Act Like a Kid (insight one) – some thoughts on how to eat well.

Act like a kid – some thoughts on how to eat well.

A bit earlier this year (August 12^th to be precise) I read an article in The New York Times by Gina Kolata titled What We Think We Know About Metabolism May Be Wrong. In it, Kolata summarizes a lot of emerging evidence that what we’ve thought about metabolism and ageing might not be (at least not entirely) true. For example, apparently our metabolism doesn’t slow down very much until we near our 60s.

This got me to thinking about how our life/lifestyle habits evolve during adulthood compared to when we were younger and how these alterations might impact our health over time. This is the first post in a new series called “Act like a kid” where I’ll share a few insights that have been percolating as I’ve been reading/learning about how to experience a bit more wellness and balance in my own life. Please note that my comments reflecting my own childhood and youth are through the lens of someone who grew up with the comforts of what I’d describe as “middle class”. I acknowledge the privilege/bias that this brings to my perspectives – that some reading this may have had different circumstances in their childhood.

Act like a kid insight one – What we Eat and Drink: For us adults, good food and drink/beverages are often considered both a treat (and possibly even a right), especially as our wealth/financial stability increases. Generally speaking (COVID times notwithstanding) most of us love to eat out at restaurants, coupled with the pleasure of a glass (or few) of wine, beer, or cocktails. Similarly, at home many of us eat very well too, whether it be food/meals we cook, convenience foods we heat up (think Costco, President’s Choice), or take out/dine in from our favourite spot(s) or a Door-Dash or Uber-Eats service.

As kids/youth, our parents would put in a lot of effort towards feeding us well (as in healthy). Admittedly, today’s culture, technology and social pressures are significantly different than when I was a kid in the 1970s (and a youth in the 1980s). But generally speaking, and through the rose-coloured glasses view of my past, I remember eating almost-exclusively home-cooked meals (as in at home) consisting of a modest amounts of meat/protein, generous amounts of vegetables and/or salad and a modest amount of a starch (mostly potatoes in my family…the 1970s pre-dates the invention of “Keto”). The beverage of choice was water (from the tap – surprisingly tasteless and inexpensive!) and dessert was a rarity…as in only on special occasions like a birthday or when company was invited to dine with us.

My experience as well as my observations of most of my friends and extended family who have children of their own is that, similar to our parents, we try and feed our kids healthily too. And, as our children grow up most of us try to help them develop the knowledge and capabilities to make good nutritional choices. So let’s not lose sight of this when it comes to our own overall health and well-being. Just like we do our best to ensure our kids get what they need nutritionally, and just like our parents made us “eat our vegetables” before we could leave the table, let’s challenge ourselves to care for our own health and well-being by prioritizing our nutrition the same way we do for our children. How’s your veggie-quotient? Is h2o your go-to beverage? Are desserts and sugary (or salty processed snacks) a rare and special treat?

Thanks as always for taking the time to read this post. If you’re curious about my more detailed perspectives on healthy (and tasty) eating, and where I source my (mostly free) information feel free to drop me a note as I’d be happy to share.