Healthy Background

Just knowing what to do isn’t always enough, especially when it comes to healthy living. We all know that we should cut down on processed foods, eat moderately and exercise. So, what’s up with the not doing it?

If that’s all it took, I’d still be thin and I would have gotten and stayed fit. But, instead, I’ve ridden that weight and fitness roller coaster.

Because, for many – and I’m in this club – it’s really about how we use food to satisfy emotional needs.

Really, I think I knew that I had an eating issue even before it was a weight issue. Just because I wasn’t fat didn’t mean I couldn’t eat half a bag of cookies at a sitting. At that point (probably in my teens) I knew that having a tendency to eat like that would mean I’d have to be careful. What I didn’t realize is that it would catch up with me and I’d pack on pounds I couldn’t dream of back then.

I knew more about this than the average kid because my Dad got the word that he was diabetic when I was pretty young. I watched my Mom weigh and measure his food, and make sure that he got the required servings of everything each day. One of the things that I found interesting from the start was that, even though the whole point was to control his blood sugar by limiting carbohydrates (we didn’t call them “carbs” back then yet) he still was not just allowed but was required to include starchy foods and fruits in his diet. He lost a lot of weight and managed his diabetes through diet alone for a long time.

I also saw how, when he fell off the wagon, it affected him. When I was a kid I mainly noticed how cranky he became. Later on it became apparent that it affected his overall health. And I saw that health improve when he took the reigns in hand again, and went back to basics – eating right and exercising.

In my 20’s I had some health issues of my own, and began to read a LOT on how our diets affect our health. I became fascinated by how we got where we are – a people who eat a LOT of processed foods and suffer the consequences in many, many ways. It became a bit of an obsession, and I read voraciously – magazines, books, journals. I even found a way of accessing a university library so I could do research in the microfiche (this was before we had PC’s). I mainly did this so I could feel confident that I was drawing reasonable conclusions from what I was reading, and not being swayed by marketing pitches or far-out philosophies.

I developed a philosophy on what constitutes a healthy diet and a healthy life. Simply put, whole foods - naturally grown or raised whenever possible - should comprise the vast majority of the diet. Processed foods should be kept to a bare minimum. Our evolution just cannot keep pace with the changes to diet that have come about in the last few hundred years, and our biological systems are not designed to handle processed foods. Meats of various kinds can be eaten, but most Americans overconsume animal protein. Lean meats should be chosen most of the time for most people. Feed-lot fed meats are less healthy than naturally raised meats. Much of our protein requirements can be achieved from plant sources, which is both healthier for us and for the environment.

This is all stuff I (and many others) knew more than 25 years ago. When I read “The South Beach Diet” I laughed out loud – most of this same information was being touted as “new”. Business finally caught up with the facts, and some folks figured out they could make money with this information.  It had gone mainstream!

Meanwhile, my obsession with my diet philosophy faded, particularly when I met and married my husband. Other life issues seemed more important, and there was so little popular mainstream support for the way I had eaten that I just gave up. And gained, and gained.

So, I’ve never tried fad dieting, because I knew better than that. I knew that what I needed was more about emotional support so I could do what I knew was right. And I have tried addressing this through Weight Watchers, getting a personal trainer, and even joining an online weight loss group. These all worked, until they didn’t. That is, until I was too busy, or too bored, or too stressed…or too whatever!

I have felt even more discouraged by the fact that I KNOW how to do this and STILL am heavy, than if I had a lot to learn.

So, what does work? Talking about this and mentoring others. It’s often said that the teacher gets as much out of teaching as the student, and I think this can be true. It fuels my resolve when I can help others with this process. I have the information, and the support that flows back to me is inherent in the teaching process.

So, here I launch this part of my blog, to help myself and help anyone else who may read this.