I just watched the second season of Jaime Oliver’s 'Food Revolution' and I am amazed again at the resistance he faces trying to educate Americans about what they are eating! People are giving him shit for showing them food alternatives that taste good and are better for their health than the processed, fast food bullshit we are addicted to!?
I’ve come to the conclusion that basically the bottom line is money and addiction. Why else would people continually make themselves sick with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart issues, obesity and a whole slew of other avoidable illness if they weren’t addicted? Or maybe they just aren’t educated to know better?
Money is one obvious obstacle. How sad is it that its cheaper to eat a 99 cent fried 5 piece of processed chicken than to eat a real piece of grilled chicken? Have you ever tried to grocery shop at Whole Foods Market? The food, especially the meat, looks so much better than other grocery stores, but the price tag is often twice as much! Can a family of 5 even afford to eat healthy in hard economic times like these? I’ve cried several times at the checkout line looking at the rising total.
I feel overwhelmed when I watch this show, and sad. My face crumples when the 17 year old girl tells the story of her grandparents dying of weight issues, her parents suffering from type 2 diabetes, as well as her 13 year old sister, and their eating habits at home still haven’t changed. Why are we continuing to kill ourselves and our children? And why does the government and institutions such as school districts not only allow it to happen, but fight a revolution that is trying to improve the health of many?
It’s a touchy subject, even in my own family. People get pissed when they perceive your desire for improved heath as an attack on their way of life. I suppose some of Jaime Oliver’s opposition on the show is so stubborn because they resent someone coming in and telling them their way is ‘wrong’. But shouldn’t schools of all places opt for food that will enhance the wellness of their children, not contribute to the disease that runs rampant in our society?
I’ve lost relationships with some of my own family members over my pursuit of a healthier lifestyle because they suddenly think I am judging them or talking down to them. Or that I think I am better than them because I am trying to eat better and raise my children to break the pattern of obesity that dominates both sides of my genetic pool. I realize their attacks on me are just a defense mechanism because by drawing attention to the positive changes in my own life it forces them to examine their own painful habits and addictions. I am not judging or criticizing your lunch choice, I am begging for your awakening so you will be around for the birth of your own grandchildren.
I am not trying to take away all your pleasure in life by replacing your pasta recipe with spaghetti squash; I am attempting to create a tiny shift in your taste preferences that can benefit your health! What I want to say sometimes is, “You do realize I am saying all this as a fat person, right?” I’m not some 100 lb fitness expert talking down from a yoga mat.
Even with my recent loss of ‘pregnancy weight’ I weighed this much all on my own before having children to blame it on and probably still technically, medically fall into the ‘morbidly obese’ category, or at the least have been there before.
I know better than anyone where they are coming from and it’s a hard, fucked up place to exist in. But there is light on the other side of the scale and I want to help lead them to it!
I know the struggle. I fight it everyday, even with all my recent diet and weight loss ‘successes’. All my indignation comes from a place of love because I’ve climbed that mountain of mashed potatoes and gravy and I see the valley of veggies down below, and you know what? They taste good! I am satisfied with what I eat.
When people hear I am doing a 30 or 90 Day Challenge, or eating Paleo, they say, “Oh Leah’s on that diet where she can’t eat anything again!”
No, actually I am living a lifestyle where I get to eat delicious, fresh food I usually prepare so I know what’s in the fuel I am feeding my body. I feel great! I feel so good physically, but more importantly emotionally and psychologically that I can’t help but to spread the gospel of greens and almond milk and avocados! I know how hard it is to abstain from Oreo cookies and sweets in general. But as time goes by and my new positive, beneficial eating habits replace a lifetime of sabotaging ones, it gets easier to say no to the cheese sauce on my broccoli and pass on demolishing the bread basket.
I see all the people trying to fight a man doing a TV show about a food revolution and I relate to the resistance I face on a daily basis in my own life and family. As my face crumples over the sadness of a 17 year old who has resigned herself to an unavoidable life suffering with a disease she doesn’t have yet, but knows if she doesn’t make a change that she will follow in the footsteps of her family, I relate to the feeling of hopelessness.
How many times have I thought and felt in my life, “Oh well, I guess I’m just gonna be fat forever…..”
My 2 year old daughter’s faces scrunch up with confusion, mirroring my emotions. They don’t know whether they should cry too. Twin pools of innocence starring at me for guidance, so I smile and say, “Its OK babies, Mommy promises to fight. I will fight for you always.”
I promise out loud to give everything in me to lead by example that food is not the enemy, and neither are we. I promise to provide them with a healthy way of life with the hope their unavoidable struggles in life will not be the same ones that have plagued our families for generations. My husband and I toast ourselves often for breaking the patterns and cycles instilled in us. So I flip the switch inside as most mothers often do and smile through my sadness and tears.
When I smile, they smile.
I pray such influence is everlasting, or at least ingrained enough so that when they are old enough to fight their own battles, they are a force to be reckoned with because of the strength and confidence I have instilled in them.
