Food and Habits – Good and Bad
Why Don't We Prefer a Crunchy Carrot Stick Over Chips?
I joined a nutrition/diet service on About.com (completely free) called Calorie Count. It’s not that I’m counting calories (I’m too lazy to do that), but the health and nutrition advice they offer is often very interesting. Today there was a blog post called “Why Europe Doesn’t Make You Fat” in which the author talks about actually losing a couple of pounds after a week in Europe. What it really boils down to is a discussion of the change in habits compared with his typical behavior back here in the states. For example, he didn’t watch TV while eating – after being reminded that it was impolite. He didn’t buy sweets from a vending machine because they were nowhere to be found. And instead of a huge main course, there was a smaller portion rounded out by large salads and light soups. These were all healthier ways to approach eating, and it made a difference.
The key message in this post is that it wasn’t a diet that made the author lose weight. He ate what he wanted, and I’m sure enjoyed the pleasures of experiencing food in another country. It was eliminating some of his bad eating habits, to which we all fall prey, that caused the change. So why is it that we have all fallen into the bad habits we have? Why do we feel it’s okay to grab food and eat it while driving? Or get a snack from the vending machine or cabinet and eat mindlessly while working? Or place an order for takeout that won’t be ready for 30 minutes, when we can whip up a healthier meal in our kitchens in the same time? Why is the lure of the television so great that we’d rather rush through or ignore what we’re eating just to tune into the next reality show? Why don’t we pay our food the respect that it deserves? How did our priorities change so drastically during our lifetime?
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3 Responses to “Food and Habits – Good and Bad”
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I don’t think our priorities changed in our life time. I think it has been changing for generations. I think America is a land of people who work hard and take advantage of any free time they have. I believe many in America view cooking as a chore. Convenient easy to cook processed foods are easier to prepare. Those foods need the fat, sugar and salt content to make them palatable after the processing.
You may be right regarding cooking as a chore. But, we still don’t really appreciate what we’re putting into our mouths as much as we once did. Whether it’s eating while driving or eating while watching television, by multitasking we’re not appreciating our food as much (whoever cooks it), and consequently not being satiated by it as well as we would by appreciating it with out senses.
Very true. I also think that not appreciating is the start of not realizing. When you don’t realize what you are eating you soon don’t realize you are eating. This may be why America is getting fat.