I've been back at school for about a week now and I'm getting back into that familiar 'never have enough time' pattern. I grew up in a pretty lackadaisical household so I feel like in general, I'm just lazy/unorganized/prone to being unhealthy in every aspect of life. I eat poorly, forget to brush/floss my teeth, hardly exercise, and spend too much leisure time and not enough homework time. I'm working to try and change myself on all these aspects (I've been brushing/flossing/mouth washing like a fiend since getting my first cavity a few weeks ago) but DAMN is it hard to take on all that plus 5 classes, work study, and have a social life. The blog has been so low on my priority list that I've been struggling just to get myself to do a post a week! That's a far cry from when I was in Salem with nothing to do but eat, blog, and watch stuff on Hulu.
Tonight I was doing some homework with Maria in our apartment and she had Bravo on. A new show came on during our tenure on the couch which is called Thintervention with Jackie Warner. I have to admit the whole show really hit me close to home and actually made me want to work out for once, which is quite a feat, but on the whole I feel like this sort of show is pretty negative and damaging on people such as myself trying to lose weight. It really gave me this hopeless feeling like I'll never be able to change and get to where I want to be weight wise. Jackie tasked the participants with throwing out everything in their house with more than 5 grams of sugar in it (I'm hoping this is PER SERVING, because otherwise it's pretty impossible). This got me to thinking about all the do's and don't's of eating and exercise and it just got me super bummed because it's like no matter what I do, it's never enough -- in terms of how hard I'm exercising, or how much I'm cutting down on X or Y there's always Z to worry about.
There are so many guidelines of what we're supposed to be eating and not be eating. If you take all of them into consideration, a normal grocery store probably contains less than 10% of the stuff we should be eating versus what products they make and market. Once again, I don't believe that blaming companies who make bad for you products on my unhealthy habits, but I'm starting to recognize more and more how our culture and attitudes towards food fuel these companies to make these bad things and the cyclical nature of it all. As I learned during my time as a Journalism major, most things imitate life and companies will only produce and market what their audience wants our would accept. Take Oreos for example. Sure they have a reduced fat Oreo, which is still pretty awful at 150 calories and 4.5 grams of fat per 2 cookies, but compare that to the amount of products they churn out that are even more unhealthy than the last. Colored oreos for the seasons? Loaded with dyes that people claim cause this or that disease. Peanut butter filled Oreo Cakesters? Two of these will set you back 220 calories and 10 grams of fat! How about White Fudge Covered Oreos? One cookie is 100 calories and 5 grams of fat. That's almost a full snack's worth of calories and about 10% of your daily fat allowance (assuming you go with the FDA's upper limit for fats at 65 grams per day). To top it off, the white and milk chocolate fudge covered Oreos are marketed as 'Limited Edition' which spurs consumers to buy these and try them right away. Companies continually release 'Limited Editions' as a strategy to get us to buy because gosh, those oreos look so yummy and if you pass it up today, it's uncertain if they'll be around tomorrow. Multiply this one Oreo example by every Lunchable, Cracker, Frozen Pizza, etc and you get so many irresistible offers to try insanely unhealthy foods it's mind boggling. Clever, but ruthless.
While I'm on the subject of the FDA guidelines, take a look at the sodium recommendation of 2,400 milligrams or less per day. That sounds like a lot, right? WRONG. Anything frozen or processed (which is probably 90% of most people's diet, me included) is usually loaded with sodium to enhance and protect taste as well as lengthen shelf life. Diet foods are often the worst offenders because as you remove the fats (aka flavor) there's a tendency to pack in the sodium so that we don't notice we're eating colored cardboard sucked dry of everything we crave. Then factor in what health gurus and professionals recommend we actually intake for sodium, fat, calories etc and your head will really be spinning. It's like everything you could possibly eat is the enemy, waiting to split the seam of your favorite pants or stop your heart in a few years. What pressure!
To bring things back a little bit, consider what humans (and humanoid ancestors) ate before true civilization. Roots, grasses, meats, berries and maybe some fish probably made up the majority of their diets. As we evolved and became more civilized, we discovered things like salt. Salt and other spices were good because we could pack them on to disguise the bad flavors of rotting meat and help preserve stuff for long trips before refrigeration. We sort of became dependent on them through the years if you think about it. We can keep stuff fresh now without the aid of preservatives and salt, yet we're so hooked on that flavor and that convenience factor it cripples us. I'm not trying to say that I'm living the twigs and berries lifestyle or converting anytime soon, I just feel that it's important to me that I identify the factors in my life that facilitate my obesity. Of course low calorie and fat frozen entrees aren't the most healthful thing for me to be eating, but it's such an enormous to make eating changes for me I can't help but try to use these resources despite their inherent flaws.
Alright, so I:m rambling a bit and it's getting pretty late so I'll have to wrap this up. In any case, my first class is canceled tomorrow meaning I get to sleep in a bit and (hopefully) motivate myself to get some exercise. I admit I was pretty bad today and had a chimichanga from a new Mexican place in town but I did make the effort to ride my bike for an hour around campus and challenge myself to some moderate uphill inclines. I know it wasn't enough to offset the dinner I ate but I feel that part of my lifestyle change is trying to enjoy things like exercise for what it is and not just use it as a means to an end. Part of me has always wanted to enjoy something like going on runs but my weight gives me shin splints and other difficulties which equals pain which equals not enjoying the activity but resenting it. The gym is a new torture in itself -- unflattering clothing and jiggling around while svelter, gym-loving skinny people watch? Ick! Not to mention the whole American way of hiding our shames, which is something I can't do by going out to the gym (it's so public!)
Ok, ok, rambling again. I'm cutting myself off here. Last note: had a great weekend, saw my favorite band live in concert, got more compliments on the Hello Kitty bike today.
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