If you only remember ten things...

The following list was created by by Scott Kustes over at Modern Forager and posted on January 1, 2008, to serve as a reminder to all about the importance of healthy eating and adopting a balanced lifestyle.

Though we're already halfway through the year, it's never too late to take these pointers to heart and incorporate them into everyday life. There's no better time than the present!

On tonight's healthy menu: Stuffed Peppers

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Ten Things to Remember In The New Year

1. Junk food doesn’t exist; there is junk and there is food.
2. Similarly, real food has no nutrition label. Food products have nutrition labels.
3. If a label tells you how healthful the product inside is, it’s probably not. Don’t be deceived by marketing.
4. Sugar is detrimental to your body in more ways than you can count.
5. Organic/natural junk is still junk. Thirty grams of sugar from honey is not more healthful than 30g of sugar from other sources.
6. If you are wondering if you should eat more vegetables, the answer is yes. I don’t care how many you eat, you should probably eat more.
7. Similarly, you should probably sleep more. Turn off the TV and go to bed. Given the quality of most TV programming, you aren’t going to miss anything of importance.
8. Don’t let “I can’t afford organic” keep you from eating enough produce. Organic vegetables are best. However, eating conventional is better than not eating produce at all.
9. You’re human and you will eat something too sugary and too carby. Don’t stress; just get back on the wagon.
10. And finally: health is a lifelong journey, not a quick-fix. Find something you can stick with.
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I particularly like #9. All too often we adopt an all-or-nothing stance when it comes to healthy eating, which makes it easy to fall off the wagon entirely, and completely blow our carefully-plotted nutrition plans in a single moment of folly. Relax, we're only human, and mistakes happen.

I guess the important thing is not to be suckered into thinking that one cupcake proves entirely damning to your pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. Cripes, you've already eaten it - moping isn't going to magically dissipate the calories, and further binging doesn't help matters any - you might as well polish off the crumbs, lick your lips, and get right back on track!

Image courtesy of AllRecipes.Com.

Something to chomp on...

Well, so I was thinking (something I occasionally like to do, of course I try to minimize the times at which it happens - haha), about nutrition, and I thought I'd share some of my feelings regarding this iffy issue.

I think we probably all are aware of just how much of a role diet and nutrition play in our daily lives. You don't have to be an expert to know that if you eat too much of the wrong foods, you will probably experience some or all of the following characteristics:

1. Balloon to extreme proportions;
2. Elevate your risk of suffering from illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and a long list of other depressing ailments; and
3. Generally feel crappy all the time (though you might be so used to feeling that way such that you don't even know what feeling good feels like anymore, which is quite a sobering thought, really).

The evidence speaks for itself. The obesity rate in this country is simply startling. The incidence of diseases resulting from engaging in unhealthy vices has skyrocketed. Fast food corporations are making a killing from marketing their Monster Thickburgers, McSkillet Burritos, and other greasy, calorie-laden offerings.

1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat make the Hardee's Monster Thickburger a legit heavyweight.

Wanton overconsumption is glamorized in the ads that leave impressionable youths with the misguided idea that it's macho to be able to down a couple pounds' worth of hamburger meat with bun and trimmings (perhaps in the form of a Carl Jr's Double Six Dollar Burger - boasting 1520 calories and 111 g of fat), as well as a Coke and supersized fries liberally sprinkled with salt and doused with Cheez-Whiz, all in one sitting. Well, if your idea of machismo is legitimized by the fact that you're willing to put yourself at greater risk (for blocked arteries, high cholestrol and central adiposity), that's probably alright. Otherwise, it's not.

I know it isn't fair to lump everyone into the "I-don't-give-a-flying-s*&$#-what-I-stuff-into-my-pie-hole-as-long-as-it-tastes-good" category, as I truly believe that most people are genuinely aware of what foods are beneficial and which are best to be avoided. In today's society, however, an overwhelming number of people are preoccupied first and foremost with immediate gratification. If it tastes good, I'll eat it, and worry about the consequences later. If it's readily available (in the form of a McDonald's drive-thru), even better!

