OK, I know, I’ve been really bad about posting on this blog.

My excuse?

I’m getting ready to totally overhaul my online presence and it’s all I can do to keep all the balls in the air.

How’s that for refreshing honesty?

Here’s another unforgiveable misdemeaner … today’s post is a repost of a post I did on my other blog “Essential Health Nuggets”. How’s that for a mouthful, complete with butchered grammar?

OK, so without further ado (because I know you will forgive me, or at least I hope you will ’cause it ain’t half bad) …

“It never really felt right, did it?

Finally, after yesterday’s 4-1 drubbing by Germany, English fans must face the reality that our team just wasn’t that good.

Sure we had stars, all of whom had a proven pedigree (though never on the game’s most important stage).

But that’s life … and that’s sport.

Now the biggest problem seems to be how to remove Fabio Capello from his contract without swallowing a multi-million pound pill.

Which shows only too well that when you want something too bad, things never work in your favor. Who in their right mind would negotiate a contract before a world cup … and not take into account the eventuality of exactly what just happened?

Answer … a nation whose desperation trumps all common sense.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ve got a host of talented youngsters coming through to fill the boots of senor Lampard, Gerard et al.

Haven’t we?

Well … er …. no.

While I’m on the subject of the world cup (and spelling it without capitals is deliberate here) …

Why won’t Fifa agree to use replays?

We saw how wrong that was when France cheated their way into the world cup after Henry’s handball. Fortunately, karma had its way and the French went home hanging their heads just as sales of Guiness went through the roof.

Yesterday (and this is no excuse, just an observation) we saw an English goal disallowed because of human error). This was not even debateable. And yes, Mr Seth, it does take away from the beautiful game!

I’ll also say this … I liked Germany as a team up until the point their goalkeeper realised that he could pull the wool over the official’s eye and pulled an “Henry”.

Man, I am so sick of professional athletes cheating. What glory could there possibly be in an advantage gleaned from a technicality?

Come on. We are surely more sophisticated than that? Aren’t we …?

Maybe not.

And then there was Argentina’s obvious offsides.

Again, they surely would have won regardless.

OK, so Brazil and Spain are still in … and I can’t be mad at Argentina because offsides is not as blatantly intentional as pretending that a ball has not crossed a line when it has. See … even my morality is getting screwed up here now!

Why can’t we just have replays. It works for rugby. How ’bout it Sir?

Go Messi. Go Villa. Go Kaka!

And sorry England … but you’ll just have to look in the mirror on this one.”

OK, that’s it.

I’ll try to keep the fires burning here while I figure out my true authentic self and all that other essential good blogging stuff.

Hope you guys are enjoying life and staying fit and positive … and happy. I know I am!

Catch you later …

Over-eating is a global obsession.

Billions of people eat too much, know this and still can’t seem to help themselves. So why do they do it?

Well, it would seem there are two main root causes: emotional imbalance and physiological dependence. We over-eat because excess food dulls that intangible pain that lurks deep within us … and we continue this madness because our bodies can’t stand how it feels when the onslaught is discontinued.

It’s not because of one or the other. Both are inter-dependent!

Comfort eating is a well-known and fully accepted phenomenon. We eat for succor (sorry America, that just looks wrong … succour). There’s a gap in our soul, an emptiness that must be plugged.

Where?

Somewhere, deep inside. And I just don’t care to even try to find where. It’s just “there”, gnawing away at us. The legacy of bad decisions, poor planning, missed opportunities … even a broken heart.

And consuming something that we instinctively know is “bad” for us is a form of very necessary self-flaggellation. Picture if you will a poor girl curled up on her couch, Ben and Jerry’s in hand.

Temporary comfort fueling a growing sense of wretchedness … but all part of a very necessary cathartic process!

But it’s never a one-off.

Everytime the loneliness kicks in, that light in the fridge door draws us in. And with that first glorious mouthful, the dopamine receptors in our brain drown in the pleasure of relief.

We owe ourselves one more indulgence (or so we rationalize).

But … the more we turn to this crutch, the less special it becomes. And the more we feel we need.

And as we “kill” ourselves, our wretchedness magnifies. In for a penny, in for a pound. A downward spiral of malaise that feeds on itself.

The rewards of addiction … less, for more.

