you are how you eat, really.

So now that I'm thoroughly brushed up on what to eat and what not to eat (I am aware, whether or not I have succeeded in following many of the rules), I move onto "How should I eat?" Several of these rules present particular challenges to my habits. Rule #55, in example: "Eat meals." I tend to eat like a bird—a little bit of this, a little bit of that, as hunger rises 'til it fades (Why limit yourself to one pallet of tastes, I say? Have a bit of everything!). So this one is especially difficult. I do agree with Pollan that in this way of eating, it becomes a bit more problematic to keep track of exactly what and how much you are eating a day. And though I do try to be conscious to cover an array of foods for nutritional completeness, snacking does become very much whim to the particular cravings of a moment. I guess this is one to work on then, or at the least I should be able to keep track of my snacking and see that it is amounting to meal-sized proportions.

I was surprised by the stat Pollan included in #55: “One study found that among Americans ages eighteen to fifty nearly a fifth of all eating takes place in the car.” I don’t think I can articulate on how many levels this information is disturbing and depressing. What kind of animal are we?!! It seems we are a species that has moved closer to resembling machines than the rest of that kingdom. We must fuel ourselves on the go in order to operate our also consuming mode of going. And it is amazing how many environmentally degrading industries we can support at one time: while driving in an automobile that is both made of and propelled by non-renewable resources, you can eat a Big Mac made from factory farm cows (we can even throw in some of that pink nugget goo that was once a supposed chicken) on a bun made of highly refined flour grown on highly refined land, contribute to CO2 emissions, and all at once be completely detached of what the vital process of eating really is at base (living). Talk about multi-tasking. This modern American culture is a culture of sad solitary overeaters that do not know that eating is much more than something you have to “get out of the way” in order to live out all the “to-dos” of the day.