Cyndy Lantz, of Palmer, Tenn.

A good part of my life was filled with abuse, low self-esteem and poor choices in my eating habits. Depressed, I would eat food, mostly sweets, to make myself feel better but ultimately, I was so deficient in loving myself and had voids that were deeper than the pit of my stomach. I speak of this to bring about an awareness that is so desperately needed in this country.

If we are physically toxic in what goes into our bodies then it has a domino effect on our mind, emotions and spirit as well. Everything is linked together so closely that we just can’t manage without major intervention. Changing these patterns that we have trained ourselves to live in for years can be difficult by ourselves, as it takes such a force to move us from unhealthy thinking to actually projecting our minds a focus and attentiveness to what we are.

Remember the saying, “We are what we eat.” We are so off-balance that we lack the understanding of what our bodies really need. Our bodies are telling us, “Quit eating that trash.” Our brain tells us, “Comfort the soul and eat more chocolate,” and in the meantime, the restaurants project the outlook of, “Visit our buffet and eat all you can eat.” You talk about mixed signals — it’s enough to give up.

Most of us are procrastinators and we don’t like change. Have you ever sat back and watched a family member or friend destroy their life by drugs or alcohol? Food is no different! .n most cases it takes an intervention of others who care enough to say, “Enough is enough — we’re going to stop you from killing yourself,” and the intervention is ushered in with a sense of healing and hope for one’s life and future.

I really explored all possible ways to shock readers into reality but the fact is, I myself am desperate for a change to take place and if we see something that needs changing, we all should speak up instead of waiting on others to project the message.

That is what provoked me to write this plea to everyone around the world who will step back and take a look at their life and others around them. I send this plea out to all who would dare to care and to take part in this intervention. Everyone is getting on the train with the “Going Green” campaign and that’s great, we all should, but what about a campaign that will affect, influence others and change our world as well as change our lives? Could you imagine a world with less medical needs and deficiencies?

I see the greater dilemma doesn’t just begin with being self-controlled but in reality it starts with the influences that surround us as well as the choices we are left with that gives us the end result. To break it down, it’s not just a concern for only weight loss and being able to control what you eat and how you stay fit but it’s in the choices that surround us.

We lack good judgment in our eating habits thus we have toxic physical bodies, and so we can’t think with soundness and efficiency. Therefore we get depressed and the end result is poor balance in every area of our life and poor choices all over again.

Restaurants serve us larger portions because throughout the past we’ve demanded more, more, more. But what if we started demanding less? At just about every restaurant I’ve visited lately, I’ve asked for a half portion and to my disappointment they usually say, “We can’t do that.” Restaurants, listen up. It’s usually not about the price but it’s more the feeling that we have to finish everything on our plate. Sometimes it is about the price for some people but if you are serving less, your cost is lower and therefore you pass the savings down to your customer, ultimately making your customer happy and healthy at the same time.

Customers, what would happen if we began to refuse to eat that garbage that is killing us by the thousands and start demanding to be served fresh, smaller portions? Not only will we have proper choices to influence us but also we will be forced to feel better and live better lives.

As it is now, we eat poorly, therefore we think poorly and ultimately we live poorly. If we had better choices from the start, we could make wiser choices in the end. Everyone wants to change but since we live in the “fast lane,” so to speak, we have very little time to go home and fix what is needed to be healthy. Bottom line, and I address this to every restaurant and fast food chain in America with hopes of change, “If you serve it, we’ll come.” Provide what we want: foods that are in their original and most untainted form. You want to serve us? Then serve foods that satisfy us in a healthful way and provide the nutrition that we so desperately need and have been deprived of for years! Get advice from dietitians and help us live out our days.

When you add a choice of healthy foods to your menu, you are targeting an entirely new group of people that you have not been able to get into your restaurants before, thus you will provide what we want and your business increases at the same time. I look forward to the change in our society as we know it today and anticipate a healthier, brighter day that our choices become wiser overall.