Should I Eat Like a Horse

Since I am now in the elite group of ‘women over fifty,’ weight loss is constantly on my mind and seems completely unattainable. When I was a teenager, I would freak out because I had gained a pound that would make my size zero clothes a little snug. At that time, I could do without one snack and lose that pound and go several months without giving it another thought. However, there was the advent of childbearing that happened in my life seven times and of course the aging process that waits for no man, and this has completely changed that modus operandi, because the same approach, accomplishes nothing. In fact, I have not yet found anything that works for me, even though I have been far from a size zero for many years and will never get remotely close to that again, I am still overweight by a solid twenty pounds even according to my ‘new’ standards. I know many of you reading this share the same frustration, and those who do not now, will in the future or you are a man, or blessed with a very wonderful, active metabolism and you do not have a care in the world. I am genuinely happy for the you.

I am from the generation they dubbed as ‘baby boomers,’ those who were born between the years 1946 through 1964. The oldest living baby boomer would be seventy-six years old now and the youngest would be fifty-eight years old. This generation was directly following World War II and there was a baby born every eight seconds in those years, thus the term ‘boom.’ By 1964, we made up over 40% of the population. Statistics state that we now make up 28% of today’s population and are responsible for over half of consumer spending. Though we may be on the downward slide, we are still highly active in society, with a vast portion of us still in the work force and will be until we cannot work any longer. Therefore, with this generation coming of age, the weight loss industry has become an enormous conglomerate and has inundated society, mainstream media, and social media with weight loss remedies, programs, pills, and potions, for those in or close to the category of senior citizens. Me being amongst those.

However, the prices for the products or programs, are very prohibitive with that same audience trying to prepare for retirement and counting their pennies. Also, skepticism regarding the products is extremely high because they defy logic. Baby boomers know from years of experience that exercise is extremely healthy for you, and that caloric intake versus calories burned is one of the most basic equations when it comes to weight loss. Even though they see the exact things not working for them in the same way as when they were young, these new offerings on the market, first negate everything boomers have ever learned, then proceeds to tell them something so complicated and convoluted, that it’s difficult to sit through three minutes of their twenty five minute promotional videos, just to get to the end to find that you have to pay $100.00 a month for a bottle of whatever, and or stand on your head for five minutes while eating spinach today and then do something entirely different tomorrow, and you will have it made in the shade. You will have your slim, toned body back. These young people and doctors may be onto something, but who do you believe, what do you choose, and why won’t they just give you the chance to buy their product out right without all the gimmicks? People skills come into play with marketing as well as the product itself. If you are twenty-five and trying to sell to the market filled with baby boomers, remember they are twice, or three times your age, which means they have, ‘been there and done that,’ and you should not insult their intelligence before trying to get them to buy something.

Well, let us get to the question posed in the title of this article, should I eat like a horse? You’ve heard the expression used, “They eat like a horse.” On average, a horse weighs about one thousand pounds. They will eat on average 1.6 to 3.2% of their weight per day, which would be about 16 to 32 pounds of pasture fodder. If they are not put out to pasture for 24 hours, their diet may need a supplement, because they eat on an average of 16 hours a day to maintain their body composition. Just on a regular maintenance day, the horse would need 15,000 calories per day, if he does moderate work, 25,000, and heavy work, he will need 33,000 calories. The type of food he is eating would of course vary in the number of calories and nutrients, just as our foods do. As an example, if you were 200 pounds and ate from 3.2 to 6.4 pounds of food per day, and ate for 16 hours straight, without thought of calories, I am thinking you will begin to look like, or at least begin to feel like a horse, but this would still give us eight hours to get some good healthy sleep in, which is also essential. However, I am not a medical doctor. It takes about 3500 calories to make up a pound, and women only burn around 1800 calories on average a day and a few more for men in general, in a sedentary state, without any exercise. Therefore, if you are sedentary, meaning, not active, you would need to remember this when eating, make sure your intake of calories is lower than what you will burn that day. Keep in mind that by the time you have had your lunch of a double Big Mac, a large Fries and small milk shake, you have consumed 1760 calories in probably less than a half an hour. If you were a horse, you would still have fifteen and a half hours to eat to complete your intake. If you continued to eat the same thing for the remaining time, you would have eaten 56,320 calories in just one day. Even if you had a healthy meal or snack of only two hundred calories every 30 minutes for 16 hours, you will be consuming 6,400 calories a day, and will begin to gain over almost two pounds a day! It is safe to say the answer is an enormous, resounding, NO. We should not eat like a horse.

