Skip to main content

Cool Whip Diet



I am standing in the kitchen putting groceries away and my wife shows me a container of Cool Whip, pointing to the expiration date which is about 18 months out. She says, “I am a little suspicious of dairy that doesn’t expire for a year. Probably unhealthy preservatives in there.”

Somewhat taken aback by her observation, I think to myself, “Really? You think maybe Cool Whip isn’t healthy? I don’t think anyone is masquerading Cool Whip as a nutritious superfood.” The product is literally just hydrogenated oil and cream mixed with sugar. That’s probably 99.5% of the ingredients! We shouldn’t be too surprised if the other half a percent is toxic preservatives or even rat poison.

Think about it, when people start talking about going on a diet, what are the foods they cut out? Dairy, hydrogenated fats and sugar are always at the top of the list. So, the food wizards at Kraft get together and decide, “Let’s take some highly processed oil, add the most unhealthy, fattening form of dairy, and then whip it up with a bunch of sugar!” There you go, that’s how Cool Whip was born. Other than its AMAZING taste on pumpkin pie, it has no redeeming qualities. I am sorry if I just burst your bubble, but I thought you should know.

I’ve got one more bubble to burst. These 24-hour news stations and apps aren’t there to inform you. They are designed to trigger an emotional response and keep you coming back for more “news” to increase views and clicks and sell advertising. Just like Cool Whip, the news media doesn’t have your best interest at heart. If you are careful, you may be able to find five to ten minutes of actual information crammed into a 24-hour news cycle. But it will be so buried by speculation, fear mongering, conjecture and sensationalism that anything useful will be next to impossible to decipher. Being misinformed is even worse than being uninformed.

So just be careful what you expose yourself to these days. I really don’t recommend a diet full of Cool Whip because it is terrible for your physical health and it would be sad without pumpkin pie. In the same way, a diet full of “breaking news” may be equally harmful to your mind. Just because you crave it doesn’t mean it’s good for you (I must remind myself of this quite often when it comes to pumpkin pie smothered in Cool Whip).

Don’t be afraid to turn off the TV, put down your phone and reduce the amount of noise, I mean, “news” in your diet.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 

Hasty Hares

We live in a world full of hares. People darting from one thing to another. Always looking for a shortcut. Constantly seeking a quick fix. Ever searching for a hack. And more than anything, they want it NOW! Speed seems to have replaced diligent planning and patient determination. It’s all about quick results, immediate feedback and instant gratification. People seem to be less concerned with the direction they are headed than how fast they are moving. They don’t know where they are going – and are quite possibly moving in the wrong direction – but at least they’re making good time! But the pace and aimless effort catches up. They get jaded and burn out. Or they simply end up “lost.” They fail to notice that movement isn’t progress. They don’t consider that sheer velocity, without control and accuracy, is dangerous and destructive. They forget the tortoise wins. Every. Single. Time. “It matters not how slowly you go. It only matters that you do not stop.” – Confucio...