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Context

April 30, 2012
Food Environment
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I survived turning the big 4-0 this past weekend and so far it seems like will be a good decade. Let me explain how my day went Saturday and then we’ll make a connection or two.

Around 6:30 am our 4 year old came in and welcomed me to my forties.  (Does it get better than that?)  Shortly after we got up, she and I ventured out to a local coffeeshop.  Latte for me and my partner, steamed milk for her.  When we got home a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs (with ketchup) and toast awaited.  Yummy.  After putting a good friend through his paces on the treadmill, I stopped by the grocery store to get some things for lunch and dinner.  I had a list, but had also been given the green light to get something I liked for lunch.  Uh oh.  Green lights and food with me are worrisome.  A nice lunch of turkey sandwiches, chips, and some chicken and bean salad hit made for two good birthday meals thus far.  Throughout the day we played a bit, cleaned a bit, and got ready for dinner.  Friends would be joining us.

A few appetizers were out and about, some cashews, carrots, celery, etc.  Out of those options I surprisingly focused on the cashews.  In honor of my brother-in-law, who had sent from San Francisco the required ingredients for Manhattans (“You’re old now, you have to drink like you are old.”), we each enjoyed a gentleman’s drink.  I turned to a nice beer after being old for 20 minutes.  My partner grilled steak (delicious), and our friends delivered on garlic potatoes (delicious) and homemade chocolate cake (need I say how that was?).  Through on some ice cream and the 40s are all right.  Good friends, amazing family, and great food.

Here’s the connection.  Context.  On Friday I blogged about how when we label occasions as special we allow that occasion to define what is served and how we behave.  Case in point:  my birthday.  I used the excuse all day.  Coffee, shopping at the grocery store, cashews, steak, and cake, cake, cake.  Followed by ice cream, ice cream, ice cream.  It was my birthday and that defined my eating.  The funny part is I understand what is going on and am still a victim of context.  No matter how hard I tell myself, “Calm down, it’s only homemade chocolate cake with homemade frosting and creamy vanilla ice cream,” I cannot restrain myself.  Now, we may say, “It’s my birthday,” and now the point is proven, context.  I can come up with lots of excuses to eat, I don’t need my birthday.  However, it does give me some cover.

We need to be on the constant look out for environmental cues to our eating.  It’s ok to have a birthday every once in awhile.  Enjoy.  I just don’t want to turn 40 every day.

The new 30

April 27, 2012
Food Descriptives, Food Environment, Food Rules, Scientific Studies
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The past two weeks have brought family birthday gatherings in honor of my nephew and niece.  These are important moments in the lives of 7 and 4 year olds.  Tomorrow brings another family birthday, mine.  40.  Or as I like to call it, the new 30.  I have no angst or pangs about turning 40 and I love the fact that my daughter holds up four fingers when I ask her how old she is and then adds her other hand with a zero and says, “In two sleeps you’ll be this many.”

Our family gatherings and my impending “day to rationalize anything that goes in my mouth” got me thinking about the effect that such occasions have on our consumption.  And guess what?  Someone has investigated this idea.  I love science.

In a 2009 Appetite article entitled, “A quantitative characterisation of meals and their contexts in a sample of 25 to 49-year-old Spanish people,” the researchers set out to determine how the context of a meal influenced eating behavior.  This is too often ignored.  Context is everything.  Give me a reason to eat and I will do it.  Make it my birthday dinner and hide the children.  Simply by labeling a meal as a special occasion seems to change the way we eat (Imagine that, context is an important psychological component of our eating behavior).  I’m going to take a leap here and say that 25-49 year old Spaniards don’t eat all that different from us.  The research bears this out.

“The meal schema acts as a signal to the eater as to what is appropriate and in this respect both defines what is served and is defined by what is served. Previous research on meals has shown how the acceptability of individual foods can vary depending on the meal context and accompanying items.”

Yes!  Translation:  how we describe the meal and occasion for eating helps us determine what is appropriate to serve and thus to consume.  Plus the added bonus that our “acceptability” of food depends on how we’ve labeled it.

