A couple of days ago I got a message on Twitter from someone who seemed fairly interested in my lifestyle. After a few various questions that I answered for them they then asked, "Out of interest, do you know the business opportunity behind Herbalife?" Truthfully, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs considering I get this from some sort of "meal replacement" distributor every other week. Instead, I respectfully said, "I do. Please don't take offense to this, but I am an advocate for eating whole foods for meals." It continued on into a much longer drawn out explanation, but this sums up my point. At the end of our conversation they shared a video to further explain and asked if I'd watch it. Finally today I thought, what the heck? Maybe I'll learn
something useful from it.
So I pull up this video. One of the first points it brings up is that as a nation we are less active. This is why we have so many people that are overweight and/or unhealthy. Why do you think this is? Probably because there is a McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell or any other fast food place you can think of on every corner. People have become lazy and in too much of a hurry and now rely on convenience. Wouldn't you rather be able to still have that meal, but know what is in it by making it yourself? This point coincides with the next. The next point was we have less time to prepare healthy meals. How much time do you spend in front of the tv a day? How many times do you hit the snooze button? How important is sleeping in on the weekend or your day off to you? It is not so much that we have less time it's that we don't
MAKE time. Isn't your health important to you? We do only have one body to live in. Unless you're a cat you don't get many chances in it.
Companies such as Herbalife, Shakeology, Visalus, Isagenix, Advocare, etc. give promise of weight loss and convenience. Sounds great, right? So what happens when you've reached your goal? Do you continue to drink shakes rather than meals the rest of your life? Do you slowly creep back to where you started because you have no education on how to maintain your body with proper nutrition once you've met your ideal goal? The problem is that most of these companies don't show you how to maintain and live a healthy balanced lifestyle AFTER the fact which truely is the most important part!
If you are just starting your weightloss journey or whatever journey you are embarking on there are other ways to go about it while still eating REAL nutritional food. For starters you could hire a nutrition or lifestyle coach. They will help you figure out your body type and devise a meal and/or fitness plan structured specifically for your goals. As they see changes in your body they can change your plan when needed. Once you have reached your desired goal they will also revise your plan to help you maintain that as well. If you prefer not to make the time to plan a week's worth or even a few day's worth of meals there are companies that can do that for you(no, not things like Jenny Craig!) I'm talking real unprocessed food, and they can even deliver it. MAW Nutrition is a great example of this. For around $126.62 or about $3.62 per meal (give or take some depending on your food choices) you can have a week's worth of meals cooked and delivered right to your door via FedEx! Talk about convenience! If that sounds expensive sit down and add up how much you spend on groceries, how much of that ends up going to waste, and how much you spend eating out in one single week. Also remember you are paying for convenience as someone else is preparing this for you. Now $126.62 doesn't sound so bad, does it?
Bottom line I eat food to lose weight, I eat food to maintain weight, and I eat food to gain weight. No matter my goal at the moment, I use food to fuel my body and guide me to my goal. I am not a prisoner to a "meal replacement" that I must consume to get my dream body or lose some weight. I live my life and still manage to reach my goals.
Peace, love, and a full belly,
Hbombs
