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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIt is appalling to me that in only the span of half of my life, we are seeing the manifestation of this inattention to healthy eating taking many forms such as the onset of type II diabetes in children starting at under the age of 13! This trend \u2013 if not corrected or addressed NOW \u2013 WILL destroy scores of families if we don\u2019t find solutions for these BASIC pressing issues now. This article is designed for all of us \u2013 me as a review \u2013 and for those of you who don\u2019t know \u2013 an opportunity to \u201ccatch up\u201d and maybe make different choices in not only your own lives \u2013 but those you love as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We associate healthy eating with weight loss and diet programs \u2013 everything else is eating for fun. We take care of our emotional and spiritual wounds through food. Families gather to eat at Thanksgiving but in the interim we \u201ceat out\u201d, rarely seeing that special time with family again as our days spiral on one to another. Our lifestyle has become toxic through overeating, unhealthy choices, and massive quantities \u2013 all in the desire to \u201cforget\u201d or calm ourselves from the stresses of the day. We are immersed in technology and tied to an unforgiving master who demands more from us than many of us can afford to give. The idea of reading a label, or noticing calorie counts before we eat something seems impossible \u2013 so we go for the easy \u201cfix\u201d and just say \u201cI\u2019ll get back to making an effort tomorrow\u201d. It is always going to be tomorrow until tomorrow finally doesn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see this problem as a \u201cthree pronged\u201d issue or challenge: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. People are woefully unprepared to deal with the enormous impact of marketing and media and the power they hold over our lives <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The complexity of foods and their confusing claims about their value is taking our ability to choose rationally away from us <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. The food industry has basically \u201ckidnapped\u201d healthy eating by making it easy to select every possible harmful form of nutrition (packaged, processed foods, fast food, massive portions and so much more). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The basics of healthy eating have become such a \u201cmystery\u201d to most Americans so that every talk show imaginable schedules healthy eating segments and how to lose weight for good regularly! When I was a boy on Maui I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas and we NEVER went out to eat. All our meals were at home with the family sharing in the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calories count and there is no difference between them \u2013 they just \u201care\u201d. Burning calories is what we do to stay alive so eating pretty much is a given. Learning about portion control and balanced intake of nutrient dense\/calorie deficient foods is not rocket science. It requires a desire to improve your choices by providing our bodies with the fuel they need to survive and thrive – nothing more, nothing less. We need to get back to \u201ceating to live, NOT living to eat\u201d. The calories now proclaimed on menus throughout America should be a wakeup call to Americans of all ages. Should our food be fried or baked? Should it have sauce or no sauce? Should we eat everything we are served or save some for later? What is the source of the primary calories – saturated fat or carbohydrate? Are we getting enough protein in our diet and is it from healthy sources? These and other questions need to be addressed and I will do my part to help answer them. I am not allowed by my professional code of conduct to provide specific advice on what and how much someone should consume \u2013 that is for a licensed professional to determine, but I am allowed to talk about nutrition and the role it plays in leading a healthy and happy life. That is part of my job and I take it very seriously!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I saw a lady at McDonald\u2019s who was eating their terrific side salad but had also ordered the large order of fries \u2013 a common staple at McDonalds (what was she thinking \u2013 that the one would \u201ccancel\u201d out the other? or was she NOT thinking but going for the joy the fries bought? I don\u2019t know but it happens all the time!). People don\u2019t go to this place for the salads \u2013 they go for the fries! McDonald\u2019s is REALLY good at selling those fries and one cannot blame them for wanting to make a profit after all, can they? The idea that one could order a meal that includes the burger and fries and NOT notice it contains over 1200 calories is \u201cmind blowing\u201d to me. I would have to run 8 miles to burn those off at just under 55 minutes of hard running! We need to \u201cconnect the dots\u201d as I do every day when I choose and IF I choose the pizza I am absolutely sure I can run that pizza off tomorrow. Every choice has consequences and every day we will live with those consequences until our bodies say \u201cNO MORE\u201d. That day of reckoning is not far off and if today\u2019s children don\u2019t get to live longer than their parents then we will all be to blame to some degree, won\u2019t we?<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nWhen you look at food think of it as fuel to keep you alive and ask yourself: Does it have water as a primary part of its makeup?\u00a0 Is it fried, boiled or baked? Is it good for me? Will it promote my general health and preserve my immune system? Will I enjoy it and possibly eat it again? Can I find a way to eat more or less of this food? If it has lots of chemicals associated with its manufacture will that eventually harm me? Am I being proactive in my food choices and not reactive to the inevitable emotional swings in my mood that occur throughout my day? Do I eat for reasons other than because I am hungry? Am I compulsive when it comes to eating alone and do I overeat for reasons beyond my knowledge and control? These and other questions are a part of the dialogue on healthy eating and MUST be addressed if we are to slow the death spiral being brought on by the obesity crisis \u2013 and its cousin the \u201csitting of America\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see the massive need for ongoing education and communication at ALL levels of society and from all aspects of life that touch the American family. These include the schools, government, the weight loss community, the food manufacturer\u2019s, the restaurant community (including McDonald\u2019s of course who IS actually \u201ctrying\u201d to make healthy choices available to its customers although not fully succeeding because of those \u201cdamn\u201d fries), supermarkets, the community at large, non profits, spiritual centers and so many more. It will take \u201cthat village\u201d referred to earlier to solve the problems we are facing but they MUST be addressed if we are to save lives in the future. I will discuss basic food issues in future articles and identify some of the ways in which we can all participate as part of the solution. If we each just help one person improve something in their nutritional lives TODAY we end up helping \u201cthe many\u201d too – and I think that is well worth the effort! Don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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