A Long Healthy Life or A Short Life Full of Excitement and Adventure -- Which Is Better?

Can a person regiment their life too much? Exercise and watch their diet to the point where they no longer have a life worth living? Every minute is spent doing something healthful whether it’s enjoyable or not. Doing and thinking about being healthy to the point where nothing is fun anymore? One’s favorite foods never pass one’s lips again because they contain too much fat, too much sugar, and or, too much salt?

One thing I cannot imagine is life with no-fat cheesecake. For starters, when I tried the low fat cheese I hated it. I figure no-fat cheese has to be even worse. Now I realize lots of people love the stuff or it would not still be on the market. Or would it? I wonder if those no fat low fat cheese lovers had to go through some sort of hypnosis process or something in order to choke it down . . . .

Cheesecake is one of my favorite things. My mother used to make a cheesecake that was to die for. No, or low fat cheese would have surly destroyed it the same way Mrs. Miller destroyed so many hit songs back in the 60s [see the YouTube videos provided of Mrs. Miller if you are in the mood for some punishment and want to see (hear) what I am talking about].

There are so many things I love that are full of sugar. I really do not like those sugar substitutes, and some ‘experts’ say some of them are basically second only to straight poison with no mixers. Imagine going all through life with no sugar!

It just seems to me life is not worth living if you take all the fun out of it. No doubt it seems a lot longer that way -- I mean a LOT longer, but is it really? Or does a brain profoundly deprived of sugar just think time is passing slower? It seems to me that never eating processed sugar would be a lot like being married to the wrong person and sticking it out your whole life anyway, for the sake of the kids.

Yes, I know some people do not have a say in it. They have to watch their sugar intake because of health issues they already have, but it seems to me that is all the more reason to eat sugar while you can. You never know when the doc will say you have to stop eating sugar right now, or die.

Really, what is life without peach pie? My mother used to make a peach pie that was to die for. Already said that about the cheesecake, I know, but my mother was a fabulous cook. I have the recipe for that peach pie my mother used to make, and it is soooooo delicious. Warm from the oven with ice cream on top! Words cannot express how yummy it is . . .

I look at it this way. I’m going to die no matter what I do, so why not have some scrumpdillyicious peach pie first? No, no one makes peach pie like mine. You cannot buy it from a bakery or a restaurant. Lots of Mrs. Callender’s pies are so yummy, but her peach pie will never come close to being as good as mine. No brag, just fact.

Yes, I understand the need to watch one’s weight. I lost 60 pounds when I was at a certain age, and it was not easy. After all the exercise and food deprivation, I was not about to gain it all back again, but one thing I always allowed myself even while dieting, was one day off a week when I could eat anything I wanted and as much of it as my poor starve-shrunken tummy could hold. No cheating the rest of the week period. That day off would set my diet progress back a couple of days, but like I said, life is not worth a lot if you can never do any of the things you enjoy.

People always say, find something else to love besides food. That is all well and good, but in my opinion, even Sally’s display of breathtaking ecstasy in ‘When Harry Met Sally’ cannot make up for having to remove some things from one’s life completely and permanently (see reference below if you haven’t seen that movie and you aren't sure what I'm talking about). Don’t misunderstand; the experience Sally exemplified (the REAL thing, not the fake), has its plus points too, but so do hash browns with cheese and veggie filled omelettes.

I’ve been able to replace the cooking oil needed in cakes with applesauce or olive oil, and I even make omelettes in olive oil. A lot of fried foods do just as well with olive oil as with Crisco -- and I read just a few days ago that Crisco is coming out with a new formula that will have none of the “artery clogging trans fats” that the old formula had, so there is some good news.

Unfortunately, olive oil will not replace the butter in piecrusts or cookies. It just does not work. Also, nothing but margarine that raises a man’s likelihood of heart attack by 17% will make a cheese sandwich come out just right.

No more white bread? I like whole wheat bread, but French toast just is not the same made with whole wheat bread. I love it made from white bread dipped in egg and then when it is done perfectly, drowned in real butter, and not the unsalted kind either.

Love vegetables. They are some of my favorite things, and I would generally prefer them to sweets any day, but sometimes there is nothing that hits the spot like decadent chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup, mini chocolate chips, and ice cream – again, not the low fat kind.

It seems to me every person needs to choose for themselves whether they want to live a long healthy life – really, really, long, with no treats or fun foods, or a shorter, happier, more enjoyable life with some goodies now and then. These are choices everyone must make, and I think their choices should be respected.

What is the point of depriving an elderly person of something they love when their minutes are numbered anyway? Even young or middle aged people should have the right and ability to eat what they like and engage in risky activities if they want, so long as they aren’t hurting anyone else. No drag racing (street racing) on freeways because that might cause an accident that would hurt somebody who is just trying to get somewhere, but bungee jumping is OK. Parachuting, or climbing Mount Everest is fine, but be sure to take a good life insurance policy out for anyone depending on you in case things don’t work out.

So the question remains. Is it possible to live such a healthful lifestyle that there’s no fun left in your life?

Have a listen to these songs that were hits for their original artists as well as for Mrs. Miller. Also, view the restaurant scene video from 'When Harry Met Sally.'

_{Lover’s Concerto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqlX88H4_Cg&feature=related}

_{Hard Day’s Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2wheSpxL94&feature=related}

_{These Boots Were Made For Walkin’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgoGq6PTXZ4&feature=related}

_{When Harry Met Sally (restaurant scene): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bsf2x-aeE}