The Real Real About Our Poor Health and Nutrition
Pssssst. Did you know that over half of all turkeys in the US come from only 4 states? Talk about a lot of gobble gobbles!
Think you can guess which two states are at the top of the list? Take a moment to ponder and come up with your answers. You’ll find the answer at the end of this post. (No cheating!) Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful US thanksgiving this past week and were able to enjoy whatever the festivities looked like for you in your life.
For me, I don’t much care for the food typically offered at most midwestern potlucks, including thanksgiving for that matter, where at times the number of pies and desserts has equaled the number of main dishes and sides. Primarily featuring the splendor appearance of carbs, carbs, carbs, with sugar, sweetened condensed milk, an occasional stick of butter or two, and handful of flour thrown here and there. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love diving into the kitchen for cooking and baking, but I’d much rather serve food that heals, not hurts, wouldn’t you?
Now now, don’t hate me just yet.
I’m not saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away or a stick of butter per week will make your arteries flow weak, buuuuuut I do think it always wise for us to at least question and consider our habits, no? There is much to gain in the interested soul who is willing and patient enough with the self to explore the contemplative intricacies pf why we do what we do, why we choose what we choose (or perhaps take action based on manipulative marketing ploys enticing our human nature to a fault), and how aligned in life we truly live.
Personally, I cannot participate in a system that I am aware harms or hurts or hinders another human’s chance to flourish. I’m an idealist and perfectionist in this respect to a fault – trust me, I know. It’s not easy being around me sometimes, as my family may sure attest as it took years for them to transition to accept and be okay with me not eating like everyone else at our family gatherings and food potlucks. At the end of the day, I’m also a foodie by trade, and I have a strong sense of flavor that lives far outside the stereotypical boundaries of most midwestern palates. I’d be more likely to bring a spiced Indian curry dish to thanksgiving and a dollop of chocolate avocado mouse atop some coconut milk ice cream to Christmas or a pumpkin pie spice smoothie during the fall than to grab a plate full of pies and desserts like I used to as a kid.
When I was little, I was a big kid – I don’t tell this story often, but I was “husky” according to jeans makers as any 20-40 yr old man knows all too well for what that word implies. I battled with shame and frustration from my weight that left me carrying excess pounds around my midsection but also excess weight and pressure on my shoulders as I knew just how bad I felt, looked, and how worried some people were about my health who looked after me at times.
Growing up, if you found me at a family gathering, I would have likely had 2-5 plates of food with extra handfuls of rolls and crunchy party mixes too. And that was only for lunch. The second round of Russian roulette with excessive over eating came only a few hours later at dinner. Nowadays, I look at most of what we eat as a nation, and it’s by and large the same crap I grew up with as a kid. Enticing and delicious to some, and equally leading to sickness and disease for others. It just takes time for us to see it manifest.
Thankfully, I hit a brick wall when I was a child.
The doctors were worried enough to schedule my mom and I to sit down for support to get me on a diet and setup for a healthier future. Overtime, my habits changes, albeit very little, but they had left the door open for me to at least better understand this strange and curious role that food plays in our lives much more than what many of may ever consider. You see, I definitely used food as a coping mechanism while I was going through difficult times as a child, often feeling alone, frustrated, bored, and distracted. It wasn’t until I found community, and stayed in a consistent school system for at least two years in a row did my health really start to change.
Crazy as it might sound, I weighed the same in 5th and 6th grade as I did as a sophomore in high school, and then again I weighed even less when I was a sophomore in college.
The way that timeline actually works by way of math and years on the calendar is the fact that I was so big around my waist that as I grew older and taller, my weight pretty much stayed the same, but I was losing weight slowly around my midsection while at the same time having an equal but opposite growth in my height and lean mass. I credit these subtle changes over time to diet and lifestyle and a beautiful sense of community with others. But it took time, and time it is still taking for myself – and all of us – to live our most natural and abundant, healthiest lives possible and that’s why we are here. It’s why we show up. It’s why we step into the unknown, step up to speak up when we see something that’s off or doesn’t seem right and give ourselves a fighting chance.
