Interesting article today called The Way We Eat Now. [via kottke]
I don’t know about you, but I know personally that I need to stop bullshitting myself. The western world needs to stop bullshitting itself. Think about how much eating has changed over the past couple of decades. We have ever-increasing easy access to really crap food and so many of us are just scarfing it up. It’s not the way the human body was designed to live.
I think about how much things have changed even since I was a kid. Now there’s vending machines in the workplace, fast food joints galore, stores are open longer. When I grew up on our farm we did the grocery shop once a week and when that ran out, well, "have a apple, have a glass of water", said my mother. We didn’t run down the shops for a chocolate bar. A chocolate bar was a rare treat, yet I know people here at work who have one every day with their morning coffee, thanks to the handy vending machine. And this is after breakfast of a bacon and egg roll – the Hot Roll Man delivers fresh greasy rolls right to our office every morning. Or they snack on so-called healthy "cereal bars", 93% fat free but full of fructose and hydrogenated vegetable oil. For many people, overeating has become so ingrained in our culture and lifestyles we just think it’s the normal way to be.
But when you get down to it, I have a choice, and so do my colleagues. We’re middle class, reasonably educated folk who know enough and who can afford to eat healthily if we make an effort to make it part of our busy lives. What saddens me about the article is the correlation between income/education and obesity level. It’s far cheaper to feed a family on calorie-dense, highly refined foods, as opposed to fresh vegies, fruit, meat, fish. It’s certainly cheaper in the UK, I imagine it’s the same in the States.
The article goes on to talk about the effects of advertising help to create a bigger market that needs more crappy food to sustain itself. Think of the amount of money spend on food advertising compared to the paltry amount spent on nutrition education. How can it compete?
I think the article is informative and balanced, not the usual sensational bullshit you get on the obesity issue. But it just disturbs me, I am resisting the urge to rant on about it. I worry about the world, coz I only see this problem getting worse until we start tackling the issue in a serious, sensitive and intelligent manner.
. . .
My sister and I have put on a few pounds in the last couple of weeks, it’s that whole cycle I mentioned in my last entry. We received a box of clothes from our Mum last night. She’d done some shopping for us back in Oz. My stuff was all size 16 – the tops fit but the pants were too tight in the stomach area. I took off the pants and threw them to the ground and yelled, "WHY AM I SO BLOODY FAT!"
And my sister smiled replied, "Because you’re just like me. We eat too much crap and our gym attendance is patchy."
I just felt so bloody angry with myself coz I know I’ve been idly buying those bacon rolls and chocolate bars these past two weeks – I’ve been tired and busy and not at home so I didn’t prepare my usual healthy food. Instead I went for the easy-access crap just like in that article.
It just goes to show, it is hard work to be healthy. It a conscious decision that needs constant monitoring. We’re all so freaking busy these days but you have to find time to plan and purchase the right things – to have the fruit on your desk, the almonds in your drawer, the yoghurt in the fridge – so there’s no need to make bad choices.
. . .
When I got home from my two gym classes on Monday I was buzzing. I felt so happy, so motivated, so proud of my body. I felt like I could anything with my life. I wasn’t thinking of food. All I could think of was my next trip to the gym and what I’d do and how I’d push myself further.
It was a feeling of utter contentment and peace. To be honest, the only other time I feel like that is after a good round of bedroom gymnastics, I tell you. If I could hold on to that positive feeling and carry it with me throughout the day, I wouldn’t feel the need for chocolate or cheese sandwiches. I would be invincible.
So the solution is clear. More sex, more exercise.
