The Four Walls To Healthier Eating Choices


“The food you eat either makes you healthy or less healthy. Those are your options!”

A few weeks ago I was in Atlanta giving a talk at the VSG Conference. The conference focuses on helping those who not only have experienced the sleeve surgery, it also helps those in the industry share new ideas and procedures.

The talk I gave was broadcast using a new online streaming service called Periscope and was all about eating healthy. In the talk I mentioned the four walls.

What are these four walls you might be thinking?

Well, before I get to that, I would like to share with you something I read in a recent article concerning the population in the United States. Obesity is on the rise. The statistics were staggering. The headline stated “two thirds of American adults are overweight!” And, sadly when I looked at the reasons…it has to do with those four walls. Well, in the case of gaining weight it’s about avoiding those four walls.

Oh, it really is simple, this concept of four walls…yet, very few live their lives by them.

The four walls I’m speaking about contain the healthiest of choices when it comes to the foods you eat, and can be found not a doctor’s office, or a gym or even a nutritional supplementation service but your local grocery store.

Well most major grocery stores are set up this way. And if you stick to these walls everything else offered at the grocery won’t even be a concern anymore.

The Four Walls…

  1. Produce
  2. Meat
  3. Fish
  4. Dairy

Simple, right?

Well, in print…it always looks easy…then you actually try it and it’s a nightmare. Cookies, crackers, donuts, microwave dinners, soda, powdered drinks, frozen pizzas…ugh.

Grocery stores are set up to trick our senses to fool us into thinking that everything that isn’t on those four walls; the fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, milk, yogart, eggs, cheese is also good for us.

Some of it does taste good, it’s just not good for us. The high fructose syrups, the preservatives and artifical flavors all act to keep us craving carbohydrates which ultimately pack pounds on and make us heavier.

The packaged, manufactured foods with ingredients that require a degree in chemistry and knowledge of the periodic table of elements is never a good choice. Sadly, convenience, easy preparation and name recognition through aggressive marketing make boxed foods the staple of American living.

The four walls of healthier eating choices comes down to two things…protein and produce. And, its these choices that help my over 9000 gastric sleeve patients lose the weight and keep it off to stay healthy.

By sticking to a stricter diet and focusing on the healthier foods that you’ll find on those four walls you will actually feel better, be more active and lose weight.