See, movies can be educational

I’ve decided that I have to get my current thoughts down in written form before I forget everything that’s going through it at the moment. I’ve just watched the movie “Super Size Me” and it makes me want to change my entire diet. Unfortunately I just went to the store earlier today and bought a bunch of junk food and I’m not willing to throw away $60 worth of food. So, I need to write all of this now so I can re-read it before I go to the store next week or before I want to eat fast food.

For those who don’t know, “Super Size Me” is a documentary by this guy who decided to see what would happen to him if he ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days. It shows how the “corporate machine” doesn’t want Americans to eat healthier and how the lobbyists in DC are preventing legislation denouncing their food companies. It also shows how the director’s health was adversely affected by eating 3 meals a day at good ‘ole Mickey D’s.

During the director’s experiment, he experienced serious mood swings and headaches caused by the caffeine, sugar, fat and carbohydrates consumed. At one point on about the 21st day, he experienced heart palpitations that caused him to seriously consider ending the experiment. His caloric intake was roughly two times the intake needed for a man his size to maintain his weight. According to one of his doctors, he was beginning to become addicted to the food – he was experiencing a high while eating and crashing a few hours after meals. At the end of the 30 days he had gained 25 pounds and his cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure had significant gains. The worst damage was being done to his liver, and his doctors told him that if he continued the diet he would soon experience liver failure.

My thoughts after watching this movie are not so much that I never want to eat fast food again, but I just want to only eat food from its natural state. This does not mean that I want to become vegetarian or just eat raw foods, but I want to actually prepare my own food. If I’m in the mood for chicken, I want to take an actual chicken breast and make it myself. If I want salad dressing, I want to make my own so I know what’s going into it (oh no, what to do about ketchup – maybe I didn’t think this through). I also want to eat only whole grains, no refined carbs. No more processed foods, no more chemicals, and no more added sugar (unless I add it so I know how much is going in). And for the foods that are not practical for me to make (like ketchup or bread), I will go organic and begin shopping at Whole Foods.

I found myself realizing during the movie that I was experiencing many of the same symptoms as the director of the documentary. I’m often lethargic after meals and am happiest while I’m eating. My health scare a little over a week ago made me realize that I might need to make some changes to my diet to avoid the acid reflux and heartburn. My weight has always been an issue, though lately I’ve been seriously yo-yoing (55 pounds down, 30 pounds up, 20 pounds down, 20 pounds back up), which I think is probably worse on my heart than staying a constant weight. In addition, my dad has Type II diabetes brought on by excess weight and I fear that in a few years I may develop diabetes as he did.

I foresee a few problems with this new lifestyle.
1. I’m lazy and don’t like to cook just for myself due to the time factor and the clean-up factor.
2. When I’m out at clients, I am forced to eat out as we are not allowed to bring our own lunch to the client. There is a monetary factor and a limited time factor that forces us to often eat fast food.

This is part of the reason I’m writing this so I remember why I want to change my diet. I want to take care of myself and should be willing to put the time forward to do that. It’s not practical for me to eat this way all of the time, but if I am willing to do it most of the time my health and happiness should improve. I just need to make the effort. This week I will work on finishing all of the bad food I just purchased. The next time I go to the grocery store I will begin to implement this new diet. In the mean time, I think I might look into joining a gym.