I watched a war documentary yesterday. The devastation was unbelievable. It left me wondering if anything creates more suffering on this planet than war.
After sitting with that thought last night, I realized - there is.
It’s not hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanos, or earthquakes.
Food is the most destructive force on earth.
We’ve talked about rest being a double edged sword. If that’s true, then food is a double edged atomic bomb.
The food we eat can make us incredibly healthy and strong. But it can also make our bodies sick, unusable, and then - dead.
All at our own doing.
Unfortunately as modern Americans, we’re doing much more harm to ourselves than good when we eat.
Why the heck is this?
Here’s a few reasons:
1- Sugar. We know it’s bad, so we can’t plead ignorance. But we can plead temporary insanity. We’re more addicted to sugar than we want to admit. The food industry knows this, and puts it in basically everything.
2- The effects of what we eat happen slowly, so we don’t view one unhealthy meal as life threatening. We ignore the compounding effects of bad eating habits.
3- We trust in the enemy. The food industry DOES NOT CARE IF WE LIVE OR DIE. They just want our money. They trick and fool us with advertising so we’ll buy their garbage.
4-We’re slaves to our tongue. Too many of us judge food only by how it tastes, instead of what effect it has on us.
5- Food has become entertainment. We have the Food Network, talk shows with heavy food themes, and commercials of people laughing while eating cake.
6- What’s normal has changed. When I was younger, overweight people stood out and were unfortunately made fun of. Now, being overweight and out of shape is so common, there appears to be nothing wrong with it.
But there is something wrong with it. Something very, very wrong.
Medical science keeps telling us that we’re slowly killing ourselves with the food we eat.
The CDC tells us that LESS than 1 out of 10 adults eat enough fruits and vegetables.
Why are we so willing to tinker with this atomic bomb?
I think I have the reason.
Ready?
We stopped needing to earn our food.
I’m talking physically earning it. This is what we’ve done for thousands of years.
It’s what our bodies know how to do. They’re designed to work hard at surviving before we eat.
When we’re hungry, we feel lighter, our senses are sharper, we have energy to get things done. After we eat a full meal, we feel heavy, tired, and less aware of our surroundings.
When we earn our food, we instinctively want to eat healthy so we can go get more tomorrow. We use it as something life giving, instead of life taking.
After you’ve just busted your butt, you’re not going to reach for a Big Mac or a Twinkie. It just feels wrong. You’ll want food that gives you more strength and energy, not less.
We don’t have to hunt, gather, or dig for our food anymore. Being 2nd 50 strong, we now earn our food through weight training and exercise.
Exercising for the right to eat, puts food in a healthy perspective. It allows the atomic bomb to explode us into strength, health, and vitality. Instead of turning our bodies into a wasteland.
So do yourself a favor, and don’t blow up.
Turn aging upside down.
Eat healthy, weight train, and......
Get strong as hell,
Coach Ken