Much of my life I have been an overweight individual. Now, to be clear, I know I wasn't obese and I was often told I didn't look like I weighed 200lbs or that I was perfectly fine the way I was. I know it could have been worse and it would have been had I not reversed it when I did. I had never played sports as a kid and I had never been very active beyond some bike riding and playing hide and seek and a little swimming. I certainly didn't exercise outside of gym class and our family dinners consisted of things like baked steak and gravy with mashed potatoes and corn or Treet meat and macaroni and cheese.
My mother is diabetic and so was her father who basically died from complications from heart disease. They aren't the only ones who struggled as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer runs rampant in my family and countless other American families nowadays.
A friend of mine just found out that she has diabetes and posted about the horrible lack of educational services in our area. I was mortified by her statements concerning the "class" she attended to try to learn how to better care for her body. Another friend and I had discussed this a couple years ago and it's not just West Virginia that lacks education about health and wellness when it comes to diet and exercise, but it's something that affects every state in our nation.
Furthermore, how do we explain our behaviors when we DO know the difference between what is good for us and what is bad for us, and we still habitually commit to the bad behaviors and choices? (This was my group for a long time, but I had to learn more still to really really care.)
Well, it's actually quite simple for me and can be summed in a word or two.
How about capitalism? Or addiction? Don't worry, you don't have to choose; they are directly related.
Just like the stuff added to cigarettes that makes them more addictive AND worse for you, the same types of things are added to our foods. You already know about pesticides, sure. And many people don't seem to mind that they are eating poison so that a huge conglomerate doesn't lose money by losing product to ravenous insects and animals that want to eat OUR food. But what about the lovely titanium dioxide used to color foods to make them more appealing (sure, respiratory cancer is so appealing afterall http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text186.html)? Caramel coloring (it's not as delicious as it sounds...so remember just because you CAN read it, doesn't mean you should eat it http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/caramel-coloring.htm)? Money has more value than human life, sure, why not. And while you're at it, let's thank all the marketing studies that show that consumers like a certain color food. Thanks! And to think that I was eating more natural stuff that just wasn't that pretty beautiful shade of brown, doh!
I recommend watching Forks over Knives if you give a crap. Now that I realize that many of the additives to our food and beverage are placed there to purposely make it more addictive so you will buy more, I feel duped by my old loves chips, cookies, ice cream, candy, and all of the comfort foods that just trick my brain into thinking I'm getting something good when really what's going on behind that false sensation of pleasure is bad, bad, BAD. I don't want to be tricked all of the time! Most "diet" foods are chock full of nastiness too, especially the fat free crap. They have to add something to balance out the loss of taste from fat. Yep, that taste/color/smell...cancer most likely. Bon apetit, friends! Salt is another big one too. Piled onto "healthy" foods to make them taste better as it sends your blood rushing through its vessels at mach speeds and you get frustrated that you're not losing any weight because you're retaining enough water to fill your kid's pool. That's not even the half of it. Just stay tuned and we'll learn together, shall we?
Ok. Here is my big reveal for the day before I go because I have work to do. You want to lose weight? Cool. Wanting a small waistline isn't going to help you change your life or your waistline though, not for good anyway. You know how to do the simple math: burn more calories than you consume. So why haven't you lost all the weight that's extra? You're addicted to poisoning yourself at every meal, probably. I'm not saying never have a five layer burrito or a lean cuisine again; I'm simply saying that shouldn't be the basis for your diet, but neither should starving yourself or only having one or two meals a day. You're killing your metabolism that way and your body is nutrient deprived. No fun!
This has been a journey for me and it will never end. This is a nutshell account of some of the things I would love for more people to care about. Next time, it's getting personal (to me, don't be scared)!
I have lost over 30lbs from my starting weight of around 200lbs and my fiance is nearing a 40lb loss since we started caring. It all began a couple of years ago with reading nutrition facts, which is a place I definitely recommend starting for any of you who do not do that. We pushed further than that with diet and exercise though, and now reading ingredient lists is our main priority in the grocery store. I am more active, fit, and healthy than I've ever been in my life. I have more energy, better sleep, better skin, hair and nails, better relationships, less pain, less illness, better moods, and better balance all around. Balance is a hard thing to acheive and something that I believe we will always have to strive for; I am thrilled to finally feel like I'm doing a decent job of it. It's even hard with fitness; you don't want to be too crazy or too lazy. It's important to find what's right for you and your family.
Best to enjoy a cozy spot where I'm comfortable. And run.
Next up: Motivation and Action!
No comments:
Post a Comment