The growing size of American waistlines has been in the news quite a bit lately. The suggestion is, that if trends stay the same, half of the adults in at least six states will be considered obese by 2018. How did this happen? Some attributing factors include the consumption of high calorie food with little nutritional value, people looking for instant gratification in a fast food nation and a food system that is based on profits for the food industry. But perhaps, many people are starving for real nourishment in their lives. The foods you eat are secondary to all the other things that feed you—your relationships, career, spirituality, and exercise routine. Those are the things we call primary foods.
An article by David Rock compares our food system and the way we socialize on the internet. He poses the question: are our minds going the way of our waists? Social Media sites are powerhouses on the internet today. Everyone you know seems to be updating their Facebook status several times a day. And even public figures like President Obama and Ashton Kucher are “tweeting”. People are looking for social connections and finding instant gratification in the way of “likes”, comments, and re-tweets. As David Rock points out, “The trouble is connecting socially online may be like eating empty calories. Yet when we connect with people online, we don't tend to get the calming reward that happens when we bond with someone in real time. As a result, you want more and more social connections. On Twitter, you rarely get to feel satisfied and 'full' the way you might if you chatted in person with 50 people at a conference.”
While we update our status; are we really just searching for meaningful relationships? What are your thoughts?