STEP NINE: SWEETS

Our last step is the sweets! Or sweets, wine, salts, oils, etc. The only time I eat sweets is when I am craving it. I usually have sweets when I'm craving them. I will usually eat dairy-free ice cream (which is AMAZING) something salty, I will eat edamame with sea salt, and sometimes occasionally I will have fries with little to no salt at all. Fries are my down fall, but I am working on pretty much my last addiction I have of food.

So a way to help you curb those cravings if you really are trying to eat better (and don't get me wrong, you may still have the "naughty" stuff, just don't indulge!) we just need to think of ways you can substitute. So like I said before, I love edamame with sea salt. It really helps my "salt" tooth when I am craving it so much! Also, if you are craving salt, your body is telling you that it is lacking nutrients. Sea salt is full of minerals unlike table salt, which are stripped of minerals.

If I get a sugar craving, I usually go for the SO DELICIOUS chocolate ice cream. it is SO good and has a hit of coconut. It is a taste of heaven! :)

Sweet cravings are usually a sign your body is giving off for the lack of energy. If you get the craves for sugar, grab a piece of fruit, veggies or grains! I am still working on getting in a better habit of first grabbing the fruit, but I still need a little work. Day by day.

What I should have started with was water. A lot of the time our body will have different cravings all because it just needs water. If you are waiting for you to get thirsty, that is bad! If you finally start to crave water, it means you are already dehydrated! Our bodies need water in the worst way. It helps our organs running, flushing toxins and helps with headaches. You probably have a headache from not drinking water!
STAY AWAY FROM SUGARED DRINKS!! Even those Vitamin waters, fruit juices and so on! They are not good for you! 

If you are really craving a pop, then just go eat tablespoons of sugar. Oh, that sounds gross, well that's what you are about to drink! Cutting out sugary drinks makes a HUGE difference on your diet. Sure I will eat my dairy-free ice cream, but I would rather eat my calories, carbs and sweets. Not drink them! Even juices that claim they are "organic" or "100% fruit juice" it is crap! They are still pasteurized. When you pasteurize something, it is not only killing the bacteria, but it's also killing all the nutrients. So don't be fulled by drinks. It's safer and better to just eat your calories, carbs and sweets. Don't drink them. It's a trap!

STEP EIGHT: LEAN MEATS

Lean meats I suggests everyone to eat would be chicken, turkey, cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and bison. Chicken and turkey may be eaten weekly (twice a week). Before I go on, I want to clarify that before I became a vegetarian, I followed the Mediterranean Diet and at chicken and/or fish twice a week for one or two meals and might I say, I was pretty dang healthy, going to the gym and lost fifteen pounds from doing it! But that's getting off the subject.

If I were to eat meat again, I would only eat lean turkey more often because it has more protein in it than chicken. I would buy my meat from Whole Foods also because I know the meat is coming from a good place, not giving their animals any injections of hormones or other nonsense. SO weekly, eat chicken, fish or turkey.

The other meats you may take in your own preference. I didn't like beef that much when I used to eat meat. I would eat it less often, but just always remember to portion the meat. It's supposed to garnish the plate and DON'T eat meat with every meal. You WILL tell a huge difference when you cut meat back so much.

Now, just as there are certain sea-foods you should not eat, there are other meats you should not eat. You need to stay away from pig, rabbit, camel, canines, felines, and the list goes on! These animals can not break down toxins in their bodies, so anything that they get in their bodies that are bad, will also be absorbed in your system. I know we don't eat cats, dogs and camel, I am just making a point across. Pork is everywhere though! Don't eat it! Texans like pigs for pets because they kill rattlesnakes. There will be times the pig is going to get bit and all the poison and toxins going in to the pig is just getting absorbed. And another thing, pigs are scavengers! They will eat anything! Whatever the pig eats, you eat! 

You are probably thinking that I am Jewish. Well, I'm not. I am a Christian and I wanted to do some research why God asked us not to eat certain meats. Now that we have the technology that helps us know the nutrients that are in animals, yeah, there is a big reason. He wants us to take care of our bodies as much as we do. If you don't believe in God, then look up the research that has been done that is in these certain meats that are bad for you bod.

Now, I am not a PEETA person, but I do think animals should be treated well before they are slaughtered. They should be well fed and not be given any growth hormones. It's not natural.

A couple of months ago, I got into a conversation with my uncle-in-law about the whole "animal cruelty" subject. He used to work on a farm and told me that the place where the slaughtering would happen, was extremely clean! Anything that touched the ground was thrown away. He also told me about an autistic woman(Temple Grandin) that invented of ways to help the animals be calm before they were slaughtered. There are places out there that treat animals with respect and those that don't at all. If you're like me, I like to know the animals were treated well and happy. I usually just shop at Whole Foods for my (fish) and it helps me.

Tips: Don't buy packaged meat. It can have added preservatives and who knows what else. Always buy fresh. :)

STEP SEVEN: FISH and SEAFOOD

Know, just for a heads up. The only meat that I eat is fish (mostly salmon) and stay away from all other meat.(long story)The knowledge I know of about everything I have posted are from various sites and from Josh Woodcook. Just look him up. I'm too lazy to talk about his vast knowledge of literally everything!
Anyway!

This post is all about fish and seafood. Now, you want to be careful about the seafood you eat. You want to always keep in mind that the best meat from the ocean that is good for you need to have fins and scales. Such as tuna, carp, salmon and herring. I always buy my salmon "fresh caught". I don't want to take the chance to buy farm bread fish in case they have anything out of the ordinary fed to them. You can never be too careful now a days.

There may be a lot of you thinking why I don't have lobster or shrimp or who knows what else up in that list. Well, the reason is because those sea animals are scavengers. That means they will eat ANYTHING, and whatever the animal eats is in it's system and you pretty much take in it's lack of nutrients. To elaborate, scavengers like to eat dead carcases, poop, sewage, etc! So, think twice about what you eat. Fish like salmon and tuna are smart and stay away from contaminated waters. They know it's bad for them! For any of you that like swordfish for an example should stop! Swordfish absorb the bad, dirty water in their bodies and you are getting those toxins as well.

As I have mentioned earlier, I really love and enjoy salmon! And is the best meat you can eat for health! It is loaded with Omega-3 and provide bioactive protein molecules that provide special support for joint cartilage, insulin effectiveness, and control of inflammation in the digestive tract and so much more!

It is so important to know what animals are good for our bodies from the animals that will hurt our bodies. Our bodies will thank us forever if we keep it healthy! Portion size is also important! Any meat that you eat should only GARNISH your plate and not take over the whole thing. Meat should be just about or smaller than your grains servings. I usually eat 3-4 ounces of fish 3-4 times a week. We don't need meat in all of our meals. It is very bad to partake of so much meat. Our bodies have a very hard time digesting it. When you do eat a good, small portion, always CHEW YOUR FOOD FOR 30 SECONDS!! It will help the digestion progress so much better!