I assume that most the people that read my blog know that I dont go to any church or meeting of any kind right now. I grew up going to meeting and I dont really have anything bad to say about it, its just not for me. That being said, I have no problem with accepting other people and their chosen religions and the practices that go along with it. For the most part people extend the same courtesy to me with my lack of such.
When it comes to food/health/nutrition/exercise people are a lot more willing to share their opinion whether its asked for or not (usually not). Im sure Mom has gotten her share of this in her cancer fight. What I am coming to realize is that in some ways, the health becomes a religion. It is very consuming and the need to convert people to your way of thinking is very strong. I realize that being healthy is well good and beneficial to your health (as the name implies) but everyone should be allowed the choice of how they choose to go about being healthy. People believe very strongly that the way they are choosing to do health is the ONLY proper and right way to go about it. Over the last few years I have heard a lot of different views, from dad, sisters, mom, cousins, friends, etc. And it seems like they all work to varying degrees. What some people dont seem to realize is that what works great for one person might not be so good for another.
Some of the views I have heard are as follows-
- Butter/fat is good for you depending on what it is eaten with because the proteins/sugars change as they react to the other foods.
- Conversly- butter is the devil, you should never eat butter because no one needs to eat saturated fats, there is no good that can come from it. If you need to grease a pan, use PAM
- Fruit- most people seem to agree that fruit is good for you.. in moderation due to all the natural sugars
- Vegetables- Are good for you, some better than others but mostly good. There are some exceptions such as corn since thats mostly starch
- Potatoes- Some say they are good for you, they can provde nutrients you need and when accompanied with butter are pretty good.
- Conversly- Potatoes are full of starch and carbs and nothing good comes from them, they should be eaten only rarely and then with no butter
- Soda/Sugar- now this is one that everyone agrees on- including myself even though I still drink soda and probably eat more sugar than I should- soda is horrible for you, it can cause heart burn, upset stomach, bladder problems, not to mention gaining weight if you arent really active.
- Pasta- pretty much considered a not good food due to the carbs and the fact that we tend to eat bread with it thus compounding the problem
- Side note- some people believe that pasta is better than spuds because you can do different things with it- add protein and etc
- Bread- Bread is kind of useless carbs, much like pasta. You dont get much benefit from the normal store bought bread. Some types- like the stuff dad makes- are probably much better although I have never tested that (I take his word for it :))
- Meals- The argument is that there is no way to lose weight unless you eat a large protein filled breakfast. This goes with the "you will feel better if you eat breakfast"
- Conversly- I feel sick when I eat a large breakfast -or even a small one- and I have never lost weight from eating food in the morning. And yes I did give it a solid try.
