I spent most of today watching a train wreck.  One of those things you hate to watch but you just can’t turn away.  It’s been a fairly blah day here in Georgia so that means indoor family time!  That would normally be the case but today my son has been on a Spongebob coloring marathon, my wife was at work and my daughter had a play performance across town.   I was still in charge of my son but I wasn’t the center of his attention.  Woe to me if he’s never the center of my attention!

While the crayon shrapnel was flying, I was cruising the channels and stumbled upon “Man vs. Food” on the Travel Channel.  THAT is the train wreck I couldn’t turn away from.  If you aren’t familiar with this show, the premise is a man travels across the US in search of food challenges like “eating a 6 lb. hamburger in 3o minutes” or “eating 17 chili dogs in one sitting.”  It truly is a spectacle to behold and the host makes it through almost all the challenges.

It appears that the Government is considering a man boob and muffin top tax (MBMT for short).  Unless you’ve been living in a cave over the past couple of months, I’m sure you are aware of the new health care bill that is in congress.  The reason for the bill is to try to “fix” our health care system by instituting measures that will both reduce the cost of health care and provide insurance to those that can’t afford it.

As with anything that comes out of Washington, this, too, comes with a ridiculous price tag.  This one is estimated to cost the tax payers $1 Trillion (with a T) .  This has many sane members in congress balking at the proposal.  How are we going to pay for it?

A recent study released showed that obesity currently accounts for nearly 10% of all health care spending.  Because of this outrageous statistic, Congress, in all its wisdom, has decided they can cash in on our seeming addiction to “fatty” foods and sugary sodas.  The Joint Committee on Taxation calculated that just a 3 cent tax on every 12-ounce can of sugary soda would raise over $51 billion over a decade.  That is averages out to 169,900,000,000  (169.9 BILLON) cans of non-diet soda per year! 

I’ve written a couple of posts on my super foods so, in the sense of being fair and balanced, I thought I’d write one from the other end of the spectrum.  This list (and data) is courtesy of Men’s Health but the commentary is all mine.

Going out to eat and eating healthy is an extremely difficult thing to do if you aren’t prepared.  You really don’t know what ingredients they are using in their recipes.  Some of the menu selections sure sound harmless enough, right?  Maybe this list will be an eye opener and will help you make smart decisions.  Be prepared to be shocked and awed.

This is part 2 in my series on my personal favorite super foods.  You can check out part 1 HERE.  As I explained in part 1, to make it on my list the food must provide an overall positive health benefit…whether that benefit is disease fighting, muscle building, or metabolism boosting.

So, without further ado, here is part 2!  That rhyme was completely unintentional. 

6.  Eggs

I actually can’t believe I left eggs off of my first list!  Experts have gone from telling you to not eat egg yolks due to the cholesterol to encouraging the consumption of egg yolks because it is jam packed full of nutrients.  It is so rich in nutrients that some feel its benefits outweigh the drawbacks of the high cholesterol.  In conjunction with the egg white which contains the only protein (albumen) that is absorbed into your system immediately with a 100% absorption rate, it makes for almost the perfect food!

When you make the decision to lose weight and get in shape, you’re going to have to take valuable time out of your day to make it happen.  It takes time to plan out your meals, go jogging, and get into the gym…and it takes quite a bit of it.  If you’ve truly made the commitment, you will find the time to do all of these things.

So, here you are.  You’ve made the schedule adjustments and are motivated!  Your meals are planned, you workouts are scheduled and you’re ready to take on the world.  In other words, you’re making the sacrifices necessary for success.  Now, just make those sacrifices count and don’t cheat yourself.  Here are some tips on how to do just that.