Until you stop the madness and pay the price if you can stand it. For most it goes way beyond a tub of ice cream. It’s cravings at every meal. With each successive rationalization chipping away at our very foundation of sanity.

Emotional vulnerability conspiring with the reality of physical addiction. In a society that is so hunkered down it won’t even acknowledge existence of the beast.

You just need to get it together and show some intestinal fortitude!

Moderation … that’s what you need. A bit of discipline. Some restraint. All of which muddies the waters even further, because we all know that some restraint is not only possible, but usually fairly effective and rewarding.

But how the hell does one keep it up?

Stick around … I may just have some answers for you in future posts. I appreciate you taking this time to spend with me and hope this brought a smile to your face.

I’ve been back from my trip to Scotland now for a week.

It’s taken me that long to recover from the onslaught of cooked foods I subjected my body to while away!

Prior to my trip (which was thoroughly pleasant I should add … and thanks for asking), I had made pretty useful progress with my eating habits. Although not 100% raw as yet, I consider myself to be in the transition phase.

I go from eating totally raw for several days at a stretch, to the odd fall from grace. Nothing serious I might add. The odd omelette, punnet of prawns (shrimp) or can of salmon. Mindless consumption, more out of habit or because my girlfriend still has not entirely bought into the whole idea of raw and I’m trying not to make her feel too uncomfortable.

I’m hoping that the soft touch over time will be more effective in the long run. What I know for sure is that my passion is often misconstrued for evangelism. This is unfortunate as it is the last thing I would want to be.

Anyway, back to our road trip.

It’s been a tradition of mine to eat a Whopper at Burger King every time I drive over 100 miles or so.

Why?

Because for at least half my life I couldn’t buy McDonald’s or BK. So now I have this really screwed up idea that eating there is a “treat”. Not because it’s good food (it’s not!) … and not because I enjoy my meals there (I don’t!).

In fact, the only reason I can think of for this madness and total incongruence with my whole being, is that I can do it.

No other reason! It’s me being rebellious. In some wierd way, the marketing lads have done such a good job that I associate a Whopper with something I need.

And each time I succumb, I ask myself what possible reason could it be. I mean, I could understand it if I absolutely loved it. But I don’t. In fact, it makes me mildly nauseous … and I always regret it.

Until the next time!

Well, that was the story of my entire holiday. I knew the friends we stay with would love us to death with beautifully prepared cooked food (usually a roast washed down with liberal amounts of merlot).

And I knew that once I reached my mum’s house (where we spent the lion’s share of our holiday), we would go out to eat because she hates to cook. My mum is arguably the best cook I know. She can make just about anything taste great.

But she’s at a point in her life where she cooks us one meal to show good faith, then announces that it’s the last we’re getting and we will all have to go out.

So how do I feel about all this?

Well, like any family or social scenario involving great friends, it’s tough. Good friends and family show their love with food. To reject it is to disrespect them … and that’s the last thing I would ever want to do.

I am also known as a prodigious eater!

So, if for any reason I don’t polish off my plate and then consume seconds and thirds … well then, something is quite clearly wrong.

To be honest, I hate all the fuss about food. I hate being under the spotlight. I hate having to explain why at home I eat differently, or why I only want one serving.

So I don’t!

I write off the two weeks, push a magical switch in my head … and vow to indulge without a hint of restraint.

Usually, this is quite pleasurable. Decades of over-eating the wrong foods have led me to a point of relative immunity. The addiction kicks in and I eat until I am stuffed.

And then I eat even more until there is nothing left and everyone can enjoy the performance of the human Hoover.

But here’s what I noticed this time:

I had made not only a psychological shift, but a physiological one too. For me at this point in my slow transition, I actually have no desire for cooked, processed or convenience foods whatsover.

The emotional need is gone!

Strangely enough, so is any physical attraction too. In fact, my body has cleansed itself to a point where it feels positively desecrated by any cooked or artificial foods.

Which leaves me feeling most unnerved.

I actually have become so opposed to putting cooked animal products and otherwise harmful cuisine into my mouth that I have to fight the emotions that arise as a result of just being offered a meal.

And this makes me feel awful. Because I know that my partner, my friends and my family can’t understand (because their bodies are different to mine now) … and because I don’t want to appear either neurotic or ungrateful!

So I’m in a huge quandary!

