Friday, May 6, 2011

I'm Abnormal and Loving It!



I do a lot more observing of people now than I ever had earlier in my life.  Some may call it judging but I feel I am just observing.  Oh well, that's not an argument I will win or even care to have.  Anyways, I have been outside the proverbial box for a while now.  To use a better metaphor, I have been standing outside the forest for the last four years.  My vision is no longer obstructed because I am not amongst the trees.  I see things that others don't because these things are so common and "normal" they go unnoticed by the forest dwellers.


Here is the definition of the word "normal":
conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal
OK, so being common or usual is "normal".  Let's look at some the common traits of health and diet in America. 

  1. About two thirds of Americans are overweight.
  2. Most people believe weight control is as simple as calories in, calories out.
  3. The most common cause of death is heart disease.
  4. The second most common cause of death is cancer.
  5. The major source of calories in the Standard American Diet come from processed, grain based foods.
  6. Carbohydrates are considered to be a healthy foundation of anyone's diet.
  7. Americans try to avoid fat except for supposedly healthy vegetables oils.
  8. Animal fats are widely accepted as unhealthy.
  9. The average American consumes 142 pounds of sugar per year.
  10. About half of Americans take at least 1 prescription drug per day.
That is a brief list of what it is to be "normal" in America.  I often observe what people eat, what they buy at grocery stores, how they look, and their health status.  All the above traits are usually confirmed.  Please observe for yourself.  You will see being unhealthy and supposedly eating healthy is the norm not the exception.

So as the definition of "normal" reads, I am striving to be abnormal in many ways.  I am happy to say I have been successful thus far.  Unfortunately it is going to take big changes by millions of people for healthy to again become "normal".  I write about this stuff because I want everyone to be healthy.  It's not up to me though.  It's up to each individual to decide they no longer want to be "normal".  They must embrace abnormal.



CP

10 comments:

Be said...

Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?

Chuck said...

@BE
Ancel Keys?

Be said...

lol - No from Young Frankenstein:

Igor: Abby someone.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby... Normal.

Then again, maybe your answer was right!

Jan said...

I have to confess of thinking of that scene from Young Frankenstein when I saw the title of this post, too. LOL

Fortunately, I'm no longer "normal" either. Well, aside from being overweight - but I'm not as overweight as I once was, and I'm getting less overweight.

Chuck said...

Had I been familiar with that movie the post could have had a totally different spin.

Chris Sturdy said...

Yeah, I looked a bit abnormal at a departmental retreat last week with my large bowl of greens from home to which I was adding heaps of meat while my colleagues made sandwiches.

Laurie Neverman, The Common Sense Woman said...

You really should watch Young Frankenstein. Very funny stuff.

I think you've got orthexia nervosa, but don't worry, you're in good company.

Overall, I like the paleo/primal mindset, but I'd be very curious to see someone pull together an analysis on how we could feed the world population on something like this, plus keep enough food in storage to tide us over for bad harvests, etc. Population levels have boomed because agriculture has given us the means to have a steady supply of food. How do you scale up from the individual to entire population?

Chuck said...

@laurie
call me an insensitive ass but i am not sure i really care about how the people in africa eat or their health. we've got very big problems right here at home. the health of our citizens is terrible despite having enough calories. let's worry about feeding our citizens in the best way possible.

maybe we need less lawns and more gardens. maybe we need less farms of 1,000 acres of soy and more grass based livestock farms. our government is paying twice for the subsidies of grains. once to the farmers and again to medicare/medicaid.

Anonymous said...

I love this post.. I'm curious, where is the data on the 180lbs of sugar a year coming from? That's half a pound a day, which doesn't seem possible. 8 ounces of sugar a day would be about 800 calories of pure sugar, or more than I eat in a month... that's just plain scary.

I'd love to add some fuel to my arguments as many of my friends think I'm nuts for eating the way I do (no sugars, totally gluten free). Usually I just have to remind them that I'm leaner and meaner... haha....

Chuck said...

@anon
i got the sugar info here i think.
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303141416

i found some more current info on this subject and have adjusted accordingly