Healthy Living: GMO's and the Evolutionary Truth About Human Eating Habits

1200? 1500? 2000? What should I be eating, and how much? Well, it's different for everyone, but in some ways, it's the exact same thing. Eat greens, add color to your plate, leave packages and boxes on the shelf, and check labels. If you're sweating during exercise, you're doing it right. Same goes for clean eating. If you're seeing results and feeling better, you've probably got nothing to lose.

So, is there really a perfect way to do this? Of course not! But there is, generally, a book of guidelines to follow, which is what I'm trying to write.

First, I'd like to focus on the nutrition side of health. Let's start with GMO's. GMO's stands for genetically modified organisms. Am I scaring you yet? Well, GMO's are found in almost every processed food. Skip the boxes and the wrappers. Try fresh produce or locally-butchered, fresh meat.

As humans, we have too many choices, especially when it comes to our food. All we needed in nature was fresh fruit, seeds, and occasionally, some fresh meat we killed ourselves. These days, we have burgers on one corner, hot dog carts scattered about, and Asian buffets on the next street. It's difficult to leave fatty foods off of our plates for a simple reason. They are sitting there waiting for us to stuff 'em in.

In nature, our instincts are to eat everything in sight. This is evolutionary truth. We didn't have enough food in nature, so our bodies were hot-wired to consume whatever we found. In such affluence as American fast food chains, we feel like we should overeat because we possibly wouldn't have gotten anything else for days. Our bodies are basically trained to stuff themselves up.

Evolution won't change for millions of years, but that doesn't mean that humans don't have to. Try to teach yourself portion control. Count calories so that you know how much you should be eating in a day. And lastly, just don't go to McDonald's. You can't, there is no way around it. You just can't, okay?

I've seen people count calories often. I've seen it work and I've seen it fail. It all falls back upon whether you will be persistent, whether you will change permanently, rather. I've seen people eat exactly the same as they had before, only smaller portion sizes. This is great and all, but the important part of health is nutrients! These crucial nutrients found in fruits and veggies go into your body when you consume healthy foods, and no matter how small of a cheeseburger or ice cream cone you're having, those yummy nutrients are still not present. Calorie counting? Fine. Eating smaller portions of junk? Not fine.

As for me, I am not perfect. I slip up and get pizza every now and again. Although, when I eat on a daily basis, I make sure to fit in fresh greens, natural sugars, and the right kinds of fats or carbs. Substitution is huge, and there are options everywhere. I understand the craze with almond or soy milk. I know it absolutely does not taste the same. Get ready for some tough love: milk is not meant for you nor is it good for you! Milk is a natural substance meant for nursing babies. Adults were not supposed to drink milk, let alone cow milk. Where did drinking milk even come from?

Not to mention, cow milk is chalked with artificial growth hormones. Unless you're buying Kemp's Select brand, you're probably consuming these hormones. Not only is this bad for humans and can cause serious mutations, health problems, and birth defects, producing milk is bad for the cows! There is no rational reason to drink cow milk, especially not after cows are being injected with hormones that make them bloated and uncomfortable. Cows are being mistreated by production companies every day, being beaten, over-milked, and even forced to birth so many calves that they suffer terribly or die.

I've lectured friends on anti-GMO consumption. They usually roll their eyes. "Well, at least I'm doing it right!" I think to myself, "At least I'm trying."

It saddens me to see someone lose weight and slip right back into their old ways. Sadly, this behavior is very common. It's a common misconception that you can eat well for a while and soon, once you lose the weight, it'll be over and you can go back to McDonald's. Being healthy and losing weight is a permanent lifestyle change! It has to be done. Otherwise, you're going back to fat town, sorry to say.

Getting the right nutrients is key in getting healthy. Interpret this as you wish. Just remember: less sodium, less mono and poly-saturated fats, less sugar, and more natural greens.

Look, I know you don't like broccoli without 3 TBSP of butter. I know you love cookies and fries. But there comes a time when you need to realize that burgers are not going to get you to 100 years of life, or even 60. Do it for your family. And most importantly, do it for YOU!