There is no "easy" option

Tonight, as I left the grocery store parking lot with my bag of uncooked ingredients for my dinner, my eye was caught by the neon lights of the Panda Express at the other end of the shopping center. I thought "oh, how easy it would be if I could just grab a hot, filling, tastey dinner from there (and for only $6)". And I thought of how many other people driving home from work and errands were doing that very thing. And then I thought of how many people in this country do that always, every day, and how widespread is obesity, mainly due to this human, primitive fact: our bodies instinctively want nourishment in the most efficient way possible, and with ingredients that we can count on to satisfy and last (read FATs).

In some ways the excessive weight of the western world is an accomplishment: for the first time in history there are more overnourished people in the world than there are undernourished. As a race we are not dying of starvation! But we ARE dying of...heart disease. How ironic that this "too much of a good thing" is just that: although we do not struggle to be adequately fed, we struggle to be healthily fed, and it pays its price on all parts of our bodies.

Cue entrance of celiac disease: my life is full of restrictions (and this blog is full of me talking about them ;). But as challenging as it is, I know that the condition is also a blessing - because for me, there is no easy option. I cannot eat whenever or whatever I want from the abundance of food choices available everywhere I look, whether it is Panda Express, McDonald's, or Super Organic Health Restaurant. Feeding myself cannot be as instantaneous as it has now become in the modern world; even if I do not grow my own food, or in the rare cases that I pay to have someone else prepare it, I must be mindful and careful of the way in which it is prepared, which reinserts my consciousness into the process. If to order a hamburger I have to get out of my car to go inside, explain how I need them to clean the grill and use new gloves to handle my patty, then stress about if they will truly do so, it makes the fast food option MUCH less appealing! I might as well grill my own patty of 98% lean meat at home where I know it will be safe.

Because of celiac disease, I am forced into living that old "European" lifestyle that we romanticize, in which Mother shopped at the local market daily for the fresh foods that she would prepare for all of the family's meals. My options for processed, packaged foods are much more limited (although they are increasing) which leads to me cooking more whole foods that are much healthier anyway!

Unfortunately many people actually have reached a level of obesity which really requires the same dietary and lifestyle changes as I have had to make. I remember how, prior to being diagnosed, I thought I was doomed to be a tired person forever; I had completely forgotten what it felt like to feel good and full of energy, and I suspect the same is true for many whose condition of obesity has not yet been confronted. How different the world might be if obesity could be seen with the same urgency and severity of consequences as my disease...would we see those quick and easy food options as a poison, as something that is not even an option.

disclaimer: nothing about this post is intended to be a judgement