If it weren’t for the doctors and nurses who worked with me as a kid to open the door to help me better understand how food impacted my health and my weight… I probably would have just kept eating cereal by the boxes, pies and brownies by the pan. I would have continued down a path destined for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and who knows what else… probably fatty liver disease too. Like I said, I don’t tell this story often because it’s not a fun story to tell and it isn’t one that fits well within the history books of my life and career now.
But, I felt compelled to share this story with you as I see you as my distantly connected family and I care about you in a similar way that those doctors and nurses cared about me – caring enough to step into my life and support my mom and I through what was necessary as a health transition to keep me alive and well and to have a fighting chance at a better life through adulthood. Most kids who battle with obesity, never get to a healthy weight.
In fact, by the time they graduate high school with obesity, they are lined up for several diseases and potential fatal incidents like heart attack and stroke before the age of 40. This is why I leapt into childhood obesity work in college and worked with some international projects on this issue that nearly every first-world high income country is facing around the world. Unfortunately, we’ve lost control of the profoundly important family dinner table and family garden and local farmers’ market.
We’ve sold our lots and lost our taste buds to the money-hungry big food chemical companies and flavor scientists, fast food and junk food marketers to kiddos and those ever salivating wolves on wall street.
There is much to improve in these systems of society in which have been broken for far too long without reform, and these are topics I continue to dedicate my career to fixing and improving. But I need your help of course. One of the best things you can do is to continue to show up, to lean into listen to these kinds of conversations and to dare to be different than the status quo whenever duty calls.
It’s okay to be different, even if it sucks being different for a little bit.
If the standard American diet for example is the leading cause of death in this country, don’t you think it’s time for us to march and protest against the atrocities and inequality issues that come with childhood obesity, sickness, early death and disease, depression and anxiety, and even bankruptcy in this fine country?
Yes, I said that right…. Maybe you didn’t know that but it’s worth repeating so here goes:
The leading causes of death in America are related to diet and lifestyle.
And the number one leading cause of bankruptcy in this country comes from medical debt.
So, people are losing breath in their lungs and money in their bank account while they continue to be fed the same disease-causing foods that lack real health, real nutrition, real color, and the real love of nourishment to our minds and spirits that real food has to offer.
So, with all this being said, I directly encourage you – yes, YOU – to dare to be different, to take a close look at your family table, your backyard, your family health history and also your wallets.
I encourage you to stick together in a link-minded community of folks who are dedicated to their personal pursuits in health and wellness. And if you need to change up a few things in your daring pursuits to be different and take your health and your life into your own hands a bit more than ever before and not succumb to the status quo, then I encourage you along that journey as well.
As I’ve been thinking about all these facts I’ve discussed throughout in recent weeks and months, I’ve been contemplating running a brand new beginner’s course to jumpstart someone’s journey to revitalize their life and lifestyles. The goal would be to get going in the right direction from several angles, to turn the key on the ignition and help someone find their lane on the road, but not drive the car for them. I have a tendency to be comprehensive by trade so I plan to include a handful of the following topics and other colorful insights as well:
Nutrition
Play
Motivation
Work
Family Time
Meal Time
Healthy Cooking
Healthy Shopping
Recipes
Stress
Exercise
Fun
Happiness
What do you think about this list so far? Do you have any specific topics not included above that you think I should absolutely cover?
Let me know by leaving a comment below! I’m here to listen, to learn, and to live to support you in your journey and your journey to support others too. I’m so very thankful for you giving me your time this week and every week. Thank you!
Ps. The top two turkey producing states are 1. Minnesota and 2. North Carolina – home of the famous Butterball turkey company.
Don’t forget to have fun amidst the real real discussions we like to have. Here’s a glimpse of one of my rare opportunities to be silly on camera. Have an extremely awesome week my friends.
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If you missed last week’s edition you can check it out here: