Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 181 Classifying Foods

So often, I see people get aggravated about a "bad food choice" they made. I was brewing on this the other day. I just don't know that any foods are inherently "bad". Seriously. I will tell you what is "bad". When you like that food so much that you just keep eating and eating and eating it. So the reality is, it isn't the food that is necessarily bad, it is the quantity of the food. I mean the reality is, if you eat one ounce of a candy bar, you have not eaten enough of it to have made a dent in your diet for the day. Now, on the flip side, you eat the whole candy bar, decide it was so good that a second one is in order, well that is "bad". You have loaded up on empty calories, skyrocketed your blood sugar, and that, my friend, is bad stuff. I tell you what used to fascinate me. My friend Carrie, the attorney I used to work with at my old firm, did this thing that just dumbfounded me. She could eat half a fiber bar, fold the wrapper over, and save the rest for later. I was never able to get that. How do you not eat the whole thing at once. When I was taking my shower today, that memory dawned on me. I decided I wanted to try that today. I love to push myself and to think of good habits for me to get into. I am now going to start working on realizing just cause you opened the fiber bar, it don't mean you have to finish it. Just because there is a little extra green beans left, don't mean you have to eat them. I think that this goes back to the days when I was growing up, you had to clean your plate. all of it. No left overs on the plate. I am deprogramming I guess. I have worked on lowering my portions in general, so I guess this was the logical first step.

While on my soapbox, I want to ask this? Why is it that fast food and restaurant chains, when they come up with a new dish, it has to be "more and bigger" than their other menu items? That is part of the problem with Americans. I have to give props to Taco Bell for their Fresco menu, it is at least a whack at being healthier. Unlike KFC with that monstrosity of a new sandwich that is chicken, bacon, cheese and chicken again. I swear the restaurants and the weight loss industry are buying each others stock! I get quite fascinated by looking at old photos from the early to mid 1950's. Want to know what I notice? Nobody in them is fat. well basically nobody. Definitely no fat kids. Know why? I suspect the fact that there were no heart attack burgers and vein clog fries. There was no Wii, no computer games, no XBOX. They ate when they HAD to eat, they played or worked all day, and that is what the human body was made to do. Not sit behind a computer sucking down calories.





7 comments:

  1. I can totally relate to this post! I have come to this realization too that its okay to eat certain yummy foods. I am human and never going back to the Old me who weighed too much. Thanks for this post!

    Jennifer

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  2. You know what-I am totally getting into more of that 'leaving' mentality. I think for me the secret is making food choices that don't make my juices flow, then I am able to look at it more like fuel and less like fun. Like your friend with the fiber bar, I'm pretty sure she is not jazzed about eating a cardboardy fiber bar. Much like I am not excited about eating a granola bar. Barfy McBarferton. So as I separate from food, leaving it is easier and easier-but still a work in progress...


    Polar's Mom
    www.polarspage.blogspot.com

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  3. I am still in that mind set. I have lots of foods that I will not be going near for awhile. I hope to get to the point where certain foods won't trigger me to fall off the wagon, I'm just not quite ready yet. It is nice to know that I can get there though!

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  4. I need to take my own medicine. It's just food. Take the power away from it. ;-)

    I grew up with the clean your plate family as well and the if you don't eat it now it may not be here tomorrow. Unfortunately food (security) was never consistent growing up. So this rang true. Then when I got older my mom found herself in a better financial situation and we had food in the pantry. She would just lock it up. What message did that send to me. You can't be trusted with it. She also locked up the fridge. Then much later I got married to a man who came from a very food secure family. He didn't and still doesn't get this idea that I/we/some people give food the power. He just eats and when he's done, he's done. I'm still like how can you not finish that sandwich or why did you leave most of the food on the plate. It freaks me out. He also can go eat mass amounts of food one day just because (no reason needed) - he sais. I get seeing your coworker not finish the fiber bar it's not something you or I are used to doing. The whole concept is foreign. I applaud you for learning how to do this. :) Take the power back.

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  5. I like your thinking about deprogramming. I need to do some of the same. To only eat half of a bar is almost unthinkable, but why? Plus, I still tend to eat the rest of something so that it will be gone once and for all and won't haunt me the next day. All this does is cause me to eat too many calories. I guess we're all just a work in progress, some of us further along that others.

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  6. Great Job. I'm so glad i found your blog.Nutrition food are better for me. Thanks for sharing this post.

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