T Teaching “Health Psychology,” made me a little more sensitive to related news stories. I saw an ad for “Grub Hub,” and realized that this is part of a new trend of similar offerings like “Uber Eats” and “Door Dash.”
I thought back to what has changed during my growing up years, here’s what I came up with:
*In the 1950’s there were only 3 or 4 channels on TV and there was no “Remote.” If you wanted to change channels, you got up and actually went to the TV, and you also had to turn the antenna to match the direction of the new signal.
*Then, as the number of available channels increased the antennas got more sophisticated and didn’t need to be reoriented.
*When we went out to eat, it was a special occasion and we went to a sit down restaurant. Other than the occasional street vendor or hot dog stand at the beach, there were virtually no fast food restaurants.
*With the advent of busier life styles, wherein fewer moms were staying home, the demand for fast food restaurants rose. It became much more convenient to grab something at the drive through than to plan and prepare a home-cooked meal.
*I think pizza shops were among the first to offer Pick Up or Delivery, and now with food delivery services available, we don’t even have to drive to the fast food restaurants, we can sit at home and have the pizza and burgers brought directly to us.
Is it any wonder that the United States is the most obese country in North America with 36.2% of its population having a body mass index of over 30%? Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day. According to the CDC, an average adult is 26 pounds heavier now than in the 1950s.
In caving to convenience, we have added 26 pounds to our lives. In trading home-cooked meals of real food, we have created diets of super-sized processed food with excess amounts of fat and sugar, while depleting the amount of fiber.
We walk less and drive more. Much of our lives have become about convenience instead to health.
We are paying dearly for convenience.
One study shows that an obese person in the United States incurs an average of $1,429 more in medical expenses annually. Approximately $147 billion is spent in added medical expenses per year within the United States. This number is expected to increase approximately $1.24 billion per year until the year 2030.
The data from other studies shows that being overweight cuts about three years off our lives, while being obese shortens our lives by up to ten years – the same as a lifetime of smoking.
So, here’s my invitation for today: Move into your magnificence and think about what is healthy as opposed to convenient. Go ahead and stop by the market and make a meal with real food instead of processed ingredients. Park at the edge of the lot at the mall instead of driving around looking for the closest spot. Grab a piece of fruit for a snack. Let’s stop paying the price for convenience. You might be 25 pounds lighter and live up to 10 years longer. Oh, and you’ll have over one hundred dollars extra each month in your pocket instead of paying for doctor visits and medicine! How’s that for a trade?
The extent to which you do, is the extent to which you’ll be able to say, “I feel good about being me!” … and that’s a promise!
