Today I went to Cardiac Rehab . After the bike riding and sweating on the treadmill we had the educational session for an hour.

It was during the examining of labels on products and discussing all the good and the questionable ingredients, that the floor was opened up for questions concerning said labeling.

I thought I new what to look for in a healthy diet but was I ever wrong. By the time we got through picking apart all of our food choices we eat every day and finding out where the suitable places were to eat out. I realized just how much we take for granted when we think ,or don't know about our bodies and what we put in them on a daily basis.

Never mind sticking to a budget when shopping for the better food choices. I noticed that all the cheaper items in the store were usually the ones that would clog your arteries with plague deposits and of course these foods have so many preservatives that if it did't kill you after 50 years you would be well preserved yourself.

The least expensive foods and processed ones were the worst for you, making me wonder if the C.E.O.'s of these companies ate their own artery clogging products.

I ended up feeling kind of upset as I told the nurse running the class that I had to raise 6 children on a tight budget and I felt the companies knew that people in that income bracket were going to be the ones buying these foods.

Looking at the way we snack and how we eat pizza and other take out foods,plus the quick fix foods....we really are throwing our hard earned money away.

It is another example of how we need to change our mind set in order to get out of that junk food mode.

With our busy lives we use that as an excuse sometimes for many things we know we should not be doing.

Better to buy less quantity of the "not so good" food and make smarter, better informed decisions regarding what's healthier.

This is the conclusion I have come to especially if I want to live a long life after the heart attack I suffered this summer.

We have choices and some people just don't want to or have a difficult time with change.

Just because you have done something for "X" number of years,does that mean you can't change ,if it involves your life? I mean, what IS more important ? The bag of potato chips and dip or having a better quality of life.

It was put to us today that we have Vascular Disease, and that is not going to change. In fact it progresses as time goes on. I was not expecting to hear that.

The instructor wanted to know where we ate when we went out. Well by the time 3 or 4 people had said their choices ,the rest of us just sat there not wanting to admit we also were not making the best selections either.

I just wanted to find out where the best place was to eat out in a healthy way.

This was getting to be complicated,and I thought at least for myself I had been doing pretty well.

There are so many of us that don't realize yet what an innocent thing like "FOOD" can do to you. But we are learning and we won't be doing it kicking and screaming.

Not unless the nurse instructor brings out those boxes of products and asks us to read the labels again.

I hear the fish is good at some sea food places....check it out with the heart specialist and see if he agrees.(Nothing creamy or deep fried however)

That means the Chowder ,O.K.!