Mini Rant

I've spent a lot of time reading diet and exercise books, trying to figure out how to make my body healthy and happy. I call my dietician sister too often with questions and problems, and she graciously tries to help me even though I usually sound crazy.

After trying a few diets and attempting to reset my metabolism (with some success), I've made some tweaks to my diet and have learned which foods make me feel good and which I should avoid. I guess I've pinned enough recipes and workouts on Pinterest that I now get sponsored suggested pins about diet and exercise. Most of these drive me crazy.

One of these pins shows the headline "5 foods never to eat again" with a picture of a banana. Why should I never eat a banana again? I can see if you were really trying to lose a lot of weight, or be very careful about sugar intake, you might avoid bananas. But that would only be after eliminating every other source of sugar (including dried fruits, honey, and artificial sweeteners). But that's not me. So I'm going to eat bananas. Great source of potassium and very versatile, not to mention portable. I can't tell you the other 4 foods because I refuse to click on the pin.

The one I saw tonight was "Foods you should never eat after the age of 45" with a photo of a stack of bagels. Don't even get me started. Headlines like these and strange rules about foods we should "never" eat don't help solve the obesity and food obsession problems many people have. Although I'll probably choose to never eat a Twinkie again, it's not because I think they are not food (they're not), but because I don't like the way they taste. Any sort of extreme diet is probably not sustainable and not great for your body. These silly headlines don't only apply to articles about diet, though.

One of the reason I quit my writing job was because I was tired of having to write "click bait" headlines to get people interested in my articles. It seemed disingenuous (that word is hard to spell) and ridiculous.  I know I'm not the only person who is tired of reading "10 ways to make your husband fall in love with you instantly" or "7 ways moms are secretly harming their children."

I hereby promise not to bombard you with any click bait titles or hyperbolic lists. I'll just give you the advice I gave Kara tonight. Vegetables should be the food group you eat the most of, and sweets should be the food group you eat the least of. And if you make it to age 80, you should eat whatever the heck you want. That's my plan.