I can, with 100% assuredness, state that my eating will change tomorrow.  I will wake up, tell everyone within earshot it’s my 40th birthday, and then repeatedly proclaim, “It’s my birthday!” as I slowly ingest food throughout the day.  This will ostensibly be capped by an amazing “birthday dinner” with my family.  Dessert?  Heck yes.  Times two.

It’s the little rationalization monster on my shoulder that scares me, not the 40th part.

Simply describing a meal as a “birthday” meal sets the context for our consumption.  By labeling my dinner as such, I will define what is served (“It’s my day and I get to pick.”) and how much I consume (“It’s my birthday and on my birthday calories don’t count.  This piece of chocolate cake in non-fat and has zero calories.  Trust me.”)  And more importantly, if I have defined my birthday meal as such, and you come into my orbit, my birthday dinner will impact you as well.

Ok, it’s Friday and that means food rule.  Here we go:

Avoid all vending machines.  Simply stay away.  Do you really need that Twix bar?  No.  Think of it as 300 calories and 3 miles on the treadmill.  That should be enough to scare you away.

I was thinking of a new rule around my birthday.  “New food rule:  Tomorrow is my birthday, so calories don’t count for you either.”  That seems unjust.  Remember, context is everything.

Happy Friday.

“You’re Fat.”

April 26, 2012
Behavior Change, Children, Food Environment
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Words that can wreak havoc to an adult’s world.  Words that can scream in a kid’s world.  For a long time.  Those two words are ubiquitous in today’s bullying culture, words that cut right to the bone.  Right to the heart.  I’ve been there.  In elementary school I was definitely on the other side of plump.  As they pages have shown,  I have an interesting relationship with food, weight, and exercise that stretch back to birth.

In reading an article on the pages of the Dining and Wine section of the New York Times earlier this week, these words rang out.  “Uh oh,” i thought, “someone is getting picked on for being portly.”  No, no, no.  I was wrong.  This was the story of Marshall Reid, a 12 year old 6th grader from North Carolina.  Yes, Marshall is overweight.  That is where the story begins.

Over the past few days, and weeks, I have been consistently hammering home the idea that we as adults establish the food environment for our children.  Wouldn’t you know it, it takes a 12 year old from North Carolina to prove me wrong.  At least in his case.  Two years ago, being tired of the jeers.  On his last day of 4th grade a student stood in front of him and said, “You’re fat.” There began what has now been a two year journey to a thinner Marshall.  He has led his family in reshaping their diet, their exercise habits, and their relationship with food.  He’s 12.  In those two years his BMI has gone from 32.3 (“emphatically obese” as the Times puts it) to 27.4, closing in on normal weight.  Going from what his mother states as “boxed something” to having the family prepare meals from scratch every night has not been easy.  Yet they are doing it.  Marshall now knows how to cook.

There are so many parts to this story that are heartwarming, and the article points out excellent points that often get lost in the echo chamber of weight loss:

“In theory, losing weight should be straightforward: eat healthier, subtract quantity, add exercise. In the real world, though, where each family member can have a different relationship with food, that equation can be far more complicated.”

Thank you for acknowledging the complexities, and thank you for saying that in the real world relationships with food matter.  Relationships matter.  It’s about the environment.  What a wonderful thing Marshall has done for himself.  His family.  For those in his orbit.  He has YouTube videos and has now written a book, “Portion Size Me.”  Yes!  Marshall and his father hit the gym three times a week, they are on a journey as a family.

“We all have issues about eating, Marshall,” says Alex (Marshall’s mother), who fusses over trying to lose 10 pounds. “Ours are different than Dad’s and Jordan’s. We have to make our own choices.”

A family that gets it, all because a 10 year old decided to challenge his habits.  Well done, Marshall, well done.

Man vs Machine

April 25, 2012
Food Environment
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3:00 pm on a dreary day.  A couple of more hours until you get to head home.  Sleepy, feeling very sleepy.  “I need a pick me up,” you think to yourself.  There is a vending machine right upstairs.  But that’s a long walk.  Mmmm, Kit Kat.  Long walk.  Kit Kat.  Long Walk.  Kit Kat.

