Consumption
Today, we address consumption—what we load into our bodies. More than forty percent of us are obese and suffer a multitude of severe health problems as a result.
We consume more than the amount needed to maintain our weight, and nearly 25% more calories than we did fifty years ago. Moreover, we now eat less nutritious foods and dine out more frequently than we eat at home.
We assign too much blame to the dreaded middle-aged spread for our swollen condition. Admittedly, muscle density decreases, and flesh tends to accumulate around your waistline or derriere as you age. Still, this reality does not justify your belt’s crease line moving five holes since your high school graduation party.
This message is to those of us whose excessive bulk is self-inflicted. Obesity causes and solutions are complicated. Certain physical conditions and exceptional compulsions require extraordinary measures such as medical interventions or 12-step programs.
Those who hope robust movement redeems improper consumption are mistaken; you must run four miles to burn off one slice of pepperoni pizza and a monster cookie.
The Standard
Strict eating programs like keto, intermittent fasting, vegan, or Daniel are effective but not required. The revered Mediterranean diet lacks a strict structure or prohibition against any particular food. Even Michael Pollan’s famous declaration is imprecise – “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
Indefinite “balanced” or “all-things-in-moderation” approaches are problematic. An apple does not counterbalance a cinnamon roll. Likewise, moderation is the figurative rope we use to hang ourselves. A just “one-a-day” Snickers habit invariably expands your waistline.
Since most highly restrictive diet programs are unsustainable, a sensible, consistently followed consumption regimen is the only effective, enduring program. “Sensible” is the type and amount of food that allows you to maintain or slowly lose weight. “Consistently” requires discipline but allows occasional indulgences in the forbidden fruit.
Absent from this message are unreliable height/weight charts (I fail miserably). There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and we cannot all reach the same place. Some individuals are naturally “big-boned” or lack the desire to be so lean, which can be taken too far.
The Standard
Being someone who never allows a grain of sugar past her lips reflects vanity more than sensibility. Life is short, and there should be times we enjoy wine with dinner and finish it with molten chocolate cake topped with a softball-sized scoop of ice cream. On the other hand, life will be too short if you eat dessert first.
How do you decide? Like your time, you should jealously guard your calories. When faced with an indulgence, ask if it is worth the caloric cost and the future sacrifice to make your total consumption sensible. Unless it is excellent, skip it. I do not drink low-quality (even free) wine. I obtain my indulgent calories at a restaurant with table service, not where a high-schooler passes a bag through my driver’s side window.
You can avoid constant decision-making with predetermination. You decide never to eat more than one Hershey’s kiss or abstain from your kryptonite, bad food, six days per week.
Just this once
You must avoid falling into the trap of allowing endless exceptions for indulgences. Tuesday’s business dinner, Thursday’s PTA meeting with cookie platters, Saturday’s cocktail party, and Mom’s Sunday birthday brunch cannot all be excuses for reckless consumption.
You can bring an apple, an orange, and cashews to your friend’s retirement banquet and pass on the gravy-covered rubber chicken. You can watch your granddaughters eat Nutella gelato and abstain without diminishing your family time (though some will regard you as a psychopath).
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The best benefits of sensible consumption are not a lower number on the scale or an hourglass figure; you feel better, are healthier, and are more capable of doing the things you enjoy. Thoughtfully use your calories.
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