According to the World Health Organisation almost half of the world’s population is overweight or obese. That’s a startling statistic. What is more troubling is that almost the same number of people are malnourished and hungry. In short, this means that most of the world's population are either consuming too many calories or too little, either way there is a problem. For those overeating, the problem is likely due to the choices those people are making and for the underfed, their lack of calories is a result of the inequalities of the global system. 

 

While THW is intent on changing the world, for now, at least, the inequalities of the global economic system is beyond our scope. The problem I want to focus on is that of overeating and poor food choices that is ruining the health of so many people today. Being overweight comes with some health issues. Being obese has huge health implications both physically and mentally. 

 

Food is a source of joy and the intention here is not to preach ascetism. Rather, the key to the pleasure of food must be found not just in the consumption of sugary, salty, carby rich foods and drinks (including alcohol) it must be found in the satisfaction of feeding the body the nutrition it needs for performance and in the knowledge that what is being consumed maximally nourishes the body and the mind. Delighting in knowing that what one puts into their body is best for their health and their longevity transforms a person’s relationship to food and to themselves. Let me explain.

 

Thinking about food in terms of what is best for one’s health and to fuel their daily activities, including exercise, means that a person is thinking about what they aim to achieve in a day and in their lives. It also means that people are thinking about what is best for themselves and how they can best care for themselves. In terms of self-love and affirming self-worth, I believe actions like this speak so much more loudly than a million hours of CBT or other forms of spoken affirmations. I don’t believe that saying you love yourself and are worthy of love is going to have much benefit if you spend your day inactive and stuffed full of chocolate bars, donuts, pizza, sweet drinks and the like. 

 

Alongside is the discipline that comes from refusing to indulge every meal or every day. Discipline is a key concept for THW. It’s been undervalued in this consumerist, must have now culture of late-stage capitalism and it is a concept I will come back to in the next entry on philosophy. The word indulge has a meaning, and also a connotation, that too indulge is a "once in a while" experience. The problem for so many people is that they indulge on a daily basis. Cheat meals are just that and as someone who has a cheat meal once weekly, the pleasure is so much more intense than if it was something I did more regularly. Also, I do eat a sweet treat once every few weeks and again, because of the delayed gratification, the enjoyment I receive from the treat is heightened by the rarity of the experience and I also because I choose very carefully what I am going to spend my additional calories on. 

 

There is a lot of material out there on nutrition. THW is not into diets or gimmicky programs such as paleo, keto, etc. For THW, thinking of food as nutrition and understanding it as a fuel to power the body and mind for the activities and challenges that we face on a daily basis, changes the meaning of food and our relationship to it. It will also do a lot to change the way that we live our lives and our relationship to ourselves. 

 

What I’d like to end this entry with is a quote from CrossFit that encapsulates THW’s principles on what to eat and the amount we should eat:

 

“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.”

 

On one level this makes food, diet and nutrition seem very simple. And it is. Nutrition is also complicated and in coming weeks, months and years, THW will provide you with the science about nutrition and supplements, meal plans, and recipes that will help you fuel your performance and your life.