Hi There,
Welcome back to K&T blog , how have you been?
We hope you had a good week and that your mid-year weight loss goals review is going well. The festive season will be upon us before we know it, and it always feels great when it rolls around and find that you have achieved you weight loss goals. At that time you would be looking and feeling great :), but the work required to achieve that blissful state starts in moments like now, the beginning of the second half of the year. If you have been trying to lose weight and get fit for ever and have been failing, how about trying one more time. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison.
On our side, the past week was good but we ate way more than we should, and we know this for sure because the scale has gone up this week for both of us. We have learned to accept that the scale never lies, it just gives us insights into our current habits. Indeed the scale was insightful, our eating habits had changed in the past week, old habits sneaked their way back into our lives a little bit. This failure is an inspiration to this week’s post “Eating a lot but not enough”. At this moment, as humans we seem to be eating quite lot but never get full or satisfied, it seems like the more we eat, the more we want to eat, and the more we drink , the more we want to drink. What is going on here 🙂 .
We are currently faced with the epidemic of Obesity and have been faced with for a while now, it is a reality we cannot ignore as it is becoming more and more prevalent in our daily lives. We see it on the mirror , on our family members, on our neighbors, on our friends, on our community members, the eyes don’t really lie but our brains can be selective and filtering in what it receives, and it seems the epidemic of obesity might be one of those inputs that the brain selects not to entertain and get filtered . By definition, Obesity “is a chronic complex disease defined by excessive fat deposits that can impair health“. It turns out that Obesity is more than just eating a lot ,more than just being overweight and well….more that just our bulging bellies and waists, it is another type of a chronic disease.
The causes of Obesity are multifaceted, ranging from environmental, social, mental and all the way to genetic factors. Looking at these factors, one can see that Obesity is caused by a concoction of things that are in our control and those that are certainly not in our control. It is a relief to know that it is not entirely our fault, it is not that we are irresponsible when we get Obese. Although it is not entirely our fault, the reality of the matter is that it is our problem and we have to face and solve it. It is a problem because it threatens the quality of life and limits our freedom, it leads to type 2 Diabetes, Cancers, Sleeping disorders, Heart diseases, Liver diseases, cognitive issues , bone health and reproduction issues.
Fundamentally, Obesity has to do with energy balance in the body(calories in vs calories out). This brings us back to today’s title “Eating a lot but not enough”, diet is one of the environmental factors that causes Obesity, it is a factor that we have control over because we can choose what we eat and drink. Unfortunately we turn to choose foods that are high in calories (EATING MORE) but very low in nutrients (EATING NOT ENOUGH). In some countries, it is reported that over 60% of daily diet consists of highly processed foods, these are the foods that we eat more of but they don’t offer us enough nutrients for optimal functioning of our body, therefore we EAT A LOT BUT NOT ENOUGH.
Food and drinks are made up of Macronutrients and Micronutrients, these are required in sufficient amounts for the body to be in a healthy state on daily basis. Macronutrients includes foods that contains Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats, whilst Micronutrients includes foods that contains minerals, vitamins and an anti-oxidants which are vital for supporting metabolic processes of the body. The processing of foods (in the case of highly processed foods) results in the removal, reduction or altering of the quantities and quality of the Macronutrients and Micronutrients in foods. On top of this, high caloric ingredients and toxins are added to the processed foods to make them more palatable and to increase their shelf life , such as added sugars and additives. We therefore end up with foods that are high in calories which we eat more and more of, and which have inadequate nutrients that are essential for the body.
That’s it for the week, Obesity is like a perfect storm, very shuttle but wreaking havoc, but if we take charge of what is in our control, perhaps we will stand a better chance against this storm. Choosing to reduce highly processed food and opting for a variety of whole natural food is a sure way of ensuring that the body gets adequate nutrients for optimal functioning. Whole natural foods are low in calories but dense in nutrients, therefore prioritizing their consumption equates to EATING LESS BUT ENOUGH.
The video below is a good reminder of how far we have strayed away from a simple path of living , we always get a good kick out of watching it.
Until next week, stay blessed. And hey, please remember to subscribe below if you are not a subscriber yet 🙂 .
Kat & Tshepi
Kat & Tshepi 