Food - Are we abusing it?

Young Johnny was the 'role model' kind of a guy.

No drinking, no smoking, no bad habits.

And girls? He would run a mile when he senses any temptation!

Moreover, he was kind, compassionate and respectful towards everyone. Everybody loved him.

Basically, he was the ideal child your mom would compare you to. *insert tears*

All good, but something was cooking in the background.

You see, growing up, Johnny's parents were modest towards many things. But food was not one of them.

Special occasions? Special food. Pizza, biryani, pasta, ice cream, donuts, and the list goes on and on.

Times of happiness or celebration? Tasty food follows.

Food was love - more was always better.

After all, it was meant to be part of the celebration. So why hold back? Right? At least that's what was taught and practiced in Johnny's family.

Food as therapy...

Well, as time went on, Johnny looked to food in every situation.

Feeling low? Order some comfort food and 'eat' your worries away.

Any tragedy in life? 'Comfort' food was the go-to therapy.

This became a way for fighting boredom as well - binge eat till you get that sugar-rush!

And here's a fact - these situations came quite often.

Fast forward many years.

Johnny starts working, gets married, and has kids. And now, thanks to all the new responsibilities, he has less time to worry about what he eats.

All good, till he was age of 25.

Gaining weight..

You see, with age, the body slows down and metabolism decreases.

That's what happened with Johnny.

He began putting on weight. A lot of it. His body was not the same as before. The food he ate wasn't getting digested so easily.

'Something has to change' he thought.

Roll in the carpet and welcome - 'Crash diets'.

Well, he did lose some weight by following them, only to put it on again.

Back to old food habits.

The first symptom..

Few years down the line, he started feeling tired constantly, and his energy levels were also getting low. He started feeling more drowsy throughout the day, and his wife advised him to get a blood test.

'Ah, just a usual checkup', he thought. But he wasn't prepared for what was to come.

Next day, the results were in.

He had diabetes.

Absolutely shocking! He never saw this coming. As you can imagine, it was a gloomy day for Johnny, and his whole family.

Johnny had to start injecting insulin to combat his diabetes, and that became a way of life.

'How did I get here?', he pondered. He knew something had to change. But the ghosts of his past kept haunting him.

Fast forward 5 years - let’s look at where Johnny is at right now.

Something's not right..

As a part of regular checkups, one day, Johnny got another blood test done.

This time, his cholesterol levels had shot up.

The doctors warned him about his food habits. He had to start eating healthy.

Well, by this time, nothing fazed Johnny. He got busy with life and work.

There came many special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries, and so on. And thanks to Johnny's childhood habits, special occasions meant special food.

And here's what followed:

Crash diets - weight loss - junk food - weight gain.

Johnny wasn't happy with his diet or the way he felt in his body. He was suffering, everyday. There seemed to be no way out of it.

But nothing could prepare Johnny for what was about to come.

Taking a hit..

One day when Johnny was at work, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He began gasping and was struggling to breathe. 

His colleagues were astonished. They rushed him to the Emergency Ward at a nearby hospital, where he got admitted and was stabilised.

He had suffered a heart attack.

It couldn't get worse. How did he get here? Things had gotten out of control. He was suffering. He was in pain.

Was life going to be the same for him again?

Sadly, this might be the story of many people down the line. We barely notice what happens inside of us until some illness suddenly pops up.

Think about it..

While we are judgemental towards so many vices, we never considered gluttony, or excessive eating to be one of them.

We know how harmful certain things can be:

Smoking - causes cancer

Drinking - damage liver

But gluttony? That was never in the picture.

Little do we realise how harmful unhealthy eating can be.

It causes so many health problems. It takes a toll on your finances. More than anything, your health and well-being affects your family too.

Unfortunately, for many of us gluttony has been a deep and integral part of our upbringing. And changing something so deeply ingrained within us is really hard and challenging.

But that's what we need to do, even though it is hard.

So....what are you eating today?