Sounds like a good mantra, huh? This is how every human wish they could eat. I believe that this is how one should eat every day. It is a little misleading because the animal that you eat like determines your physical development. Also, though you can eat what you want, compromises are to be made so that you obtain the goal you desire.
Modern society, most especially American, is full of diets, food pyramids, weight loss schemes, personal trainers, workout plans and even mail order meals. All these methods, some of which can drain one’s bank account faster than they can provide a healthy physique, and yet, the U.S. leads the modern world in obesity. It also leads in deaths that can be traced back to poor lifestyle habits. On top of that, commercialism sells tons of health-oriented products that many purchase but never gain full usage from. Before you whip out your plastic or checkbook for the next deal guaranteed to make you look like that chiseled model on the screen, hear me out.
Instead of solely concentrating on weight (losing and lifting), many people should be looking at their metabolisms, how much energy they intake vs. how much they use, vigor, vitality and body fat percentage. Foremost, they must be what they feel comfortable with, not what everyone else looks like.
Women need to understand that they have a natural amount of body fat necessary for the female physique. Female breasts and buttocks have a higher proportion of fat content than males and look a lot better, too, if I might add. To me, and a lot of other virile men, women with curves are definitely sexier, more attractive and more desirable than the near-anorexic bony models the media presents to us. Ask any skinny girl and she will complain about her inability to gain those curves. So some fat is okay, it just depends on the location of the deposits and their uniformity. Being underweight is not healthy, either, especially if you have poor muscle strength or vitality.
Men need to comprehend that their stereotypes of what a man should look like is not necessarily the healthiest physique and neither is the lifestyle required to maintain that false appearance. Muscles are great but if you need to take countless supplements and drugs to sustain that build, you’re probably developing the wrong body type for yourself. Men should not focus on the size of their muscles but the relative and overall strength, stamina, shape and endurance of their muscles. The additional products that many bodybuilders take often have serious consequences over time. Why look like Arnold but not be able to make love to your girl when you can look like Lance Armstrong or Bruce Lee and go all night? With the only veins bulging being in your neck then you are going to have issues getting blood elsewhere, if you know what I mean. At the same time, looking chubby and loveable is a sure recipe for health problems and the shortening of life. Happy and fat doesn’t work very well six feet under.
Humans are animals, right? I mean we are not plants, although there are couch potatoes, and we are not minerals, though some intake more pills than actual food. So that means we are probably could learn a few lessons from our multi-legged, feathered, furry, scaly and otherwise nonhuman animal compatriots on Planet Earth.
Most animals are very solidly built, even those that we associate with obesity. What is considered to be pure fat, like the bellies of many large herbivores like cattle and elephants is often, in actuality, bloating from gases produced during digestion. These same creatures also produce great amounts of flatulence. Those that are vegans can relate to this.
Other animals, like whales, do have great amounts of fat, called blubber. These deposits are not a result of obesity but are used as energy reserves and insulation against the cold environments that they inhabit. So if you live in areas that are frigid and don’t wish to wear proper clothing or plan on not eating for a long while, then you can risk a higher body fat ratio because you’re going to need it or die from hypothermia or starvation. But I suspect a lot of obese persons are not in either of these categories.
Believe it or not, skinniness is not something that nature desires either. Underweight animals are usually malnourished ones and are subject to low immunity responses and a lack of vital energies. All animals are built perfectly for their survival needs. An animal that is thin or slender most often uses that to its advantage in acquisition of food or avoidance of predators. They also usually have intense metabolic rates requiring a near constant intake of energy.
You say but what about pigs, they are fat, or snakes, they are skinny. Pigs that are domesticated are usually very fat, with large deposits. This is because humans prefer tender pork and they are bred and raised to produce that type of meat. However, wild pigs or boars are some of the most diesel animals in the world. They are great runners, also. Try to catch a piglet or get away from a ticked-off boar and you will find out what I mean. Snakes do tend to be slender but they usually do not eat for long periods between meals and conserve energy regularly.
So what animal do you envision yourself to be? Be realistic about it. Don’t wish to be a gazelle if your build is closer to a hippopotamus. I choose the felines or the canines for myself and they all have the same similar build no matter what the size. Kitty and Fido are built just like their cousins, Leo and Lobo, just smaller. They are very muscular and have great energy outputs, at least when they want to.
