Who Needs Healthier Food?

'Eat less,' U.S. says, but fast-food chains super-size their offerings” - LA Times

Honesty is appreciated wherever one finds it. In a recent LA Times article, Sharon Bernstein focuses on the wide gap between official nutrition recommendations and what sells. The following statement from a fast-food executive quoted in her article tells it like it is.

"The bottom line is that we're in the business of making money, and we make money off of what we sell," said Beth Mansfield, spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains. "If we wanted to listen to the food police and sell nuts and berries and tofu burgers, we wouldn't make any money and we'd be out of business."

She is right, ignoring the longer-term results of junk food is a great way to make money. Connecting the dots between skyrocketing medical costs and fat children, diabetes, and heart disease is unlikely to happen when someone is just looking for a quick and tasty bite to eat.

At Nature’s Express we are designed to maximize purpose, not profits. We serve less toxic food because we believe the world will be a better place the more we are fit and healthy instead of fat and unhealthy. Money is necessary for our business to grow, but no way is it the reason we’re in business.


Beth makes a good point. People choose which businesses will survive and which won’t. So far it is no contest - the high fat, high sugar, and high calorie choices are winning hands down.

In 1900 people said, “Who needs a horseless carriage?” In 1970 IBM execs said, ”Who needs a computer?”

Perhaps in 2030 (with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity uncommon) we will look back at 2011 and laugh – “Who needs healthier food?”

Stay tuned.

Carl (not Jr.)

Principle #4 – Look for chances to do your daily “Habit Push-Ups”

We all know that without exercise, we get flabby. However, it is just as true that when we procrastinate, we get lazy.
Every action one takes makes it a bit more likely that we will take a similar action in the future. So, when one chooses potato chips over an apple or sleeping in rather than taking a morning walk, a pattern forms that makes it a bit less likely that we’ll choose wisely in the future.
Why don’t we naturally do what is in our own best interest?
The answer lies in our tendency to grab onto the short-term pleasures while forgetting the longer-term pain. For instance, if faced with a donut, we might ignore the unavoidable flab deposit and choose the immediate sugar hit. Such actions weaken our chances of making good decisions in the future.
Just as doing push-ups today makes us stronger tomorrow, resisting the donuts today strengthens our capacity to make better decisions tomorrow.
Every day, look for opportunities to make Principle #4 work in your life. Take the ten minutes to clean your desk, make that phone call that you keep putting off, or even find the opportunity to apologize after making a mistake – acting on these opportunities now will make skillful actions routine in the future.
Look for opportunities for “habit pushups” and you can quickly make your life healthier and more fulfilling.

How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions?
February is upon us! Here is some motivation to sticking with your health goals.


Principle #3 – New Year’s Resolutions – 8 Steps to Setting Successful Goals
New Year’s Resolutions often fail. You’ve heard the quip, “The only New Year’s resolution I’ve ever kept is not to make any more resolutions!” How does one design one’s goals for success instead of frustration?
Here are the top eight tips from the experts:

Number 1 - Set aside a whole weekend in January, after the hustle and bustle of the holidays, to work on goals. Take plenty of time to reflect on what is truly important to you. Life trainers stress the importance of aligning one’s goals with one’s ideals.

Number 2 – Choose at least one goal in each of the main areas of your life (family, work, your health, recreation), remembering the importance of a balanced life.

Number 3 – Remember that consistent progress over time creates significant changes before you know it. Five pounds per month leads to a sixty-pound weight loss in a year!
 Number 4 - Learn to fail quickly. Plan on making any slip-up an automatic motivational tool to get right back on track.

Number 5 - Adjust your life to support goal success. If your current friends do not support you in your goals, consider adding a few new friends.

Number 6 - Learn to celebrate successes in creative, novel ways. Celebrating with cake, cookies, or chocolate is self-defeating.

Number 7 - Stick to your guns: Habits can be adopted in a few weeks, but incorporating these changes into your very identity- takes longer.

Finally, and perhaps the most important, number 8 … develop an “I can learn from that” attitude. Tell yourself this 100 times a day, after each small success or disappointment --now that’s a lesson I can learn from.

Follow these eight tips closely, and you just might find how rewarding it is to reach your goals.