If Thoreau were on Weight Watchers

[thoreau]

for quillon, gayhawk and stripedtiger:

From DIETING by Henry David Thoreau, From the chapter 2 "What I ate, and why I ate it":

I went to the fridge because I wished to eat deliberately, to front only the essential flavor of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to starve, discover that I had not even finished my daily points. I did not wish to eat what was not food, like Rice Cakes and "fat free" Ruffles. Eating is so dear; nor did I wish to practice "enjoying jicama sticks", unless it was quite necessary.

I wanted to live deep, by taking out a straw, punching a whole in a Twinkie and suck out all the creaming filling of it's life, to gorg so sturdily and hedonistically - like as to put to rout all that was not carbs, to cut a broad swath and have chili fries, to drive myself down to the corner Burger King and demand cheeseburgers, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if eating two whoppers and a king size fry in three minutes proved to be mean, why then but to get the whole and genuine greasy meatyness of it, and publish its fattyness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange unhealthyness about it, whether it is of the King or of the clown with red shoes, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to "glorify fast food and enjoy it forever."

Still we eat meatily, like cavemen; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like addicts we fight with carbs; it is error upon error, and fat gram upon fat gram, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by forgetting to read the nutritional information on the side of a box at the supermarket. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his daily points, or in extreme cases he may add his activity points, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!

Comments

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA - oh, this is a keeper. Thanks!

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

Scary enough "I wanted to live deep, by taking out a straw, punching a whole in a Twinkie and suck out all the creaming filling of it's life, to gorg so sturdily and hedonistically" was my first thought of the morning.

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I would love to hear more. But only because I love HDT so much.

[woofmantoronto.livejournal.com]

LMAO:-)

[poztatt.livejournal.com]

K... funny.. but the icon you've got up for this... I am in love with. Poor wee fella.

;)

I'm easily distracted today. Why in heck am I at work again? (hackhaack)