A human infant is a pretty helpless creature. They aren’t really capable of much but they do have one characteristic that many of us long for. They know how to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are satisfied. When a baby is breastfed on demand they will nurse more frequently and vigorously when they are going through “growth spurts” yet they seem to be able to just lazily take an occasional sip when they are nursing “for comfort”. Many scientific studies confirm that humans, even newborns have a distinct inborn preference for foods that are sweet and creamy and those tend to be the ones we will gorge upon. A “breastfed on demand” baby may as well have a free pass to Baskin-Robbins - so how do they regulate their food intake when the supply is plentiful, palatable and already prepared?

How did we (and our children) get so fat, so fast.  It seems like it has happened overnight.  Complicated theories and studies abound dissecting the possible causes of our "rapid expansion" but I believe it can be boiled,  eh… broiled, down to a single word. BACON. Bacon is everywhere these days. In fact I think we should petition Webster's dictionary to replace the word ubiquitous with bacon.  It is much easier to pronounce and spell and it means exactly the same thing - present, appearing, or found everywhere.

I was watching the Disney film, Pinocchio, the other day with one of my nieces; and I was struck by how effectively it dealt with the topic of temptation. Temptation is obviously something we all struggle with from time to time. The kind and gentle puppet-maker Gepetto had wished that the little marionette “could be a real boy.” The Blue Fairy didn’t just give Pinocchio the gift of life; she also gave him wisdom, guidance, and the sense of accomplishment that accompanies success. She told him

“It’s up to you to become a real boy. You will be a real boy when you have learned right from wrong and proven yourself to be brave, unselfish, and truthful.”

“How do I do that?” asked Pinocchio.

“You listen to your conscience,” said the Blue Fairy.

“What’s a conscience?” asked Pinocchio.

Jiminy Cricket replied, “Your conscience is the little voice that tells you when you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing!”

What if, as you are enjoying your delicious Chinese takeout, you open your fortune cookie, and it says...

“You will always be fat.”

Just writing these words make my heart palpitate; yet, for many teenage girls, this thought is their constant companion. It is said that males have a sexual thought every 52 seconds. Well, at least they get a break! Amidst real concerns about the rise in childhood obesity and its collateral health risks, there seems to be a new snake in the grass stalking our children—eating disorders. Most people seem to believe that relentless media pressure for thinness is to blame for this threat, but I think the real culprit is our failure to find workable strategies for everyday eating.

If there is one thing human beings are good at, it’s adapting. In fact, we have a staggering ability to adapt to just about any environment. About 10,000 years ago we ate only what the earth offered us, which was limited to seasonal fruits and vegetables and whatever meat we could come by. Aside from occasional nuts or seeds we could pack away for emergencies, food was in short supply during the long, lean winter months. Unlike most animals, humans couldn’t digest grasses or leaves to keep us going. Yet, while we had lost the claws and fangs of other predators, we more than made up for them with our brains’ cunning and creativity. Those brains needed lots of fuel to function—in other words, food.

If we wanted to hunt meat rather than be meat, we needed to stay focused. Hunting a large animal took many hours and sometimes days. This required stealth and strategy, but above all, motivation. Even when our early ancestors were cold or tired or sick, their survival depended on their desire to seek and consume food. Today, though our survival no longer depends on those things, it is always right below the surface. Motivation is instinctive.

The human brain has two parts—the old and the new, which is also called the cortex. The old brain is primitive; it operates quickly and automatically. The new brain, on the other hand, is deliberate. It thinks, plans, and strategizes. It modifies impulsive behavior, if it has a compelling reason to do so. Without the influence of the cortex human beings would always act on instinct and respond automatically and predictably.