Mike’s Daily Rant 10/26/2012 Got 2 B Wealthy 2 eat Healthy

Today’s rant was inspired by a conversation that I had with a friend. She wanted to know how I am able to afford and maintain a healthy lifestyle without going broke. I answered in simple terms (In My Opinion) but she didn’t understand. I personally believe that when you are LOSING weight you GAIN a sense of awareness. You realize how wasteful you are and then you stop it. The answer that I gave her is buy what you need, desire what you want.

I asked her when does she go grocery shopping? She told me that she goes shopping every 3 weeks. I expressed to her that going shopping every 3 weeks is a problem. She wants to know why, so I come over and give her a workshop based on how I shop and save. The first thing that I do when I enter her home is walk straight to the refrigerator and the pantry.

I am judgmental in most situations but this time I say nothing because she is taking the first step to improve, which is addressing the issue that she has by asking for help. Top shelf of her French door style refrigerator is stocked with soft drinks, fruit juices, whole Milk, and pitchers of foreign drinks made from powder and water. The next shelf is stocked with leftovers galore. Leftovers include Lasagna, steaks, Pizza, and other miscellaneous items. Crisper drawer is filled with processed meat and cheese. Side compartments have condiments and marinades as well as cans of soda. Her freezer is full of Hot pockets, TV dinners, decadent desserts frozen beef, chicken pork. I knew this would be a challenge but I took it on.

Her pantry was no better it was full of things such as Mac and cheese, more soft drinks, chips, cookies, little Debbie pies, pasta, rice and the list goes on.

I made her a grocery list based on what was not in the fridge, freezer and pantry. I also made her and titled it “foods and drinks that make me fatter.” She hated the foods that were on the make me fatter list because it was everything that was already in her kitchen. The grocery list consisted of fresh veggies of her liking. I told her it’s quite a commitment with fresh veggies. I let her know that you have to only buy what you know you will eat before going back to the grocery store or they will go bad fast. I also let her know that flash frozen veggies are just as good and last longer. Plus it's better to occupy space in freezer with frozen veggies than hot pockets and desserts. I also put lean meats minus ground beef and replaced it with ground turkey. I added low fat milk and didn’t put any soft drinks or beverages on the list. So veggies, fruits, lean meats, ground turkey, turkey sausage kielbasa, poultry, fish and a few extra items to brighten the list such as yogurts and low fat sour creams to top it off. I even gave her a rough estimate of how much those items cost. If she purchased everything that I told her to purchase she would be saving about $70.00 more than what she normally spends. She thanks me and I keep it moving.

I call her and tell her that I left my hat at her house and that I’m on my way to get it. She tells me that I don’t have to because she is out right now and as soon as she gets home she will be leaving the house again. She volunteers to bring it to me. This sounds strange to me so I decide to just meet her at her home and wait until she gets there. She pulls up with a trunk and backseat full of groceries. She looks shocked to see me there and refuses my help taking groceries out of car.

I knew the reason why she refused my help but I didn’t tell her that I knew the reason. The reason was because she didn’t buy what I wrote on the grocery list. She purchased from the “foods and drinks that make me fatter list.” This pretty much disappointed me. I almost reached the point of pisstivity. I wasn’t disappointed because she purchased all the wrong things. I was disappointed because she didn’t purchase any of the things that I recommended her to purchase. It made very little sense to me but I wanted an explanation. I didn’t go through her bags but I looked at the receipt. The receipt indicated that she had oreos, more chips, pizza rolls, no fruit or veggies, more ground beef, steaks as well and more pork chops.

I politely asked her why she wasted my time? She gave several excuses. She stated that the fruit and veggies were expensive. She stated that the ground turkey looked very pale and unappealing. She also went on to explain that she needs her liquids to have flavor and that she can’t just do water. I looked at her with the facial expression that she understood. It was that facial expression you use when someone is lying but you are indifferent about it.

I grab my hat and tell her on my way out that I understand she is not ready to commit to a lifestyle change. I also tell her that I will leave the grocery list on her fridge and I’m tossing the “foods and drinks that make me fatter” list. She knows exactly what’s on that list because it’s everything that’s in her kitchen. I walk out.

She then texts me 5 minutes later and says that I was mean and hurt her feelings. I texted back and told her that she hurt my feelings as well. She wasted my time, lied to me and does not trust what I say. I told her that if she didn’t buy Oreos and lays that she could use savings from those things to afford fruit and vegetables.

I was not able to go into all the benefits of eating healthy because she is just not ready to hear it. However, I let her know that I don’t make a lot of money so I cut back in other places to sacrifice. I stopped buying cookies, candy and chips and put that money towards fruit veggies and healthier foods. It’s a small sacrifice and very worth it. So you don’t have to be wealthy to eat healthy. It all pays off later though. The cost of my insurance was cut in half when my weight went down, I eat less food but more often and I don’t pay as much for groceries because processed stuff costs more. If this were the case all wealthy people would be thin and all poor people would be fat. This thought is absolutely rediculous.

I have said this many times to my friends before. I am kind of selfish. However, it would be pretty selfish and unfair of me to leave this world due to something that I can control, such as my weight and health related issues DUE to my weight. I tell my friends that If they are over 275 pounds, I will NOT be a Paul Bearer at their funeral but I wish them luck in the afterlife. It would be totally unfair for me to break my back trying to move their heavy body. I have to live here for a long time after they are burried and I need my back to work properly. I refuse to have a weak back while you get to lay on yours all day and night in a comfortable coffin for the rest of eternity.

MikeMontana1914