The American Dream and Your Health

What happened to the American dream? In one of the richest countries in the world, how did the American Dream for a better life get so off balance that we have become one of the fattest, most unhealthy nations in the world? How did we get so off kilter? In the United States, "The American Dream"is a national ethos for a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work, according to Wikipedia. James Truslow Adams, 1931, states "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."Was the American Dream not about working hard or at least having the opportunity to work hard and being able to attain some degree of personal accomplishment; trading time that was spent working for some attainable goods? Would not this better life include a life of better health as well? It was also a time where prices seemed more within reach and the cost of living seemed to have a tenable cap on it, of sorts.There has always been a chasm of unfairness to a degree and a feeling of "out of reach," but America used to be as a nation, much healthier.Fast forward from the time the phrase, "The American Dream" was coined to the amazing:-technological changes
-the unfaltering barrage of choices that are offered from a matrix of directions
-the whole "smaller world" syndrome where travel, sights, tastes, experiences are not that far away, (or
at least a you tube, travel channel, or arm-chair experience away)
-the keeping up
-the trying to please everyone
-escalating costs
-busy, busy, busy all the way around
-and..and..and..one gets out of breath!In this mix, what happened to our health? Is there just such a bombardment from all directions, we want to have it all, do it all and be it all? Hidden within that there is a shift in the culture that creates a changing belief system that we deserve it all, that we are entitled to it all and perhaps without working for it at all. Adding to that, some folks out there "eat it all!" There builds a permissiveness within ourselves to not let this bombardment wash over us. It does, however, affect us. A dismissive attitude builds to let some of the simple ABC's of good healthful living go by the way side.Yes, there are those with no place to live but some of these homeless are on the opposite end of the polarity pole; the entitlement of choosing not to help themselves. The "Graph of Unhealthiness"would look like a windshield wiper, going from the street person on the one side of inactive unhealthy choices of "do nothing" to the other side of the spectrum that represents an over weight, unhealthy person whose chief characteristic is kindled by one of indulgence and entitlement: the "do everything" unhealthy choices. Where is the in between?We have becomes soft and slovenly and we have become fat and unhealthy and we have expectations that someone will save us or take care of us and we have made unwise choices to do so.Within that pervasive permissiveness on a personal level rides another interesting characteristic and that is we are afraid of confrontation. It is of absolute necessity that we are able to be confrontational with ourselves. We must embrace being able to confront our own reality instead of being afraid of it. In our striving for the American Dream, we forget to strive from a realistic point of view. Because of our attitude toward entitlement that the world owes us a living, or at least the government owes us a living, we have actually become underachievers. We have made excuses for ourselves, developed an attitude of laisez-faire, we have become complacent and indulgent and procrastination could be described as our main character flaw.WHAT TO DO ABOUT OUR NATION'S HEALTH? Can we not simply go back to the basics?Buy healthful nutritious food in the first place.Basically, anything out of a box, a package or a can has little or no food value: nothing. There are a few exceptions, for example, foods stuffs like brown rice which comes out of a package, is fine.Don't be a "starver or a stuffer." Eat smaller little meals during the day if that will get you to eat less. Some soup for lunch, a salad later, maybe This kind of eating is much better for healthier blood sugar levels.WATCH THE AMOUNTS YOU EAT. Cut back your intake.Cut back on your fat intake.Cut back on breads, pastas, potatoes. Brown rice is great 2-3 times a week.Your daily consumable protein should be, for example: If your ideal body weight is 120 pounds, divide that 120 pounds by 2.2 (kg.) and multiply by.8 = 44 grams of protein a day. Steak, fish or chicken, a size that would fit on the palm of your hand is: about 8 grams of protein. No one eats that in a day. Get yourself a good protein shake. If the body does not have enough protein, it is smart and it will search around your body looking for sources of protein. It will take that protein off your muscles and you don't want that.Your water intake should be approximately your body weight divided by 2. For example again, ideal body weight of 120 pounds divided by 2 will give you about 60 ounces of necessary water a day. In this case that is about 7 glasses of water a day.Exercise for heaven's sake and get some sleep.Another factor of poor health is the disintegration of the American family. It is estimated that very few families actually have an evening meal together.People have forgotten how to prepare and eat good food.Fast food solutions are no solutions at all.If we could simply take our abundancies that have been ours as a nation and turn them over gently and gracefully back to more simple healthy guidelines, we would get back to a more healthy life style and exercise more gratitude and awareness while doing that.Having more riches, (yes, in spite of the economy) does not and has not guaranteed a wiser and more healthy nation. In comparison, taking the recent win of the Women's 10,000 meter race at the London Olympics, the beautiful run of Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba shows that her accomplishments represent being healthy and working hard and making healthy choices. Ethiopia is not a wealthy country. Bits and pieces of The American Dream thrive in other nations. Let us not forget about the American dream here in these the United States and let us balance that American Dream with our own diligence and hard work and wise choices for maintaining our health.