It's almost impossible to grab a coffee without the number of calories per drink staring at us from an illuminated board. I bet your phone tells you how many steps you took today and if not then perhaps your smart watch? There are now apps where you can scan in the barcode of your sandwich to tell you how many calories it contains and this app will monitor how much you have eaten throughout the day. There are a million types of diets that exist that may not count calories but they are counting something - fat, carbs, hours of fasting, portions, sugar, it doesn't really matter, the quest to be smaller or lighter is turning people into human calculators, doing quick maths formulas before eating to decide if they can eat or not.
We are told to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg per day but some would argue 10 - How do we know which one is right? Maybe 7.5 just to be on the safe side! The conflicting information on eggs in the last 10 years is mind boggling...2 per day, no wait maximum 1, actually now 3 is ok and wait, there is no maximum, eat as many as you want.
Between calories, macros, micros, fat, carbs, protein, sugar, steps, hours fasting, weight, measurements, dress size, body fat ratio, snacks per day, fruit and veg per day, good fats and bad fats and this names just a few...do we listen to our body anymore?
When somebody puts themselves on a diet they are operating purely from a place of calculation, listening to a part of the brain that is not even involved in hunger. They are no longer listening to the body and the rumbling stomach, they are no longer listening to the food seeking part of the brain, they are overriding a really finely tuned process in the quest to bring their weight down, their dress size or their waist measurement.
How many hours in a day are wasted counting and calculating? While we try to override our finely tuned machine because a diet or influencer tells us we should, what portion of your life are you spending in your head thinking? The number that really matters is slipping away, one of the most important numbers there is...TIME.
We are literally calculating away the hours and the days, I wonder if it's worth it?
When you look back on your life how do you want to say you spent your time?
Do you really want to add up all of the hours and realise that you counted grams of fat more than you spent time really being present with the people that you care about? Do you want to have counted more calories than you have hugged those you love? Would you like to say you spent more time on the weighing scales than you did watching the sunrise or sunset?
" Time is a resource that is non-renewable" - Aiden Wilson Tozer