Junk Food Culture

The last couple of years have been rough on my family, nutritionally speaking. Between having babies, moving, and remodeling our kitchen, my husband and I have each packed on at least 20 lbs of extra weight. We both have diabetes and cardiovascular illness in our genes, and I could see we weren’t headed down a good path. After doing a bunch of research, I came up with a few points of food-doctrine to improve my family’s nutrition:

1- Sugar is the devil and needs to be avoided or limited.
2- Refined carbs act the same as sugar and should be limited.
3- There are good fats, bad fats, and neutral fats.
4- Not all calories are created equally. Cut sugars and refined carbs first.
5- Eat lots of veggies. Eat protein at every meal. Eat some fruit. Eat carbs that metabolise slowly.

When I grocery shop, I only buy things that fit these criteria. I keep my kitchen pretty clear of naughty foods so that when I feel snacky, I don’t have food lying around that I shouldn’t eat. After months of experimenting with meal plans and refining what works for my family, I feel like I’m finally in control of things.

I don’t have control over what other people give me and my kids, though. I feel like I’ll be rude if I tell the person “no thank you, I’m not eating cookies anymore”. Furthermore, I really don’t have the willpower not to eat them when someone gives them to me- and I tend to eat the entire plate in one sitting.

We live in a culture where sweets are used as currency. When you do someone a favor, you’re paid back in cookies. At every social gathering, there’s a whole array of cake, brownies, sugary punch, candy, etc. Girl scouts come every year and actually make you pay for cookies that will kill you, and you can’t tell them no because the kids are so cute and the cookies taste so good. Junk food has infiltrated every aspect of my community and is really putting a damper on my plans to not get diabetes.

So lets make a truce, ok?

I’ll still watch your kids for you, drop off a meal for you, help you move, come to your party, and do all the usual friend-favors and social things that go along with being part of a community. In return, I may ask for a favor of equal value, or expect you to pay forward the good deed. I might even settle for good Karma. But please, no more cookies.