Not so long ago I suggested a rather clever weight-loss idea/fad (based no science whatsoever) called the Facebook Diet, wherein you post pictures of every thing you eat all day everyday on your Facebook page. This would let your "friends" hold you accountable for your choices. The idea hasn't seemed to catch on yet, but it's simmering out there in the Internet-galaxy, I'm sure of it. Like Pluto.
Along similar lines, awhile back I came across the site Another Day Another Dinner where Geoff Agnew and Marilyn Edo of Vancouver, British Columbia, posted pictures of dinner for 365 days.
From the intro as to why:
"Food is something I think about a lot. I love eating. Always have, always will. But when I think about food I do so in a simplistic way. Thoughts like "These nachos need more cheese"... BUT, there came a time last year when we (my partner Marilyn and I) agreed that taking a big picture look at our overall food intake would provide both novel entertainment and practical information."Until today the perception of my diet was informed entirely by my leaky memory. This is inherently flawed because I'm certain my brain purges some of the less dignified meals from recollection leaving me with a sanitized version of reality."
"A sanitized version of reality." Perfect.
So, after a year, was this an exercise in futility or did the pictures paint a new narrative?
"If nothing else this experiment forced me to acknowledge how I unconsciously sanitized my diet in my own mind," wrote Agnew in an email. "For example, prior to this project I would have described my diet as being largely vegetarian with meat sprinkled in maybe two or three times a week. Upon review of the year of documented meals it became apparent that I am in fact a fairly voracious consumer of meat."
He goes on to explain that there's no shame in eating meat, but he was justifying carnivorous meals with the classic, "I've earned this because I eat good most of the time."
But, do we? If you've ever kept a food journal, you know the difference between reality what's in your head. And this isn't just about weight loss. It's also a check on waste, eating clean, a budgetary guide and a whole bevy of things.
What about a drinking blog? That'd be interesting.
Anyway, it's just a way to think about our food and overall health and well-being. So much is tied to what we eat. It's good to have a realistic idea of what that actually is.
Maybe.
