Tim and I made a decision over the weekend to start making changes to our lifestyles. "What's this?" you say. . . "Stalwart James and Tim are making a change?" Yes little virgins, we are. It all started when we watched a little documentary entitled Super-Size Me. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely must. After watching it, and once the nausea of the truth it spoke passed, we made a pact to swear off all the crap American society has deemed as not only acceptable, but expected to pass for daily sustenence; i.e., fast and cheap junk food loaded with cholestoral, salt, refined sugars, processed flours and cheeses, and fats or every kind imaginable. I think the American fast-food industry may have even invented a few new fats in the process of their collective chemically altered food processing to make fast-food faster, cheaper, and tastier (not to mention damn near addictive). I mean, where else but America would plain old sugar just not be sweet enough? In the 1980's, someone, somewhere in the food industry decided it wasn't, so they invented corn syrup, mixed it with sugar, and a whole new generation of obese, type-II diabetics was born.
So Tim and I decided, "No more." We are tired of being 40-50 pounds overweight and feeling like crap all the time. Being hypoglycemic myself, type-II diabetes is a very real danger for me already since I am genetically predisposed to blood glucose/insulin balance control problems without the added complication of all the sugar and corn syrup and empty refined carbohydrates the American food industry shoves down our throats in the name of patriotism and economy.
In case it sounds like I am blaming the mickey-D's and Taco Bells of America for my current state of health, let me set the record straight. I am, but I also have to shoulder some of the blame myself--a good portion of it, in fact. No evil corporate representative held a gun to my head and said I had to eat their crap they label as "food". No, I did that freely. However, they have fostered an attitude and climate in the modern age where the better alternative to their "food" is more expensive and labor intensive to prepare and we are the microwave/MTV generation. We grew up expecting instant gratification cheap, convenient, and satisfying. They know this. They recognized this before we were out of grade school and built an empire upon it. But empires were built to fall. To quote Rage Against the Machine, "It has to start somewhere, it has to start somehow. / What better place than here? / What better time than now?" So I acknowledge my responsibility and role in this sick, artery-clogging dance and I am leaving the dance floor and taking my partner with me.
We took the first step last night when we made our weekly grocery trip. "Groceries? But I thought we were talking about fast-food, Mr. James?" Because little virgins, fast food is the start, but not the end. You would be surprised how much junk food-incognito lurks in your local grocer. Rule of thumb: If it is too easy to prepare, it is absolute shite for your body. (Exceptions include fresh fruits and vegetables, bottled water, and multi-vitamins.) It was the longest trip to the grocery store we have ever taken, topping out at two and a half hours wandering the aisles as we slowly deciphered the encrypted mystery behind eating well, economically, and with as little prep-work as possible. As if that wasn't enough, we also had to plan for weekend meals, since we have sworn off all fa(s)t food (save Chipotle and Subway). No more high-fat, high-sugar foods. We will becme what some may refer to as "Health Nuts", which itself is a derogatory label conceived to vilify those who choose to rebuke the status quo by actually caring about what they consume, who base that decision on quality, not quantity and economy. Well bring it on, because you are what you eat and I for one am tired of being sweet and fat.
So little virgins, we will see what will come from our dietary upheaval. Change is scary, daunting, but ultimately as inevitable as the changing seasons. Now is the time of rebirth and rejuvenation as the earth becomes green again, the daylight grows longer, and the sun warms after winter's chill. What a better time to make a change for the better? The results will not be immediate, so we must not lose hope in the beginning. We will prevail, for as Goddess as my witness, I will never be fat again!
So Tim and I decided, "No more." We are tired of being 40-50 pounds overweight and feeling like crap all the time. Being hypoglycemic myself, type-II diabetes is a very real danger for me already since I am genetically predisposed to blood glucose/insulin balance control problems without the added complication of all the sugar and corn syrup and empty refined carbohydrates the American food industry shoves down our throats in the name of patriotism and economy.
In case it sounds like I am blaming the mickey-D's and Taco Bells of America for my current state of health, let me set the record straight. I am, but I also have to shoulder some of the blame myself--a good portion of it, in fact. No evil corporate representative held a gun to my head and said I had to eat their crap they label as "food". No, I did that freely. However, they have fostered an attitude and climate in the modern age where the better alternative to their "food" is more expensive and labor intensive to prepare and we are the microwave/MTV generation. We grew up expecting instant gratification cheap, convenient, and satisfying. They know this. They recognized this before we were out of grade school and built an empire upon it. But empires were built to fall. To quote Rage Against the Machine, "It has to start somewhere, it has to start somehow. / What better place than here? / What better time than now?" So I acknowledge my responsibility and role in this sick, artery-clogging dance and I am leaving the dance floor and taking my partner with me.
We took the first step last night when we made our weekly grocery trip. "Groceries? But I thought we were talking about fast-food, Mr. James?" Because little virgins, fast food is the start, but not the end. You would be surprised how much junk food-incognito lurks in your local grocer. Rule of thumb: If it is too easy to prepare, it is absolute shite for your body. (Exceptions include fresh fruits and vegetables, bottled water, and multi-vitamins.) It was the longest trip to the grocery store we have ever taken, topping out at two and a half hours wandering the aisles as we slowly deciphered the encrypted mystery behind eating well, economically, and with as little prep-work as possible. As if that wasn't enough, we also had to plan for weekend meals, since we have sworn off all fa(s)t food (save Chipotle and Subway). No more high-fat, high-sugar foods. We will becme what some may refer to as "Health Nuts", which itself is a derogatory label conceived to vilify those who choose to rebuke the status quo by actually caring about what they consume, who base that decision on quality, not quantity and economy. Well bring it on, because you are what you eat and I for one am tired of being sweet and fat.
So little virgins, we will see what will come from our dietary upheaval. Change is scary, daunting, but ultimately as inevitable as the changing seasons. Now is the time of rebirth and rejuvenation as the earth becomes green again, the daylight grows longer, and the sun warms after winter's chill. What a better time to make a change for the better? The results will not be immediate, so we must not lose hope in the beginning. We will prevail, for as Goddess as my witness, I will never be fat again!
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