That essay from way back when

Small Object Large Concept

For two summers I worked at a small ice cream store in my hometown. From March until December I dished out cup after cup of chocolaty, minty, sticky cool goodness. Sometimes I served the ice cream in a cone, other times in a cup drenched in hot fudge or whip cream. Of course there were always those health nuts who came in, ordering nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt while their friends indulged in three- scoop brownie sundaes. Usually, a frozen yogurt consumer, I can honestly say when placed next to a dish of smooth, delicious, full-fat ice cream, the ice-cube-like texture of fat- free frozen yogurt loses its appeal. My favorite aspect of working in that restaurant was observing the customers place their orders. Every so often I would encounter one of these orders, “can I have a cup of non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt with peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, nuts and whipped cream?” As ridiculous as such an order sounds to many Americans this type of eating makes sense. Americans tend to turn to diet, sugar- free, fat- free products as a quick fix for all of our nutritional problems. For a majority of the population, reliance on sugar-free products over appropriate dietary practices is an acceptable and desirable option.
In particular, Americans crave sugar substitutes. Splenda, Olestra, and Equal are products which offer sweet satisfaction without calories. The benefit to these products is obvious: trade out the sugar and fat that pollute the typical American diet and in return reduce your risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and love handles. As the obesity rates are rising, and starting at younger and younger ages, adults and children alike are looking for a variety of ways to keep their weight in check. While most nutritionists would recommend the constant and consistent implementation of a healthful diet and regular exercise, many Americans ignore these suggestions and opt to create their own dietary guidelines. Diet products have become staples in American diets. Sugar free jello, diet soda, and fat free potato chips are often times very useful in weight management. With a pound being the equivalent of 3,500 calories, the best bet for losing weight is to cut as many calories as possible. If this goal can be accomplished without having to give up one’s favorite treats, then why not do so? Brown rice has more calories than Lays fat- free potato chips made with Olestra fat substitute, so why not just go ahead and pick the tastier option?
What most consumers do not realize is that they are actually setting themselves up for failure by depending on these products. The fat substitute Olestra for example is known to cause “oily secretions”, gas, bloating and other uncomfortable side effects. Saccharine and Aspartame, the sugar substitutes in Splenda, sugar- free jello and diet coke have been proven to cause bloating. Essentially, a product that is suppose to help you lose or maintain your weight gives you the appearance of looking larger and puffier than you really are. Furthermore, Saccharine has been clinically linked to the development of certain cancers. Furthermore, this product was not even originally intended to be used as a substitute for healthful living. Its original target audience was diabetics, who truly could not risk having too much, if any, sugar or excess fat in their diets. A reliance on these products also has been linked to physical inactivity. Americans have a tendency to believe that no fat or no sugar equals no need for exercise. In reality, even if a body consumes only a miniscule amount of calories, when one’s diet revolves around these products, its muscles (including the heart) as well as respiratory and immune systems rely on exercise to function at optimal levels.
So, why do Americans choose time and time again to pick these subpar products instead of fresh, quality foods to fulfill nutritional needs and control weight? The answer is fairly simple: our lifestyle wills us to do so. A large part of American society is based around the ideals of convenience, speed, and pleasure. It is much more convenient to pop open a bag of Lays fat-free (not talking about the baked chips) potato chips than to purchase, boil and prepare 2 cups of long grain brown rice. Most of the foods are portable and easily accessible whereas fresher and all-around healthier foods most often are not. Speed is also another motive, perhaps the greatest motive, for reliance on these products. Americans are known at home and overseas for dwelling in a society of laziness. Going to the gym and sticking to a well-planned exercise regimen takes time, work, and a lot of sweat. Many Americans find it to be much easier to pop open a can of diet coke, over the full calorie option, than to get in their car and drive to the local gym where they will have to spend the required 45 minutes engaging in moderately paced exercise. An even scarier thought is that not only do many Americans consider this to even be an option, but some believe it is actually a better option. My mother, for example, has convinced herself that consuming a diet full of fat-free, sugar-free products is a preventative measure. By taking in so few calories and fat grams from her food, she has completely eliminated the need for exercise. In her mind the sole purpose of exercise is to burn calories. In reality however, exercise fulfills a much wider range of purposes. From quality sleep, to cardiovascular to proper functioning of sexual organs and maintenance of clear, glowing skin, exercise is literally essential to our health. Without exercise, we would just be skinny, fat-free, sugar-free people who most likely would not stay very skinny for very long.
Our need for instant results also plays a big role in how we feed and care for our bodies. Our culture revolves around an “I want it all and I want it all NOW” mentality. There is no time for going to the gym or taking a trip to Whole Foods or preparing home-made meals. We need to be skinny, not necessarily healthy, but skinny, and we need to be skinny as soon as is humanly possible. Therefore, me must, without any hesitation, turn to diets and eating patterns that will help us accomplish this goal as quickly as possible.
Lastly, our culture promotes pleasure. We want to eat foods that make our taste buds happy. In general, most people are not as excited about scarffing down a bowl of wheat bran, as they are about eating a Nabisco 100 calorie snack pack. The Snack Pack has fewer calories and has the added perk of tasting better. However, the brown rice and broccoli have the fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals that the Nabisco Product lacks. According to ABC News, “59 Percent of Americans consume diet soft drinks” while only “34 percent claim they drink eight or more servings per day (IBWA)”. Both diet soda and water have the same caloric value, but water is much better for one’s health than diet soda. Diet Soda tastes good in our mouths but really does pretty much nothing for our bodies.
By relying on convenient, fast and more palate-appealing ways of maintaining our weight, we more often than not sacrifice our overall health. The focus should be the health and condition of all of our major organs, not just the number on the scale. When we consume these types of foods, we are really just filling our body up with empty calories. Sure these products are fat and sugar- free and seem to pose little risk to our standing on the scales, but they usually possess almost no nutritional value and more often than not leave us feeling hungry shortly after consumption. What this really says about our culture is that we care more about instant gratification than long-lasting results. Our values lie in the size of our jean, not in the healthiness of our bodies. Thousands of Americans are willing to sacrifice long term health and quality nutrition for the instant gratification of fat- free, sugar-free jello. By doing so we are slowly killing ourselves, making that size four bodies that we attempt to put in as little effort as possible for, only last us a few years instead of a lifetime. So go ahead America, and put that Splenda in your coffee, but first, answer my one question. Have you noticed that as the number of diet food products on the market grows, the average American waistline seems to have grown in sync?