Fake food is addictive. I'm not talking about the plastic food from the toy isle, but the stuff that comes off the shelf from the grocery store. The prepackaged, shiny stuff marketed to us as 'easy, healthy, wholesome and fast'. I listened to a lecture this week that brought our current food and health crisis into perspective...During the 1960's a 'beauty ideal' was marketed in America. We were told we weren't good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough - enter the counting calories to our culture.
During the 1970's artificial sweeteners were marketed in America to address our concern with counting calories. These chemical sweeteners are highly addictive. If we become 'hooked' on something, chances are we will keep going back for more.
During the 1980's the low fat craze and carbohydrate counting hit. Again, more counting calories but now 'low fat' options (using margarine instead of buter) and cutting needed complex carbohydrates became common place.
Then comes the 1990's, now we have no time to eat, no time to cook and really don't know how to eat or cook anymore. Being stressed out became a status symbol. "Let's just do 'drive thru' tonight" became more than once in a while.
Here we are in 2009. Obesity, depression, cancer, heart disease are all at the top of our health concerns. Our children's generation is the first generation projected NOT to outlive our own. Our health care has to be 'reformed' according to our government. How about this food for thought - "The foods we eat are really drug substances and people have physical addictions to them." Julia Ross
Over the past year, we've kept a log of what we actually spend in relation to health care and what we spend on food. Everyone seems so concerned about cutting costs and groceries are at the top of the list. We are definitely spending more on food because of where we shop and the quality of the items, but we are spending a lot less on health care! It's a great trade off since I can sleep at night now... My kids were on 5 daily medications to just breathe and could not live without their blue box of mac n' cheese or the Friday night pizza. I wanted to change their diet and improve their lives, but I had to start with my own!
What changed in our home? Our food, our lifestyle, our mindset - our choices. WE HAVE CHOICES! We remembered that we have responsibility for our own health. We were addicted to processed 'food'. We had forgotten what real food was and how to eat real. Real food is not processed. It's found in the ground, off a tree, in a pasture. It is treated without chemicals and grown with sun, rain, respect and love.
The point I'm trying to make is this - don't wait for or depend on someone to fix your issues. You are the only one capable of changing your circumstances. Look to others for information and inspiration. Take what they have to offer and do the work yourself.
Take an honest look at what you eat and how you view your body. If only I could be a size 4, if only my thighs were just an inch smaller, if only... You see where this goes. What if how you are right now was good enough and you could enjoy RIGHT NOW and take positive steps forward to healthier living? What if you brought bananas to your preschool class as a snack instead of a box of fake-cheese crackers?
Let us stop berating ourselves for the bodies we have and take 1 positive step everyday towards loving ourselves. It might be skipping the mocha at the coffee shop (yes, skipping it is loving yourself) or going for a walk instead of watching TV. It might be canceling an appointment to spend time with the kids or not second guessing a decision. Whatever it is, let us make a loving choice towards ourselves right now.
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