For those who have known me for a long time, it would come as no surprise if I was to say I have struggled with my weight for some time. In that time I have had my ups and downs and have seen my waistline dimensions pulsate as I have gone through the trials of trying to control its girth. Over the years I have tried different regimes in my attempts to see my toes more regularly. I can relate very well to the comic Jackie Vernon who stated his toes and an honest politician had quite a bit in common in that he had heard of them but it had been a long time since there had been a sighting of either.
In my continued struggle I, like many others, have spent a large amount of cash in the search for some diet or lifestyle guide that would solve my problem. We have seen many ads promise that after starting a certain program we will again have a body the opposite gender will stare at with their eyes and tongues hanging out. Even so, with all of these miracle cures, the North American population continues to become more and more a population where obesity is a dominant problem. There even seems to be some research that shows the present generation will be the first to see its life expectancy drop, largely because of this.
What puzzles my mind to some extent is, with all of the research on what makes a healthy diet, how come the problem keeps getting worse. I have read some articles that promote the idea there is a large industry, making fantastic amounts of money from products that will supposedly solve our weight problems, who really do not want their cash cow to dry up. Then we have a section of the advertising industry that continually bombards us with ads that make us all drool like Pavlov's dog. These two industries are at odds with one another in what we see on the surface, but when we get right down to it they seem to have a symbiotic relationship that supports each other's earning power.
In this I am as much of a pawn as anyone else who has these problems. This past week I started in a program, offered by our health district, that is intended to help me change my lifestyle through understanding of the roots of my problems. It is not a diet program but a system designed to help me change when and how I eat. In these sessions they are not bombarding me with information on healthy eating which most of us understand but do not do. It is intended to help us realize why we eat in such an unhealthy way even though we have all the right information.
I have always known there are subliminal ways we are led to do what we do without us really realizing that we are being led. I have seen the effects of putting a couple of frames into a movie, that only our subconscious sees, that can cause us to rush to the concession craving food our body doesn't need. But after the first session of this program (which by the way is titled Craving Change) I have had my eyes opened to some of the ways that industry and our society have brought us to eating habits that are less that first-rate. Some of these things, when we think of them, are quite evident but, until we are forced to think about them, we don't even realize them.
What I am talking about here is how many of us eat way more than we need and one of the prime reasons we do this. If we look back at the portion sizes often marketed, we can see many products are promoted to work on one of our basic instincts, which is to get the best bang for our buck.
For example when we go to a restaurant, we often have the choice of full or half portion. An example of this might be an order of veal cutlets that sells for $12. On the other hand we are also given the choice of a half order that is only $2 less. Here is where our urge to get the best bargain kicks in. We look at this and think we are getting shafted if we buy the half order because we can get twice as much for only two dollars more. How often are we offered a larger size for only a dollar more at a fast food joint? Hell it doesn't take a world renowned physicist to see the full portion is the better bargain; thus that is what we order. Thus we get a deal for our money until our waistline has outgrown our wardrobe and we have to super-size our clothing as well as our meal deal.
Thus our health professionals and the rest of us are fighting an uphill battle to curb what might be the greatest challenge of prosperous societies. Societies, whose business gurus preach sell, sell, sell; when, for the good of our combined health, we should resist. At the same time social teachings are tending to tell us to enjoy ourselves. I for one have enjoyed myself out of a couple of sizes of clothing.
Just in case you or anyone you know might be interested in the program I have mentioned, contact the primary health center at the Frontier Mall for more information.
