American Idol

     The title is not a reference to the TV show, I have never watched it. I am referring to some version of the Keto/Atkins/Lo-carb diet making the rounds of the "rounded" in our church. Many of my 60ish peer group now look like their high school yearbook picture--from the neck down. The main evangelist of the movement is a well respected Bible study teacher who admits openly that she has always been obsessed with her weight. I struggle with vanity and I will admit that here to my four followers, and to a few friends with the same problem, but I would never share it openly on Facebook unless it was a sin I was overcoming. When I found myself in a group she was trying to lure to the "lite" side, I told her that after struggling with anorexia for 20 years, it was dangerous for me to do something artificial with my eating. Mine was not about body image or losing weight, that was a side benefit. It was, as most addictions are, about escaping through something else when life feels out of control. Obsessing about weight and diet, unless for specific health conditions, is just another American idol.    

    There is actually a term for addiction to healthy eating and exercise. It is called orthorexia. Those suffering from it have a hard time finding doctors to diagnose, much less treat it, because they are doing all the things doctors recommend. But addiction, even to health, is unhealthy. My husband's recent heart incident inspired him to start exercising and eating healthy. And, because it would not be right for me to tell him to limit sugar, salt and fat with my mouth was full of their crumbs, I have lost some weight too. I like that my clothes fit better, but it would not be worth it if the cost was forgoing all the food I love. And somehow, just as gluttony is a pardonable sin in Christian circles, so is its opposite, obsession with what not to eat. This is not a church destroying problem, it is just another distraction from spiritual matters to physical. And the last thing the church needs is another American Idol.