Why Eat Healthy?

Having recently achieved a formidable weight loss that was a result of sincere effort, daily exercise, tremendous support and a major change in my relationship to food, I have had the opportunity to ponder the reasons to eat healthy food. There can be no doubt that my accomplishment has left me with a good feeling of self-discipline. Beyond that, I have had time to ponder the more sublime reasons to eat healthy food.

Make no mistake. I am neither doctor nor dietitian nor nutritionist. I have no background in analyzing the chemical components of food or what aspects of them are good or bad for you. But I have recognizable experience with the consumption of food and what happens when we pay attention to what we are siphoning into our bodies.

From a global perspective, I am enamored with the idea of contributing to the global economy by eating healthy, natural foods. It gratifies me to know that my corn, beans, zucchini, soy beans and spinach consumption directly or indirectly benefits America's farmers. On a larger level, however, I am cognizant that even though my refusal to eat fried food only minimally impacts the amount of used oil that is redirected to the landfills or wherever, it also pleases me to make that contribution.

Numerous factors contribute to the difficulty that many of us experience with respect to eating healthy stuff. It seems to me that no-one wakes up in the morning and decides to do everything possible to avoid nutritious food. I've thought about the alternatives to eating healthy - eating randomly, eating recklessly, eating mindlessly, eating whatever is available, eating only what you want, eating what's trendy, eating what's fast, eating what's easy and eating whatever is unhealthy. Yes, I suppose that there are those who consciously avoid fruits, vegetables and soy products only because they don't want to appear to be environmentalists or tree-huggers.

Without anguishing over my legitimacy in extolling the advantages of eating healthy, I have but a few observations to make. Minds much greater than mine have drawn direct connections between healthy food and longer lives. Words such as cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular come to mind. Substantial evidence exists that those who make choices for vitamins and nutrients live longer and more disease-resistant lives than those who drink to excess and eat a consistent diet of fast food and bon-bons.

Other factors come to mind. Some of us have remained steadfast in our obesity (the direct consequence of unintentional eating, sedentary lifestyles, ease of access to fast foods, genetics, role modeling and life style) for a variety of reasons. We get comfortable in our plumpness, timid to examine a life where people aren't going to dismiss us in one way or another because of size. Losing weight is tough, we'll just put it on again and after all, there are enough fashion models out there with my needing to compete with them.

Is it possible that we like the way we look when fat? I've heard the language - accept me as I am because I can accept me. I was born this way and it's too late to change. My family members have all been fat so it's my destiny. My grandmother was very fat and lived to be one hundred and seven. Any excuse will do.

But I submit that some excellent alternatives are available. A friend who has lost more weight than I currently possess discloses a recent event where he had a temporary lapse in judgment and did the whole fast food extravaganza. His conclusion was that it was a short period of gratification followed by feeling awful and concluding that it just wasn't worth it.

For those who thrive on this type of eating, enjoy. For those who consider the viability of choosing another way to look at what you eat, you can enjoy the increased energy, lack of feeling stuffed and wholly improved state of being.

If the only way that you can eat healthy foods on a consistent basis is to reward yourself periodically, I can understand this approach. But I would submit that instead of "earning" a gooey hot fudge sundae or gigantic cheeseburger after thirty-seven spinach salads, "earning" another spinach salad is probably a preferable conclusion. For my part, I haven't lost all of these pounds to dive into a gluttonous repast. My thought was that it was a life style change fueled by hard work and determination, not a frivolous or temporary change of direction.

Please don't believe me to be sanctimonious or pious. Most of my previous years were without self-discipline and the corresponding self-esteem. At this point, however, I truly believe that it is not an exaggeration to be thinking about what you eat as if it were life of death. In fact, it probably is.