My Year of Eating Dangerously

During our “wealthier months” in the first part of last year, I developed a hobby into a small business. The planning and low-income part was pretty much done by the time we got word in July that hubby had been laid off. Now, my little meager income was not going to replace his nice, abundant salary. It was only intended to provide a safety net, maybe a Christmas gift for the family or restock our emergency fund. We used it, too. It was so nice to have that extra little bounce when something the family had wanted for a long time came up for sale at a shockingly low price. Rather than miss the opportunity, we took advantage because my business account (we called it Mom’s Fund) was fat and growing.

As the jobless months dragged on and the severance pay dwindled, I had to make a hard choice. My business required the ongoing sowing of profit back into the business, but the family needed all of Mom’s Fund for immediate use. The business got put on indefinite hold on December 1. I can pick it up again anytime, and none of my customers will even notice I was ever gone. Nice.

Part of my business required consuming fast food anywhere from once a week to twice a day. Not so nice. I found I couldn’t eat it that often, but I used the opportunity to have time out with one of the kids. I’d take them on jobs with me and they would eat the food most gladly (after my initial business had been performed.) For most jobs I was told what I was to consume and didn’t have a choice of any healthier options, even to the removal of mayonnaise or addition of an extra tomato slice. I figured I was doing what was necessary, after all, to provide what little income I could to a family with none other.

One night last December, I was reading Human Guinea Pigs, Experimentation on Man by M.H. Pappworth. I was furious. Why would these people risk their lives, their own health and the health of their children and grandchildren to make a buck?! Did they just not see the danger? Was the lure of money that great? Did they trust mainstream medicine that greatly? Where was the disconnect, exactly?

It was another “Duh” moment for me as I realized I was doing the same thing with my own health, and my family’s. Sure, I’d seen Supersize Me. I’d even preached it to my kids. But that was years ago, and my fervor had slipped as real life intervened. Little concessions became course de rigeur and special treats became weekly requirements. I’m in the process of writing a mission statement to help keep us on track. I might have to have it framed and hung on the kitchen wall, but I’m never going there again.