We hear every day that healthy food is expensive. If you\u2019re struggling with finance, how can you possibly improve your diet?<\/p>\n
Our friends tell us that we\u2019re just a product of our genetics anyway. If heart disease or cancer are in our genes, why does making an effort to eat better even matter?<\/p>\n
The news claims scientists change their minds about what foods are good for you every week. What\u2019s the point in even trying to keep up?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re often told that a calorie is a calorie: Maybe you can just eat 1200 calories of cake, and lose weight. With that in mind, why eat broccoli at all?<\/p>\n
We only live once anyway. Shouldn\u2019t you just treat yourself? Don\u2019t you deserve it? Everything in moderation!<\/p>\n
Well, we\u2019re here to tell you that all the above is a load of garbage.<\/b><\/p>\n
People have been coming up with reasons not to do difficult but important things since the dawn of time. It took almost 500,000 years for human beings, as a species, to advance beyond simple stone tools, and that whole time you can bet there were people trying. It didn\u2019t take a week from the time the first agricultural corn sprouted to when the first prophets began proclaiming the end was near from overpopulation, civilization, and plague, and they haven\u2019t stopped since. The first people to advance medical treatment beyond blood letting surely heard \u201ceverything in moderation\u201d from their colleagues, who cheerfully sliced away at arteries just as the modern slaughterhouse worker does today, and that same trite phrase was used to defend methamphetamine consumption in the early 20th century. Progress has always been held back by the countless people who choose to conform, instead of thinking rationally for themselves.<\/p>\n
But you don\u2019t have to conform. In starting this lifestyle, you\u2019re choosing to view your diet and your choices in a completely different way. You\u2019re choosing to view them as your own, and within your control. \u201cI am the product of my decisions,\u201d as Steven Covey wrote, and you are too. You\u2019re the product of them whether you\u2019d like to be or not, so it\u2019s worthwhile to start making good ones. You can become intentional about the food you buy and eat. You\u2019re in control.<\/p>\n
It can be hard to feel that way sometimes, and we\u2019re battered daily by messages to the contrary. There\u2019s tremendous public enthusiasm to confirm that people who \u201ceat healthy\u201d still die young, get fat, or live such terrible lives that there\u2019s no point in even trying. The news media covers stories and research that shock us, and that confirm that we\u2019re helpless. When somebody fit and healthy dies of a heart attack, the paramedics can hardly beat the film crews to the scene. T. Colin Campbell refers to these stories as \u201cgood news about bad habits.\u201d These stories are defeatist, helping us to excuse ourselves and to settle. Although they use different words, the message is always the same: It\u2019s not your responsibility and it\u2019s not in your control.<\/p>\n
Fortunately for the fit and healthy, they usually don\u2019t die of heart attacks. Actually, they hardly ever do, which is why it\u2019s all over the news whenever it happens. On the other hand, according to the American Diabetes Association, \u201ccardiovascular disease (including stroke), cancer, and diabetes account for approximately two-thirds of all deaths in the U.S.\u201d That seems like the story to me, especially when there\u2019s so much that we can do about it. It\u2019s a pretty shocking, counter-cultural statement to say that the majority of those deaths are preventable by dietary change, but the research implies that they just might be.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the alternative?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let your finances control you. Control your finances.<\/b><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be a victim of genetics. Be the victor over your genetics.<\/b><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t treat yourself to a doughnut. Treat yourself to a long, healthy life.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let the news decide what you should eat. Decide for yourself, and act.<\/p>\n
<\/b><\/b>Don\u2019t live in moderation. Live fully.<\/b><\/p>\n
So let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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