Confusion

Healthy Eating.

What does that mean? 

To some, it means fewer calories.  Others, it means whole, real foods.  I am sure to many, it is a combination of those and many other factors. 

I joined Weight Watchers again.  I am now a fourth-time offender.  (I do have a good excuse for stopping two of the three times I stopped... pregnancy kind of omits you from being allowed on the program.)

This time I am in a little bit of a different mental place. 

For starters, I am actually within the 'healthy' weight range for my height already.  That being said that 'healthy' range encompases 30 pounds.  So, I have a few pounds before I am at my personal goal... totally do-able.

Secondly, it seems like every other time I have been on the program I have basically tried to turn what I normally like to eat into lower calorie, weight-watcher's friendly meals.  Sometimes that includes useing a fat-free cheese or a sugar-free version of any given food.  After a little research, this is not the route I would like to go.

I basically need a whole revamp of the way I think about food and nutrition.  Some foods are bad, and I just shouldn't eat them.  I shouldn't find something else that tastes like them, I should just accept that they aren't a part of a healthful diet and look for other foods that fit the bill.

You know how sometimes you KNOW things, but you choose not to accept them or put them into practice?  I think that has been me for a very long time.  My best example of this is high frutose corn syrup, and for that matter... all sugars and artificial sweeteners.  (Mercola, 2011)  The evidence supporting the link between sugar and so many deadly diseases and the rise in obesity is, to say the very least, terrifying. 

The point is that I am making an effort to eat real, whole foods at home.  I am taking steps to limit the sugar I consume, and I am slowly changing out the foods in our house for the good of the whole family.  But, in the midst of all of this I am realizing that there is so much conflicting information.  Is wheat good or bad?  What is the difference between 'natural' and 'organic'?  Why is vegetable oil so much worse for you than the highly saturated coconut oil?  It is quite obvious that I have a lot more research to do to sort out the confusion.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to doing the best I can, a healthier me, and a healthier family in 2012!