Saturday, June 26, 2010

Health is eating to live, not living to eat

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 9:37 AM
While many of us focus on our weight and size, few of us focus on how we approach food. Food has become a cultural phenomena. It has become about how much you can get for how little. How things are pleasing to our taste buds for the moment regardless of the long-term impact on our bodies. How to make it cheaper, easier, and more fun. In other words, we have learned to live to eat. Instead, our focus in regards to food should be eating to live. Our main goal in eating should be to feed our bodies what they need to thrive. I’m not saying that we should ignore our taste buds. On the contrary, eating healthy can be fun, creative, and taste good.
This is a struggle that many of us have, including me. One of the reasons that I am not content with my weight and size right now are because I made some eating decisions that were not in the best interest of my body, but instead were catered to my taste buds. We are conditioned by commercials and lifestyles to eat for pleasure.
We also eat when we’re sad, eat to celebrate, eat for fellowship, and even eat when we’re bored. Why not? We’re asked. You deserve it. We’re told. In my book, what we really deserve is the opportunity to eat what’s best for our bodies. The answers to why not are almost too much to cover, but I’ll dabble a little in the reasons.
We are what we eat. Garbage in, garbage out. That may make us think that the garbage will come out, having no effect on us, but that simply is not true. The garbage out in the case of what we eat is how it affects us. The reasons not to eat simply for taste disregarding nutrients and health benefits (or detriments) include:
· The effect on our digestive system.
· The effect on our hearts and cardiovascular system.
· The effect on our hormones and endocrine system.
· The effect on our ability to sleep well and restfully.
· The effect on our energy level.
· The effect on our moods.
· The effect on our ability to focus and perform well.
As you can see, even this short list is fairly comprehensive, covering nearly ever aspect of our lives. So, with a multitude of information, much of it contradictory, how do we know how to eat? What diet do we follow? Who do we listen to?
First of all, I encourage you to do your own research. Check out the government’s health website. Look up the effects of preservatives and other chemical additives to our foods. Read and listen to balanced health professionals. Talk to your doctor. Like I said before, I don’t claim to be an expert or to know everything there is to know about health, but I have done a lot of research and can pass along what I’ve found.

0 comments on "Health is eating to live, not living to eat"

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Health is eating to live, not living to eat

While many of us focus on our weight and size, few of us focus on how we approach food. Food has become a cultural phenomena. It has become about how much you can get for how little. How things are pleasing to our taste buds for the moment regardless of the long-term impact on our bodies. How to make it cheaper, easier, and more fun. In other words, we have learned to live to eat. Instead, our focus in regards to food should be eating to live. Our main goal in eating should be to feed our bodies what they need to thrive. I’m not saying that we should ignore our taste buds. On the contrary, eating healthy can be fun, creative, and taste good.
This is a struggle that many of us have, including me. One of the reasons that I am not content with my weight and size right now are because I made some eating decisions that were not in the best interest of my body, but instead were catered to my taste buds. We are conditioned by commercials and lifestyles to eat for pleasure.
We also eat when we’re sad, eat to celebrate, eat for fellowship, and even eat when we’re bored. Why not? We’re asked. You deserve it. We’re told. In my book, what we really deserve is the opportunity to eat what’s best for our bodies. The answers to why not are almost too much to cover, but I’ll dabble a little in the reasons.
We are what we eat. Garbage in, garbage out. That may make us think that the garbage will come out, having no effect on us, but that simply is not true. The garbage out in the case of what we eat is how it affects us. The reasons not to eat simply for taste disregarding nutrients and health benefits (or detriments) include:
· The effect on our digestive system.
· The effect on our hearts and cardiovascular system.
· The effect on our hormones and endocrine system.
· The effect on our ability to sleep well and restfully.
· The effect on our energy level.
· The effect on our moods.
· The effect on our ability to focus and perform well.
As you can see, even this short list is fairly comprehensive, covering nearly ever aspect of our lives. So, with a multitude of information, much of it contradictory, how do we know how to eat? What diet do we follow? Who do we listen to?
First of all, I encourage you to do your own research. Check out the government’s health website. Look up the effects of preservatives and other chemical additives to our foods. Read and listen to balanced health professionals. Talk to your doctor. Like I said before, I don’t claim to be an expert or to know everything there is to know about health, but I have done a lot of research and can pass along what I’ve found.

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