Today is the official end to my 12-week experiment with my diet. Now I have to decide where to go from here. I have lost 17 pounds which, of course, makes me happy. But I have also felt better in the last three months than in the last three years.
We use the term diet to mean two things. It is both the regular food one eats and the temporary change in the food one eats to lose weight. I wonder if the latter meaning for the word diet is a bastardization of the original term. Perhaps, diet used to mean an alternation to what one eats that is permanent, but we want a quick, easy, temporary fix--something we can change and then abandon after we get the result we want.
I know that cannot possibly work. I know I cannot go back to eating the way I was before. I really believe the preservatives, white flour, and high fructose corn syrup from the processed foods we ate some of the time is at least a component of the thyroid problem I was diagnosed with. I have no evidence, but I know that I've tried many different changes in food over the years and that people with thyroid problems cannot really lose weight without the help of medication. Suddenly, removing processed and artificial items, the problem seems to be reversing itself.
I have never been a health nut, and I would still not label myself that. However, this experience has opened my eyes to something disturbing. All the things we eat to make our lives more convenient are just messing us up. What if the rise in health issues from acid reflux to gall bladder problems are because of the artificial things that go into keeping our food in a state it was never intended to be in. I cannot be sure, but I know from now on I am going to air on the side of a less "convenient" food lifestyle.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I really think you should read "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. He talks about a lot of evidence that points to what you are saying - that diseases that we accept as unfortunate but normal occurrences don't exist in other cultures until OUR eating habits make it to those cultures. It's an easy read and fairly short but eye-opening and interesting. I'd loan you mine but it's a library book and already overdue.
Thanks. I will check it out.
Let me know what you think of the book. It's on my list.
Sounds like you are on the right track. Eating less dairy and less processed stuff is definitely better for me, but it's tough to kick the sugar habit, you know?
Post a Comment