Have you ever felt the call from afar of the vending machine?  You start searching the office for loose change.  (In my case I shake the London Telephone Booth lookalike change jar and wonder why there is no sound.  Then I grow disappointed and go check the car seats).  Have you ever simply walked by a vending and found yourself cozy-ing up to it unexpectedly?  (I mentioned the Hug-able Coke Machine last week, but that is a different story).  Vending machines have a way of wreaking havoc in our journey to weight management.  They are always there.  They have cheap fixes.  And there is salt and sugar galore.

We’ve all heard the debates about vending machines in secondary and elementary schools.  The conversation usually boils down to revenue vs. obesity.  Seems like it always does.  As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the past few days we as adults create the environment for those around us, especially our children.  But what about when we send those children off to college?  Hopefully we’ve done a good job raising them, and I have no experience her as our oldest daughter will be a member of the class of 2030, and that they will make good decisions.  Take a look at the results of study that assessed vending machines at colleges and universities and was recently published in the journal Appetite:

Of the 2607 snack machine slots surveyed, the most common snacks vended were salty snacks (e.g., chips, pretzels) and sweets (i.e., candy and candy bars).

The 1650 beverage machine slots assessed contained twice as many sugar-sweetened beverages as non-calorie-containing beverages.

Only two institutions sold both milk and 100% juice in vending machines.

The portion of snacks and beverages sold averaged more than 200 calories.

This study’s findings suggest that vending machines provide limited healthful choices.

I don’t think the last comment shocks anyone, we know that vending machines aren’t a haven for “healthful choices.”  What strikes me is that of the institutions had vending machines that contained milk or 100% juice.  Why is that?  Why is it that we create this environment for our students?  The eternal debate continues.  What if we created a vending machine from which you purchased exercise suggestions?  I wonder if they’d be as popular.

Think of this conundrum another way:  As mentioned above, the average snack in these vending machines is 200 calories.  If we assume a 2000 calorie diet, that one snack represents 10% of what you need.  Most vending machine purchases are impulse buys, signalling that we haven’t accounted for them in our plan and thus they are excess calories.  Hitting up the vending machine once a day, 5 times per week, 50 weeks a year, and you just consumed 50,000 calories you didn’t necessarily need.  (That’s good for about 500 miles of walking on your nearest treadmill).

Remember, why do many of us eat?  Because it’s there.  And if what is there is 200 calories of salt and sugar, we will eat 200 calories of salt and sugar.  Ah, yet another “occasion to snack.”

I wonder what it would take to get colleges and universities to provide “healthful choices” in their vending machines?  Probably about as much effort as it would take to get hospitals to kick out McDonalds.  Gotta love our environment.

Hot dogs

April 24, 2012
Children, Food Environment
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Growing up, I was a big fan of hot dogs.  Quick, easy, and oh so yummy.  Then I took gross anatomy in graduate school and as we dissected cadavers the topic of hot dogs came up.  Maybe it was the combination of formaldehyde and the discussion that sent me packing for a few years.  Not sure.  I still enjoy a good hot dog every once in awhile, but nearly as often as in my youth.  In all my hot dog eating days I never thought of this:  to take a hot dog and stuff it in the crust of my pizza.  This is exactly what Pizza Hut in the United Kingdom is doing.  I’m so thankful it won’t get to the new world, because we don’t have enough food issues.

We often hear the statistics on obesity, and especially childhood obestiy, touted over the air.  “60% of our children are obese or overweight.  Our kids don’t move enough!” they say.  Here’s the catch:  we are all products of our environment, kids moreso.  We as adults are responsible for what food reaches our children’s mouth, how much time they spend outside, and how much screen time they get.  We are responsible for cutting physical education from schools, putting 365 calories and 26 grams of fat in a pizza stuffed with hot dogs, for ubiquitously marketing sugared cereals, bars, and drinks so that we have an occasion to snack.  An occasion to snack?  Really, we need one?  I posted the article from the New York Times yesterday, Kelloggs spends a ridiculous amount of time and money on finding ways to get us to snack.  They are not alone.  Food companies like to say it’s not their fault we are fat, they are not responsible for how much we eat, just enjoy in moderation.  Yet when they pile on the sugar, fat, and salt, and endlessly market it to kids, it does make our lives more challenging.

