"healthy"

i think this entry is especially convoluted and my thought process is very scattered, so to help you understand what i´m trying to write about i will explain the 2 main points :

1) why does the definition of healthy vary culturally?
2) why is it so hard to live my definition of healthy? 

food:i love it so much.

meat: love the taste.
cheese: again, really love the taste.
(but i´m determined to ween myself off them)
living in Spain: not conducive to the type of healthy diet i want to maintain. I am tempted every where i go to stuff my face with cured meats and delicious cheeses. {But my dedication to not consuming animal products has not faltered. i persevere :) }
All they eat in Spain is meat, bread, cheese, potatoes, meat, olive oil, cheese, and meat and ham and ham and ham.. repeat that for 5 courses. multiply that by  (lets say 6) loooong hours spent eating lunch/snack/dinner. and you have a SERIOUSLY unhealthy diet.

Which brings me to my next point. "Healthy" is culturally relative concept. Completely. I have learned this recently.and I think its fascinating.

*In Spain if you don't eat meat they think youre deathly-unhealthy. And you already saw my outline of spanish quizine above. and the only vegetable they eat here is cauliflower (which isnt even green) and they boil the LIFE out of it until its just soggy mushy lumps and then they drizzle it with olive oil. {2 quick cauliflower anectodes: 1)whenever spaniards ask me if i like spanish food [they expect and want to hear your praise of it] i always say 'yes, but you hardly eat vegetables' and they always retort with 'WE EAT CAULIFLOWER!'. 2) one time my roommate came home with cauliflower, and i got excited because i really do like cauliflower when its raw. its just so fun and crunchy, and i snapped off a little piece and ate it. and she just stared at me like she had seen an alien. and she was like 'what. are. you. doing?' (in spanish) and i was like 'its good, you should try it' (in spanish) and she was TERRIFIED. and didnt try it....i was like, thats lame (in my head, probably in english).}

*in The Netherlands they chug buttermilk like twice a day (which always sounds so much better than it actually tastes, doesn't it? disappointing every time) because they say its healthy. also, when its sub zero outside in the dead of winter they open up the windows and let their rooms fill with freezing air and they SLEEP in the freezing rooms with the windows open because they think its healthy. and then when its freezing outside, and they're walking around, running errands or whatever, their small talk about the weather is "look at this healthy weather!"...WHAT?!

* In Korea people DO NOT drink water. gross story: my friend ashley {who is teaching english in korea through Epik } told me sometimes in school when she goes to the restrooms and the previous user has forgotten to flush, there will be NEON ORANGE pee in the toilet! and they all think its weird she walks around with a water bottle drinking water all day. true story.

*and in Iran, pickled vegetables, yogurt, and turmeric are basically part of every food you eat because it aids digestion and is "healthy". and In western cultures, yogurt is viewed as a dessert cuz they only eat it with tons of sugar or like fruit jams, and hardly anyone eats pickles. and if they do its just pickled cucumbers.And they eat unbelievable amounts of fruit. Also, back on the topic of cold things, there is this concept of "chaidan" (haha) in Iran, which is basically getting sick from being exposed to cold weather. (obviously this does not exist in holland) though it does exist in Spain. Spanish people are "frioleros". i like that word. it means basically, "quick to get cold". como yo (like me).

also, in Korea people wear those face mask things when they are sick so as to not spread disease, in America people just cover their mouths when they are sick. likewise in Iran. in Spain people cough and sneeze in your face, no coverage of any facial orifices. ever. a very "i'm taking you down with me" sort of mentality. this is why i have been sick over 60 times since i've been here.

ok so my point is: all these countries have scientists, they all know about nutrition, germs, and about biology and the human body...WHY are our definitions of "healthy" SO different? My concept of health is a hybrid of Iranian and American ones. naturally... biassedly.

k so back to spain...I hate grocery shopping here for MANY reasons. but lately because finding vegan/vegetarian/my definition of "healthy" food is very difficult, and also expensive. for example: WHEAT BREAD is an exotic commodity here...you have to pay way more for "pan integral" and its hard to find a good one. ok and today, I went grocery shopping, and already it sucks that i have to go grocery shopping because there are no grocery stores near me {i have no idea why} so i have to go 2 metro stops away {ok i know thats not THAT far, but when you have bags of food, yes it is.}*

{side note: my room mate JUST got back its 1:12 in the afternoon. shes been drinking since about 4 yesterday afternoon. spaniards really do party for 24 hours. I can hear her having a really (not) great time in the bathroom right now. ok this is for another post, but it REALLY irritates me when spaniards make fun of americans and say AMERICANS drink to much. PLEASE! if we're going to point fingers, lets start with the Irish or Russians, who i think the whole world can agree drinks the most. then, we can start talking about what lightweights americans are compared to the rest of the world. seriously, we're workaholics, that means we don't have TIME to drink that much.}

* so i go to corte ingles, which, i know, its not the cheapest supermarket, but they have the widest variety and are most likely to carry the things i want. the relative convenience is what keeps me a loyal customer. and I was looking for flax seeds, and it was in the "special section" which is the "healthy-hippie-granola-organic-natural" section. i had to buy all my "normal" groceries and then go to another section of the store and then buy all my "hippie food" from this other totally separate section (that was also way more expensive) with its own cashier and everything...its all food! i mean fine, make an isle for it. but a totally separate store?!

why is there such a huge divide between healthy food and normal food? shouldn't normal food BE healthy food?? its this kind of mentality that really frustrates me. it also exists in the architecture world with normal architecture vs. green architecture. these definitions and boundaries need to go away. I dont know why people are so against living happy lives. why is mainstream always the opposite of healthy and environmentally responsible? why is taking care of our planet the alternative? why is the status-quo sub par in so many situations? why does trying to take care of yourself mean going broke? what kind of backward system is this? if you want to be so fat you cant fit in a roller coaster or on an airplane seat and die really soon its super cheap! if you want to be a healthy active member of society who can contribute for many years, sorry...its going to cost you. (has anyone seen wall-e?)

ok i can feel a conspiracy theory coming on. so i'm going to finish this here.

so again, to summarize the KEY points I was trying to make:1) why does the definition of healthy vary culturally?
2) why is it so hard to live my definition of healthy? (because honestly being spain's definition of healthy would be really easy, and really cheap)