Saturday, September 14, 2013

today is better than yesterday

...That's always a positive thing.  ;-)

When we eat what we know promotes well-being in ourselves, i think we need to consider it a job well done.  When we indulge in "yummy junk" which we know is going to mess us up, it's not a case of "a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips" -- it's significantly more sinister.

Those of us who have physical issues which are caused and/or influenced by lifestyle choices need to bite the bullet and think of our health first.  Modern rationalization tells us we CAN have it all, but experience of life proves that to be absolutely 100% WRONG.  Some of us (and i'm not complaining about my own limitations, here) can have darned little of it, and they have my profoundest sympathy.  Most of us can have part of it, and the cannier we are in our approach to nutrition, activity and other choices, the better our results.

We know that gliadin is highly problematic to a huge proportion of the population -- this much has been pretty undeniably "proven."  We know that chronically-high blood glucose and insulin both do incalculable damage to every part of the body.  Because most people around us don't know this, the self-immolation on the altars of diabetes, heart diseases, vascular diseases, and every kind of autoimmune problem possible, which goes on CONSTANTLY around us, looks more overwhelming than it needs to be.

WE know this, those of us who read nutrition blogs, studies and articles by enlightened writers.  We can't see a lot of the damage inside us unless we look for it, and for some of it private individuals don't have the means.  However, even if we don't know what our fasting insulin is, nor the degree to which our bodies are already inflamed and AGEd, we know we want to minimize damage, and we know how to do it:  avoid things which we KNOW are toxic to our bodies.  Coach ourselves till the first thing that we think of when we see a deleterious food is "if i eat that i'll feel terrible and only hurt myself."  Analyze ourselves till we realize that we are tempted by a food or practice NOT because of what it actually DOES, but by association with old feelings and reminders of emotional ties.  Detach and uncouple the CONCEPT of "comfort foods" from the mood we want to establish in ourselves now.

Is watching old movies sitting on the sofa with a carton of ice-cream actually going to comfort us?  Of course not!  It is going to remind us of something else which will give us an illusion of comfort in the present.  The satisfaction of the nutritional benefit of some of the ingredients may be found more appropriately in a better food.  The endorphin activity should be sought through more productive and less-damaging means.  The reminder of past emotional well-being can be pursued without the immediate physical harm-doing.

"You only live once -- eat dessert first" like so many catchy ideas is logically bereft.  IF dessert now is going to make you feel bad later, how can this be a good idea?  If _I_ eat the wrong food today -- knowingly -- i have only myself to blame for being miserable tomorrow.  How WILL i feel tomorrow -- will i think it was truly worthwhile to have eaten the charcuterie platter and consumed the half-bottle of champagne, or will i think that i had cheated myself out of a day of health and energy?

2 comments:

  1. I find that eating carbs induces a vicious cycle. I was reading an article on Weston A. Price's website and it discussed how a high-fat diet promotes a high dopaminageric tone in healthy people. High dopamine => more ability to put in the effort towards long-term goals. I know when I crave carbs it is when I need comfort/contentness NOW and I don't really care about what happens after. It's only when I broke from the vicious bad carb cycle that I was able to put in the effort to educate myself about health/nutrition/environment in general.

    The first step, however, is usually the hardest. :(

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    1. precisely! i've found that "keto-power" has revolutionized my resolve -- it's amazing how much control i feel over my own choices. i'm reminded of how Stanton expresses it: "eat like a predator"....

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