09 Apr I’m starting a food fight.

OK. This is totally gross, but this is the headline I read the other day while catching up on Facebook:

“Would you drink puss?”

Ewww! Not a chance. But curiosity got the better of me, so I read on. It turns out the health guru who wrote the article was equating drinking milk to drinking puss.

Really? Such a comparison is ridiculous, in my opinion. And it got my blood boiling.

Prior to the gross “puss” article, I stumbled upon a healthy living TV show where the host and the interviewee were vilifying coffee.

Coffee? So now we’re not supposed to drink COFFEE? Are you friggin’ kidding me? My blood pressure soared. (And not from my coffee!)

As you can tell, I’m a bit fired up this week. You might even say I’m ready to start a food fight.

Why? Well, I get into all the juicy details in this week’s Jacquie Straight Up, but one of the points I make is that I’m sick to death of all of these diet and health gurus banning certain food groups, targeting them as “evil.” So many of them make deprivation the name of the game…and I’m not OK with it. Be sure to watch the video above…you won’t want to miss this one.

Now, of course I’m all for healthy eating. But one of the biggest points I make in today’s video is that we, in the western world, need to acknowledge the fact that we even have the luxury of vilifying certain foods. In so many parts of the world, a glass of milk and slice of bread could save a person’s life.

Total deprivation, unless it is necessary — like in the case of an addict or someone with a chronic illness or allergies — usually leads to rebellion. So this begs the question: should we even be teaching total deprivation as the answer to weight loss or optimal health?

In my opinion, life is meant to be savoured and enjoyed. What is the point of life without pleasure?

Let’s put food back into perspective, and be immensely grateful that we even have a choice about what to eat, in the first place.

As for me, I’m going to enjoy my coffee, chocolate, steak, and certainly my scotch. I’m not going to give up any of it, but I’m also going to work out every day and eat plenty of fruit and veggies. (I hate “moderation” but it really is the key, isn’t it?)

If you’ve enjoyed today’s Jacquie Straight Up, please hit the “like” button and share with your friends. And please tell me about your pleasurable indulgences in the comment section below…I’d love to hear about them!

Bottoms up and see you next week!

Sending love and strength,
Jacquie
xo