Daily Wellness Tip - Read Your Food Labels
Recently I’ve talked to folks trying to lose weight. They are exercising and eating right, they are frustrated. My first thoughts are always “are you exercising enough?” and “what is your diet really like?”
Today it hit me - read your food labels. I only recently started to do that as I became curious about the 0 trans fat rule and hydrogenated oils. Today I met with someone that I network with. We started talking about Goji berries (all the rage right now in berry or juice form). I had not tried them so he brought some out for me. They looked like raisins but tasted much sweeter. He offered to give me a bag. “Sure,” I said, “these aren’t bad!” Then I read the ingredients.
Added sugars and fruit flavors (not 100% goji berry!) brought the total sugars per serving to 12 grams. At that moment I kindly declined. Then he brought out another bag that truly was just goji berry - no added sugars, fruit flavors, preservatives. I admit they didn’t taste as good as the berries with added sugars.
So if you’re wondering why you exercise, eat well and are doing everything you need to do to lose weight, check your food labels. Look for added sugars, high fructose corn syrup (found in Vitamin Water) or other ingredients you don’t need in your diet. These ingredients are signs that maybe your food isn’t as healthy as you thought.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have to give it up! You may just have to moderate the portion size.
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