Obsessed with Eating Healthy
Eating healthy isn’t easy, but it’s not as difficult as some make it out to be. The media (here and here), as well as physician Steven Bratman and clinical psychology will have you believe otherwise. Bratman “coined the term “orthorexia nervosa” to denote an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating” (source). I do have an obsession to be healthy, but I find nothing unhealthy about the decisions I make and the foods I eat. Call it what you will, but in no way am I “obsessed with the “perfect diet” and the cleanliness of food, eating on a highly regulated regime” (source). In fact I don’t believe I have ever termed how I eat, “perfect.” Nor am I better than anyone who doesn’t agree with how I eat. That won’t stop me from discussing it, as I am obsessed with eating healthy.
“People love to hear good news about their bad habits” (source) says Dr. John McDougall.
“They’re Thinking: “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Look at me, I’m still alive. Life would not be worth living without my favorite foods: beefsteak and banana cream pie. Plus I have read chocolate, cheese, and wine are good for me
I understand: I was once at the same place myself. I could not see past my own dinner plate. I once believed pizza and milk chocolate sundaes were great sources of protein and calcium. I now know that this is untrue. More importantly, because I now eat differently, I see the world from a new viewpoint. As I walk by a table surrounded by overweight diners, the cause of their conditions is obviously the spread of rich foods set before them. A U-turn in your thinking can cause you to become drastically different—trimmer, younger, happier, more functional, and less medicated—too” (source).
Still no amount of data, scientific study or physicians and nutritionists will convince people to change how they eat, in the name of health. People refuse to give up their “favorites” even if they are slowly killing them. Cancer, obesity and heart disease probably wouldn’t stop some from continue to dine on their bacon, butter and fat laden meals.
Eating healthy has consumed my life the past 2 years, but that’s a good thing. My blood work numbers, appearance and health are a testament to the power that food has when it comes to your health. Prescription drugs are no longer part of my daily regime. No longer do I walk into the closet only to find my pants are getting smaller, when in reality my ass is getting bigger. Physical activity level has never been higher, as I work towards my first 2014 goal of accomplishing a 50k, something I would NEVER have considered just 2 years ago.
So call me what you want; obsessed, compulsive, crazy, stupid, vegan, vegetarian, plant based, deficient, extreme, impossible, fanatic, the results don’t lie. My health has flourished and will continue to do so based on MY food decisions. So if being obsessed with healthy eating is a disorder, I hate to think of the disease and illnesses of those following a Western pattern diet.
