The tyranny of the majority

Remember in elementary school the unfortunate kid who fell in the mud and for the rest of the week was labeled as a walking cootie by the rest of her classmates? (Melissa if you’re reading this I’m very sorry but at the time I hadn’t yet read the research disproving the existence of cooties) Even though we all knew that cooties didn’t really exist going for that temporary feeling of superiority that came from being cootie free was very appealing at the time. As we grew older and discovered real self esteem and free will, we figured out that just because most people thought it didn’t necessarily make it right. However some still bow to the whims of the majority when it comes to their eating habits.

For people trying to do something better, anything at all like manage their money, spend more time with family or stick to an exercise regime one of the most important things that you can have is support from the people around you. So you’re the person who wants to lose a few, you sit down to a nice family dinner and as fast as you can pass on your auntie Hortence’s pasta salad, the cootie calling jackals resurface. The psychology of these people is that they cannot see your choices independent of their own. The more disciplined you are, the less disciplined they feel.

“Obsessive is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated”

 

Being selective about your food portions, prioritizing whole foods over processed foods and eating lots of fruits and veggies is the way to a healthy disease free existence. Not to mention the fact that you’ll have more energy and tones of confidence from looking great. It’s not fanatical, strange or hippie like. We are simply changing our habits based on the information that is available to us. We now know that excess sugar can feed certain types of cancer. We know obesity raises the risk of having a stroke, developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes exponentially. 40 years ago parents would lift their young children into the back seat of their car, cigarette hanging out of the side of their mouth and drive to grandma’s house without seatbelts. I wonder what everyone said to the guy in the backseat who suggested buckling up? Paranoid bastard

So next time instead of just being easygoing and chubby tell Auntie Hortence that eating enough processed carbs to run the Boston marathon is as outdated as her northern reflections sweater and the both of you will be better for it.

DS