Healthy In, Healthy Out: Good Eating (And Drinking) Increases Productivity

You are what you eat. This year we're going to explore that in my blog. This is an important concern for me and, fortunately, my family (my daughter suggested this topic). They're not all vegetarians like Linda and me. So I'll be careful not to impose all of my 'vegetarian values' on you. I will talk more about that in the future. And, as always, I will welcome your comments.


I became more aware of healthy eating during my college years when my older brother exposed me to bee pollen, and vegetarianism. Books I read on the subject early on were Back To Eden (by Jethro Kloss), and Diet For A New America (by John Robbins, of Baskin and Robbins). Looking back I would say that I ate pretty healthily growing up, including the wheat germ my mother snuck into the meat loaf and the daily morning spoonfuls of cod liver oil (yuck!). A couple of years ago I made some major changes in my diet in order to lose weight. Bye-bye donuts, pizza, white pasta and rice, white bread, etc. Over 2 years I lost 25 pounds and have been able to keep them off (mostly). The Abs Diet (by David Zinczenko) helped with that.


"Healthy In, Healthy Out," will focus on how paying attention to what you eat, being more mindful (see my posting on Mindfulness, 7/10/08), can help improve your mood, thinking, health, energy level, and overall productivity. I will ask you to consider some of the things I've learned about eating (and drinking) and see if they might help you. I am not a nutritionist, nor a food expert. But I know enough to be happy with the changes I've made in my eating habits, and I will offer them to you.


Here are some things to think about. Drink more water (we're mostly made of it). White carbs turn into sugar, and add a lot of calories. High fructose corn syrup, which seems to be in everything you eat and drink(read the labels) is a sweetener that adds calories that are very hard to burn off. And there's lots more. I don 't recommend any dramatic changes, but gradual lifestyle changes that will be more effective long term. For now, just think a little more about what you eat and drink.

Thank you for the blog topic suggestions I've been getting.