Garbage Food

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by AJ's Surplus Grocery. It is close to my house and I was hoping it would be one of those quirky groceries that had some semi-healthy foods interspersed with all of the other snacky-snack and uber-carb stuff. Think proteins, Guac, nuts, etc.  This coupon came up on Facebook a week later.

It was like trying to find water in the Sahara. It was crap junk food up and down the aisles and all over. Metabolic Disorder Dumpster Land.

I wound up buying a couple of pieces of pork, some peanuts, Buffalo Wing bites, a couple of cans of beans, and three small containers of lime juice to flavor my seltzer. I walked out with my purchase and an employee of the store came out soon after me to corral some shopping carts out in the parking lot. He engaged me in conversation. Asked me if that was the first time I had visited (it just had opened) and how my shopping experience was.

It was one of those moments where I was cornered. I didn't want to lie or pretend that I was impressed. I said something like, "Well, I had a hard time finding anything. Your store has A LOT of unhealthy food."   He was a bit stunned by my response...backed up as if I had hit him with a jab. He didn't say anything but looked dazed and walked away.

"Food" that is high-carbohydrate (simple and sugar) creates essentially a cycle of needing more carbs. The body is crying out for something substantial and instead we keep giving it the same thing over and over. Like paper on a campfire. It flares out and then dies out. The hunger comes back stronger.

Since mid-summer, I have dropped 20 or so pounds. Although I don't subscribe to Low-Carb or Keto Diets, I do believe in lower carbs. So, a will have a piece of bread or half a bagel with breakfast, eat a simple lunch of a meat and vegetables, and then maybe eat some cheese or additional protein at night for dinner. Hunger is quelled. As a treat, I will have a couple of pieces of Dove Chocolate. I save beer usually for the weekend and keep it to three a night and maybe skip one night a weekend and not drink at all.

I have been here before but after having a couple of issues this summer where I ascertained that my weight created problems in my body, I have decided that I need to eat better. One was wiping out on my mountain bike the first week of August and I figured having 20 additional pounds in my gut made the slamming into the ground much more lethal; the second was camping in late June and the air mattress being uneven, causing a crick in my lower back. Again, the extra weight compounded the pressure. Both injuries took weeks to heal from and now six weeks later, I am ready to hop on the mountain bike again.     

Our American Diet of junk food has spiritual parallels. We want to be satiated but keep going back to the broken cisterns of the entertainment and distraction. We wonder why we are hungry. We just keep consuming it without any nutrition. It tastes good, it gives us a rush, but we are left with wanting more. Maybe we need some soul food.

I will continue this train of thought in next week's blog...