Diets don't work

So many people these days try various diets like South Beach, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, Atkins, etc. that it's turned into a multi-billion dollar industry. Unfortunately for most folks who try these trendy diets, they often end up failing in the long run, because the minute they achieve the results they wanted, they go off of their diets and fall back into old eating habits again and ultimately gain back all of the weight they lost. It's become obvious to me the reason why: Americans seem to suffer from what I think one could easily call "nutritional illiteracy". That kind of information is not taught in schools. Education doesn't teach stuff like proper nutrition and weight management. Oh, sure, I remember the days of the food pyramid and you do get a little information about food and nutrition in schools, but not nearly enough to learn how to take care of yourself. One has but to look in grocery store lines to see just how much junk food is being offloaded from carts at the cashier's station. There are whole aisles devoted to pop and junk snacks like chips, cookies, etc. and if parents bring their kids to the store with them (more often than not, parents drag their kids everywhere now - is there any such thing anymore as a babysitter?), they're more likely to have carts filled to the brim with too much sugary junk food because kids disdain healthy snacks. Even if people are by themselves, I rarely see people buying good healthy foods. I will admit that I don't always do the best job myself, but I am beginning to pay closer attention to things like sodium and carb numbers on packages, and I am appalled at what we eat in this country! Even stuff that's supposed to be "healthy" or "organic" is still way too high in the carb and sodium category. Is it any wonder that the double threats of diabetes and obesity reign as widespread epidemics in this country? I had a blood test this past week that revealed that even I have a slightly elevated blood sugar count, and I am determined to bring that back down to an acceptable number, meaning I've got to really start paying attention to my carbohydrate intake. I began last night by educating myself at the grocery store and reading plenty of labels on things. I was there way longer than I intended, as I was only planning on picking up a few items, but I decided to use the time for a little educational reading as well. Going down aisles of food, I began selectively reading labels on everything from soups to pastas. It was a fascinating revelation how easy it is to eat badly and not know it. There are some very good foods on store shelves now that are low in sodium, high in protein and low in carbs, so there is being made an effort to market healthier foods, but not enough for my druthers. I am going to continue this learning process as I begin holing up for the winter months and doing more cooking since it's now cold outside. It's tough to cook in my tiny "kitchenette" which barely has enough space for any meaningful food prep, but I can still throw together some good quick healthy dishes that require little space and can be whipped up in no time, especially when I drag my exhausted self in from a long day at work. I can also spend my weekends cooking extra and then putting stuff in the fridge that can be reheated during the week. So this blood sugar revelation has turned into an opportunity to do a little self educating on better nutrition and healthier eating. Hopefully I can shed the already 10 pounds of premature winter weight I've packed on by paying more attention to what I am eating and do a better job of laying off of bad carbs and replacing them with healthy carbs and better food choices.

REMEMBERING MY FATHER

This past Thursday, December 11th, would have been my father's 86th birthday were he still alive. I often wonder if he would have made it this far had he not died as the result of injuries in an automobile accident in 1961. I wonder to myself how different my life might have been had I had a father as well. It's far too easy to obsess over these kinds of thoughts but I do find myself wondering about him a lot. I never knew him nor his family, as we never spent any time with our paternal relatives growing up. I met them only a few times in my life and even then, for only very short periods of time, so I barely know that side of my family like I know my many maternal relatives. So often I find myself thinking of questions I would have liked to have had the chance to ask my father, like about his experiences in WWII, in college, dating my mom, his childhood, his graduate studies and many more. I do feel, even after so many years, bereft of certain experiences that I might have had if Daddy had lived. Growing up in a single parent household had its difficulties, to be sure, and four of us competing for our mom's attention meant that I often felt like I wasn't aggressive enough to fight for more of it, so early on, I kind of retreated into myself, deciding that the competition, particularly with my elder sister, who I sometimes perceived as being very needy at times, wasn't worth the hassles. These were the kinds of things that might have turned out differently had I had a father and a regular two parent household. For certain it has impacted how I have always felt about myself. I've battled self esteem issues for the better part of my life and part of this stems from growing up in the shadow of a very assertive older sister who sometimes made me feel inferior. Still, in spite of it all, I love her so very much and now that we're adults, I find that I miss her company desperately (she lives in New England and thus, doesn't get home very often to visit, and I haven't been there to visit her since 1992). I love spending time with her, talking and laughing and reminiscing with her and it's so nice that we get along so well in spite of our occasional bitter childhood rivalry. Mostly we got along just fine as kids and frequently played together, but we sure had our rockier moments. I just wonder how different our relationship might have been growing up had our father survived to help raise us. But that's not a question that can be answered. I'm just glad that in spite of the usual sibling rivalries that went on in our household during my formative years, that I have three wonderful siblings and a mom who I love more than anything in the world and I am profoundly grateful that I grew up in the household that I did, despite its being run by a single parent. I think that Daddy would be extremely proud of all of us for persevering despite his untimely demise.