One might think we should then eat like a bird. You have heard the expression, she, or he ‘eats like a bird,’ meaning they eat sparingly or small portions. It could also mean that they are just pecking at their food therefore not hungry, but the first meaning is not really accurate. Though many birds only weigh in the ounces and do not even make it to a pound, they can eat from one quarter to one half times their own weight daily. The type of food would vary of course again depending on the species, but the general amount on average would hold true. Depending on their age, they can eat every 10 minutes over a fourteen-hour span. Therefore, if you take our original example, if you were two hundred pounds you would be eating from 50 to 100 pounds of food per day if you ate like a bird. Over 14 hours, you would be eating about 3.5 to 7 pounds of food per hour. Thus, making that expression totally erroneous and leaving us with the conclusion that we should NOT eat like a bird.

Now let me give you a direct quote from another source regarding cows, since I am neither a doctor, veterinarian, Ornithologist, or farmer. “The average cow eats about 20 lbs. of hay, 20 lbs. of corn silage, 10 to 20 lbs. of corn, and 6 to 12 lbs. of supplements each day. They spend about 6 hours a day eating and another 8 hours chewing their cud. Most cows chew at least fifty times per minute, with more than 40,000 jaw movements in a day. If we ate as much as cows, we would have to eat about 360 cheeseburgers and drink about 400 to 800 glasses of water each day. That is approximately 25 to 50 gallons of water, about the size of a bathtub of water. Cows weigh on average 1,400 pounds and have very large stomachs that have four digestive compartments.”  So, from these facts gathered we see that a cow can eat about seventy-two pounds of food a day, which is only about 5 percent of its weight and only eats on average of 6 hours a day. Well, we are certainly getting closer. Using the same example one more time, we could say that if we weigh two hundred pounds and ate 5 percent of our weight, we would be eating ten pounds of food a day. Over a 6-hour period, you would be eating about 1.6 pounds per hour, for only 6 hours. If you consider that a large orange could weigh up to a half a pound, we could see where this would be the most feasible of the options, however, keep in mind the caloric count. As a side note, just in case anyone thinks I may have missed this little tidbit, we know we cannot drink a bathtub full of water per day. What does the cow do for the 8 hours after she has eaten all this food? It is quite a marvel and an elaborate system that nature has put into place. She has the food compartmentalized in her four stomachs and begins to chew, what is called the ‘cud.’ This is food that the ruminating animal has already eaten and brings up again and begins to break it down even more by rechewing it.

Websters dictionary tells us what the word ruminate means, “To go over in the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly; to chew repeatedly for an extended period; to chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed: as in chew the cud; to engage in contemplation: REFLECT. Synonyms for ruminate are, chew over, cogitate, consider, contemplate, debate, deliberate, entertain, kick around, meditate, mull (over), ponder, pore (over), question, revolve, study, think (about or over), turn, weigh, wrestle (with), muse. More detailed meanings of a few of the synonyms are: RUMINATE means to consider or examine attentively or deliberately. PONDER implies a careful weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about a matter. MEDITATE implies a definite focusing of one’s thoughts on something to understand it deeply. MUSE suggests a focused daydreaming as in remembrance.”

Chewing a cud or ruminating with actual food, of course is not what humans do, neither do we eat as much as cows do, the same types of foods that they do, nor take the amount of time that they do to eat, however, when it comes to our spiritual man and consuming the word of God, ruminating, meditating, pondering, absorbing, contemplating, and focusing is what we should be doing. It does us no good to try to read as much of the bible as we can all day, or cram as much as we can into the small amount of time, we have allowed each day or week just to say we have read his word. Many people try to read the bible through every year to get the participation certificate or ribbon, which is a great incentive, however, have we really absorbed it and received the nutrients and benefits from it that are there for us? After having the Christ child in the stable, laying him in a manger, shepherds had come to worship Him, they had then left and things had settled down and only the breathing of the child could be heard amongst the noises of the farm animals, Luke 2:19 tells us, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”  She was young and innocent and probably very overwhelmed. She did not fully understand everything that was taking place, but she quietly contemplated, pondered and ruminated over the recent events that had changed her life forever.

Let me share a short story by Marc Chernoff to illustrate this, titled, ‘Just One Small Sip’.

“Once upon a time there was a woman who had been lost in the desert for three whole days without water. Just as she was about to collapse, she saw what appeared to be a lake just a few hundred yards in front of her. “Could it be? Or is it just a mirage?” she thought to herself.

With the last bit of strength, she could muster, she staggered toward the lake and quickly learned that her prayers had been answered: it was no mirage—it was indeed a large, spring-fed lake full of fresh water—more fresh water than she could ever drink in her lifetime. Yet while she was literally dying of thirst, she couldn’t bring herself to drink the water. She simply stood by the water’s edge and stared down at it.

There was a passerby riding on a camel from a nearby desert town who was watching the woman’s bizarre behavior. He got off his camel, walked up to the thirsty woman and asked, “Why don’t you have a drink, ma’am?”