In no way am I passing the buck onto the makers of Frosted Flakes.  We are all complicit in the current epidemic of out of shape children.  Parenting is tough work, the toughest work there is.  Yet through that tough work, maybe, just maybe, we can find a path to food freedom for our kids.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  I’ve been a victim of Capn’ Crunch since birth.

We set the tone for our children. Let’s do what we can to set the right one.  Walk a bit, stand a bit, play a lot.  We are in week two of no dessert at our house.  I think our daughter has forgotten it exists.  How quickly we change our landscape.

Monkey see, monkey do

April 23, 2012
Behavior Change, Exercise
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“Eat what the monkey eats, simple food and not too much of it,” said Dr. John Kellogg in the late 1800s. The Dr. Kellogg who put his name on a company that now sells a ridiculous amount of cereal and is looking to expand into the “occasion to snack” market. I like Dr. Kellogg’s original maxim, and he was actually a physician, but as the Times points out:

“The monkey, it is safe to say, does not eat Frosted Flakes, which were introduced in 1952, or any of the dozens of child-focused cereals that the company has produced since. Nor is the monkey likely to favor much of what Kellogg employees are confecting this March afternoon.”

I think it’s safe to say times have changed. Our eating habits have changed, our environment has changed, our self perception has changed.

On Friday I mentioned we are in “fat denial,” that is, those of us that are overweight or obese aren’t readily acknowledging that important fact. A recent article shows us that this misperception is consistent across genders, age, and cultures. A true epidemic of thought. Whether it’s embarrassment or self preservation we just don’t want to admit we are fat. This can be dangerous.

One of the tenants of behavior change theory is accountability. We need to be honest with ourselves about our state of affairs. We need to find someone we trust and enlist their help and support in our battles. My mother has done this, constantly asking about exercise, food, and psychology. Every Saturday morning I get a call or a text as soon as she leaves Weight Watchers with her report. These mornings provide occasion to celebrate success (down 2.4 this week!!) or reassurance (it’s a long road, we’ll get there). In
Our battles against food and weight we need to, we must, celebrate our successes. And trust me losing a pound is a success. We just said no to 3500 calories! We also need support when we indulge. This is what works.

The authors of the fat denial article state that when kids consistently see adults in their worlds (parents, teachers, day care providers) as overweight a “new normal” is engrained in their minds. They think that the norm is to indulge and carry extra weight. Monkey see, monkey do.

Along those lines, check out the lead article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this morning. “Schools find active kids make smarter kids.” Yes!! Test scores, reading ability, and attention all improve with movement! “If you really want to increase your test scores you have to get off your seat and you have to get on your feet,” says Jack Olwell, incoming president of the Minnesota Association for Health, Physical Education and Dance. Double yes!! Take a look at the article and see results some Minnesota schools have achieved by installing movement.

In Minnesota there is no state requirement for physical education instruction. The typical is 15 minutes two times per week.

Monkey see, monkey do.

Back to Dr. Kellogg for a moment. He needs some credit. Back in the 1800s he was trying to do good by creating nutritious and tasty food for people in his care. Seems his brother sidetracked his vision. However, the Kellogg company of today brings us Tony the Tiger and all those other adorable high fructose carrying characters. Kellogg’s just purchased Pringles. Why? Eating trends in the U.S. are changing. We are now snacking more than ever. And when we snack we like sugar, yes, but we also want our salt. An occasion to snack is becoming a ubiquitous moment. Companies such as Kellogg are seizing this moment, in fact, creating this moment. Change is hard, especially when battling a tiger.

39

April 20, 2012
Exercise, Food Rules, Scientific Studies
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Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of many like the number 39.  Or more precisely, the age 39.  I have enjoyed my 39s and am looking forward to ratcheting it up next week with the big 40.  Seriously, I am.  However, what if I could promise myself, and all of you, that you could turn back the clock to 38?  You would no longer have to have the 6th anniversary of your 39th birthday.  Let me explain.

