Health NOT Weight

Although some of you are using the Gain Great Health site as a tool on your journeys to weight loss, I have resisted the discussion of weight for the past month and a half for a distinct reason.   As mentioned on the About page, focusing on gaining great health will pave the way to your body’s natural, biologically determined size.  Besides, it’s not where you want to get that matters, but how you will realistically get there and stay there!  Likewise, whether you are trying to nip your weight gain in the bud or (to extend the analogy) trim an overgrown pasture, the eating patterns, physical activity regiments, mindsets, and determination are similar in nature.

 

True Motivation

OK. So you want to fit into your skinny jeans or the nice polo that now decorates your closet.  You're on a mission to look fabulous for your upcoming birthday celebration (and for men, you want to look nice!).  Or you want to lose 50-75 lbs because your doctor tells you this will place you within the normal BMI range.  Although motivating in theory, these scenarios only provide temporary inspiration for change.

Motivations of superficial vanity and fear of death are great for giving you a nudge, but 9 times out of 10, these changes are fleeting--leaving you gung ho for the first three weeks (if that!) followed by the temporary guilt-provoking slip up (a guilt which needs to be abolished!!!  Read more).  In most cases, these motivations plunge us into drastic and unsustainable diets that leave us feeling upset with ourselves if we don’t meet our goals (although everyone may not feel upset, negative feelings manifest nevertheless).  

GMOs 101: What’s really in our food?

GMO, GM (not General Mills!), and GE (and not General Electric!) are common buzz words that some people may be aware of, while others may not. For those who don’t know, GMO stands for genetically modified organism, and in this context the organism becomes food; GM stands for genetical modified; and GE stands for genetically engineered.  Common foods that are genetically modified include (but not limited to) soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil.   Even if you don’t eat any of these foods, food compounds derived from these crops are almost ubiquitous in our food system.  

Since genetically engineered crops were introduced in the U.S. in 1996, their use has grown significantly.  According to some global estimates, 25% of the 672 million acres used for cultivating crops was used to grow GM crops in 2003.  And of this 25%, two-thirds of these science experiments are grown in the United States. While masses of Europeans are placing pressure on their governments to label foods as GM, less than half of Americans even know that some of the foods that they eat are genetically engineered.  And depending on your diet, the mention of some above can easily turn into a majority!

Healthy Thanksgiving Delights

The Thanksgiving table is often filled with a variety of not-so-healthy treats, but it doesn’t have to be this way.  Depending on your family’s tradition, your menu might include turkey and dressing, ham, cranberry sauce, greens, string beans, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread and/or dinner rolls, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and/or apple pie.  Below are some of these classics with a healthy twist as well as a few non-traditional menu items.  As you may recall from a previous entry, you can always start a new tradition of a healthier side dish (eh hem, three-bean salad anyone?).

Give Thanks

Aside from the elaborate spectacle of food at the dining room table, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for what’s truly important in life (and if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, giving thanks certainly still applies!).  In this day and age, it’s often easy to get side tracked on what used to be a simple question.  What are you grateful for in your life?  Take a moment to reflect on your day, the past week, month, and year and think about what has given you motivation, hope, and positive perspectives.   Write down your honest answers, and know that this is what you you should be grateful for.  

The flat screen TVs, laptops, iPods and iPads, Blackberries, and other electronic gadgets--that fill up good portions of our present-day existence--have taken away from life’s true importance.  I shall call them human-interaction-detracting devices.  Although it may be easier for older generations to accomplish this goal as they may use less and less of these distractors, let Thanksgiving be a reminder to give thanks for your life’s true blessings.  Family, friends, great conversations, smiles, laughter, great health, and nourishing (real!) food for our bodies.

When I was volunteering in Trinidad this summer, the camp coordinators started each training session off right.  Each session began hand-in-hand (kumbaya-style!) with the camp counselors sharing what they were grateful for.  Depending on how your family and/or friends begin your Thanksgiving meal, follow the blessing/prayer with each person at the table saying why they give thanks. This is the true meaning of holiday.