Healthy Foods

Back in May of this year, I started taking Dr. Oz's advice on only eating food that the first 5 ingredients did not contain sugar. I didn't have time to read Dr. Oz's huge book called "You on a Diet." But by watching him in interviews, I knew this is a point he stresses in his book. So I decided to act on it.

I even went a step further and tried to eliminate all High Fructose Corn Syrup from my diet. I began to increasingly see articles on how terrible this ingredient is and even read theories of how obesity in the US grew exponentially in the 80's when this ingredient became mainstream. HFCS is responsible for making you more hungry. I sure didn't need to feel that way. I believe the only thing I eat right now that has a small amount of HFCS is my favorite yogurt.

As a result I have lost over 10 very stubborn pounds that I had been struggling with for years. After the first five pounds, I was able to reduce my caloric intake and the loss itself motivated me to exercise by doing Pilates and Latin Fusion Dance (yea! Andale! Baile muy rico!) As a result I am feeling a lot better about myself and I have a ton of energy.

So, whenever Dr. Oz speaks, the Sepster listens. One of my favorite things that Dr. Oz says is to live your life with vitality. I think that is such a great advice. Just thinking about it makes me happy.

This week Health.com has an article on Dr. Oz's favorite foods and here they are:

Almonds: According to Dr. Oz they are “The best snack of all, because nuts are high in fiber and protein, they’ll satiate you so you’ll never be hungry." My problem with that is I can't eat just a few but I do love Almonds.

Broccoli: At my house we LOVE this vegetable. For me started when my very young cousin was fighting cancer and he'd have broccoli by the bowl. It was one of the things that helped him fight his disease and since then I make sure I have lots and lots of broccoli. We steamed them so they are still crunchy and have lots of flavor. I'm thrilled that one of my 10 year old's favorite veggies is Broccoli.

Coffee and Green Tea: According to Dr. Oz “Coffee is the number-one source of disease-fighting antioxidants in our society." However, drinking Green Tea gives you the same benefits but for a lot less caffeine.

Eggs: I stick with Egg whites and they are so delicious...

Oatmeal: No comment... I usually don't bother with this food.

Low Fat Greek Yogurt: Need to check into this one

Fresh fruit: “The sugar in fruit is naturally occurring, meaning it’s not man-made or artificially added, which makes it the healthiest sugar out there,” Dr. Oz says. And unlike processed fruit products, like juice or fruit chews, a hunk of apple or slice of orange contains filling fiber.

Dark chocolate: Look for dark chocolate that contains 70 percent cocoa.