The more you remove toxic advertising from your life, learn what your body likes/doesn’t like, the faster you take back your health.

Photo credit: Criene Images

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 3 in 4 men (73.7 percent) were considered to be overweight or have obesity; and about 2 in 3 women (66.9) were considered to be overweight or have obesity with heart disease being the leading cause of death for both men and women. We didn’t just decide as a collective that we’re going to intentionally start becoming unhealthy and overweight for the heck of it. 

We put trust into a food system that is supposed to nourish us, keep us alive, and promote our health. Over the years, as they have found ways to make a bigger supply of food with less overhead costs, in some cases, they have violated our trust. How? By slowly adding in harmful elements into our foods, such as pounds of added sugars under the umbrella of different terms, preservatives to make it last longer and sell more of, and quick-fixed meals to help us thrive in our overly busy schedules. They used our weight gain as their profit gain—and our health diseases as a way to medicate us to manage our daily lives. So once again, our trust is placed back into the system. 

But what if we could do it differently from the start? We educate ourselves, make better choices, and place trust in ourselves. Let’s start here:

Remove the subconscious toxicities that are overpowering you on a day to day basis. 
These forms of toxicities revolve around anything you see or hear throughout the day that produces a lasting effect on your body and triggers hunger hormones—for example, marketing. Most of the time, advertisements in radio stations, cable commercials, and social media sell you a particular experience. A great way to limit your consumption of food waves (as I like to call them) is through three simple rules. 

1. Turn your commercials on mute and walk away from the TV or use something else to distract you. Try reading, journaling, or researching. 

2. Change the radio station when you begin to hear an ad, or stop listening to the radio all together and use a pre-made CD, AUX hookup to your phone, or bluetooth music. 

3. When you see ADs pop up on your social media feed, don’t just scroll past them. Take control of what you view and report the ad. This method will limit what fast food/unhealthy advertisements make their way to your viewing. 

Empower Yourself
Just by becoming conscious of what the media is selling you, you will automatically become more aware of what you’re buying as a consumer. This can be as simple as swapping potato chips for just one sweet potato that you can slice up and make potato crisps at home. Not only is it cheaper, but you’re catering to your health in the process. 

Start by going through your fridge and asking yourself one question, “Is this helping my health or worsening it?” This simple yet effective question can be the catalyst on what you allow to sit in your cupboards or refrigerator and ultimately creating a newfound life through health. 

Get to know yourself
If you struggle with having a consistently healthy diet and often find yourself craving sweet treats or late-night snacks, know that these cravings are capable of changing into good habits, and you have more control over them then you think. 

Cravings often stem from a lack of nutrients in your body. Your body isn’t necessarily craving a chocolate cake; it’s craving a nutrient that chocolate cake resembles because that’s what you are focusing your attention on. The more you remove toxic advertising from your life, learn what your body likes/doesn’t like, and what it responds to best with proper nutrition, you’ll have more control over what goes into your body and ultimately, the full power of taking back your health, the right way. 

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