Living to Eat

We are the only God's creatures that live to eat rather than eat to live. We are also the only ones that eat when we are not hungry. Much of the day is spent planning for the next meal. We seem to be eating all the time. Not surprisingly, we have become the fattest and sickliest mammals on earth!

I guess food has been my life for the most part, that is the wrong foods. Sweets, my downfall, never enough, never too much. If I have a bag of candy, Ice Cream, Cake, or cookies around the house, it worries me to death until it's finished. NO..NO I don't have a sweet tooth……It's a whole mouth full of sweet teeth.!!

Those things that taste so good, took me down the obesity road. Like my saying never enough, never too much. Sure in the past I have used food for a crutch. It's what’s eating you rather than what your eating. But is that statement true? When I used food for a crutch it was the pleasure food, junk foods, processed carbohydrates, high calorie, and sugar filled ones. These foods continued to spark the cravings, never enough. Even the artificial sweeteners played a role in keeping that sweet tooth and cravings alive and well, taking me down that straight and broad path of obesity. On the other hand many overweight people are not plagued with sweets but just eat mostly refined/processed foods, which are high calorie, high fat foods. It is advisable to choose foods carefully, eliminating most or all foods in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol as part of a healthful diet.

For most people that will be an insurmountable change, the typical American diet is 40 to 50% fat, and mostly saturated fat with 400 to 500 milligrams of cholesterol per day. The sad fact is most people are unaware of their fat intake and the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and other chronic diseases. Also not understanding why the weight continues to climb. If on an average day 2200 calories were consumed and 45% was fat that would be 110 grams of fat. For the body to function properly it needs 14 grams of fat per day. For the most part the body would have no trouble functioning on less than 35 grams of fat a day for the most active person. The body makes all the cholesterol it needs so it is a benefit to health to consume minimal amounts of cholesterol and fat to lower the risk of heart disease and obesity.

It’s so easy to overeat when there are a large variety of foods on the table. Most recipes have much more fat in the food than you would guess. A study published by the American Psychological Association demonstrates that being exposed to a variety of foods may not be the spice of life when trying to lose weight. The variety in our diets keeps us from tiring of the taste of the food. This decreases the feeling of satiation - feeling full - so humans and animals are more likely to overeat when they are in a situation where they can taste different foods.

In our eating habits, we have moved so far away from Nature. Much of the food we consume has been rendered unrecognizable from its original state. Our food today is largely over treated, over processed and overcooked. In the quest for taste, our society has sacrificed the quality of food it ingests. Getting back to the basics is a key to the puzzle. That is eating natural foods as they are grown and yes a vegetarian diet. China for instance has a plant-based diet and has little concerns of obesity, heart disease and other major chronic diseases.

Most of us have even forgotten what real food tastes like. The tongue and its taste buds clearly rule!As if eating the wrong food is not bad enough, overeating is one of the greatest problems of our time. Eating has become a preoccupation and a pastime, going far beyond basic survival.

I do realize there is no magic pill out there somewhere, no magic diet, no magic surgery? I have not as of yet found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, nor have I found the yellow brick road that leads to the wizard of permanent weight loss. But I can say so far keeping the fat low, no sugar, no soft drinks, eating an abundance of raw fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, beans and legumes is almost magically, as the pounds continue to melt off rapidly.

These whole foods feel me up faster, digest slower, and keep me satisfied longer. It has also eliminated the urge to eat when I am not hungry.I had read some time in the past the more of your diet that is raw the better. Raw fruits and vegetables have all the vital elements of life. Raw foods contain live enzymes, organic minerals and vitamins, and high quality protein. Our forefathers who lived their lives seemingly oblivious of most of the diseases that traumatize us today also subsisted on mostly raw or minimally cooked food.

During the holidays I either ate before going to family gathering or carried my food with me. I have no desire to eat out and do not care to have the temptation. I have found this to be a great lifestyle, shutting out those weight demons. I told my family right out, you all know I have had a weight problem all my life and I feel this is the best way to deal with it.

The pure and simple fact is regardless the program I am on, and the reality that I had to face is; calories count. My body is going to store fat if I consume more than it burns. I had to face reality in knowing my body is different from the person that can metabolize fat efficiently, being morbid obese it’s obvious I have an abnormal amount of fat cells and store fat much easier than other people. I have made the choice to eat healthy and exercise learning from past mistakes, but not living in the past, and that is not making a permanent change. In Dr. Dean Ornish’s audiotapes “Simple Changes” he speaks on the subject of making changes and the feeling of deprivation. Dr. Ornish believes that conventional wisdom may be need rethinking and changes in lifestyle and diet may need to be rapid rather than slow gradual changes as not to leave a person feeling deprived. He continues to explain your palate will change if you remove meat altogether, but if you just cut back and eat less meat, you will continue to have the taste for it. Another good example is skim milk, cutting back and drinking some whole milk and some skim milk. The skim milk never taste good until you stop drinking the whole milk. After getting use to the skim and then drinking the whole milk it will taste greasy and heavy, the palate changed.

I am finding that to be true in the case of sweets and refined carbohydrates also. Of all the previous times I lost weight only to regain it, my palate never changed. I would use artificial sweeteners that kept my cravings and sweet tooth going. To eliminate all sweeteners and artificial sweeteners including diet soft drinks has made a huge difference in controlling my appetite eliminating cravings, binges, and compulsive over eating. Never before concentrating on my blood sugar level and not understanding how insulin was helping me store fat. The other huge factor is water at least 8 glasses or more per day. This is also true with other foods, especially foods that spark your taste buds.

When we look at it, the tongue, which is approximately four inches of boneless meat, clearly rules the body. When tempted with a meal that clearly violates all the rules of good health, the millions of cells in the tongue and the taste center in the brain that they are connected to say, Yes, Yes, Yes....

Due to eating of the wrong foods in excessive quantity, the body is often overwhelmed by high concentrations of sugar, salt, animal fats, preservatives and a host of other unfriendly chemicals added to food for 'taste'.

We have been conditioned by society that a good diet has to be great variety and quantity in order to sustain vital living. In reality, the reverse is true. The first rule of good nutrition is simplicity. Simplify whatever you are eating. Make it easy for the system to absorb and utilize your intake.