It took me about 8 days this time before my immune system was so compromised that I got sick. Yes, I actually got a cold!

I never get sick. Okay, occasionally … but I put that down to overtraining or lack of sleep or whatever.

But this time I knew, clear as I’ve ever known anything, that I was getting sick because my system was reacting to being hammered by cooked food.

I could just feel it!

No-one could tell me it was because of an unseasonably late cold snap (we had a few inches of snow and sub zero nights in April … not too unusual I’m told). And no-one could tell me that it was because my friend had a cold and my step-dad had a cold.

Okay, I accept, I was exposed to a few germs. So what! Under normal circumstances my body would have had no problem at all.

But a week into the trip and it just surrendered to the inevitable.

Now that I’m back, I am on a mission!

I am eating raw again. Sensible raw, not high fat wretched raw! Fruits, green smoothies, salad greens, berries … and the odd handful of seeds, small avocado or small punnet of olives.

And in two days, my cold is beaten, I’m working out again (hard) and I have my motivation back.

The one thing I’m still struggling with is a touch of lingering depression. But I have an instinctive sense that that too will soon disappear and be replaced with my usual buoyant self.

Funny thing is, I love my family and I love my friends … but I have absolutely no idea how I am going to manage the food and drink thing in the future.

My strategy will be to lose so much weight and get so disgustingly healthy that they cannot help but notice immediately. Then it will be so much easier to gently cut back, or even do without … without ruffling any feathers or making anyone feel awkward.

It is my motivation now. Writing about it is cathartic sure … but it also means I have something very positive to strive towards.

My new strategy … lead by example.

I genuinely have no wish to tell people anything or make anyone feel that “my way” is in any way a “better way”.

But if I can get people whom I care about asking me what it is that I am doing, then maybe, just maybe, I can arrive at the breakthrough I have been waiting for.

Thanks for lending me your ear. If you have similar comments or observations about your own experiences in this most sensitive of areas, please go ahead and comment freely.

I’m sure I am not alone in finding this challenging.

Sadly it takes someone as outspoken as food activist and author Michael Pollan to highlight just how misguided the logics on proposed US health reform are.

Pollan notes with absolute conviction that efficiencies in health care reform are irrelevant unless we first face the cause of the unprecedented increase in diet-related, preventable disease … specifically the obesity epidemic.

75% of current US health care expenditure goes towards preventable disease. There has been a 30% increase in these costs in real terms over just the last twenty years.

The US may find themselves in the unenviable position of subsidizing both the cost of diabetes and the production of High Fructose Corn Syrup, which would be a tragic irony.

Obesity currently costs the US health care system about 147 million a year. Add to this the 116 million a year cost of diabetes and the billions spent on cardiovascular disease and related cancers.

All of which could be largely preventable if people just changed their consumption habits.

Of course, this will never happen.

The food manufacturing industry is too powerful and is perhaps matched only by the strength of peoples’ addictions to cooked meat, refined carbohydrates and reconstituted who-knows-what.

Because of the security it provides, we naturally think of the NHS as a wonderful institution here in the United Kingdom.

And yes, in many cases there are people doing miraculous things to save lives and mitigate suffering.

But the NHS is up against the same inexorable tide. Over-consumption of high-calorie/limited nutrient “food” is creating a groundswell of people who are succumbing to premature, preventable disease.

No system, no matter how brilliantly constructed, will be able to remain viable in the long term and meet the future drain on its resources until the truth is faced.

We don’t need more expensive drugs.

We need a total reframe of our consumption culture. And regrettably that is highly unlikely when the top nutritionists in the country are still singing the praises of the grain, dairy and meat industries.

I know people will never give up cooked food. It tastes too good, its addictive allure is subtle yet brutal … and people use cooked meals as the foundation for almost all social interaction.

But people also deserve to know the complete truth about the food they love so much, so that they are at least able to make informed decisions and head in a direction that is more sustainable on a macro basis.

We should be setting agendas aside and calling things as they are.

Then responsible adults can make responsible choices. Until our consumption habits are seen in the same context as smoking, we will continue to kid ourselves that moderation is all that’s needed.

This will provide an endless stream of customers for the pharmaceutical and medical industries and we will never come to the realization that we have everything upside down.

In simple terms, unless the culture changes, the health care system will not cope. Economically, the implications are dire.

Socially, they are even more serious!