The fork, spoon and knife were not designed to assist us in eating. Rather, these utensils were intended for use in battle.
At least, this is what I’ve been telling myself more and more as I struggle to make the choice between eating the orange that’s in my hand versus quietly resisting the urge to run out to the store, buy that king size Snickers bar that I really really want and SHOVE the entire chocolatey bar of deliciousness in my mouth.
Ah, decisions. decisions.
Up, up and away!
Don’t get me wrong; it’s perfectly fine to indulge in something that’s probably not-so-good-for-you every now and again. However, it seems as if too many of us find excuses for eating poorly, citing a lack of time, poor scheduling, etc. And the result that we end up with goes straight from whatever is on that fork directly to our stomach, hips, thighs or rear ends. Needless to say, we have become a nation of people who overwork ourselves at our desk jobs but probably don’t put as much work into improving our physical and mental well-being.
According to The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the prevalence of obesity has steadily increased in the United States since 1976 [source]. If you don’t believe these guys, all you have to do is look around you, and you are almost guaranteed to see someone who is packing on the pounds. Why, just the other day, my boyfriend and I were at a store, waiting in line, when he decided to make a game of counting all of the overweight people who passed by the window.
He couldn’t keep up.
Are we lazy?
Recently, I have been studying up on the effect(s) that various foods have on my own body. When I went to the supermarket, I decided to test myself to see how long it would take me to food shop if I stopped to read every label of what I was purchasing.
It took me 2 hours to purchase roughly fifteen items.
- My conclusion? Stop buying packaged crap from the middle of the supermarket.
- My dilemma? Shopping the perimeter of the supermarket (where all of the fresh, healthier choices are) is expen$ive.
- My solution? Set aside a few minutes at the end of each week to tally up what food items I will need for the following week, and STICK TO THE PLAN. Also, figure out what fruits and veggies are in season & head to a local farmer’s market.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI),
Food labels play an important role in the battle against obesity and diet-related disease, which are responsible for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year. [source]
It’s no wonder that so many of us don’t really take the time to read the food labels while we’re at the supermarket: it takes too much time. When most of us shop, it’s usually in accordance with one of the following scenarios: we’re usually starving; we are with someone else (i.e. kids, husband, etc.); or we are in transit to some other obligation (i.e. heading home from work, etc.). And if we run into someone we know while we’re in there, or if the store is crowded…forget it.
No excuse.
Even if you claim you are pressed for time, the fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, only you can decide what was actually worth your time to fit into your busy schedule. Keep in mind that even if you don’t have the time to go for a 10 mile run in the morning, you can still squeeze in a quick workout from the comfort of your own home. Jumping jacks, dancing to your favorite song while you put away the dishes or make your kids their lunches for school…it all counts for something. That being said:
- You control what food you put into your mouth.
- You control how much or how frequently you want to exercise.
- You control your mental capacity to get excited about getting in shape.
Now for goodness sake; put down that ungodly piece of junk food; pick up a pen and start charting out a better way to live your life!
When most people go on a diet, they are generally actually making themselves fatter. Each time they diet, they lose muscle. -Mark Hyman, M.D., Ultra-Metabolism