I had the shock of my life when at 25 years old, in what I thought was good shape I found out that I had high bold pressure and high cholesterol.

When I went through a mental checklist of what I was doing and how I ate, nothing I was doing SEEMED all that bad.

I didn’t eat a lot of fast food, we ate a fair amount of fruits and vegetables, I cooked for my family 5 out of 7 nights at least, what was I doing wrong?

Some simple research, revealed the surprising answer. Many of my “healthy habits” were sending me to an early grave. The labels that I didn’t look at were full of ingredients that were FAR from healthy.

A normal dinner:
Rice with 900mg of sodium, chicken with 500mg of sodium, then add the butter I used when I cooked and the salt I added when things were done. Not to mention, the salad dressing I had with my salad. Dinner alone was more than 1,900 mg of sodium and let’s not even look at the fat or the calories. The recommended daily allowance for sodium is 1,500 per day.

How did this happen?
I wasn’t paying attention and no one ever told me I needed to look at these things or that they were even important. I had to start paying attention!

Just like that I became a mindful eater!

Mindful eating sounds crazy or complex, but it’s just deciding to pay attention to what you eat, how you eat, and why you eat.

It means looking at those ingredients and being picky about what makes it into your kitchen, into your plate and ultimately inside your body.

I’m encouraging you to take the
Mindful Eating Challenge.

It’s easy to do, here are the 5 steps
1. Pay attention to what you eat and what you drink
2. Look at the ingredients (what is in what you eat anything surprising?)
3. Be a label watcher – pay special attention to sodium, sugar, fat, and vitamins and minerals.
4. Pay attention to how you feel
5. Write down any surprises

Here is a video to help you with tips and recommendations

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