Fitness Retreat California
FOOD IS NOTHING TO FEAR IT’S FUEL
Let’s face it food is awesome! It tastes good, smells good, fuels our bodies, is something to enjoy with friends and family, and makes us happy when moments before we were cranky. It’s one of the purest joys in our
lives, and there’s absolutely no reason to deprive yourself of it. In fact, it’s okay to love it. That’s right, I said it. There’s nothing wrong with loving food…as long as we understand that it can’t love you back it’s food. It’s there to give us power, not make us powerless. It’s there to help us, not make us feel helpless. It’s there to serve us, but we are responsible for choosing the servings.
I don’t like to say there are certain hard fast rules you have to follow when it comes to food, because everyone enjoys food, especially different foods, in their own way. Instead, I’ve created a group of principles you can use as a guide when you’re faced with making healthy (both physical and emotional) decisions. The first is the overarching thing to remember when it comes to food:
Nutrition Principle #1 – Food Is Fuel
Food is to your body what gas is to your car. The better the fuel, the better you perform…and without, you’re going nowhere. Food gives you power, not the other way around. When you start to feel powerless, take back the power and put it where it belongs…under your control. Burgers with My Boy One of the male bonding things I enjoy doing with my son is going to a local burger joint, sharing a meal, and talking. Even though my son is only seven, he already understands that he has the power to enjoy food, any food, within balance. I know this sounds crazy, but he will often order a milkshake and drink only a quarter or a third of it.
One day, as we were leaving the restaurant, a woman stared at the table we’d just abandoned, where my son had left two-thirds of his burger and most of his shake. She looked at me and said, “You’re going to let him waste it?” I smiled, nodded, and left the restaurant. The woman and her children were overweight, and I assumed they always finished every morsel of food. Just because we are often served ridiculous proportions of food, doesn’t mean we have to make the ridiculous decision to eat it all. And why worry about “waste” if all that extra food just goes to your waist…and your backside. If you’re really worried about wasting food, there are better solutions than eating what you don’t want or need. You can save it for later or take someone along and split a meal. I am not averse to throwing food away rather than eating when I don’t want any more. When I can, I have half of my meal boxed up before I start eating and give it to a homeless person sadly there are many, and they congregate hopefully outside restaurants in California.
If you’re from my generation, you’ve dealt with people, most likely parents or grandparents, telling you that leaving food on your plate is wasteful it’s not. If anything, it’s healthy and intelligent. My “wasted” meal isn’t going to feed some unfortunate child in some far off country. It’s much better to discard food than contribute to the obesity crisis in the
United States! That’s where the real waste is…in quality of life for the unhealthy and uneducated, not to mention the millions upon millions of dollars spent annually on health care costs for treating cardiac disease, diabetes, and other serious health conditions.
