Food Spoilage

I went for grocercies yesterday and discovered that I'm fascinated by the way we Americans eat. We simply have too many choices in too large of volume and most of those choices are bad for us.

I hear the way we feel that it is our "right" to eat whatever we want. We want everything in large portions. We want what we want when we want it. We're spoiled brats when it comes to food. We "treat" ourselves daily, sometimes at every meal. We're completely opposed to making "sacrifices" to be healthy.

Don't get me wrong: I think food is one of the true pleasures in this world. I have a passion for tasty food and I love cooking. I've had to completely change my attitude towards food and how I cook. However, I don't think that I deserve to eat what ever, when ever I want.

I also know that practically every American kid hears "clean your plate". This is ingrained into us from as early as we can remember. We use food as a way to get children to behave. They're hard habits to break. I've really had to change my attitude about eating everything on my plate. Controlling my portions has been a big help with that. I try not to use food as a reward system (but there's still a little of that. No ice cream if I didn't workout... Matt won't drink a beer if he didn't work out).

Food is part of life and every holiday, celebration or social event has food involved. Those are the times I allow myself "treats", not every day or every meal. I will also say that I don't eat foods that I don't like. I think a lot of people think that "dieting" is about eating crappy tasting food. It's not. You can't change your eating habits and lifestyle by eating things you don't enjoy. It's about finding healthy foods that you do like.

It's not easy changing attitudes. My food tastes and choices have been long and slow in developing. Saying that, we do have so many choices here in the US that anyone can find foods that they enjoy that are healthy for them. It takes an open mind and the realization that you can survive a day with out a candy bar(1 candybar = 1 hour on the treadmill at 3.0 mph). It's about finding healthy recipes and using healthy cooking techniques. It's about discovering spices and seasonings instead of using fat. It's remembering that you don't need to eat meat and potatoes for dinner every night. It's about keeping an open mind and not concentrating on what you're not having, but rather enjoying what you do have.

Today's Positive Comment:
I maxed out on my crunches with my physical challenge today. I was able to do 60 crunches.