Super Availability

 

There’s just TOO MUCH FOOD available.

I’m on my way back from the big Circular Strength Training® Certification event in Bellingham, WA. I’ve decided to fast on the voyage home. It’s just the easiest way to avoid eating a bunch of junk.

I’m one of those people that can easily plunge down slippery slopes. Give me one piece of somewhat junky food, and the next thing you know I’m eating an espresso brownie from Starbucks.

It was my buddy Brad Pilon, author of Eat Stop Eat, who first gave me the idea to fast while traveling. And I’ve had good success with it on many occasions. For me, it just seems easier to turn off the valve completely than to try regulating the flow of crappy travel food.

But the problem is the sheer volume of tasty, but empty, food that’s all around me. I’m not particularly hungry. But the lemon cranberry scone over in the Starbucks display is weighing on my will power with the heft of a Bruiser Clubbell®.

So I’m thinking, no wonder we’re having so much trouble maintaining the kind of health and physique that we’d like and we deserve! We were never meant to have so much abundance. This Super Availability of sheer calories is completely counter to the bodies that our evolution has provided us with.

So the next time you bow down to “just one” espresso brownie (and you will–so will I) just give a moments thought to how long it would take you to gather that many calories if you were dumped into the wild. Assuming you had the skills to do it, how much energy would you expend to gather that much “food energy”?

It’s an interesting experiment...

Comments

[Sean Barker]

Great point Adam.

People wouldn't have to worry so much about every little thing they ate these days if they just expended a little more energy preparing real food.

Back in the "old" days our grandmothers would burn more calories making homemade bread than was actually in the bread itself!

[Palidor]

Absolutely right! I'm an avid cook and baker, so I rarely eat out or buy baked goods. Plus, when you learn how to cook and bake, you'll find that your own food tastes way better than store-made stuff. Call it culinary snobbery, but why would I pay for a brownie from Starbucks when I can make my own for cheaper AND it tastes waaaay better? :-)

[Adam Steer]

Sean - Too true! Cooking seems to be a lost art nowadays. I love the idea of the "slow food" movement. It's so much more rewarding to prepare an experience than grab a bite.

Palidor - I hear ya! Especially when it comes to pasta, I almost never order it from a restaurant anymore. I'm always disappointed and come away thinking I could have done way better myself. Again, cooking is an essential skill and a lost art...

[Ryan]

I agree that this is an interesting and important experiment. While I am in the rare being one who doesn't enjoy sweets, I know that everyone around me struggles with this.

I'm lucky to be able to have great, healthy food prepared for me every day. However, having a convenience store and Starbucks on every corner over here in Japan sure doesn't help! Sometimes going without something truly is the best choice.

[liz jaeger]

So true ! ... I thought I had escaped, being gluten-intolerant, but then our Starbucks started carrying a gluten-free thingy ... NO !!

Really enjoy your site :)
thanks !
Liz

[Adam Steer]

Ryan - I'm trying not to resent you for not having a sweet tooth!

Liz - They're very sneaky... :)

[Wil]

Adam, you hit the nail on the head here... I was lucky to escape Starbucks just a few minutes ago w/a plain latte... I wouldn't even let myself look at the display case b/c I knew if I did it would be the end of my resolve. Now that I'm home, I haven't even the slightest desire for any of that crud! Amazing what availability does to our psychology.

Ryan, you are one lucky !@**$%##!!! I wish I'd never tried sugar...