Last week I had the privilege of attending the Generation W Conference here in Jacksonville, FL. This all-day affair covered issues from Women’s Issues around the Globe and around the Workplace. To say it was awe-inspiring doesn’t even begin to cover it and frankly I can’t wait until the next one. One of the “cool” factors of the event was live poll questions throughout the day – and right before the lunch break the question was:

What’s the main thing keeping you from eating healthier?

97 participants responded with their cell phones – and while it may not be a large universal sampling, I have a bad feeling that it represents a universal feeling – and this is among what I would call “power women”. Women of means, women of accomplishment, women who know how to get things done.

The choices were:  TASTE, CONVENIENCE, COST, and NO EXCUSE

And the number one reason – with 58% response was CONVENIENCE.

Participants cite CONVENIENCE as the Number One reason they do not eat healthier.

I wanted to cry, scream, shout, and pitch a hissy right then and there. Of course it’s not ‘convenient’ … that’s what’s gotten us as  a whole into this health crisis in the freakin’ first place. I wonder how ‘convenient’ it will be in their day 20 years in the future to visit doctor after doctor, trying prescription after prescription in an effort to regain health.

A. J. Reb Materi said it best: “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.”

And listen I know that when I rant like this, I am preaching to the choir, the kind folks who read my blog already know that it is up to them to maintain and gain control of their health – but I really needed a place to rant about this and get it off my chest.

If I wanted to look at the bright side of this poll of 97 … it is that TASTE ranked last … hooray, eating healthier can taste DELICIOUS and they know it.

Over this last year I’ve seen lots of documentaries and program on health, read probably 100 or more articles and 3 or 4 books on the the toping of eating, and even more on gardening and growing your own food. And the thing that is glaringly obvious to me is that we “PERCEIVE” that this is not convenient – the real issue is that our PRIORITIES (and mine, too, from time to time) are SCREWED UP.

• It’s MORE IMPORTANT to drive for 20 minutes for a cup of Starbucks and wait 10 minutes for a fresh cup of Joe than to take 10-15 minutes to wash fruits and veggies, juice them, and clean up the juicer afterwards.
• At lunch time, it’s EASIER to spend 20 minutes of our 1 hour lunch break in a drive through window than at the counter making our lunch.
• It’s SIMPLER to just “run in” the grocery store and pick up a few “ready made” things for dinner from the deli 3-4 nights a week – instead of investing the time in a planned menu.
• It would be too much trouble to send our children off to school with the fuel they need, so we hand them a pop tart, or a bagel, or WORSE, money to give the school for the shit they serve in the cafeteria posing as food.

So how do I, one writer of one blog make a difference? One of our speakers at the Gen W conference was an inspiring 10 year old name Sophia Mickelson (daughter of famed golfer Phil Mickelson), and Sophia shared with us her journey to help others. She started saving her allowance and making handcrafted items to sell to raise money to help others. “One person helping can make a difference,” she said. She earned enough money to buy 9 cartfuls of gifts for teen mothers living in a shelter. She inspired me to be the one to make a difference today – and I hope that I did.

Don’t let “convenience” be your excuse for why you’re not choosing to eat healthier. Everyday I watch people that I know and some people that I love struggle with food related disease – obesity, diabetes, heart disease – and they only have to make ONE choice to get things going in the right direction again, too. I truly believe that nutrition (or the lack thereof) is at the heart of our health epidemic – so if it is not convenient now – how will we ever make time in the future for all the healthcare we’ll need to restore our health?