She looked up at the man with an exhausted, distraught expression across her face and tears welling up in her eyes. “I am dying of thirst,” she said, “But there is way too much water here in this lake to drink. No matter what I do, I can’t possibly finish it all.”

The passerby smiled, bent down, scooped some water up with his hands, lifted it to the woman’s mouth and said, “Ma’am, your opportunity right now, and as you move forward throughout the rest of your life, is to understand that you don’t have to drink the whole lake to quench your thirst. You can simply take one sip. Just one small sip… and then another if you choose. Focus only on the mouthful in front of you, and all your anxiety, fear and overwhelm about the rest will gradually fade.”

When it comes to the word of God, we often try to go without for so long, then realize we are dying of thirst and try to absorb it all at once. This leads to frustration, and we feel there is no way we can ‘drink or eat the whole thing’ therefore we just do not partake at all. We must take in small sips and morsels at a time and ruminate on them on a consistent basis to continue to be nourished in His word daily. There is not a quota. Everyone is different and in various stages of their walk with the Lord. Young Christians may just be sipping on the ‘milk of the word,’ while other more seasoned saints, are already chewing on the ‘steak.’ 1 Peter 2:2 tells us, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” Keep in mind, it is not a competition, but an individual nourishment to enhance our personal relationship with the Lord and to help us mature in Him. I do not mean to bore you, however, let us look at the example we have been using previously. If a 120-pound woman ate exactly like her 200-pound husband every day, she will soon probably outweigh him, because as a man, his body will burn off more calories daily than hers will. The point being, that we are all different, and our needs will vary.

Looking back on the story, we also must be thankful for those who come by and give us the nudge or assistance that we need to get us back on track. There are three external items we need as humans to survive, which are food, water, and oxygen. Our spiritual man also needs these three items, the Word of God is our spiritual food, the bread of life, the spirit is our spiritual water, and prayer is our spiritual oxygen, our lifeline to God. We cannot consume the entire amount of food, water nor oxygen that will be needed for our entire lives, anywhere from one to eighty or ninety years, in one setting. We must ingest and absorb them daily as needed. This goes for the Word, Spirit, and Prayer as well. Our walk with God is not a sprint, but a marathon. We are in this for the duration. It is a hand in hand walk with the Lord each day. A doctor may give you a thirty-day supply of a certain medication for you to take one pill per day. You would not take the whole bottle on the first day. You would follow the doctor’s orders. We do need to read and know the bible in its entirety, but it cannot be done in one day, one month or one year. It is a lifelong endeavor. In Isaiah 28:9-10 the Lord is talking to his people, and it says, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

You have heard the expression, ‘it’s not the quantity, but the quality.’ If we are suddenly struck with conviction and try to gorge on the Word, because we feel guilty of not consuming it daily, and we cannot absorb, or understand what we have read because we are just trying to cram and we continue to do this daily, it is like having spiritual bulimia. Yes, we may be able to say we have read the bible through in a certain amount of time, but we will not receive the nutrients from it, unless we slow down, absorb it, ponder it, ruminate on it, and understand it. It will be of no lasting value to us. In Psalm 119:11 David states, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  He had ingested the word, and kept it compartmentalized so that in time of need, he could refer to it again as the cow brings up her cud. He ruminates on it so that he will not sin against the Lord. Psalm 1:1 states, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

What deductions and conclusions have we come to then regarding our eating habits? We know we should not eat like a horse, a bird, or a cow for that matter, though we take multiple, great lessons away from her. In addition to those, we should not eat like any other human being either. We must tend to our own needs as individuals, both physically and spiritually. As baby boomers we are not delusional, we know that we have changed over the years in every way, which is normal. Everything in life is in constant flux, however, though we may want to add or take away from our regimens and try a supplement here or there, we should not try to ‘re invent the wheel’, as they say, or forget the principles by which we have lived. If we throw all caution to the wind, no matter what pill we are taking, we will not have success. (Apologies to all the sales personnel out there who are trying to make a quick dollar.) These are just facts. If you eat like a horse, a bird, or a cow, you may metaphorically become just that, and you will not be healthy or content with life, which is our end goal.

Spiritually, the end goal is not to have a certificate each year on our wall to say we have read the bible through, though it is a noble cause. It is to ingest the right amount of the word, daily that we as individuals need and can absorb, ponder in our hearts, and use by allowing it to transform our lives. What we can glean from the word, 1 Timothy 6:6 tells us, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” What do we do with the word we have ingested, Psalm 19:14 tells us, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” And Psalm 119:9 gives us another benefit of the word, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”  The word nourishes, cleanses, and brings us contentment, in just the right proportions daily. Now, you should be able to answer the initial question, ‘Should I eat like a horse?’