Hungry for Change [+ the label that created a mental shift for me]
Hungry for Change is a film that Netflix kept putting on my recommended list, but that I repeatedly skimmed over after reading the description and thinking, “Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that.” It wasn’t until I saw it listed as a suggested movie for my Culinary Nutrition Expert program that I gave it a second thought, and then it also popped up on the newly launched FMTV (Food Matters TV, a new health and wellness monthly subscription channel, which also created Hungry for Change). Basically, Netflix needs to hire a better movie description writer, because this film was so much better than I anticipated.
The main premise is similar to Salt Sugar Fat in that both are focused around exposing what’s in our processed food that makes it so deliciously addictive and difficult to quit. There was a lot of talk about weight loss, obesity, and the reality that many people are chronically overfed yet undernourished. That last concept is something I’ve really only started to grasp in the past year or two.
There was a time a handful of years ago when a friend of mine joined Weight Watchers, and I saw her lose a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time and thought, “Why not? I’ll do that too!” (no matter that I was not technically overweight, I subscribed to the ‘you can never be too skinny’ mantra – which is both not true and totally screwed up). I don’t know how Weight Watchers works now, but when I did it, a banana and a low-calorie, low-fat frankenfood mini muffin were the same amount of points. I ate so many FiberOne bars (1 point!), diet Dr. Peppers (no points!), Splenda-sweetened fat-free yogurts, and barely-there sandwich thins, and yes, I did lose weight, but I cringe when I think about how starved for nutrients I must have been. My entire eating philosophy revolved around minimizing points.
Hungry for Change interviews some of the top health experts and real food proponents – Kris Carr, Christiane Northrup, Jamie Oliver, and David Wolfe, among many others – and one of the parts that stood out to me the most is the difference between real food and what one of the experts aptly referred to as food-like substances. For example, a carton of blueberries versus a blueberry muffin that uses chemicals to simulate berries (yes, this actually happens!) .
I love that phrase – food-like substances – because it’s an empowering realization. Instead of standing in the grocery store trying to decipher this massive list of ingredients we’ve never heard of and wondering, “Should I eat this? Should I not eat this? Wait, let me check the calories/fat/sugar…” we can more simply classify these products as food-like substances and walk away, preferably in the direction of the fresh produce.
It may sound obvious, but labeling processed food as food-like creates a mental shift.
We avoid the intense but fleeting pleasure of the highly refined sugar, fat, and salt, the subsequent lethargy and withdrawals, the strong cravings that drive us to consume more, and ultimately the end result of now having to try to repair a body that is overweight, but starved for nutrients.
Hungry for Change didn’t necessarily tell me anything I didn’t already know as far as facts go, but what it did do was present a lot of information in a very digestible format (pun intended), and in an inspiring way. It made me excited to do better with my own eating – to feel better and live better. And I hope it will do the same for you.
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Have you watched Hungry for Change yet? Is there another food-related film that made you want to shift the way you eat towards health?
xo
Amanda
