Food food food....

Why does food have to be my enemy?  I HATE it but LOVE it and I gotta have it.  Doesn't this truly just suck? haha literally, finding the balance between what we should eat, when to eat, what we can eat, it the balance question of life.  I have been doing lots of research recently on food being medicine.  It really only makes sense, because like I have said before, real food is living just like us.  So lets heal our bodies the right way!!  I could be on a dozen meds right now with all the doctors diagnoses they have given me over the years, but slowly I have eliminated almost every one.  Meds just mask the true issue and usually just give you more problems which leads to more meds.  Just take the right route straight to the source and get rid of it forever!  Sounds good to me but many of you probably are saying well its just not that easy.  Of course it wont be easy, but its a heck of a lot easier than living an unhealthy miserable life!  So check this out, this lady at the gym was talking to me about some health issues she has.  First thing that comes to mind is a hormone imbalance.  Immediately I start telling her more symptoms she is probably showing and sure enough she had them.  If you really want to find out what is wrong, do your research!  There are tons of different supplements, herbs, oils, and natural remedies to cure many issues we all face today.  They usually are looked at as weird or underground voodoo magic but really most of them have been around for thousands of years but are over looked by what we think is an easy route to the cabinet.  Food can be our alley but it is also has us figured out.  Food cravings have been shown to release the chemical called dopamine which we know is the "happy" drug.  I was watching the show the doctors a couple months ago and they were saying food cravings are a serious thing.  If we don't act on them we could end up binging which is way worse.  They said instead of trying to avoid them, give in but if it isn't healthy don't go crazy.  When we see food it can trigger old memories we have had that have made us happy in that moment.  Like me, growing up we always ate pizza friday nights, so when I see it I usually get all excited and remember those family nights together.  Just embrace it but don't let it control you!  Watch when you eat.  Many many studies have shown that eating at the wrong time of day can not only cause weight gain but it can double it!  Anything I have ever heard says to not eat after 7 pm.  Personally, I think it depends on when you go to bed.  I try not to eat a couple hours before so its not just sitting in my gut.  If I know I am going to be up late there is no way I can just not eat for hours!  Thats just me though, it wakes me up at 3am if I haven't eaten and I am starving, no bueno.  I have heard of people losing crazy amounts of weight just by changing the way they eat at certain times of the day.  NEVER ever skip breakfast.  It makes your metabolism slow way down and it goes into fat storing mode.  The Ayurvedic diet, which I have blogged about before, says your metabolism is the highest during noon hours so thats when you should consume most of your calories.  Makes sense, thats usually when I get the hungriest.  But, if you are a late night eater, which I tend to be, just snack wisely.  Thats usually when I bust out my gallon size bag of veggies or dark chocolate so I feel like I am treating myself without packing on the pounds like I would eating chips.  I could go on and on about what food can do for our bodies or what it isn't doing.  Bottom line is, you are what you eat.  Obviously you won't literally turn into broccoli, like I thought I would as a kid, but the longer the shelf life the shorter yours will be.  3 out of 4 Americans are obese.  It is a choice to change and not be part of that statistic!  Good health is priceless so arm yourself with it and there is nothing you won't be able to do =)