We are what we eat and we get all kinds of advice on what to eat to control our weight and what foods to eat to lose belly fat. Are there foods we should stay away from too? Well, we shouldn’t just be thinking about our weight, we should be thinking of overall body health.

Wheat For Man

Now we hear, wheat for man, oats for the horse and such. Actually what nutrients we get from any food we eat is related to our history. For example, Eskimos can assimilate a tremendous amount of fat. It has been in their diet for over ten thousand years. People stay healthy on their indigenous diet. I’ve mentioned the sorry plight of the Ute Indians when they were taken away from their natural diet and placed on the European diet.

One nutritionist says that wheat is a new entry into our diet as wandering Europeans. Less than one hundred years is the estimated time. Too much wheat is not as good for us as we might think. Many people are allergic to it in fact. Even whole wheat products, which I encourage, is to be used in moderation. Cutting bagles and bread and such from our diet for a few week or two will cause weight loss.

But We Need Those Carbs

We need carbohydrates but it is good to get them from fruits and vegetables. The whole fruit is preferred over fruit juices. Juices lack fiber, which we all need, but sometimes they are adulterated with sugar and chemicals we don’t need. Now I like orange juice at times. I try to buy the pulp-containing variety. But still, there is nothing like an honest to goodness orange. I like to use it as a challenge too. I like to try to remove the peal all in one piece. (Such valuable information I give here.)

There Are Good Fats Too

My wife is petting me here so anything might come out as my fingers miss the keys. We have been married 59 years and she is spending her last years with Alzheimer’s Disease. She had forgot how to do most things but she still tells me she loves me every day. Every day is precious.

My wife used to be the diet expert around here and she pretty much removed fat from her diet. But there are fats we need to be healthy. These fats come from avocados, nuts, egg yolk (yes, egg yolk from ranch eggs) and grass-fed beef and such. Virgin olive oil is low in saturated fats but I don’t like the taste on some foods. But there is also canola oil. Grass-fed beef (or other grass grazers) contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which I am told helps build muscle and reduce weight.

My daughter-in-law tells me that naturally prepared coconut butter is good for my wife’s brain. I don’t think it does anything for her at this stage in her illness, but it has helped others with Alzheimer’s Disease. Some processed varieties are worthless however.

If you reduce some of the wheat products and mainly be a fruit and veggie lover, with limited healthy fats, you should lose some weight. And don't stuff yourself like a turkey.

What we eat can be more efficient than exercise in reducing belly fat. If want to actually see your abdominal muscles, eat right and do exercises too. But don't kill yourself doing sit-ups if you are not also going to eat correctly. It won't work.

Some good exercises, like sparing like a boxer, do more for your abs than some other forms of exercise and certainly beat out any belts and contraptions you are enticed with on television. I have a friend that told me that the models they use on TV commercials did not get rid of abdominal fat by using the magic belt they are pitching. They used proper diet and exercise.

You need a plan to reduce weight and lose that inner-tube around your waste. You do want to see your abs, don't you.

So can you!