Eating Less
Monday, December 17, 2001
Perhaps you've heard. America is fat. The Surgeon General told us so. He's warning us now. We're coming dangerously close to losing as many people per year (some 300,000) to obesity-related diseases as we do to tobacco-related deaths (400,000/year). Only over-eating doesn't have the same stigma that smoking does. Cities like Madison, Wisconsin can't outlaw fat from the city-limits like they do smoking in restaurants. And schools still somehow think it is okay to stuff our children with fat-laden and starchy foods that would make a committed Weight Watchers member grimace with concern.
America is fat.
And people are dying because of it.
And, really. The announcement is no surprise. We know this. And we know how to fix it, too. Proper diet and exercise. Duh. So, what's the problem?
A variety of things. Our culture. Living in a society where gluttony is still acceptable. Even encouraged. Over-eating is everywhere you look from the Old Country Buffet next door to the super-sized fries down the street. Pizza Hut lunch buffets, all-you-can-eat ribs and bottom-less sodas. It's all around us. And it's okay. Even encouraged. After all, we have to get the most bang for our buck.
I'm guilty of it, too. And even though I never set foot into fast food restaurants, I've had my half of the larger-than-your-head bucket of popcorn at the movies. I've filled my plate twice at the Indian buffet a few miles down the road, blanketing both helpings with extra servings of Naan.
I do it too.
And, according to the government, I'm obese as well. I'm one of those fat Americans. You probably wouldn't place me in the category (I would hope) if you saw me in real life. But according to my BIM, which is anywhere from 30-34% body fat, I have a problem. A problem that could be potentially life-threatening.
Yet I have, starting three years ago, decided to do something about it. Something many American's don't. I decided to take my health into my own hands, re-educate myself on the concept of diet and nutrition. I made fitness a part of my every day life. I don't want to die because I'm fat. I also don't want to live fat. So there are motivating factors. It's not such a terrible deal.
Only, so many American's don't take this step. They refuse to acknowledge the problem. They allow small contentments such as an full stomach to override the long-term benefits of healthy living.
If you asked someone (anyone) on the street if they knew doing something would make them live longer, would they do it? They would probably say, sure. Ha. But then ask them to give up fast food. I doubt the answer would be same. What a severe case of denial we have. It's absolute refusal to draw the correlation.
And so many industries back that up. Skinny people on TV eating Big Macs. Health insurance companies that won't cover the cost of a nutritionist. Employers who don't offer workout facilities or help with the cost of a gym membership. Pizza joints offering two for the price of one.
All of this really annoys me. I have so many friends who go weeks without allowing a green vegetable (unless it's iceberg lettuce, which doesn't count) to pass between their lips. My coworkers search out the best Chinese buffets. Overeating is everywhere. Encourage. Applauded. Enjoyed.
Which is so frustrating. Because I want all of you to live a long, healthy life. I want to live a long healthy life. But it's really an uphill battle. For us all. For our country.
In my ideal world, we would start with the schools. We'd get our kids eating better. We wouldn't allow children to live off of Spaghetti O's, chicken fingers and Little Debbie Snack Cakes. Our doctors would actually tell patients they need to lose weight in order to live rather than skirt the issue and treat the symptoms for fear of stepping on a patient's toes. Medicare, as well as other health insurers, would actually be proactive for a change. Allow the medical treatment of weight control rather than just fixing the resulting diseases after a patient's body has already been ransacked by fat and cholesterol. And we would wake up from our cloud of denial. Be able to have the foresight that, yes, that cheeseburger you had for lunch could kill you. Maybe not today. Maybe not this decade. But it can. And it will if you don't. take. control.
Lord. I didn't mean to sound so preachy. But I feel like I have to. Because I'm right there with the rest of our country. I have my fair share of denial right here underneath a mountain of Christmas cookies and a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Sometimes I allow myself to see the truth. I take action. I become proactive.
But other times, I allow myself to fall back into old habits. I allow myself to be the gluttonous American. And I eat. A lot.
The funny thing here, though. Is that this was not what I was going to write about. Not specifically. I was going to write about eating less. My efforts as of late. But somehow all this other stuff started spewing out the keyboard. Funny how that happens.
At any rate, I have been eating less. For about a week. Not long. But long enough. When I first started losing weight three years ago, much of it was due to exercise. But another part of it was an adjustment of my diet. I started eating vegetables and I pulled back on the amount of calories ingested daily. Mainly, I just realized how many calories I was eating and it was astonishing. When you don't keep track, you can put back A LOT of food. 3-4,000 calories worth. I'm not kidding. There is one Saturday in particular I remember bring home a bag of bagels and as a snack, I had two. TWO. Two bagels which probably contained 550 calories apiece not including the cream cheese. That's a 1,2000-calorie snack! Lord.
But I learned. I worked on it. And I've been pretty consistent since then. A 2,000 calorie a day diet is what I pretty much survive on. And I think that's fairly healthy -- no matter what Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig may say.
Except.
Except that I'm smaller now. And when I say a 2,000 calories a day diet, I'm referring to 2,000 being the small end of the scale. I'm sure there are days that have ended with an additional 500 cal to that mark. Which, still, isn't horrible. I mean, it's not a 1,200 calorie snack. But it's not great either. It's very likely the cause of my weight gain as of late. And on days when I don't exercise, it's (quite frankly) too much food.
So, I've been working on it. And portion control. On Saturday morning for breakfast, I had only 2 pieces of French Toast instead of three. I'm measuring out my food again in cups so when the Cooking Light recipe says 300 calories per serving, I know that's what I'm eating. I'm actually counting the number of Wheat Thins I have for a snack. I put them in a little baggy and I know that when I eat them, it's a solid 140 calories rather than a number of ambiguous handfuls out of the box.
Last week when I logged my food into Fitday, I was amazed I was able to finish some days between the 1500 - 1800 marks. That really makes me happy. And it wasn't so hard. I wasn't deprived. Just controlled.
And when it comes down to it, that's what it is all about. Control. Taking ownership. Understanding the consequences of your actions and choosing the correct path. Which isn't always easy. But is possible. And within reach.
We are in control, you know. Of our bodies. Of our minds. Of our lives. And even if the Health Insurance Agencies and the doctors and the schools and our whole fucking country doesn't want me to get healthy, I do.
I. Do.
And that's what matters. Because I want to live. I want to be strong. I want my health.
What about you?
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