As we age we often worry about cognitive decline (losing brainpower).  Results of a fascinating new study were discussed in yesterday’s New York Times.  What if I could promise you this:

Prevention from shrinkage (of your brain, that is.  No George Constanzas here).
Improve your cognitive flexibility (your brain can learn more and varied skills)
Improve your thinking more than thinking does.  (You read that right).
Take two years off your brain.   (70 is the new 68!)

Look at those again.  You can improve your thinking!  And it doesn’t require thought to do so!  How do these things happen?  Exercise.  I exercised this morning, therefore, I will celebrate my 38th birthday rather than my 40th next week.  Take that, age.

The researchers in the study mentioned above divided a collection of mice into four groups.  One group lived a life of gluttony and had balls to play with, tunnels to walk through, colorful beds to sleep in, and flavored water to drink.  Stimulating environment (think Baby Einstein books and NPR).  The second group got all that plus a running wheel.  Woo-hoo!  The third group got none of that and only had dried kibble to eat (oh the downsides of random assignment), and the fourth group only the running wheel.

All the mice performed cognitive tasks prior to being placed in their respective worlds for months.  At the conclusion of the study they were again tested.  Hold on for the results:

The only thing that mattered was the exercise.  Let me say it again, the only thing that mattered was exercise.  The stimulating environment didn’t matter.  It was that darn wheel.  Run, baby, run.

The researchers discovered that the exercising mice had twice as many new brain cells (we discussed this in a post last week) and that those new cells were located in the hippocampus (an important part of the brain).  Furthermore, exercise slowed and prevented brain decay.  And all those new cells?  To be of any use they need to join an existing brain network in order to raise intellect.  Guess what?  The exercising cells readily joined these networks (can you hear me now?) This is in contrast to learning a new cognitive task (for a mouse, say, learning a maze).  The maze learning will encourage new brain cell development, however, those new brain cells only work when doing the maze.  Newly formed brain cells as a result of exercise can adapt to any new skill, they are flexible.  Exercise makes you smarter.

There are many upsides to this.  Maybe the pathway to better grades and higher test scores is through exercise.  In order to accomplish this we need to quit cutting Physical Education in schools and encourage kids to move as much as they can.  We need to get the entire populace moving more.  Any ideas?  Here’s an idea, might we even get people to think more as we enter a summer of political hyperbole if they were to exercise?  Engaging the electorate and losing weight!  Holy cow!  Oh, the joys of exercise.  They can lead us to new heights.

Our newly acquired smarts could help us think about why we are in denial about our body weight.  More about this on Monday.

Well, it’s Friday and that means food rule.  Here we go:

Order the small size.  As a friend commented yesterday, order your Starbucks by the ounce.  Don’t say “Grande.”  Say, “16 oz.”  Maybe that will bring your order back into your consciousness.  And this may be a hard habit to change.  We like the feel of the grande in our hand.  Venti is too big, tall is too small.  As Goldilocks said, “Grande caramel macchiato, please.  That is just right.”  To order the smaller size will take some getting used to, but if we order the smaller size consistently, a new habit will take hold, and we’ll consume less.

Grab your coffee, hop on a stationary bike, and let the learning begin.

Size Matters

April 19, 2012
Food Descriptives, Food Environment
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The other day at Starbucks the person in front of me spoke with the barista, “I’ll take a trenta iced vanilla latte, 3 shots.”  I am vaguely familiar with the sizing lingo at Starbucks, yet every time I wonder in I still say, “medium.”  Trenta was the size I had read about last year, but never actually saw it in play.  31 oz of coffee fun.  That’s alot of coffee.  Can you say “Where’s the restroom?”  As long as we stick to coffee, with or without ice, those calories won’t hurt us too much.  However, if we supersize everything, as many do these days, watch out.  (See the 44 oz drink at your local SuperAmerica gas station).

