I met a lady today ...

We are all here for a purpose. Maybe you know what that purpose is and maybe you'll discover your purpose later. It will come.

Today, I met a woman who is doing the best she can with the information she has. She touched my heart and we found ourselves chatting about everything. Then, we settled in on the struggles of losing weight, working, raising kids, trying to make ends meet. It's not easy. Then you discover you need medication for high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and do the best you can ... again with the information you have or are given by someone who may not even know how to best help you. It's a vicious circle and it's exhausting.

My struggle is she is being told things that will keep her on medication when if she were able to make some simple and some not-so-simple changes she would likely be able to get off meds. I assured her I was NOT a doctor or even in the medical field. I encouraged her to think about what she wanted and to speak to her physician about it. People often forget doctors work for them! Not the other way around. When your doctor isn't listening, move on. 

The bottom line of our conversation became obvious. She is eating way too much processed food tainted with high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and many ingredients she couldn't even pronounce. The first step, I told her, is to understand what you are actually eating.

She mentioned she liked salmon. Farm-raised or wild-caught? She didn't know. Is there a difference? Yes. Read about it HERE. (HINT: wild-caught is better, but you already knew that, right?)

Let's talk about margarine vs butter? In my opinion, I prefer real food and margarine has what I can only refer to as ickies ... you know weird oils, stabilizers ... here is the list of ingredients from their website: Ingredients. Vegetable Oil Blend (Soybean Oil, Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil), Water, Salt, Whey (Milk), Distilled Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Disodium EDTA (Used to Protect Quality), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color).

Want to know what's in my butter? Pasteurized cream and salt. See the difference? Made with milk from grass-fed cows, not treated with rBST or other growth hormones.

So, what you do? Where do you start? 

Good question and the answer is easier than you think. Start small ...

• replace diet soda (actually, all soda) with water. Yep, good old water.
  • If you drink a six-pack of soda daily replace two, then three, etc.
  • Does drinking one soda a day really matter? YES, it does.
    • ​https://health.clevelandclinic.org/soda-do-you-drink-it-every-day/
• switch to herbal tea (check out The Herbal Toad)
  • ​are their teas more expensive? You bet there are because they use real, honest-to-goodness ingredients, but it's worth it.
• Start reading ingredients on packaging. Yes, it will take longer to shop, but it's worth it. My personal policy is to shop around the outside of the aisles before I shop aisle by aisle. Hit the produce department, meats, dairy before you browse the processed food aisles.
  • Make a list!! Follow the list to avoid unnecessary spending. Use store apps like Publix to know where the BOGOs are, the specials, and the deals. Don't fall prey to the deals. If you wouldn't normally buy it, it's not really a deal, is it?
  • Download the Bobby-Approved app. Scan the UPC could and he'll tell you if what you're looking at is in your own best interest ... plus, if it's not, he'll offer suggestions. It the app perfect, it is not. Bobby tags "natural flavors" as a bad thing ... and they are. But, sometimes it is what it is. Oh, what's does natural flavors really mean? Read about it HERE.

I know there's a lot to think about and a lot to read and learn about. Take it one step at a time ... relax ... you didn't get to where you are today overnight and it will take some time to re-navigate your healthy future.

Have a question? Click the comment section below and ask away ... I'll do my best to answer you.