Renewed and Energized

A colleague recently gave a speech called Diets Don't Work.  He spoke about his own struggle with food, eating junk foods indiscriminately while in college without regard to consequences, and later, as he realized that he had gained an inordinate amount of weight, endeavored to try whatever diet was popular or interesting to shed those excess pounds.  He related staying on the Atkins diet about a day and a half, and we all laughed knowingly.  He continued to tell us of his efforts, and his discovery not too much later that the secret, if there is one, is not to diet, but enjoy whatever foods you like, but in moderation.  He mentioned that he loves soda, and would drink three or four cans of it in one day, to the tune of about 800 empty calories.  He realized that such empty calories did nothing for his weight, not to mention his health, and so began a journey of acknowledgment and recognition.  With a bit of tweaking, he started diminishing his intake of sodas, or substituting water or tea.  He learned that eating whole fruit was much more satisfying than merely drinking the soda.  And thus began his journey of acquainting himself with favorite foods that he had eschewed and reintroducing sanity into his lifestyle. 

My colleague is a young man, trim and handsome.  It's hard to believe that he once carried 25 extra pounds.  But that's so easy to do in our society, with the huge portions of fried simple carbohydrates and our sedentary lifestyles.  And so, as I realized I had a like-minded friend in our midst, I introduced him to my writings on the subject.  Moreover, such affinity also reignited whatever cooling embers I may have had lately about my own diet.  Reenergized, renewed in my commitment, I have been busy chopping and cooking all kinds of salads, from a Moroccan carrot salad with raisins (one of my childhood favorites) to a simple salad of cherry tomatoes, radishes and olives.  Bliss!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

 

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 I've just signed the worldwide petition to improve school lunches.  There are several testimonials on his website (http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/sign-petition), but some of them still talk about the food industry having to do "better."  I say, the food industry needs to be revolutionized, totally revamped, totally changed from its current cost-oriented processing to encouraging a far greater consumption of naturally grown foods.  Such a change is not likely to happen easily.  The food industry as a whole is very deeply entrenched in the minds of most Americans; their pockets are very deep; and our government is generally afraid of losing constituents.  How bizarre.  Our government is supposed to protect its population, do everything in its means to protect us.  Yet, it has put in motion conditions that encourage the opposite.  Even though the phenomenon of processing is relatively novel, it is deeply entrenched because it provides something which Americans have come to depend on: easy, quick and tasty.  And the food processing machines have obliged, creating packaged foods full of sugars, preservatives and food coloring.  Not only is buying something in a machine easy, that item is also addictive.  And just like cigarettes, the industry has learned how to keep us in bondage.  If you don't believe it, consider how successful we have been in controlling our expanding waistlines since the introduction of sugar-free and fat-free foods in the last 40 or so years.  Are we any leaner today?  On the contrary.  The average weight has increased by about 25 pounds!  How is it possible?  And with our healthcare out of control, how is the government not more intimately involved in trying to reverse this trend?  Are we, as a people, so dense?  It is not too late to reverse this trend, and we may have to do it one person at a time.  And Jamie Oliver is a recognized personality whose voice matters.  I am adding my own.