And very naturally, they then fall into a vicious cycle of justifying their choices. Well, it's just a burger, right? Hamburger meat... hmmm, that's basically ground beef and that's protein, isn't it? I suppose I'll get an energy boost from the carbs in the sesame bun? I know that limp, wilted sliver of lettuce doesn't look like much, but with the lone tomato slice I figure that might be a serving of vegetables. Cheese for strong bones, and mayo for a good old-fashioned dose of healthy lipids! And with a puff of smoke, the deconstructed Double Whopper magically morphs into a meal Jack LaLanne would wholeheartedly endorse!

Hey, Mom, could I have the rest of your McNuggets?
Sadly, most people don't realize how the consequences of their choices accumulate until they visit the doctor for their periodic checkup and are solemnly informed that their blood work has revealed some frightening figures. Or maybe it hits them when they wake up one morning, look down to tie their shoelaces and realize they can't even see the tips of their shoes beyond their bellies (and it's not because they misplaced their glasses).

I'm not even going into the specifics of nutrition where the debate takes the importance of healthy eating as a given, and instead focuses on the types of foods that will help to achieve optimal health (I'll probably do that in a subsequent post). I'm just trying to highlight here how crucial it is to understand the risks associated with the widespread persistence in making patently bad food choices.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the future fades into oblivion when it comes to choosing between options, and in this nation where instant gratification is routinely preferred over calculated decision-making (much like how certain political choices appear to have been made), the eventual outcomes don't bode well at all.

Images courtesy of Brand Autopsy and Foodfacts.

Mmmm, tasty!

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hannich, at Wired.com
Fond of a good ol' dollop of Cool Whip on your slice of cake? After all, you don't do dessert very often, do you? Just a little indulgence on the weekends to make up for the monklike asceticism with which you ascribe to your dietary regime on weekdays. And in a further attempt at righteousness, it's "whipped topping", not whipped cream - there's only 25 calories in each nine-gram serving. Who needs cows and butterfat any longer? Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

Before you go out and grab another tub from your local grocery store to replenish your supply of creamy goodness, read this.

(God forbid you ever get hemorrhoids, but if you do, you know where you can find immediate relief at only 41 cents per ounce...)

This is not cool.

Picture courtesy of the New York Times.
The obesity epidemic in the U.S. is, quite frankly, appalling. I remember touching down in Detroit Metropolitan Airport when I first came to the U.S. to study, and thinking to myself that I'd never seen so many people with such expansive girths. I mean, there definitely were fat people where I came from, but the sheer number and size of the grossly overweight people here was simply mind-boggling.

I wasn't quite sure whether to feel amused at the sight of numerous chubbies waddling around, their elastic-waisted sweatpants scarcely keeping their bellies in check, or whether to feel a twinge of pity at what their obesity portended for their health and general well-being.

I don't think enough is being done in this country (or others that are experiencing obesity epidemics, for that matter) to halt this worrying trend as well as prevent people from becoming obese. I think everyone is aware of some of the factors that have caused this alarming trend.

Fast food/processed food made with dubious ingredients mixed with preservatives and subsequently dunked in oil, artificially flavored to jazz up your tastebuds and then smothered in a toasty yummy golden brown coloring (or fluorescent green, if you like Jell-O), is so easily obtainable and typically cheaper than natural, nutritious foods. This common perception is often flawed - healthy, yet inexpensive food sources are readily available if you make the effort to learn about healthy eating and food preparation.

The sedentary nature of the average person is another major factor. Heck, even cajoling a co-worker into taking the stairs instead of the elevator to your office on the fifth floor is far more painful than pulling teeth! It's hardly surprising, considering how with cars and all the fancy thingamajigs designed to eliminate any form of extraneous movement beyond what it takes to bend down and tie your shoelaces nowadays. People pretty much tumble out of the driver's seat, into the elevator, and into their office chairs where they remain for the entire day except for brief sojourns to the bathroom (and perhaps longer visits to the pantry, where they are more than wont to linger for a while, but that's another whole factor in itself).

I could go on and on about everything that's caused the obesity epidemic to become what it is now -- weighty, pardon the pun, but I shan't. Anyway, this article from the New York Times details one of the lesser-known consequences of this hefty situation.