I was watching a nature program on lions. I have always noted that lions have an awesome physique, sensual, vigorous and definitely healthy looking. Although a great amount of their lives is spent resting or sleeping, they have tremendous strength, good stamina and decent speed. They also spend hours upon hours mating, during that season. I wondered how they could maintain that build and energy level on such a high-protein diet. Watching a pride consume a recent kill, I saw that the first thing consumed by the patriarch male and his choice female was the stomach. I have not known lions to suffer from cholesterol-clogged arteries but since they are not known to be munching on fruit, I suspected that this was their major source of vegetable matter. Most of the animals they hunt are strict herbivores, eating leaves, whole grains and other high-fiber and starchy plants. I later postulated a notion that with proper exercise, sufficient rest and a diet consisting of lean protein (the prey animal’s flesh), some fat (the prey animal’s skin), high-fiber, starchy/sugary plants and plenty of water, one could duplicate the relative physique of a lion.
I began to observe other animals, as well. Large herbivores support their great size by eating great amounts of vegetable matter and expending a certain amount of energy. These animals, however, maintain a small percentage of fat, contrary to their appearances.
I saw how birds and rodents, which do have large fat reserves and intake tremendous amounts of food, have proportionally powerful metabolisms, including rapid heartbeat and respiration rates. As in other animals, these fatty deposits are retained prior to a condition of great energy expenditure, such as migration, in times of food scarcity or non-active periods, such as hibernation. So, unless they are physically travelling long distances (by airplane or automobile doesn’t count) or not going to eat for a season, then there is no reason for a human to keep large amounts of fat on their frame.
Another observation is the “full” reflex in humans. You know it, when you feel that if you eat another bite, you’ll vomit. Most people are taught or raised to believe that this is a good feeling, to be full. Guess what? That reflex is intended to be a warning signal from you stomach to your brain that an unwanted condition (overfilling) is approaching. The main drawback to this is that overfilling starts the stretching of the stomach walls, enabling anyone who ignores the reflex to eventually increase their appetite and eat even more because now the stomach thinks it’s low. So when you feel full, stop eating. Put aside what remains, do something active and come back for the rest later, unless, of course, you have to trek across the savanna with the other wildebeests.
I know that you have heard it before but I going to say it again because some of you just are not listening at all. If you want to unstretch your stomach, eat several small meals over the course of time instead of a couple of huge meals. You still will have to do some activity to keep from converting the food to fat, but you won’t have to worry about feeling hungry all the time because the stomach will be conditioned to smaller amounts in it.
If you starve yourself, something that no animal ever does intentionally or without a good reason (and it isn’t for a diet), you are just telling your body that it needs to hold on to the fat because it might need the high energy that it contains. Your body is very stingy with using fat unless it is convinced that no extended periods of lack of food will occur.
Learn to balance foods, especially those that are your favorites or that you find yourself craving. Want a nice, juicy steak? Eat an equivalent size salad to suck up all the cholesterol before it gets into your bloodstream. Like sweets? Discover fruits, especially dried ones. They can actually be very, very sweet. Don’t forget water to help flush out any excesses your body doesn’t plan on keeping. Don’t put salt on food when there are tons of spices that can make your food taste awesome. When it comes to starches, try to incorporate those that have a high fiber content, like whole grain or vegetables, or a high-protein content, like beans. In fact, make fruits and vegetables the main component of each meal. Treat the meats and regular low-fiber starches as the side items.
I like to think of myself as a vegetarian that eats meat. A typical meal, for example, would be cream of tomato soup, a spiced and herbed, roasted skinless chicken breast and potatoes, with pink beans and seasoned corn, a simple romaine salad with a little french dressing, a mango and a pear for my sweet tooth. With a walk to the store or around the block, I’m good.
So, eat smarter, eat smaller but often, never don’t starve yourself, stay active as much as possible, rest well, drink tons of water and love what your are. Look to our animal cousins for inspiration. You’ll probably be soon roaring with happiness at the fit and proper frame you will have developed.
