Everytime I hear the words, “As long as it is in moderation”, I cringe. I think when I decided it was just a crappy word was when I saw Corn Association sponsored commercial, touting that high fructose corn syrup in “moderation” was fine to incorporate into a diet. Seriously!?! At that moment I struck the word from my mental dictionary, forever banning it from rolling off my tongue. But, for the sake of this post I’ll use it in effort to create lots of discussion and maybe start a movement to ban the word from the dictionary (okay, that might be a little over the top…but you get my point).
I guess the best place to begin is to define the word “moderation”. According to the Dictionary.com(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moderate) the word “moderate” comes from the late 14c., from the Latin term moderatus, past participle of moderari “to regulate.” It goes on to define it as “not extreme or excessive; within due or reasonable limits”. Seems pretty straight forward, right?
The site even goes so far as to give examples of the use of the word…
“Her doctor recommended moderate exercise.”
“There were moderate levels of chemicals in the lake.”
…”drinking moderate amounts of coffee”
“Most of these medicines relieve mild to moderate pain.”
And with each example I just shook my head and thought “But, what is moderate?” I needed it quantified.
As I was mowing the lawn this evening (very therapeutic activity when you are trying to ponder life’s issues) and kept asking myself what I believed moderation to be. I needed to answer this question, or I wouldn’t have a blog to post.
There were just too many variables. If I drank a liter of soda every day, would drinking only four cans per day be considered in moderation? Would it be considered excessive to the person that didn’t drink soda at all? If I ate three pizzas for dinner, would eating only one be considered in moderation? Or is it excessive to the person that eats only a slice? If I didn’t exercise at all, would working out for 30 min a week be in moderation? Or would it be considered not nearly enough to the marathoner?
As I went round and round on the postage stamp front lawn this is what I came up with (remember, this is only my opinion…not edict, yet)
Moderation is not a constant. It is a state of balance for a particular individual…and different for each person. Let’s take food as an example (because that is where I hear it all the time). To the person that has lost 80 lbs, having a couple little pieces of chocolate everyday may be considered “in moderation”. It satisfies their sweet tooth and does not cause them to gain weight. To the ultra marathoner, moderate chocolate consumption might be an entire Snickers bar everyday. It may give them a quick source of calories to help them endure their grueling training. While for the diabetic, it may be a couple bite size pieces of chocolate once a month.
Another one that comes to mind is caffeine. To the person addicted to caffeine, a moderate amount may be two or three cups a day to avoid getting a withdrawal headache. For the person that is caffeine sensitive moderation may be only one cup for thing in the morning and never at night. For the person that uses it as medicinally (e.g. to break a migraine) moderation may be only once or twice a month, so it is more effective when needed to break a headache.
What about exercise? What is a moderate intensity? I threw it into Google and got all kinds of results ranging from how many steps per minute was considered moderate intensity (100 according to WebMD, in case you are wondering) to the scientific calculation of 50% – 70% of maximal heart rate. I could give you a Borg’s exertion scale of 11 – 20, the talk test, METS or numerous other ways to determine moderate intensity.
I’m sure we could come up with lots of other examples. But I think the bottom line comes down to this…moderation is the point when balance is maintained. It is the point where you have your two mini chocolates, feel satisfied, and know you will feel guilty if you go back and have another piece. It is the point that you are working out often enough to feel accomplished and reach your goals without injuring yourself. It is that brief moment in time when you are giving enough of yourself for others, while still leaving enough of yourself for you. It is part of the ebb and flow of life.
Nothing stays in balance 100% of the time. So, what do you do when you ate that 10th piece of chocolate or didn’t break a sweat during your workout? It’s simple…you adjust. Okay, so now you are having a healthy salad for dinner and maybe 20 push ups before bed.
I still don’t like the word. It is still too vague, but I do like what it forces us to do…learn about ourselves. What works for me may or may not work for you…and that is okay. What is important is that you learn what does work for you and stick with it. If you know that a single cookie is fine for you to have, but causes you to turn into the Cookie Monster…well, maybe you should just skip the single cookie.
Same with exercise. I’ll use myself as an example. I just got back into a solid regular exercise routine this past January and I was rocking it out on the treadmill doing interval training every morning before I lifted. About 2 months into it I was starting to break plateaus and at the same time my left knee started to hurt. I’m a little stubborn (no comments from friends and family thank you) and thought I was just adapting to my new elevated level of training. Well, that knee continued to bother me. So, I backed off for about a week, doing other forms of cardio (bike, row, stair mill). I was relieved when the pain subsided and knew I had to come up with a new game plan. Now I do interval training every other day and have had no knee pain.
I doubt Webster will remove “moderate” or “moderation” from the dictionary, no matter what my opinion is of it. So, instead of trashing it, I’ll embrace it. I’ll see the word as a reminder of learning about myself and my uniqueness. I challenge you all to do the same. So, tell me, what is moderation to you?
Moderate is only one but there are others – small, a little, a serving & etc. They all represent the person using them without details. Ask for a small piece of cake at someones next birthday & see what size they give you. A serving is different based on the person & lifestyle – my 2 year old is a “smaller” serving than mine but mine is “smaller” than my friend who’s a body builder. The same is true to toxins, lots of which are natural but in different amounts can cause problems for some but not all. Generic words that we use to discuss everyone when we need a response to the whole.
Excellent point Missy! People have to use the word “moderation” in the context of their lifestyle. What may work for one person may not be the same for the next.
Moderation is a great starting point to generate discussion….and….thought! I hear people all the time saying that “I can eat what I like as long as it is in moderation”…..I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told myself that……and then felt the wrath after the fact! I am a firm believer that it’s not what we’re eating, it’s what is in the food we choose to eat. Perhaps I feel this way because I chose to do the vegan thing for 30 days. After cutting out so much, which believe me was NOT easy, my body changed! My taste buds changed! I felt…amazing…. And when I started adding stuff back in, in “moderation” of course, my body HATED me!! I agree that moderation is different for everyone, but I also believe that you need to have self-control to be able to determine the appropriate amount of “moderation” that your body can tolerate. I also think that we need to listen to our bodies to know when “too much is enough.” Unfortunatley, I also believe that many of us are unaware of what our bodies can truely tolerate……
Ohhhh Sarah, you touched on a future post on listening to ourselves.
I never thought to much about the word moderation, but it does all make sense. I have a very hard time adjusting my food intake. If it looks goods, taste good I just want more, not because I’m hungry, but because it’s so good and taste so much better. I will have to learn to adjust my intake, which is not going to be easy, but I will try.
Thanks for sharing Mom! I bet a lot of people feel the same way you do. The first step is always the hardest! Remember, you are making the choice of what you take in, not forbidding yourself. Love you!