My Life Got Flip-turned Upside Down

 #54


Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure. - Thomas Edison


The New Food Pyramid

A new visual providing dietary guidelines for Americans was released this month. It is definitely a move in the right direction. The old food pyramid is probably older than you realize (1992), but was drilled into our minds for quite some time. This old pyramid has effectively been flipped upside-down; protein and veggies have rightfully taken their place as the highest priority on your plate, while whole grains make up the smallest suggested portion of your diet. 

I will state the obvious that this by no means solves our obesity epidemic. You could actually be quite healthy by following either one of these food pyramids. Neither one of them leaves any room for heavily processed, highly palatable foods which are the main culprit in a diet of excess. I do like that the new pyramid takes a stronger stance against sweets and (in the written guidelines) against alcohol. One strange inclusion is the butter and oil so high on the new format. Butter and oil are very calorie dense. While I understand the push to remind people real butter and oil are better for you than all the fake inventions of the 90s, they should still be a smaller part of your diet. I dare say the same for cheese. While they are healthy fats, Americans hardly need a free pass to add more cheese to their diet. 

The strategy to become or remain healthy remains the same even with a refresh on the government guidelines: it is up to you. You have to take your health into your own hands, not the government's and not the doctor's. Learn for yourself, and create daily habits that support health. 

Final note: Despite the responsibility ultimately resting on the individual, new guidelines like this will have a national effect in some ways. Public school lunches will undoubtedly be affected by this change, and most likely for the better. Farming and agriculture may shift as this catches on. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing some innovation in regenerative farming that allowed for higher quality and more affordable meat. I wouldn't even mind if corn, which is largely used in ultra-processed food snacks, took a hit along the way (come at me Iowans.) 





January Tiny Challenge: Daily Squat

Don't forget your daily squats. It does not need to be weighted or even challenging. At some point each day you should find yourself in a squatting position for at least a few seconds or reps, however you see fit that day. This could be a break from the office chair or a moment you bring yourself to your child's height for interrogation purposes. Some cultures are perfectly comfortable sitting in a squat and even have public restrooms with toilets that are essentially holes in the ground. You have grown too used to chairs and gotten stiff and immobile. So get down and squat more. 

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