My profound feeling here is that analyzing food into chemicals and calories, and then labelling these componments "bad" or "good", is the root of the American problem with food. It's the reason so many people eat artificial foods like mostly chemical "diet foods", or even foods like "Lite" yogurt that are adulterated with glycerin and gelatin that have little or no food value at all, just because they have "less fat" or some such reason.
Women in particular have become afraid of food and see it as a necessary evil. The body does not see it this way at all. Hence the war and the self-punishment that women go through, forcing themselves to eat weird stuff out of the fear of being "fat". Now, if we define "being fat" as obesity, of course that's bad. But we don't. We define "being fat" as "anything over downright gaunt and half-starved."
There is a snotty and annoying little book called "Frenchwomen don't get fat" or somesuch thing that, under the snot and annoyance, makes an excellent point or two. Namely, that eating real, well-done foods only when you are hungry, and suppressing the desire to analyze your food to death, are good ways to stay healthy. You won't be gaunt, but you won't be obese, either.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-04-09 08:36 pm (UTC)Women in particular have become afraid of food and see it as a necessary evil. The body does not see it this way at all. Hence the war and the self-punishment that women go through, forcing themselves to eat weird stuff out of the fear of being "fat". Now, if we define "being fat" as obesity, of course that's bad. But we don't. We define "being fat" as "anything over downright gaunt and half-starved."
There is a snotty and annoying little book called "Frenchwomen don't get fat" or somesuch thing that, under the snot and annoyance, makes an excellent point or two. Namely, that eating real, well-done foods only when you are hungry, and suppressing the desire to analyze your food to death, are good ways to stay healthy. You won't be gaunt, but you won't be obese, either.