Tambra’s Top Ten Picks for Worst Foods Ever

Life is full of temptations, addictions, or addictions to temptations, but did you ever stop and take inventory of the dietary offenders in your life?  Are there dietary temptations that have become more than habit?  Possible addictions or patterns of dietary destruction?

So often the dietary temptations in our lives become addictions without even the slightest notice.  They creep into our lives in the form a delectable treat, or become so familiar and “normal” that they blend right in, like syrup in a latte….at that point, who seems to notice something so harmful when it’s so widely recognized and accepted?

What illusionary benefits do these dietary offenders seem to offer us in the NOW?  And what are the long term affects on our individual health?  Some people may say, “Who cares?  We’re all gonna die anyway!”

But for a few moments, let’s shift our focus and give special attention to the life in our years instead of the years in our life?  In the end, don’t most of us find a quality life more enjoyable?  Double bonus: people that kick the nasty offenders to the curb, usually end up with both quality and quantity…I ask myself, “Is it worth it?”

I’m challenging you to measure yourself up.  No one has to know the results except you.  If you’re ready to clean up with your health, start here!  We could all stand a little brush-up on our health in the new year, right?  But first, before we dig in, let me tell you a little secret:  all these “villains” of health take years for the damage to surface.  The damage compounds with time and sometimes it’s too late by the time we realize what’s really going on.   This means that prevention is key.  You can achieve much better health…and food is going to be what get’s you there.

This is a challenge designed to make you think about any bad habits you may have and what it means to your health.  So be completely honest with yourself here!

How many of the following do you consume on average in a week?

• coffee or regular tea
• fried food
• frozen dinners/fast/packaged foods
• chocolate
• sweets/baked goods/white flour pasta or bread
• sugar in tea or coffee
• canned food with added salt
• red meat/poultry (Even if it’s organic, it’s still a health offender)
• cow’s milk
• alcohol

No one’s perfect.  I love some exceptionally good quality chocolate about 2-3 times a week.  And I think on this list, chocolate is the food with a slight loophole for salvation.  Most chocolate is processed, refined, made with cow’s milk, has tons of sugar added, is not organic and is overall poor quality.   Unfortunately, most people eat the entire bar, box, or bag of it at once too!   Stay away from this kind!  I’m not one that enjoys sweets too often unless it involves chocolate somehow.  I do like to eat chocolate 2-3 times a week.  It’s always dark chocolate (at least 65%), organic, vegan, and in small amounts (usually two squares per time).  I believe fine chocolate like this is actually good for you to a certain extent.

However, the other foods on the list are ones I feel serve no purpose.  Crazily enough, these are the very foods that most of the population eat everyday!  Some foods listed above are categorized.   When scoring yourself count each serving carefully.  Say for instance, the “Sweets/baked goods/ white flour pasta and bread” category.  If three days a week you eat Frosted Flakes for breakfast, a blueberry muffin at work, sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner (or maybe slight variations of this) then it technically counts as 12, because you have four offenders for each of the 3 days.

You may be surprised and disappointed with your results.  That’s fine!  The point is to understand our culture better and to realize what foods are made readily available.  You may find that you eat poorly, but know that it’s not directly your fault.  However, it’d become your fault if you realized your eating mistakes and failed to make an effort to correct them.  Because you see, the list of foods above are what marketing companies sell best.  The foods above are addicting, comforting, easy, delicious, and HARMFUL!  They create systemic malfunctions that take years to surface, and immediate effects which are deceptively charming but hold empty promises for energy and happiness.

So grab some paper, tally up your score and get started on a better eating plan!

BELOW 15: Great! You should be proud!  Please keep up the good work.  Your long-term prospects for a healthy life are superb.

SCORE 15-25: Getting there. You’re the kind of person who could easily cut down on junk in your diet.  Maybe you’re bored?  Life is a bit dull.  Get some exercise, take up a hobby.  You do not feel quite as good as you could and you know it.  Do something about now.

SCORE 26-50: You are taking a gamble. You are doing yourself a disfavor and playing with your health.  But ask yourslf: for what reason?  Do you need to get ill before you make the chang?  What’s it going to take?  You may need to consider a detox diet and get back on track.  Make a promise to yourself to do better…you’re worth it!

SCORE 51-100: You are a big mess.  You’re not okay! You’re a big mess waiting to happen, if you’re not already!  You are playing Russian roulette with your health and your body, and I’m worried.  Even if you think that everything is fine right now, your lifestyle and diet will eventually catch up with you.  So your long-term prospects are downright scary, if you don’t do what you should to clean up what you eat.

SCORE 101-150: You flunk, big time! This is really bad!  Either shape up by reducing your score by heeding other advice on this site, or you’re wasting your potential.  I’d suggest you make significant changes, starting today!  Time is a matter of urgency in your case!

Now, you may think that it’s impossible to get your score to 15 or under.  My score ranges from 4-6, but it wasn’t always this way!  I don’t think I could ever get it to zero…i like chocolate too much, and I do rely on frozen foods (although they are completely organic and  free of chemical additives) strictly because of convenience issues.  I’ve never had an alcoholic beverage, but I gave up drinking my morning cup of coffee in third grade and stopped drinking cans of Pepsi 12 years ago.  I stopped consuming cow’s milk about 8 years ago and, as you all might know, have been without meat for 15 years.

Last week, however, I did eat a handful of french fries, the only fried food I’ve had  for the first time since 4 years ago.  I’m not fond of fried anything, because I hate the taste of the oil.  I know that will be some of the last fried food I probably ever eat again.  It tasted pretty good when I ate it, but then later it was gross.

I grew up on Frosted Flakes cereal, white bread and lots of sweets.  I’m telling you all this because I’m sure at one time my score was well over 100.  Well look at me now; a person CAN change!  My score is below 15!  This is to inspire you!  It’s perfectly fine to acknowledge your worst eating habits.  I’m admitting these details to you as you should admit the details to yourself…no one is perfect and we all can support each other.  Grab a buddy and get healthy together!  It’s always more fun if you can support and help each other!  Sure you will fall and make mistakes, but then get right back up again!  Learning from and motivating each other is so much better than doing it on your own!  Prepare healthy new options for yourself and each other.  Swap recipes or experiment with a new vegetable you were scared to taste before!  Eating better is an adventure!  Good luck and post your feedback if you’d like!  I’d love to hear from you and be able to help any way I can!  Thanks for reading!  Bye for now