When my wife came home and announced that she had decided to start eating healthy, I was elated and more than willing to join the bandwagon. I had recently done an online health quiz which came this close to telling me that with the standards set by present day health industry, I’d have heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure at the tender age of 40. And I’m not alone in this. What with all the fries, burgers, Nando’s pizzas and refined fast foods that have flooded our lives. I already knew at the back of my mind that all those hangover-friendly foods I loved were not good for my health. I was going to start eating healthy some day. One of these fine days that never seems to come.
By the end of the online quiz, it was like, look here brother; your dietary lifestyle is a sure ticket to a slow painful early death. My case went further than dietary transgressions. The fact that I do not have a canine friend also increases my chances of meeting my maker earlier than I’d want to. Also once in a while I have a drink or two in town and I have to get home somehow. So add tipsy driving to my bad list although they prefer to call it drunken driving. And don’t even get me started on the tipple.
Much as I would like to live a long and healthy life, there are a few recommendations that are just beyond my reach. I can’t sleep for 8 hours a night. Who actually does? I wake up at 5 daily so that would mean sleeping at 9.00 pm – barely half an hour after dinner. And that compounds my dietary sins even further because they also recommended eating dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime. That makes the math a bit more complex. To crown my unhealthy habits, I’m completely unable to develop the clean habit of downing 8 glasses of water a day. I just can’t seem to go past the third glass.
Anyway, my wife came to the rescue with her grand healthy eating plan. But I was totally unprepared for the absolute horror that healthy eating has become of late. Welcome to the age when we drink vegetables. All those greens we grew up cooking and eating with maize meal? The spinach, kale, cabbage etc etc? Not any more. The current generation drinks them. Raw. And we don’t plant the seeds any more either. We dry them and eat them instead. Which raises the frightening possibility of some plants becoming extinct because mankind ate all the seeds. Scientists have recently discovered that we need live enzymes as a matter of life and death.
My good lady approached healthy eating from a very severe angle. She didn’t ease us into it, like carrot juice today, carrots and beets tomorrow, carrots, beets and spinach day 3… none of that. It was the whole deal on day one. And from then on she served me a loving glassful and a loving plateful of health at every opportunity. Health being weird vegetable muck, moong beans, DIY muesli, pulses and lentils among others. How healthy eating can change things. I used to salivate at the sight of my wife coming my way glass in hand. Now the same sight filled me with dread. No more mouthwatering aromas or a comforting spattering of noises from the kitchen.
Although it made me feel light and fresh, it was a punishing way to eat and difficult to keep up. By week two we both could not stand the sight of brown rice and the attendant healthy stews. We’ve since scaled down to just a normal healthy diet with a few sins every once in a while.
13 Comments:
There's an information overload about health on the internet and some of it is just scary. But healthy is the way to go if you want a smooth life all the same.
And the things we do for health! I go through some very bitter Aloe Vera drink and a handful of supplements every morning. And some herbal teas from Pure health - not very nice tasting but I take them anyway.
But is helps for sure. Some very frequent headaches I used to have are all gone since I started. And my energy levels are higher.
healthy eating has been over-stretched if u ask me.The occassional nyama choma is not bad,we just need to do things in moderation.Today the scientists will say spinach is gud,kesho another research says forget spinach it adds no value at all(spinach is just an example).
Just making sure ur plate has a balanced diet is enuf for me. You can thro in the occasinal green liquids(neem n all,my mum tried this,grass tastes better I tell u)
Kenyandaughter karibu.
Lol you're so right grass tastes better than some of these things! Neem, stinging nettle, camomile i think there is even hibiscus which if I remember well used to be a flower! My mum too has a cupboardfull of purehealth herbs and her she actually takes kwanza without sugar.
I believe excessive eating (overeating) is the root cause of our health problems, which results from how much and how often we eat.
So if you want to be healthy I suggest, just eat only when hungry, and when hungry eat only few handfuls that will do away with your hunger. This is Islamic teaching regarding eating habits.
Prophet Mohamed Said “Man fills no vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to have a few mouthfuls to give him the strength he needs. If he has to fill his stomach, then let him leave one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air” He also said, “We are People (Muslim) who don’t eat till they are hungry and when we eat, we don’t eat till the stomach is full”.
