Read the food labels! High fructose corn syrup.

Have you heard of high fructose corn syrup? It's in almost everything we eat or drink! Read the labels on your prepackaged foods at home. Count everything you eat on a daily basis. Our snacks,cereals,breads and drinks. High fructose corn syrup is in most everything in one form or another.

What is high fructose corn syrup(HFCS)? It is a sweetener made from corn. Sounds like it's natural and good for us right. Wrong! When you hear fructose you think fruit, which is natural and better for you than sugar. Not necessarily,HFCS contains more fructose than sugar. Refined sugar is also know as sucrose, which is a larger sugar molecule that breaks down into glucose and fructose in the intestine during metabolism. Fructose is absorbed differently, it registers in the body the same as glucose a carbohydrate. HFCS acts more like fat than sugar.

How many overweight adults and children do we see every day? One day when I was waiting at my son's school for him to come out I noticed how many children were truly obese. Not just baby fat, really fat. How heavy are Americans? Look at our eating habits. Forty years ago Americans weren't so fat. Why is that? I know the answer, we didn't eat prepackaged foods. People actually cooked! Moms made cookies and bread from scratch. We didn't get everything from a bag or box. I am not bashing people for being overweight. My mother struggled with her weight for at least thirty years. I have had the same problem for many years. We just need to educate ourselves on what we put into our bodies.

Read the labels on what you plan to buy at the store before it gets into the cart and into our bodies. If you don't know what something is research it on the net(one of our most powerful tools as a consumer)before you buy and eat or drink it.Don't trust some big company with your health, they will do anything to get you to buy their products and make them rich. While we get fat! If you have to have cookies please make them yourself. I bet you won't eat them as much if it takes a little work to get them. Cut soda completely out of your diet!! If you must eat out make healthier choices like a side salad instead of fries. Be smart and in better health, the choice is yours not big business.

Baby steps to a healthy lifestyle.

I am new to living a healthier lifestyle. I used to eat fast food at least once a day, french fries are my favorite. As I got older my 5'2" frame got pudgy and that is what started my health kick in the butt! Now I only eat fast food maybe once a month or less. Baby steps are simple, just make little changes that are easy for you to live with. What will be your first step? I have many more to go (quit smoking) and I am looking forward to hearing about yours.