GET REAL

Just a brief rant for this Tuesday night.

If you were never going to commit to the Core Plan, attempt the Advanced Plan or even flip through the pages of the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book, at least do ONE thing, make ONE change to your diet, that could potentially save your life: EAT REAL FOOD.

I don't mean the low-fat, low-calorie, trans fat free, zero cal, heart smart, added fiber, fortified, enriched, diet foods that we are force fed through glamourized advertisements and media.  I mean REAL food. 

The definition of real is something that is true, sincere, absolute, genuine, and authentic and the definition of fake is deception and deceit - pretending to be something it's not. 

Here's a shocking example of FAKE - The ingredient list for a Burger King Strawberry Milkshake:

Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone,  ethyl acetate, ethyl amylketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphrenyl-2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), ionone, isobuyly anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenothyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Did you notice something??  There's no STRAWBERRIES listed!!!
There is ZERO food in this milkshake.  It's pretending to be something it's not.
(If you want to read something even grosser, Google the ingredient list for Chicken McNuggets.) 

In this era of dazzling food science, supersize portions and widespread dietary confusion, choosing real food can be tough.  Every trip to the supermarket requires precise navigation through a treacherous and deadly food landscape.  But it's manageable if you just focus on the REAL food. 
A few tips:

• Don't buy things with 75 unpronounceable ingredients, and even better, don't buy things with more than ONE ingredient.  How many ingredients would you find listed on an apple?  
• Don't read labels - DO read ingredients.  Dubious health claims and labelling schemes mean NOTHING.  And the amount of calories in a cracker are far less important than the deceptive ingredients used to make it. 
• Don't buy food pretending to be something it's not.  Texturized vegetable protein ot veggie burgers (pretending to be meat), margarine (pretending to be butter), a pink toxic beverage (pretending to be a strawberry milkshake), chocolate "flavoured" sauce that contains no actual chocolate, Splenda (pretending to be sugar), and sorry, but what exactly is soda other than chemicals, colorings, dyes and toxins that ruin your health and destroy your body?  Yeah, that ain't real.