Before we dive into this chapter, and it’s a must read, let's go over a few questions I have for you.

Where did you get your food habits from? Did your parent's encourage healthy eating, actually make you eat healthy, or never say a word? Did you eat great growing up and slowly slide back? Did you eat like crap growing up but took charge of your own life, educated yourself, read a book and started to eat better on your own? Do you take the time to feed real food to your family? Do you eat real food yourself?

This chapter is all about nutrition, which to me, is the missing link in most lives, including gym-goers.

I know I know, this is a boring topic, you already eat really good, you can't afford to eat right all the time, it's not convenient, your job doesn't have a kitchen, you're allergic to everything, it goes bad too fast, it cost too much, it doesn't taste good, it's boring, there's no flavor, it's not filling, you get indigestion, your family hates it, you can't bring it to work, it's too smelly, it actually has the ability to rot, it's out of the way, you don't have time to prepare it, and oh, did I mention it costs too much?

I think I covered most of the common excuses.

If your health, your life, is valued lower than any of those excuses, close this book, burn it, quit the gym, close up shop, go home and wait it out. If you can't figure out what you are waiting for take a look online at the countless documentaries available on poor health and they’ll fill you in on what you’re “waiting” for.

As usual, a little warning…I care about you. Every chapter I write comes from the heart. Every comment you may feel hurt by has meaning, good meaning. I take no pleasure in insulting you and if you feel like I am, I apologize because that is not my intention. I say it like it is. There are no sides to health. It's only you. You stand alone. Other people, me included, can say all we want, but you live and die by your own hand. I believe in 100% responsibility in our own lives and not in the "no fault living" style so many subscribe too. Buckle up.

Why don't you eat healthy?

Let's start from the beginning.

I was out around town the other day and I observed three separate families. Each had one parent and two children between the ages of 6 and 10.

Family 1 was fit. Mom was fit and the two boys were fit. At the time, the Mom was not feeding her kids anything that I could see so I do not know their family’s eating habits, but I will assume, for the sake of the example, it was good, healthy, wholesome food eaten the way it comes out of the ground. I’ll assume, based only on what I could SEE, that they eat pretty healthy.

Family 2 had overweight parents, both over 225 pounds, and two young girls, but both kids were in healthy shape. These parents were giving their kids peaches and a banana. The parents were not presently eating anything, but I will assume their personal diets sucked.

Family 3 had overweight parents, same as family Two, but with one overweight kid who was eating a big bowl of cheese covered nachos, again, parents weren’t eating, but I would assume the same crappy diet.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, which family did you grow up in?  Also, for the sake of the story, let's assume some stuff... Family 1 talks about health, makes healthy meals, and always offers their children fruits and vegetables BEFORE any type of processed snack.

 Family 2 can't control their own eating habits, but are doing the right thing and TRYING to keep the kids healthy, and for the time being, it's working. I still think "lead by example" should apply here, but it's a start.

Family 3 is quick to offer up “awesome” foods, in kid’s eyes, like poutines, cheese loaded nachos, hot dogs, pizza, etc. And their meals are even worse.

Which family would you rather be in?

As a parent of three myself, I totally get it. It is VERY tempting and easy to offer up the quick and easy processed stuff. It's effortless. Kids hungry, reach in the cupboard, grab some crackers, reach in the fridge grab a cheese string, hand it over and bam, instant gratification. The child is eating, he's now quite, life is good. Not really. Even in my life, my wife and I need constant positive reinforcement to feed our kids healthy foods. And don’t even get me started on the Grandparents.

We need to constantly remind ourselves that until they are old enough to make their own decisions, we are all they have. Their health is 100% in our hands.

It IS worth it, every single time, to stop whatever you are doing, no matter how busy, take the time, reach in the fridge, cut up something good and juicy, and prepare a healthy snack.

Now, don't get me wrong, we have snacks in the house, but for the few time's we offer up some snacks, we go as healthy as we can. Most grocery stores or health food stores have a great organic aisle that’s packed with healthy snacks. No preservatives. Chemically free. All kinds of good stuff.

When you were young, you had no choice. You ate what your mother gave you and that's that!

That's not the case anymore.

You aren't a kid anymore.

You aren't eating from Moms hand anymore.

You are on your own.

Why keep the same eating habits if they were not good ones?

I am not saying you have to go tell your parents their eating habits suck, but I am saying it's time to drop your old ways and start to live your life, not the life your parents lined you up with.

It's time to evaluate your own life by your own standards and decide what's right for you.

I mean, take a look at what you would consume during a regular week and notice how many meals and snacks do you consume that you have "always had"? Are they any good for you?

It's time to face some facts.

My goal right now is not to try and educate you on what to eat, but simply to bring some awareness to how much we eat purely out of habit despite its health value.

Your habits are in your control. No matter how easy it is to let the habit run your life, you are in control.

In next dew days, take a minute aside and write out everything that passes your lips, and observe how much of it is real food and how much is shelf food that is barely fit for consumption.

If you are not losing weight at all, or have plateaued there are only two reasons. You aren't working out (or hard enough) or your diet is hurting. Plain and simple.

Regardless of what family you came from, you can now take charge of your life, your health, and more importantly, your families’ health.

To your success, 

Al