Americans are the most obese people on the planet and we wonât just blame fast food for this.
Itâs our jobs.
73% of us are overweight or obese and this pandemic has only exacerbated this problem. With all this time stuck at home with cabin fever, itâs easy to blame closed gyms and sitting 2 feet away from the snack drawer 24/7 as our reasons for not getting in shape.
You are in control of what you put into your mouth just like you are in control of how you feel.
You could be in the most stressful situation where everyone is panicking, but you can choose to follow or treat others as noise.
Because being confident, stressed and what you eat is all in your control.
As Americans, our diet culture is messed up because we focus too much on the scale and clock instead of our hunger cues and what our mind is telling us. If we all ate when we were actually hungry, slept when we were sleepy and became creative instead of resorting to eating when we were bored, we would get much more done throughout our lifetime.
Yet as species who were designed to procrastinate, we have no other choice than to not be able to resist short term gains and yield long term results. If we want something now, we want it now! We have short tempers and donât look to our future selves with guilt.
Everything in life requires moderation. Without it, you are guaranteed to have a harder time with everything. From food to exercise, tv binging to social media, if we set ourselves reminders and limits, we would be able to accomplish far more than we ever set out for ourselves.
Rich or Poor, Fat or Skinny
Americans do this the best. We live for food instead of letting food into our lives. It controls our lives and 12pm-2pm is national lunch time hour. We eat far more than we need to because we love good deals, free things and believe we need to eat double than weâre supposed to. If we skip or miss a meal, we convince ourselves we will die tomorrow.
Cheap food isnât actually cheap. You can read why here for reference. Overtime, since it costs you your health of eating junk and because health = wealth, you loose years off of your life. Having Taco Bell every day results in not being able to make money down the road, spend time with family and simply enjoy the fruits of life with older age.
Instead youâll be succumbed to McDonalds and die earlier if you keep up that cheap fast food lifestyle.
When it comes to spending money on food and health, there is more than one right answer but it all comes down to not buying or taking advantage of anything in excess. The wealthy donât spend their money on junk and on more food, the rich get thinner as the poor fall into the trap of diabetes and health problems which they have more control over than they think due to a lack of education just like with financial literacy.
The current food culture in the US is such that if you are poor then you will eat more processed foods which are cheap and donât take time to prepare. The poor and the rich work as hard with demanding schedules, multiple jobs and a family to support but the rich have the option to make healthier choices which demands smaller portions which leads to natural weight loss.
When you have extra money and spare change as a poor person on the brink of poverty, youâre not going to get a gym membership, youâre going to go to the shelter or food drive to get some basic necessities that the rich already have.
Yet the good news is that we solved one problem, food shortages but the bad news is that weâve replaced it with another problem, poor diet.
Rich people have the luxury of paying for things in excess but most if not all of them choose not to.
60% of those who make $1m or more per year have a healthy or below average BMI. I beleive this is the cause of knowing what their money can provide them. The poor have no concept of money and if they happen to win the lottery, instead of educating themselves to invest in themselves as the rich would do, they just spend it all.
If youâve accumulated money, worked hard for it and lived in the comfortable rich lifestyle for a while, you have come to understand what money can really provide you in life.
Yes, you can buy 600 donuts for yourself every day all day, but why?
Health = wealth after all.
With the richâs excess money/supplemental or âplayâ money, whatever you want to call it, they tend to use it on 2Â things:
#1: Experiences: Traveling and dining, meeting new people, investing in themselves, gaining new perspectives
#2: Improving their Health: Eating top/organic cuisine, buying Whole Foods, exercising and a lifestyle coach
Having a thicker bank account doesnât make you exercise more or have a healthier diet. Itâs all in oneâs mentality and whether you are rich or poor, anyone can adopt it with little to no money.
Blaming money wonât get you anywhere. You donât need it to feel and look good and I wouldnât be considered about your figure as much as your insides, FYI.
Instead of getting an Equinox membership for $400 a month, you can run outside for free and instead of eating McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner, cook up some raw veggies with brown rice which will be better for you in the long run and only cost a max few bucks more.
The rich make wiser choices because they understand the value of money.
By the Numbers
Compared to adults making $75k or more, those making less than $20k were 50% less likely to exercise, 42% less likely to drink lots of water and 25% less likely to eat less fat and sweet.
Poor people use diet pills which equates to a mental burden similar to losing 13 IQ points and pounds.
This is why the rich are typically thinner:
-Rich people exercise or educate themselves during their free time, poor people watch tv or smoke
-Rich people skip their meals due to work, poor people load up on free crap or skip a meal but overload later (worse for metabolism)
-Rich people crave water which reduces huger and increases satiety to eat less-poor people pay for soda although its not free
-Rich and poor hae equal stressful lives nad work as hard but the rich plan for gym and familymeal time
-When youâre poor, youâll do anything for money, food and stay alive as a result, they donât care if they donât exercise or eat well
-The poor have basic necessities to worry about, not hitting the Barryâs Bootcamp with friends
-The rich donât have time to cook they eat out=pay more for quality =smaller portions since expensive to distribute and deliver
-Different priorities = different lifestyles
-They know the power of connections so they almost always sit with people when they can
-The more expensive the food, the smaller portion it is
Itâs important to note that everyone has a different metabolism, not every rich person is skinny and not every poor person is fat but according to society and the worldwide phenomena these days, the richest are the healthiest.
