Did you know that if you place a frog in a pan of water, he just sits there? If the pan is heated very slowly and gradually the frog won’t even notice that the temperature of the water he is sitting in is getting warmer. The frog “gets used to” the increasing heat and will likely boil to death if the heat is not turned down because his sensory capabilities fail to warn him that he needs to hop out of the pan in order to survive.
So why am I sharing this gruesome tale with you? We, the American public, have become the frog and the food companies and Standard American Diet (SAD) are like the water. Overtime, we have become more and more dependent on artificial ingredients and processed foods, but because this has been a gradual increase, we hardly noticed. Today, we (as a country) are sick, diseased, exhausted and overweight. The water is near boiling and we have to “hop out” to save our lives. For many, “hopping” is easier said then done.
Convenience, culture, tradition, perception of finances and taste preference “trap” us, even though our current diet is not in our best interests.
I spend most of my day, every day, advising people on how to live a healthier life. I help them understand that eating healthy doesn’t have to leave them with an empty wallet and that healthy foods and tasty foods are not mutually exclusive. The thing is, I am a human too. No human is perfect. We are biologically programmed to seek out the most calorically-dense foods and eat as much of them as possible. A long, long, very long time we had to rely on our opportunities of feast in order to survive during famine. This innate instinct is now confused in our modern environment of super-sizing and drive-throughs. We have an unlimited amount of food available anytime and anywhere.
I know better than to eat sugar and drink caffeine. I know the effects they have on my body, but like I said, I am human too, and no human is perfect. So this week when life got busy, schoolwork piled up and clients were scheduled back to back, I resorted to one of my old habits – caffeine – for that extra boost to get me through. Although I haven’t had a sip of coffee in years, tea has a similar effect on me. The caffeine, felt good initially and I felt energized and empowered to get through my grueling tasks. It didn’t take long before I felt tired, starving and craving sweets. Everything felt out of whack and off balance by the end of the day.
The next day, I woke up feeling hungover and sluggish, so what did I do? I put some water on to boil and had a nice hot cup of caffeinated tea – actually, make that plural – cups of tea. I was feeding myself poorly to make myself feel better. Does that sound familiar or may be it’s just me? After another day of this routine, I decided enough was enough and the next morning I woke up and had some hot water with lemon. While not nearly as satisfying at the time, I felt a heck of a lot better by the end of the day, and feeling more like myself. I “hopped” out of the boiling water.
Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in the pleasure trap because it can feel so good and getting out of it doesn’t initially. The following books provide more information about “hopping” out of the boiling water. The Pleasure Trap by J. Lisle Douglas and Alan Goldhamer and The Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein provide wonderful and insightful information about the motivational factors that cause us to give in to an excessive diet and lifestyle and how to communicate with our body to get on and stay on a healthy, energizing and mindful track.
awesome!