I've wanted to see this new film called "Fed Up" which documents the food industries changes to processed food over time, the exact moment our country became obsessed with diets/working out/ reduced fat, follows 4 young people (2 are people of color, 3 men and 1 woman) all under the age of 18. What I saw brought tears to my eyes. I watched these young people struggle with their weight and not understand why they weren't loosing weight when they were eating the proper portions of diet food (special k chips, multigrain cereals, pizza --which was said by CONGRESS to be a vegetable). The common denominator is the diet food. To make diet food, you take the fat out, which leaves crappy tasting engineered stuff. To tip the scale, the company's put in sugar. One of these kids cried on screen because she can't understand why the scale isn't going in the direction she wants. She keeps gaining weight. I can relate to her and the struggle she faces every day. I was always a heavy kid. I was teased on the bus. At age 12, I weighed more than my stepmother. I was always on a "diet." The tipping point for my weight was around 18/19-27. I was on hormones for my reproductive system from age 19-23 and all of a sudden started gaining weight. My cholesterol went through the roof. I was the biggest I had ever been weighing 180lbs. I did the special K diet, I drank slim fast (which eventually helped me shed 30 lbs) but I could never break 150lbs. I was stumped. I was so frustrated, like that 12 year old. I could not figure out what was making me stay overweight. I felt for the kids in the movie. One young man was stressed out he was going to die of a heart attack or stroke before 20years old. And there is no one to blame but the food industry.
Have you ever looked at a label and thought "why isn't the percent of daily amount of sugar listed? It's only the grams of sugar, there is no percent!" This is because if they listed that, you'd be floored. You are getting more sugar in your Starbucks than your daily allotment. I will be honest and say, I enjoy a starbucks drink from time to time. I use to partake everyday or every other day. Since being whole30, it's been 3 weeks. I can now say I enjoy my cold brew with grassfed butter and MTC oil (actually sipping it now).
Did you know sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine? A study highlighted in the film, talked about how lab rats were given the choice between sugar water and cocaine and 40 out of 43 chose the sugar water. What does that tell you? We are addicted to sugar. Marketing is meant to get you to buy these sugary things but the problem is sugar cannot sustain you. Sugar immediately goes into the liver and raises your blood sugar, makes you feel hungry, and turns to fat. Almonds or whole food on the other hand, digest longer and the fiber makes you feel fuller longer.
Something else that amazed me was a comparison between a McDonalds meal for a family of 4 and a chicken meal with some olive oil and whole veggies. Most people, including myself, think about class and access when talking about food. I, for sure, thought the McDonalds meal would be cheaper. It was 12$ MORE than the chicken. And the chicken meal, would probably give you leftovers.
There were a lot of interesting facts in the film and there is so much that needs to be done. There is a bus that goes into neighborhoods in DC called food deserts. It is essentially is a grocery store on wheels. It's cheaper and the idea behind it is to make food deserts into food oasis. (For more
information--I will say, I am still researching it but it's definitely an interesting idea.)
These are small steps in the right direction. What really needs to keep things moving is a call to action to the government. We need to move to sustainability of farms, need to knock those big companies on their butts (in an ideal world) and make good quality food accessible to all!
Something I didn't know was most big company names (Coke, Pepsi etc) sponsor a lot of research to say "a calorie is a calorie" or they have teamed up with the American Doctors Association. WhAT?! Why are we not more outraged? It just doesn't make sense.
After seeing this film, I immediately called my mother. She has been battling with sugar, gluten and a host of physical aliments my whole life. I called her to ask her to see the movie today. We were just talking about sugar addiction yesterday! She promised she'd go. I wish during moments like these, she lived closer. It'd be easier for me to help out and to give tips or suggestions.
I will honestly say the commitment to whole 30 is ROUGH. There are moments when I find myself thinking about brownies or cupcakes or frozen yogurt because I should be eating those things. But after seeing that movie, I don't think I can bring myself to consume them. It's funny because I'd like to eat something sugary for my birthday but I might have to make a fruit plate and be done. It's amazing how different this whole 30 round is than the last. My mind set has totally changed and my body is proof. It's 7:43AM here and I'm wide awake. This happens a lot. The tiger blood baby! It's coming back. It's amazing how much clearer I am, how much more willing to move I am, how much stronger. Yesterday, someone I haven't seen in about 2 weeks said "you look skinnier and your hair is so shinny!" Part of me wonders if my hair is shinny because of all the fat I'm eating! HAHAHA.
Yesterday during the film, I started thinking ahead to my dining hall days and my meal plan. Oh I'm nervous, so nervous. I'm going to have to be extra careful and planful when it comes to eating there or even during RA training! OY that'll be difficult. Well, that's still 8 weeks away. For today, I have my sweet potatoes, my coffee, my avocados, my sausage and some yummy things in my fridge. I can't be worrying now about what's happening in 2 months.
The point of this post was to encourage everyone to see Fed Up. It really was eye opening and remarkable. I learned a lot and am still processing and trying to process it through a social justice lens because I know I have to be critical of it.
I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!!!! Happy, healthy, and well.