So what in the world does this have to do with France?
France is one of those carefree countries and it serves their health and livelihoods well. They have their priorities straight, go to the office around 10am but no worries if youâre late and have 2 hour lunch breaks.
They take living seriously which is why they are healthy and happy.
How healthy?
Well as with every New Yorker and Parisian in big cities with romance, people smoke and drink to wash away feelings and hard ache. This is certainly not a recommended way to cut back on gaining weight but this is how they look leaner because tabacoo curves hunger.
If you uncover a Parisianâs day to day lifestyle, itâs very similar to any city lifestyle but the main difference isnât the smoking, drinking or sleeping, itâs how they value their meals.
Feeling Grateful
Remember the days when you were at work, school or the office and it would be typical to eat at your desk, having your salami and $25 SweetGreen salad all over the keyboard and by the time you look up to head to your next meeting it was gone?
Thatâs the problem. Weâre impatient multitaskers. We donât value food as a time to reflect or fuel, we view it as a necessity and burden.
French people despise that.
Pre-5 days ago, and yes this law was officially passed last week, French people are now allowed to eat at their desks without getting fined and possibly going to jail.
To anyone, except a Parisian this might seem hilarious and pretty stupid since they must have nothing else to care about but when you uncover the reason why this is taken seriously by the government, it all leads to why the French are happier and healthier.
Reason why eating at your desk is bad:
-Eating alone allows you to eat more
-Donât pay attention to the meal or digest it properly
-Donât enjoy the meal
-Mindlessly eat
-Forget you ate and end up being hungrier
-No separation from work=burnout and workaholism
-No community, all alone, work all day, every day
Parisians arenât about this workaholic no social lifestyle like Americans. If youâve watched âEmily in Parisâ or even been to Paris at all, youâll soon realize that the French have a laid back lifestyle where they work smarter not harder.
They have a work ethic that is around their lifestyle, not around their bosses demands of a 9â5.
They work when they feel like it which yields better results. They donât cram in hours to hit the 5pm mark.
Think about when you get your most productive and juiciest work done.
Is it when you set a time constraint and forced to do it in a rushed matter or whenever you feel like it?
Although setting loose boundaries can lead to procrastination and no anticipation to ever do it, especially for teens who arenât motivated themselves, more often than not, when you tell yourself when you want to work, you get it done best!
We all have certain flow states thatâs when our work productivity is at its peak. Iâve always been a moring person since my parents have woken up at 5 am all their lives to work in corporate America and Iâve followed.
Hence, I do the same and workout and complete most of my day by 10am when most wake up. I work during those peak hours when Iâm alone and the world hasnât opened its eyes yet.
I get more work during that block of time 7â10am than 10am-1opm.
The french lifestyle is simple but practical and follows this regime.
If we put Americanâs health first, there would be less deaths, medical and insurance costs, mental illness, anorexia, bulimia cases and we would be able to live happier, healthier lifestyles.
Although I doubt this hustle culture will change in the states or elsewhere because thatâs how America has built itâs reputation as the wealthiest and most innovative nation through this brutal toxic style of work, we can at least adopt some of these habits in our own lives and especially if youâre a freelancer, solo entrepreneur or not locked into a strict schedule in a physical office rather at home, you could adopt all to change your life.
French Work Lifestyle:
-Free food is rare or not existent
-Snacking once a day max
-Coffee all day for energyyyyyy
-Desserts are allowed
-Diets donât exist
-Whole Milk with coffee-Americans love all these new diet trends that have no substantial nutrients in them so they are always hungry drinking cups and cups of Almond, Flax, Hemp, dirt, poop you name it milk
-Reusable water bottle to stay hydrated with flawless skin and curb hunger
-No packed luches, always eat out which is more expeisve = higher cost
-No decorating work desks with family photos-when its lunch time itâs taken seriously
-They eat lunch once, not 6 mini snacks once a day glued to the screen
-Work is for working, no gyms, yoga studios, spas, organized volunteers, softball teams, etc.
-Time to gather and appreciate food and life
-Eating out = pay more = smaller portions = ehalthier than cooking food b/c eat more
Bad Timing?
Work is for work, eating is for eating and hence, moderation is key.
The legalization of allowing French employees to eat at their desks came at a surprise, especially as Covid is still evident throughout the country and compared to the rest of Europe, France is lagging with the vaccine rollout.
The lunch break of âla pause dĂŠjeuner,â has long been considered sacrosanct in France. Prior to the pandemic, French labor code forbid employers form allowing workers to have their meals in the workplace reflecting the importance of food and meals in national culture.
It is a time of gathering.
How much gathering?
Well it feels like a buffet longer than half the work day sometimes! French workers typically enjoy a two or three course meal with a colleague at a nearby bistro.
Why was this order placed?
According to CNN, to help curb the spread of Covid, the country has suspended a longstanding prohibition on desk lunches according to a government decree published on Sunday.
Is it that America and other counties have more important things to worry about than its citizensâ health?
Most likely as money is a top concern for American companies and getting anything passed, even a stimulus to help homeless Americans takes months.
Donât count on anyone to keep you healthy, besides yourself.
Did I mention, carbs are okay?
Happy feasting.