The Eat to Live Diet: Breakdown

In his book Eat to Live, Dr. Joel Fuhrman makes three excellent points in the beginning of the book:

1. Obesity is one of America's most terminal diseases and is the only one for which the cure is known.
2. We were designed to eat to live, not live to eat.
3. Your waistline is a huge indicator of your overall health. (This claim followed by statistics which cited a direct link between the waistline and cardiac problems, among other significant health issues.)

I haven't read the book since college (though it might well be worth a reread), but these three things stuck in my head.

Huh.

Over the past six months I begun an appraisal of my health - a true one, not the one I would like others to see.  The real thing.  It's ugly.  Prepare yourself.  (All three of you.)

Four major observations:

1. I live to eat.  I love eating.  I love thinking about what I'm going to eat.  I love going out to dinner and I like to know where I'm going ahead of time so I can anticipate it.
2. I overeat.  I eat as much as I want, and sometimes, if there's food left, I'll eat that too.
3. I eat the wrong things.  I like the things that taste good, people.
4. I have to change.  If I keep up these habits, my weight will slip further and further out of my control.  With weight problems come all sorts of health problems.  With a husband and two young children, I just can't afford it.

Ah.  There - I said it.  It was actually kind of nice.

I'm going to begin to address these issues, but I'm sure I will add to them as I become more knowledgeable and experienced.