Size does matter.  If there is more food or drink in front of us, the more we will eat and drink.  What would happen at Starbucks if the only size you could order was the kiddie size?  (Yes, there is a kiddie size, and yes, I buy my daughter Starbucks.)  Who says there is anything wrong with a $4 latte for a 4 year old?  Just kidding, steamed soy milk for her.

We all fall victim to the “If it’s there, I eat it” philosophy at one time or another.  “Because it was there” is one of the top reasons given in research studies when asked, “Why did you start eating?” Now comes the fun part of today’s post, check out this article on what some scientists in Tokyo are up to.  Goggles that increase the size of the food in your hand by 50%.  Or at least your perception of that food.  The great part is your hand stays the same size.  Guess what happens to consumption when wearing the goggles?  In the team’s studies, consumption dropped 9.3% when asked to eat until they were full.  The goggles also can go the other way, decreasing the perceptual size of the food, and when that happened, subjects ate 15% more.  Seeing is believing.  Who would want to eat such a huge cookie?  (Me.)  That would be gluttony! (So?)

Our minds are powerful forces in the realm of food.  However, food is also a powerful force in the mind.  Let’s just keep on tricking it.  As Brian Wansink says, “The best diet to be on is the one you don’t know you’re on.”

Off to Starbucks, wearing goggles, and buying a trenta iced frappachino latte mocha, 4 pump, 6 shot, with a twist.  Now, that will be a big drink.

 

Everything I learned…

April 18, 2012
Children
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…I learned in kindergarten or at least from 6th graders who write letters to the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  In this morning’s paper Talia Bradley and Antonia Ritter, 6th graders at Seward Montessori School, wrote about their issues with the school lunch program.  However, their words were not directed at the pizza and the soda, rather, they built a wonderful case for allowing children to have more time to eat.  Hard not to agree when they only get 10-11 minutes each day to eat their lunch.  Ms. Bradley and Ms. Ritter cite research that demonstrates when you eat fast you eat more, and more poorly.  They point to the argument that kids eat slower, need time to eat and socialize, and need that food to grow.  “Lunch is an important social time. Teachers always tell us to socialize at lunch and recess, not in the classroom. But we cannot do that if we are scarfing down our lunches in 11 minutes,” they write.  How true is that?

We expect so from our schools and we expect the world of teachers.  High test scores, counseling services, daycare, the list goes on and on.  To add nutritionist to the list would add another layer of burden where it needn’t be.  However, what do you think would happen if we gave our children more time to eat and more time to exercise?  Numerous studies have shown that when children are allowed to move (think physical education class, in classroom yoga, etc) they pay more attention and learning improves.  Take that standardized testing!  Studies have also shown the importance of good food habits and learning.  Maybe if we had our children take more time to eat and get them moving, test scores would climb.  Our daughter is 4 and in the coming years I would love to find a school that tells us, “Movement and food are the center of our curriculum.”  I would shout out from the rooftops!

Take a look at the piece in this morning’s paper, the lunch lady even gets her dues.

This wonderful bit of writing got me thinking about education.  Think about what our schools have to do these days?  It is overwhelming.  In today’s New York Times comes this:  Studies Question the Pairing of Food Deserts and Obesity.  We take it as an article of faith that obesity, especially in our children, is byproduct of accessibility to, and availability of, high quality food.  I’ve written about this myself.  Come to find that two recent studies now show there is no connection to food deserts (lack of grocery stores and good food in a given area) and obesity.  These studies illustrate two questions we don’t have answers for:  what is driving the obesity epidemic in children and if it is not the accessibility and availability, what is it?

Think back to Ms. Bradley and Ms. Ritter.  They are given 10 minutes to eat their lunch.  What are we teaching our children when we put them in that situation?  “Inhale your food quickly, kids.  No need to think about it, just scarf, scarf, scarf.  We have important work to do!”  I watch our daughter eat and she most definitely takes her time.  We as parents are the impatient ones, we need to learn from our kids.  As the French say, teach your kids how to eat.

Schools provide an important avenue to teach our kids the how part.  Let’s put our kids in an environment that is conducive to creating good food habits.  In an environment that is actually conducive to learning.  Education plays a huge role in our lives.  Teachers play an even bigger role.  Let’s put both our students and teachers in the best possible environment to succeed.

