Words + Dreams

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Super-size it!  Americans have always had a love affair with food.  Not as big of a love affair as the French, of course, but big and getting bigger.  Everywhere you look anymore the portions in restaurants are getting bigger, much bigger. From Burger King to Mc Donald’s to any steak house in town, the sizes of meals are growing and growing and growing.  And so is our waistline.

Do we really need that much food?  Do we need half-pound hamburgers, huge orders of fries, or shakes the size of oil barrels? 

Probably nowhere on earth is a culture subjected to so many mixed messages.  One commercial tells us to lose weight; another tells us where to get thousand calorie soft drinks.  Weight loss clinics are springing up everywhere, while at the same time we are told how great it is to order pounds and pounds of greasy, fried food.

Figuring it all out

How are we supposed to get it all straight?  How are we supposed to be healthy when we really want to just shove more and more fries down our throats?  On television we are inundated with ads that create a desire for more food, while at the same time we know how unhealthy it is.

There are probably close to a thousand studies out there proving to us how unhealthy it is to over eat.  We know this.  And yet.

There are scientists and physicians with absolute proof that too much fat in the diet leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and more.  We know this.  And yet.

We continually see evidence all around us of the cost of being overweight.  Insurance statistics, medical records, government evidence and more prove that those who consume too much fat, salt, and sugar, and do not eat enough fruit and vegetables die younger, much younger than those who eat a healthy diet.  We know this.  And yet.

But it tastes good!

There is an old saying that states, if it tastes good it’s not good for you.  Some of that is indeed true.  Unfortunately, taste is one of the reasons why we so like to eat the food that is slowly killing us. 

There are other reasons, of course, for overeating.  For some people it may be habit.  Some use food to relax, or to make themselves feel better psychologically, or they are just unaware of how much they are eating (the unconscious eater). 

If you are in the business of selling food, you have to make it taste good, be appealing, smell wonderful, be served in an inviting atmosphere, and create a need.  The restaurant industry is great at this, especially the fast-food restaurants.  And that’s one of the deadly combinations:  restaurants that have to sell food to stay in business coupled with people who love or need to eat (and we all need to eat – it’s just how much we need that creates the problem).

Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not simply blaming the fast-food industry.  They are, after all, just giving us what we demand.  We need to learn to demand less. Easier said than done unfortunately.

We as individuals and as a nation need to want less food, be happy with less food, and love less food.  And yes, I know that goes against some of our most basic instincts.  But our health and our kid’s health, even our national health requires it.  We need a national shout:  Want less!!

And not only could we lose weight in the process, we might even save some money as well.  Want to be healthier?  Want to feel better?  From now on when you eat, order the small size.  Get the small hamburger, the small French fries, the small soft drink.  Save the money, save the calories, save your waistline.

Not just an American problem

Have you ever noticed that when you look at photos of city streets from Asia or Europe or the Mideast, often you’ll see a McDonald’s sign or the golden arches?  You’ll see signs from any number of US fast food companies now.  Look at photos from fifty years or more ago and you never saw them. Hey, it tastes good, people want it, and we export and give it to them.

Western style diets are fattening the planet.  But it’s actually more than that – it’s also the reality of affluence.  With more money to spend – more disposable income – people eat in restaurants more often, often eat foods higher in fats and sugar, and their weight goes up in proportion.

Japan never used to have problems with obesity.  People primarily ate fish, rice, green vegetables and ate very little sugar or processed foods.  That all changed after WW II.  Just as the US started opening up more Japanese restaurants, so did Japan open up more American restaurants. 

Add an increasing taste for Western food with ever-increasing income as Japan became hugely more affluent and a “perfect storm” was created that had obesity skyrocketing.  Japanese got to taste French fries and then got to pack on pound after pound after pound.  Lucky them.

So where are you going to eat lunch today?  What are you having for dinner?  Are you going to eat French fries or rice? Are you going to eat beef or chicken?  Are you going to eat a hamburger or broiled fish?  What are you going to put around your waist?  What are you going to make your legs and feet carry?  What are you going to pack into your arteries and veins?

I know, I know, I know.  Those are both easy and tough questions.  We know how to do the right thing, the healthy thing.  We know what to do and we know how to do it.  And yet.