Eating to lose weight and to be healthy, doesn’t have to be expensive. We talked about giving the 100 calorie pre-packed snacks a miss.  You can also pass up the fat-free goodies.  They won’t help you, and could hurt your health as well as your pocketbook.

During the first excitement of the fat-free craze, the big companies rushed to bring out fat-free cookies, cakes, and other goodies.  We all bought them. In fact, they couldn’t get the stuff on the shelves fast enough for us.

So why aren’t we all skinny?   While it is true that fat is more calorie-dense than protein or carbs, it isn’t the real culprit in the obesity epidemic. Sugar, and particularly high-fructose corn syrup, is the big player in the weight wars. When the producers took out the fat, they added sugar to make the food more palatable, so we got a high carb product with lots of sugar.

The sugar and carbs rush through the digestive tract and into the bloodstream.  The pancreas shovels out a huge load of insulin to take care of the sugar and the insulin gives your body the message to store fat.  The pricey fat-free food actually encourages weight gain. Besides that, the sweet flavor encourages your body to crave more sweets,  keeping you in the never-ending hunger loop.  So save your money and leave it on the shelf.

Instead, when you want something sweet, eat a piece of fruit.  It may seem bland at first to taste buds deadened by sugar and chemicals — but stick with it. As you focus on eating real, healthy food, you will find your desires changing. Your taste buds will get a rest and you will start actually being able to taste and enjoy your food.  Before long you will be hungry for that apple or that fresh pear.  And even fresh, organic fruit is cheaper than the heavily processed fat-free junk.

Eating well doesn’t have to mean eating expensively.  And it doesn’t mean suffering through deprivation, either.  God made us complete with taste buds and pleasure centers in our brains.  We just need to get them in line with the food He meant for us to enjoy.

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown