Navel-Gazing In The Fast Lane

For reasons I can only attribute to God’s having a sense of humor, ever since I decided to sort my body and eating and health out once and for all I have been put in situation after situation involving easy access to gobs of fattening eats. I was thinking about why there is such an internal struggle in me NOT to each such things, and of course the word “temptation” kept coming into it.

Since I have decided that one of the keys to my potential success is careful examination of my thinking and how I define all aspects of what it means and what it is to behave and eat in a healthy way, I decided to do a little research…

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “temptation” as: the act of tempting or the state of being tempted especially to evil : enticement. Something tempting : a cause or occasion of enticement

Since “enticement” made two appearances in defining this one word, I figured it needed a good looking at as well.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “enticement” as: to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire.

Arousing hope or desire.

Hmmmmmm.

So, when I eat, say, a Krispy Kreme, what hope or desire could I possibly be fulfilling?… Not the hopes and desires I profess to have; A lean, fit, healthy and attractive body, long life, etc…

Technically, then - by definition - the only thing that SHOULD actually “tempt” me is the sight of a big bowl of salad. Served on a treadmill, preferably.

So, I got to thinking about foods – ones that actually are tempting (despite what Messrs. Merriam and Webster have to say on the subject) and ones that are not.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “food” as: material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy.

Hmmmmmmmm.

So, here’s what I think.

I think there is “food,” and there are also Things Which Are Merely Edible.

If the primary purpose of “food” is to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy, then a Krispy Kreme is merely something edible. It ain’t food.

In the past, I often justified poor eating by saying “But I HAVE to EAT!!! It’s not like smoking or alcohol, that you can just STOP doing! I NEED food!”

And so I do.

And if I just stuck to food, I’d be in better shape. Literally.
But I have had an issue of confusing food with Things That Are Merely Edible. Crayons are edible. Mealworms are edible. According to an episode of “Globe Trekker” that I saw, seal feces is EDIBLE.

Just because you CAN eat something doesn’t mean you should.