When I thought of this topic two (2) months ago, I
really thought this is going to be pretty easy.
I am going to be able to find a lot of information and supporting pictures
on the web, put the article together, and move on to my next task. Man, was I wrong!!! There is an abundance of
information around the US food pyramid, so that leads to a LOT of contradictory
information and believe it or not, conspiracy theories. Where do I go from here?
If you know me, you may already know where I am
going to go. I am going to do what I do
with everything else in life... Pick out
the things that make sense to me, doing my best to eliminate my own bias,
sprinkle in a bit of research and formulate my own opinion.
Why would I do that?
Let's start with the consumption of eggs. Do you remember when eating eggs was
considered one of the worst things you can do to your body? Then, it became centralized to eating egg
yolks specifically was the worst thing you can do to your body. Today, we are being told ALL of that research
was false and eating eggs plus egg yolks is okay. How in the world do the
"researchers" go from one extreme to the other? The researchers cannot do a 180 degree turn
and not expect us to question their "new research" and future
research, for that matter.
Confused??? So am I! And that is why I am moving
forward with my "opinion" on the subject of what we should be
eating. Bulk up, here we go with Master
Smith's Rules for Eating:
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Master Smith's Rule #1: Almost any and
every food in moderation is okay for you. I really believe in this one. I think back to my grandmother. This woman ate bacon and eggs with a cup or
two of coffee every morning before heading off to work And she fed the same breakfast to her
children and grandchildren over the years.
Yes, she died from congestive heart failure, but her doctors did not
think it was her diet as much as it was the fact she was a 96 year old woman. Like her body, her heart just got old and did
not want to function any more. Am I
saying you should go out and eat my grandmother's breakfast every morning. NO!!! The one thing that makes my grandmother
very different from most of us today is that my grandmother went to work in the
cabbage and potato fields five (5) days a week harvesting which ever food was
in that field. Which brings us to Master
Smith's Rule #2...
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Master Smith's Rule #2: Eat for your
lifestyle and activity level. My grandmother was able to eat the breakfast
she enjoyed most mornings and lived a fairly healthy life, because she did not sit
behind a desk 8 - 9 hours a day typing on a keyboard. She had a very active work life, so she was
able to eat her favorite breakfast.
Although I am not a fan of the soft drink industry, I loved their
campaign to kids about eating for your activity level. The commercial stated something to the
effect, if you are spending the day on the couch watching television, then you
should probably eat light like a salad and drink water. But if you are spending the afternoon tossing
around a Frisbee with friends, then eating a bit more should be okay. And that leads to #3....
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Master Smith's Rule #3: Eat to live, do
NOT live to eat.
I had a friend who would literally hum joyously as she ate. She LOVED food. She had a rough childhood, some tremulous teen
years, and negative early adult years.
Her escape, you guessed it, food.
She loved to eat and would tell you she knew her love affair with all
food was the cause of her weight issues that were causing even more physical
issues. I suggested she seek counseling
before her coping mechanism (food consumption) caused some serious health
issues that might put her in an early grave.
The really bad part, she transmitted those bad eating habits onto her
children. Each child was overweight for
their age. And because of the issues in
her marriage with her husband, the children learned to eat to ease the pains of
the emotional scars they were feeling as well. They all lived to eat, instead of eating to
live. Yes, food can and should taste
good, but be careful to stop eating once you are full. Eat enough of the correct foods in the
correct amounts to sustain your body and health. Do not eat to because it is there! Well, limit that to every blue moon, because
if you attend a state fair with me, you will see me over doing it every single
time. Huge fan of fair food and that is
why I do not attend fairs often. Now
that I have you craving a huge corn dog or funnel cake, back to eating
healthy... <smile>
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Master Smith's Rule #4: Last but not
least, eat your raw veggies! I am a huge fan of a
good amount of raw vegetables for everyone.
The fiber will be good for digestion and will help to keep you all full.
Balance it with some good protein like
chicken, fish, and beef. Throw in a little
bread. Add in a little cheese or other
dairy and you should be good to go.
So what does this mean for me and mine, you might be asking... It is simple! Go back to the article I wrote for September. Most of the adults know their children's schedules like the back of their own hands. Therefore, you know if Little Johnny is going to run around at SMAA for 50 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday, and has 1.5 hours of soccer practice on Wednesday, so maybe for those days you PLAN to make a heavier meal to help Little Johnny's body recover from all the activity on those days. However, the rest of the week, you know Little Johnny will be pretty sedentary in front of the computer working on a school project and relaxing playing video games. So for those days, maybe you should prepare a grilled chicken Caesar salad and limit him to one (1) snack instead of two. What Little Johnny consumes is still usually up to you. Come up with your own rules regarding your health and the health of your family! If you want to understand what certain foods are doing to your body, forget the "research" and start a food journal. That simply means, you write down everything you consume in a day. Every raisin, to chocolate bar, to can of soda, to bag of chips... Everything. Then, write down how you felt 30 minutes to two (2) hours later. Yeah, I know all this takes time that you do not have, but it is probably safer and more productive than going through all the "research" on the subject. Once you have done this for a week or two, go back and read what you wrote. Then you can make an informed decision on what to feed your family based on how certain foods made you and your family feel.
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the
ears of the wise seek it out. Proverbs
18:15
Until next month, be blessed, love yourself and your
family.
