This list bothered me as I saw that many of my favorite foods made the list.  As I read through the article it reminds me again of how much of the food we eat each day is not a food at all.  Another question that wanders around my head is, if everyone on the planted stopped eating processed food could the farmers produce enough food to feed all of us?
 
When we have the choice I buy fresh or organic and am willing to pay more for my purchases.  As I contemplate this list I know I will be giving up a few more things, and if eating a burger it will be one that I make and I know the fat content.  A few of the items listed below will not be easy to pass up and one might be impossible even though I have cut way back on eating cheese. 
 
I know in the truck we struggle with many of these items as they are convenient and I will continue to work out a way to not buy deli meats.  Extra crisp bacon is something else I enjoy and this will be another struggle to give up as I have found I do not care for turkey bacon.  My favorites will not be given up immediately but I will start to cut back on these and in time I will give them up. 
 
Years ago every morning I would have a package of those wonderful single serve chocolate donuts that pretty much had a card board consistency with a chocolate taste for the frosting.  Toasted morning pastries were also a favorite years ago as well as sitting down and mindlessly eating a bag of chips. 
 
As I read each of the items that made the list an the reasons why they are not good for me I thought on either how I could give this food up or at best eat the item less.  I paraphrased many of the reasons and included my comments.  There is a link to the complete article to get more of their reasons on the foods that made the top 20.
 
So in many of these situations reach for an Apple! 
 
Sausage - Slim Jims, Bologna and Salami - by definition, are processed - contain a lot of sodium and saturated fat - I am a huge fan of Salami and Bologna sandwiches.  This habit I can give up without to much pain.
 
Bacon - Most delicious food on earth and is horrible for me.  Cured with Nitrates and smoke, which increases chances of heart disease and cancer.   This one will be very tough for me as I really enjoy extra crisp bacon.
 
Frozen Dinners - these might be convenient but they are highly processed and full of chemicals.  They are made tastier so they can go from months stored in freezer to microwave and still be palatable.  This is also a tough one as the Healthy Choice Dinners are really easy to make in the truck when in a pinch for a meal.  
 
Burgers - Average restaurant burger contains upwards of 20% fat before adding cheese and bacon.  Hamburgers make my mouth water and I can give these up in the restaurants and make my own with lean beef, no cheese, bacon, or bun.  A hamburger steak satisfies my cravings for a juicy hamburger with an onion slice.
 
Potato Chips - Little to no nutrition highly salted full of calories and are fried.  Reading about potato chips and the chemicals has me not desiring chips at all.
 
Diet foods - Foods labeled fat free or diet often contain more sugar and chemicals to make up flavor from losing fat.  Diet Soda has really been in the news with how bad the chemicals in the can and I dislike the after taste so luckily water or tea for me.
 
Margarine - Trans fats, quite possible the worst thing we can put into our bodies as this raises bad cholesterol and is plastic.  It is pretty easy to give up Margarine on about everything except a potato and I will continue to work on giving up Margarine and stick with small pieces of butter.
 
Artificial Sweeteners - Most are pure chemicals - do not how much damage they are causing but increased weight gain, Type 2 Diabetes and metabolic syndrome.  Not a big fan of sweeteners, Bob has started using Stevia. 
 
Popcorn - If popped corn in healthy oil and no salt this is fine, most though buy bags lined with chemicals to keep bag from burning and the corn in popped and flavored with preservatives, salt, and diacetyl which is toxic when inhaled.  Popcorn is really pretty easy to eat when air popped and dry.
 
Bagels - made with refined white flour, which has had all of its nutritional value processed out of it.  Extraordinarily dense, in some cases like eating six slices of bread. This is one of the few foods I dislike so no problems giving this one up!
 
Deli Meats - Processed and we don’t want to see what was done to the actual turkey breast in order to turn it into a deli style turkey.  Liquefied, mixed with fillers and sodium to be reformed into a slice.  This is something that we have often in the truck, as it is filling, easy to eat, tastes great wrapped around a stick of cheese.  The description of what it really is has me rethinking of ways to cook a roast, turkey, or chicken and slicing it.
 
Toaster Pastries - once again made with white flour and unhealthy fats and the filling is pure sugar with no actual fruit. Add icing and your looking at upwards of ten packets of sugar per a two pack.  Years ago there was nothing better then two plain blueberry Pop-Tarts toasted for breakfast, I have since come to my senses and realize they don't taste that good. 
 
Pizza - Stuffed crust or deep dish is made with butter.  Once you start adding toppings like pepperoni and sausage the unhealthiness gets out of control. If you eat a pizza have a thin crust, blot of grease and load with vegetables.  I have learned to make Pizza in the truck using a gluten free pizza crust, lots of vegetables, and no cheese and have found it to be pretty good when we start craving pizza.
 
Cheese - incredible dense, and is packed with solid milk fat, which is very high in cholesterol and calories.  Cheese is something that I probably will never be able to give up totally.  I am learning to not put cheese on my salad, on pizza, on Spaghetti, and if I am going to eat cheese it will be a slice of cheese so I get the entire flavor.
 
Biscuits and Gravy - usually flecked with pieces of sausage is basically a heart attack waiting to happen.   Not something I ever order but I do enjoy it when someone else makes it at home.  Will not be difficult to pass up.
 
Ice cream - Heavy cream, which is full of cholesterol, mixed with boatloads of sugar and then add-ons like brownies and cookies.  The whole family likes ice cream and this is going to have to be saved for special occasions. If there is ice cream in the truck it will be eaten so this is something we do not purchase.
 
Ribs - meat-surrounding ribs is the fattiest we will encounter.  Meat fat is full of artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat.  Enjoy the taste of ribs but not the mess so this is something we rarely order.
 
Packaged Cakes and Cookies - Few foods contain more trans fats than packaged sweet cakes and cookies.  Lots of preservatives are added to help keep fat from spoiling.  It all amounts to nothing short of a "Frankenfood" that is devoid of about anything that is natural.   Not very often do we buy cookies so this will be easy to strike off of our list of purchases.
 
Cinnabon - a Classic contains 880 calories and 36 grams of fat, 10 of which are saturated.  Nearly 60 grams of sugar, which is equivalent of 2 cans of coke.   Walking into a truck stop and smelling a fresh cinnamon roll baking is hard to resist until I think of the calories in one cinnamon roll and then I can walk on by.
 
I hope you found this list as interesting as I did, for more information see the complete list and info on their web site:

Healthy Living
 

Comments (11)

Linda Caffee

Bob and Linda started their driver careers after their children left home for college in 2000. Bob started as a driver for a large motor carrier with Linda as a rider. They decided to enter the Expedite industry as team drivers in 2005 and purchased their first Freightliner. Both, Bob and Linda have had their Class A licenses since the early 80's starting out driving in the oil field and hauling grain as fill in drivers where Bob worked as a diesel mechanic. Linda worked at the local country courthouse in data processing.

Read These Next...

LIVE Smart

LIVE Smart

 
 

Jeff,

I would imagine that there are healthier alternatives like whole grain etc. I have seen "lite bagels" that are less dense than your typical bagel.

June 13, 2014 16:45:20 PM

Chuck you are one of the few lucky ones that does not like bacon! Good for you as that and cheese are my two worst offenses. Thanks for your comments

May 22, 2014 3:56:28 AM

Its pretty hard to cut out everything on this listt but i dont like chips or bacon much anyway.

May 21, 2014 22:32:50 PM

Tom you are right read the label and if you recognize the ingredients that is a big first step in deciding to purchase.

May 20, 2014 3:57:16 AM

Not all deli-meat and or hot dogs is created equal. Look for the premium deli-meats or Kosher approved ones. They typically look like the original cut of meat as they are the original cut of meat. Also there are certain companies like Hanzel and Gretle as well as Boar's Head on the East Coast that are known for their high quality deli meats. Then again they also charge premium prices. Knows of at least 1 grocery chain in the NYC area that I used to buy my food at when I delivered there. There deli specialized in in-store cured meats. The roast beef looked just like the roasts they sold as it was. Same for the turkey breast they just de-boned it, seasoned and roasted it in store.

Look for deli-meats with the fewest ingredients and preservatives out there.

If you like Hot-Dogs once again consider Kosher or the local brand of premium dogs. Many of them whether for religious or other reasons process their meat as minimally as possible. Once again look for as few ingredients as possible.

As with many things look for as few ingredients as possible. While not perfect if you can't give up some of these things as you enjoy them. Try to moderate your intake and pick the healthiest ones possible.

May 19, 2014 11:43:31 AM

Very good blog Linda. I haven't figured out if the information is a bit depressing or if it's just my lifestyle that's depressing. Ha ha ha. I don't eat much of the stuff on this list. Depressing or lucky? I think I'll go with lucky, that seems like a good way to start a Monday! Thanks for the great info and I hope people read it and take the information to heart, literally.

May 19, 2014 8:38:58 AM

The list made me hungry however I do skip many if the items on the list already .

May 18, 2014 21:46:01 PM

I am right there too. But why did you have to list bacon!!! lol I practice moderation with all of these, since I know they all have negative effects in the long run, but they taste oh so good!

May 18, 2014 15:54:50 PM

The list was interesting as I agree many of these are staples for a truck driver as they are easy. A couple of them threw me for a loop and will have me thinking before I order my standard breakfast.

May 18, 2014 4:34:49 AM

Maybe I should stop eating or eat less of these items!

May 17, 2014 23:24:08 PM

15 of them make it into my diet. Most of them I have been moderating mote and more. Since I did give up diet soda a couple of weeks ago I have not missed it. Next up on my list is toaster pastries. They have become a staple for me. I can give those up. Maybe I will just go with an apple every morning. The bagel one did throw me. I had been believing that they were a healthy alternative to donuts. Great info and it will lead to at least 2 changes for me.

May 17, 2014 5:23:31 AM