Our Biggest Epidemic – Food Addiciton

Anyone who has followed me over the last year has heard me say on countless occasions that everyone is addicted to something. Sometimes that addiction is someone. Oftentimes it is something. For nearly 80 million Americans that something is food.  We have an obesity epidemic in America. Everyone knows it’s bad and that it’s getting worse. The solution to the problem sounds deceptively simple — eat fewer calories. Why is this harder than it seems? First, our obsession with eating out. Today’s meals are four times larger than in the 1950’s according to the Centers for Diesease Control. This didn’t happen overnight. The portions increased a little each year over the decades. Unless your Michael Phelps you don’t need 5, 6, 7, or more thousand calories each day. You may want them, but your body doesn’t need them.

Second, the stress of everyday life is a driving force in our unhealthy eating habits. This is why saying no is so important. Simplicity is key in reducing stress. You don’t need more stuff, more activities, more friends, more degrees, and more obligations. The truth is you need less of all of these things. Less is truly more! I’ve simplified my life in the last year with great success. Which enabled me to conquer my own battle with weight loss. I quite simply created “no list” and followed it. I listed 27 foods that I needed to either cut out of my diet or reduce the portion size. Guess what, after a few days I wasn’t really hungry anymore. I recognized that I often was eating because I was bored. I look at my no list everyday and am thrilled when I see foods that I used to love, now mean nothing to me. You can say no. It’s not willpower, it’s “No” Power.