One step at a time

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Take it one ingredient at a time

It's easy to look at all the information out there about dangerous ingredients and become overwhelmed by the idea of ridding your diet of all these ingredients.
The key is to remember to take it slowly and change your diet one ingredient at a time. In fact, this method works really well for a lot of people. And you'll discover if you stick with it, that each new ingredient you boycott becomes easier and easier to avoid.
So, how to get started? Pick one ingredient that you think may be having a significant impact on your personal health (remember, everyone metabolizes foods and reacts to chemicals differently). Then, make a commitment to have eliminated that ingredient from your diet by a specific date.
Some people use 30 days, but 60 days may be more realistic if you are just getting started. Then, every day, eat a little less of this ingredient. That means you'll have to read labels. So, if you decide you are going to avoid sodium nitrite for your prostate health, you'll need to read the labels of the foods you typically eat, and then make a conscious decision to put something back and eat a different item instead. Instead of a hot dog, have a tuna fish sandwich. Make these substitutions more and more frequently every day, until you are at the point that nothing you choose to eat has sodium nitrite in it. Then take a step back and see how you feel. Have your energy levels gone up? Maybe your skin is looking a little healthier or you notice you have less heartburn. Enjoy the positive change.
How to deal with "There's nothing left to eat" syndrome
After we learn about all the dangers in our processed food supply, it's easy to think, "there's nothing left to eat now."
Take a step back, and remind yourself: man created most of these dangerous ingredients in the last 100 years. Somehow whole generations have managed to find plenty to eat before these ingredients were introduced to our food supply, and we can still find great whole foods today.
In fact, if you are clever about it, you can actually reduce your monthly food costs by buying whole foods. Consider rice as an example. Refined white rice is not the most nutritious carbohydrate you can put in your belly or on your families table. However brown rice, particularly organic brown rice, has an excellent nutritional profile and is a great course of healthy proteins. So, instead of reaching for instant white rice, look a little lower on the shelf and go for the bag of brown. The packaging isn't as attractive, but it will make you feel a whole lot better.
This is another point where it's important to take it slow. Don't try to completely overhaul your food choices all at once. Take a look at the health tip Take it one ingredient at a time. I'm sure you will discover as many others have, that when you start looking around at the grocery store, and asking yourself how meals were created before the days of processed foods, "just add water" casseroles and microwave dinners, you'll discover everything you need to start making change, right there on the bottom shelves.
How to get rid of belly fat
A big culprit in the creation of that mid-section gut is trans fat. If you are getting moderate exercise, eat a solid amount of calories for your body type, and you just can't shake that gut, your problem may be trans fats.
It doesn't take that much trans fat to add up to big pounds, all centered on your gut, over time. A recent study strongly suggests that it only takes 8% of your total daily fat intake to be from trans fats for your body weight to increase by 7.2%. Let's do the math there. If you weigh 120 pounds, and you choose to eat foods with trans fats in them, but otherwise eat only enough calories to maintain your weight, you would end up gaining 8 pounds in your gut. That's more than a bag of sugar.
Read the press release on the trans fat study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine for yourself.