set the record straight because there's an awful lot of "to do" about the fact that I'm overweight. People who feel I'm a hypocrite because I keep a blog on eating healthier when I'm fat.

Ummm... I keep a blog on eating around allergens. Eating around our particular set of allergens absolutely has us eating WAY healthier ingredients than most of the country.

Ingredients are not the only factor in weight loss. Jenny Craig's food is proof positive of this: there is a LOT of sugar and cheese in her food. Cheese is debatable as "healthy" but sugar--not by a long shot. Not to mention all the other additives in there.

Healthy foods/ingredients are a huge factor in your overall health. They are NOT, however, the ONLY factor in weight loss. So because you eat 100% organic foods and never touch a soda does not guarantee you will be thin. There's more to it than that. Like:

* Portion control: If you eat too much food and ingest more calories than you are burning off--you're going to gain weight. Period.

* Exercise: See the above in reference to burning off calories. And exercise is another component of overall health. It's not just about food.

* Balance: Do you know that if there's NO fat in your diet at all, you will have difficulty losing weight? Yes--it's true. And I recently found out just how little fat is in my and Mike's diet. The kids get some via coconut milk. Mike and I--notsomuch. Add to it that we're not really getting as much fruit and veggies as we should. More than most people? Yup. Enough? Notsomuch.

* Schedule: If you're not eating regularly (or regularly enough for your particular body's metabolism needs) then you're also not going to lose weight. For my body, I need to eat every 2 hours for my metabolism to stay high enough to really work well. Doesn't really matter what I eat--as long as I ingest something every 2 hours. Yes, it's true. Likewise, if you're someone whose body has "quirks" and your largest meal is about an hour or two before bedtime... yeah, you may have some issues.

To be honest, the idea that people could look at me pushing healthier food ingredients and believing I'm a hypocrite because I'm overweight is just glaring evidence of how insanely undereducated we are on weight maintenance, nutrition and overall health.

I'm hoping that this clears things up a little.