Think about this:  We’ve got new information on food deserts and obesity (see above).  We also have data that shows as income rises so does fast food consumption.  Obesity crosses and education levels, all genders, all socioeconomic classes.  We need to develop good habits when we are young.  It’s about the education.

Lastly, I need to give a shout out to my alma mater, St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.  St. Olaf was recently named the 8th healthiest college campus in the nation.  I can tell you with 100% assuredness that this was not the case during my days as an undergraduate.  in the intervening 20 years or so the campus has added a wonderful recreation complex, amazing dining services, and even a windmill to generate power.  They compost, grow their own food, and incorporate healthy living in many creative ways.  I would imagine this change to the food and movement environment was planned and well thought out, and it demonstrates to me that they get it.  St. Olaf has always drawn wonderful students to its campus and with such an ethos I am sure that will continue.

My question now is this:  Do you think St. Olaf will accept my daughter for kindergarten?  I mean, she’s a legacy and all.

What’s the matter with Kansas

April 17, 2012
Behavior Change
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In his 2004 book Thomas Frank memorably asks the question : “Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests?”  His question could be applied in many different situations and what comes to mind today is why do so many of us act against our best self interests, our health, when it comes to food and exercise?  You often hear me say we know what to eat, we don’t know why we eat.  We are not acting against our self interest out of simple ignorance, we simply aren’t aware of the cues conspiring around us to increase our consumption.

There may be another issue at play as well, one that was addressed on yesterday’s MPR’s The Daily Circuit.  The issue discussed was when does the latest health study matter?  (ie there is so much information out there on diet, exercise, trends, fads, that it all becomes confusing.)  Do we need to know new information?  How do we know what legitimate and not some two bit huckster selling us snake oil?  A quick scan of the New York Times’ website brought these headlines:

Does exercise make you overeat?

When the chef is also a doctor

How exercise can prime your brain for addiction

Meet the active couch potato

Do statins make it tough to exercise?

Getting fat but staying fit?

Argh!  What am I supposed to do?  If I exercise, I may overeat, I may become an addict!  I was told to exercise, but I am on Lipitor, I’m screwed!  Ever read the Llama Llama books?  Sometimes I feel like Little Llhama, way too much exercise drama.

Dr. Kelly Brownell has termed the environment we live in today an “obesogenic” one.  An environment that wants us to be obese.  One that wants us to eat more, and eat poorly, and one that wants us to move less.  The statistics back him up.  Nearly 65% of American adults are overweight or obese and if current trends hold 1 out of every 2-3 children born today will develop Type II diabetes in their lifetime.

We don’t know our cues and there is way to much information out there.  Now what?  Jane Black, a writer from New York, will be publishing a book next year that discusses a “third way to persuade Americans to make small but essential changes to their diets and lifestyles.”  This third way deals with small and personal environmental and cultural changes we can all make in order to achieve sustainable change.  I am excited to read this, and here’s why:  Amid the cachophony of new exercises and weight loss plans there lies a truth.  Change is hard.  And the best way to change is when you are not aware of the change taking place.  As soon as I say “Do this and don’t do that,” you will immediately think of what you aren’t supposed to (ice cream) and put up barriers to what are supposed to (exercise). If you haven’t exercised and I tell you to go run for 60 minutes, I have already lost you.  We need the third way.  Kind of Clinton-esque, yes?  Throw in Tony Blair and now you’re talking.

Yes, the next health study is important to read.  Knowledge is power.  However, in the food and exercise world too often people and companies are preying on our insecurities and get us hooked on the quick fix.  I would argue that many individuals experience information overload when it comes to food and exercise knowledge.  We always need to seek new answers, but we also need to critically approach the new knowledge.

Change is hard.  Change is slow.  Habits are tough to break.  Let’s create an environment that leads us not to obesity, but to health.  Let’s get a few more steps each day.  Stand up at the office.  Eat an apple!  Let us all nudge ourselves in the right direction.

Let us not act against our best self interest because we know nothing else.

 

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