Excuse #2 - Family History, Part 2
I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but two of my grandmothers and one grandfather are still with me. Very much with me, as in, I sometimes see my grandmothers multiple times per week. They are all in their late 80s (one turned 89 last weekend!) My other grandfather passed away about 11 years ago, but after losing both his legs in World War 2, suffering a couple of heart attacks and, I believe, 2 strokes.
That is to say, I have a family of fighters. Healthy, hearty fighters.
So, unlike some people who look back at their family history and see disease, heart problems and cancers, I see actual faces, smiling across the dinner table. Faces of people who are still living in good health, in spite of some very Southern diets.
This has led me to say, at times, "look at my family history - I could eat nothing but butter for the rest of my days and still be alive when I'm 90."
And there is Excuse #2: I have no family history that requires me to eat well.
I didn't say they were rational excuses.
Truthfully, this isn't one that I've fallen back on often, but it certainly has served to take some of the pressure off at times. Really, without diabetes or heart disease or even obesity in the family, I've got nothing to be afraid of. So eat on, I've told myself.
Obviously, that rationale omits the reality that my grandparents - and their parents - lived very active lives, had little money to spend eating out, and did the majority of their eating before the middle aisles of the grocery were stocked with monosodium glutomate and polyunsaturated fat.
It also leaves out the fact that regardless of family history, extra weight on my body is not good for my body. So, since family history suggests that I may live to be 100 regardless of my food choices, maybe I ought to prepare my body to live well for the next 68 of them.
That is to say, I have a family of fighters. Healthy, hearty fighters.
So, unlike some people who look back at their family history and see disease, heart problems and cancers, I see actual faces, smiling across the dinner table. Faces of people who are still living in good health, in spite of some very Southern diets.
This has led me to say, at times, "look at my family history - I could eat nothing but butter for the rest of my days and still be alive when I'm 90."
And there is Excuse #2: I have no family history that requires me to eat well.
I didn't say they were rational excuses.
Truthfully, this isn't one that I've fallen back on often, but it certainly has served to take some of the pressure off at times. Really, without diabetes or heart disease or even obesity in the family, I've got nothing to be afraid of. So eat on, I've told myself.
Obviously, that rationale omits the reality that my grandparents - and their parents - lived very active lives, had little money to spend eating out, and did the majority of their eating before the middle aisles of the grocery were stocked with monosodium glutomate and polyunsaturated fat.
It also leaves out the fact that regardless of family history, extra weight on my body is not good for my body. So, since family history suggests that I may live to be 100 regardless of my food choices, maybe I ought to prepare my body to live well for the next 68 of them.
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