A Quick Run

Gotcha!  No, this is not about any run, long or short, or quick.  It is about a quick run to Sam's Club on Saturday morning to get my favorites for the weekend and beyond. Unfortunately, it does not give the entire picture of my food purchases for the week. To be sure, I purchased some beautiful and tasty carrots the day before from Times Supermarket, and a whole bunch of berries, pears, bananas, avocados, and salad stuff a few days before that from Costco.  

I was feeling pretty feisty after staying up part of the night and waking up early this morning to finish my third Vince Flynn book, the Third Option. I decided to do a little experiment although I was too embarrassed to document my findings with pictures for fear of being discovered. During my brief shopping run, with very little I really needed....actually, I'm addicted to the lemonade they sell at Sam's....I concentrated my efforts on scanning the contents of the other food carts that were anywhere in the vicinity of my path. 

As expected, I noted a wide variety of content from cart to cart. But there was an amazing amount of consistency of within cart content; not only in the types of food products but also the quantity.  I frequently see restaurant owners buying huge reams of food staples - fresh produce and canned ingredients - on Saturday morning; this day was no exception.  But there also those that come for one or two miscellaneous items. In terms of variety, some carts were full of soft drinks, junk food, chips, cakes and breads, and some were filled with animal products; chicken, bleeding red meats, and frozen foods of dubious nutritional value. Some concentrated on bottles of stuff like water, beer, soft drinks and wine, and a few, like my cart, were filled with mostly healthy foods (although I must admit that at every major shopping trip to either Costco or Sam's, I lack the willpower to resist buying at least one crappola item that I know will rob a few days or months from my life - like the pretzels I purchased this morning).

That was part ONE of the experiment. Before I get to part TWO, I would like to define the terms: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Simply defined, these are descriptions of body types that are used in medical jargon and roughly translate to skinny, strong, and fat.

So part one was to scan neighboring carts for content, and part two was to raise my antennae a few degrees to catalogue the body type of the individuals driving the carts. The results are so obvious, that they need not be stated. Indeed, experimentation of this kind would argue strongly that environment and not genetics was solely responsible for the rampant obesity epidemic and the high prevalence of chronic debilitating disorders in America. We know better, but bad genes do not need help from bad diets to work their magic in robbing you of the best years of your life.

But to be complete and honest, I must confess something: I am the world's worst food hypocrite! Indeed, I will go to any length to make those around me feel guilty for what they order and eat while I play with my garden salad. If I'm still hungry when I depart, my car somehow finds its way to McDonalds to order a few burgers and fries which are drenched in grease that instantly filters through their wrappings, passingly effortlessly through the exterior bag and quickly staining my car seat.  

No one is perfect but I'm trying very hard to keep to a sound and healthy diet. I am variably successful.  Likewise, my children have progressively improved their diet over time, and I'm very pleased with both of them. My daughter is a vegetarian and eats very healthily, although I think she eats too much cheese and surprisingly eschews some of my favorite vegetables. My son is on a health kick which is an amazing transformation from his meat eating junk food overeating junkie past. One wonders how his budget can withstand his daily trips to Whole Foods and how long he can stay focused on the incredibly healthy diet he has devised for himself. Sound body, sound mind!

Got to go....my left over salad is waiting for me for lunch, and if I don't eat it soon, I will get so hungry I may have to eat a piece of pizza or two.