I believe this is an excellent teaching and a very good eating habit if only one can practice consistently”.
By the way ever asked, why do we eat when we're not hungry? For answers see the links below http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/10/eveningnews/main2347374.shtml?source=search_story and http://news.softpedia.com/news/6-Reasons-Why-We-Eat-Without-Being-Hungry-60535.shtml
Bp one,
Interesting teaching on eating habits that one, though i suspect it will be a tough one to abide by especially when taken literally. For instance, how many handfuls would be enough to do away with hunger and how would one measure a third of the stomach?
I take it though, that the essential point here is moderation on which it is in agreement with the christian bible.
What remains fuzzy today, Kenyandaughter, is what comprises the right foods to eat. Schools have typically taught that every meal must, as much as possible, consist of a balanced diet. They have always described 'balance' as carbohydrate+protein+vitamins. Mordern day nutritionists now say that it is improper to eat the three classes of foods together at one meal. That the right combination would be carbohydrate+vitamins or proteins+vitamins, never proteins+carbohydrates. And dont take your eight glasses of water at meal times!
Hlimuti@ 6:26 pm
I agree it is hard to abide by especially for those who don�t fast , I mean dawn to dusk total fasting for 30 days ,
As for your question : how many handfuls would be enough to do away with hunger and how would one measure a third of the stomach? I think somebody talked about that, see link.
http://life.familyeducation.com/nutrition-and-diet/healthy-lifestyle/46751.html
and
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/dhpw/Wellness/NutritionTarmacWaiting.doc
Aiii you people are all discussing serious stuff! I imagined Hlumiti downing that yucky stuff and I thought that that must be a sight to behold! Hehehehehe! Kind of like giving a baby a lemon to suck on. Pure evil!
I dont do any of this healthy stuff kwanza drinking those pure juices no way, I tried, I couldnt manage and now I am going to enjoy my life doing what I want. My mum tried to force that stuff on me on occassion but my heart refused.
Honestly,I think this health stuff is overated, I mean even Jesus himself was not known for eating healthy stuff, si the bible says he gave people fish and bread? Did anyone hear of any vegetables in his crowds? and he did the fish and loaves thing twice! Now, did I also read he made wine at a wedding bash? Si the wine was for drinking ama? Another example, those people being led by Moses in the wilderness were eating manna, now I understand manna is some sort of sweet bread. Methinks that if someone up there wanted us to drown ourselves in yucky vegetable juices then we would have read more of it in the bible.
Hlumiti, I suggest you continue enjoying your meat, chicken and fish delicacies and then leave the rest to the giver of life! Scientists will say anything, believe me.
Now, I wonder what Mrs Hlumiti has to say......hehehehehehe!
Mcheku I spent 9 years in boarding school eating mostly maize and beans, badly made sima/cabbage and badly made rice/beans. Very healthy meals I must say because I was always healthy. Never falling sick sick or weak or anything like that. And yet I never drank those gooey juices.
As BP says, moderation is the word. Modern man is eating like there's no tomorrow.
Aaii Mcheku was the fish and loaf thing done twice? I've heard once only.
As for Mrs. Lumiti Lol, she's laughing her head off. The things ladies do to their men hehehehe.
Thanks Bp, the links are enlightening. And to learn that some chaps eat out of boredom!..the waisted club at parliament quickly came to mind.
Yes Mcheku, I'll tear into the chicken and quote you if Mrs erupts. For the good Lord has provided food for mankind...
Great site Sandra. They have lots of yummy looking foods. Thanks.
lol, this made me laugh my heart out, jesus, healthy eating is almost becoming a nightmare, too much of this and that. though, i've embarked on healthy eating ( forcefully) i cant help but say once my grace period is over, i wanna stray and sin.
LOL - story of my life:-)
My 2 cts, to add to your already full plate(pun intended), is eat real food and not too much of it. Real in the sense that it's not prepackaged, processed or whatever else between it's source to you.
I think most of today's health issues can be directly linked to the "fake food"....
Carry on, it only gets easier with time...
Oh... to live a grand success-filled life and then to have heart disease sneak up on you... only to learn that there was, perhaps, something that you could have done - eaten or not eaten; almost worse than eating healthy all your life only to get hit by a falling slab outside your healthful-eating store.
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