Can
we talk semantics for a moment?
Real.
Just as I dislike the incorrect use of the word 'literally', I
strongly disapprove of the incorrect use of the word 'real'. Let me
paint you a picture:
All
over the world, places like New York and Melbourne are currently
being hijacked by paleo-proud,
green smoothie drinking hipsters and health nuts alike. I have no
problem with people wanting to be healthy - all power to you -
but do you have to tell Every. Single. Person. About. It? I know you
see avocado and spinach as being superfoods, that will somehow
magically help you grow a unicorn horn and defeat Voldemort, but does
that really mean that you have to blend them together with every
other healthy food you can get your cave man hands on? I mean, I like
cucumber, but I don't put it in my tea every morning just for a
vitamin boost. Also, the paleo diet? I understand that the cave men
had it hard, only eating mammoths when they could take one down and
otherwise having to eat berries and whatever else they could find for
nourishment. Thankfully, we are now lucky enough to have supermarkets
- and evolution has done its job, so that our bodies can now digest a
smorgasbord of delicious treats – do we really have to deny
evolution everything it has worked so hard to achieve?
Whilst I'm at it, let's discuss treats. Not every food needs to be a treat. It doesn't need to be you
being naughty/cheeky or some other terribly misused adjective. It is
food: put it in your mouth, chew and swallow - and then be grateful
that the food was available to you in the first place. I don't need
to hear about its protein contents, or about how much green tea you drink a
day to keep your metabolism as speedy as the little mouse Gonzalez.
Eat and remember, it has not been that long since our own
forefathers endured subsistence living and if that doesn't bring it
home to you – maybe you need to volunteer your time and smoothies
to someone for whom food is not just a treat.
Back
to semantics: Real. The Oxford dictionary describes 'real' as being:
Actually
existing
as
a thing or occurring in fact;
not imagined
or
supposed.
So following this clearly defined linguistic blueprint, we can safely
assume that any form of movement, edible substance and human
condition is, in fact – 'real'. Real exercise, real food and real
life (respectively). In fact, putting the adjective (or in some cases
adverb) 'real' in front of things, that already existed before you
added an unnecessary describing word to them, is more likely to make
people question whether you just escaped the Matrix, than make them
want to change their lifestyle. Harping on about how amazing all
those real superfoods are, just makes people think you really need a
cheeseburger and telling people to get real - to jump into real life?
I must have missed my own birth there, silly me, let me just hop to
it then!
I am not advocating junk food for breakfast, lunch and tea of course, or any particular diet/exercise regime for that matter - even if I did finish off last night's schnitzel for brekky. In spite of my own opinions, I do not intend to get in anyone's way. So go ahead, blend
those chia seeds into every meal, suck down a questionably coloured
smoothie and pay your respects to your neanderthal ancestors.
Just
don't tell me about it.
Hope
all is well.
