Weight loss made REAL simple – Columnist Denise McArthur

Want to lose weight? Eat REAL food.

It really is that simple. Eat real food.

Now, do you have any idea what I am talking about? That is what I thought. We have forgotten what real food is.

For starters, it doesn’t come out of a package. Nor does it have 20 ingredients some which are even impossible to pronounce. According to one of my favorite food writers, Michael Pollan, real food is food that my great-grandmother would recognize as food.

Another term that is synonymous with read food is whole foods. I eat and promote primarily a whole foods diet. Confused? Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Whole foods have one ingredient – itself. An apple is an apple – nothing else. A whole grain like brown rice, wheat or barley is a whole grain – nothing else. A chicken nugget is not a whole food. A roasted chicken breast however, is a whole food. Vegetables? Obviously a whole food. Potato chips? Need I say more?

For some, just switching to a whole-foods diet is enough to lose weight. A whole-foods diet supplies the necessary fats, carbohydrates, protein and micronutrients that our bodies need. Whole foods are also full of fiber, which is most beneficial when it comes to weight loss. High-fiber foods fill us up and also help in the digestive process.

Where do you find real or whole foods? In a perfect world, we would buy our food direct from the local farmer. Grow it in our backyard. Or shop at the the farmers market on Saturday mornings. These are all excellent sources to find real foods. If you still need some convincing, shop only from the outer perimeter of your grocery store for starters.

For more food for thought, I suggest you read Michael Pollan’s book, “Food Rules.” It is a quick and easy read yet also full of more great information.