April 8, 2019 by Michael Davis 1 Comment
We Love Food

We love food, it is all that we eat. We have taken our freedom and our love of food to an abusive level that can end in the depreciation of our health. In some cases, our food is killing us. In fact, we love food so much that we eat it without realizing the consequences.

In the first part of this blog, we determined that many of the foods that we eat regularly are meant to be treats. We asked you to take a look at the foods you eat and make a comparison to some of the nutritional requirements recommended.

Why We Love Food

We have said that we believe we are going in the wrong direction. Now it is time to look at why we do what we do and look at changing our habits. These habits, when successfully changed, will set our paths on the right course.

Before we start, we need to make some hard choices. There isn’t room for everyone in the vehicle. We will need to choose wisely. Let us take a careful look and consider all the options. Comfort, enjoyment, sustainability, fellowship are several very important things to consider.

Comfort - We began a journey of love for the foods that we eat early on in our lives that later became foods that comfort us. At an early age, we began a mental list of our likes and dislikes of the things that we eat. We are drawn to those favorites as we get older and often narrow what we eat to a small selection. While some have developed a taste for vegetables, others have for sugar, carbohydrates, and salt.

Enjoyment - I’ll be honest, the fast food joints present a certain enjoyment. It isn’t like they say, “come spend your health and wallet here and enjoy it.” No, it is much closer to home, reasonably priced options, and that oh so good feel after eating in this warm, new, welcoming place.

Without a marketing degree, I would say that they have mastered, and I mean mastered, the way to making you and me feel like we are better if we eat there. Not unlike our favorite sports teams celebrating a championship and we act like we had some part in it.

It is important to consider enjoyment. Eating in fast food joints isn’t necessarily the enjoyment or your choice that may exist. There need to be times when you splurge or enjoy outside your regiment. You are more likely to succeed if you do this occasionally. Important to note that this is a treat, a reward, this isn’t an all the time thing. Once you have this treat, you get back on track.

Fellowship - It is in our soul to get together with others and share of ourselves in some fashion. At our core, we desire to get together with others. The difference here, we are saying that food is involved. There are two things with food and fellowship. The foods we eat when we gather with others. More importantly, the fellowship is a service of supporting each other.

Food surrounds so many events and you should consider the options that you provide having some balance. Whether you are having a birthday party or a cookout, a get-together or a New Year’s Eve party, food and fellowship are involved.

Whether you use your enjoyment times with others in fellowship or you guard your fellowship times of the food you eat. You need to spend time with others and share and work through life with others.

Sustainability - You need to eat more than one food type. Sustained health isn’t done easily on food consumption that doesn’t contain smart proteins, wise carbohydrates, regular fruits, and vegetables. These are the building blocks. We have been created able to withstand a lot of different scenarios from a nutrition standpoint, however making the most of our nutrients is a goal.

Breaking The We Love Food Habits

We have traveled a journey to get here, however, we are not to our final destination. Let us enjoy the journey together as we set and stay the course. So, let’s take a moment to determine which car we are going to take on the journey.

Which of these might be your goal, they might take one of these titles? This will determine how you get there.

  • Balanced – This approach considers nutrition and considers the needs of the body.
  • Weight Loss only – Not recommended by itself.  Achieved by reducing caloric intake while increasing your metabolism
  • Organic – Like the balanced this considers nutrition and compliments it with organic foods (organic foods are ones that are raised or grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, drugs, and hormones)
  • Supplemental – This is a balanced approach, possibly organic with the addition of supplements. Supplements should be used under the instruction of a registered dietitian or a medical Dr.

Don’t assign yourself a vehicle to get there that isn’t consistent with who you are. Start the trip in the vehicle that most closely represents where you are. You can upgrade as your comfort level allows.

Barley Pilaf

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