Food lifestyles

I read nutrition articles, but don't necessariy follow the latest recommendation as the be-all-and-end-all, knowing how frequently it has changed in my lifetime. Plus, I find that people who are "religous" about a certain set of dietary rules tend to be a bore. Eat what you want, don't preach to me.

As I've gotten older, I just listen to my body more, and give it more of what it wants. For me, that's meat in moderation both in portion size and frequency, and a lot more fruits and veggies, most of which are fresh or freshly cooked, some dairy (mostly cheese and yogurt), rice and beans. Processed and frozen food just doesn't taste that good to me compared to what I cook. Not to say I don't use it for time convenience, its just never a first choice. My downfall is white flour products and sweets. I really just haven't acquired a taste for 100% whole grain bread, even though I've tried over the last 30 years. We do eat 100% whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.

I know that when I eat primarily from the garden (and in my soil I focus on creating nutrient dense food), I feel so much better and have much more energy. It makes me realize what is actually possible- and makes me realize how when I make those sub optimal choices, that I just don't have the same vibrancy.

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Originally Posted by herbgeek

I read nutrition articles, but don't necessariy follow the latest recommendation as the be-all-and-end-all, knowing how frequently it has changed in my lifetime. Plus, I find that people who are "religous" about a certain set of dietary rules tend to be a bore. Eat what you want, don't preach to me.

As I've gotten older, I just listen to my body more, and give it more of what it wants. For me, that's meat in moderation both in portion size and frequency, and a lot more fruits and veggies, most of which are fresh or freshly cooked, some dairy (mostly cheese and yogurt), rice and beans. Processed and frozen food just doesn't taste that good to me compared to what I cook. Not to say I don't use it for time convenience, its just never a first choice. My downfall is white flour products and sweets. I really just haven't acquired a taste for 100% whole grain bread, even though I've tried over the last 30 years. We do eat 100% whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.

I know that when I eat primarily from the garden (and in my soil I focus on creating nutrient dense food), I feel so much better and have much more energy. It makes me realize what is actually possible- and makes me realize how when I make those sub optimal choices, that I just don't have the same vibrancy.

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(Bolding mine) A lot of people are beginning to believe that--if anything--whole grains are worse for you than refined ones as they contain non-soluble fiber that can irritate the digestive tract. Grains in general are just insulinogenic filler, and far from health food, IMO.

Otherwise, I agree--eat what works for you and don't beat people over the head with it. Whole foods cooked from scratch are nice, and I aim for that and a low carbohydrate profile, but I'm not above tucking into a bag of Cheetos or a bowl of rice noodles once in awhile, either.

I like Zoebird's comment about not seeking The One True Way. I will add to that: I am highly skeptical of One True Ways that have scads and scads of details, although some General Approaches such as:

Eat like those in the Mediterranean

Avoid packaged/processed foods

Eat heavily of veg & fruits, minimize proteins and carbs

etc.

make sense to me

Eating the wide variety of choices we have in moderation is great. Moderation is the key.

Back in the 1970s, I recall reading an editorial in the Philadelphia Enquirer that stated that any mother who fed butter to her children should be put in jail for child abuse. Margarine was the only possible healthy spread to feed your child. Butter was a death sentence.

Boy, how that thinking has changed.

I've stopped trying to keep abreast of the current food fads. What I do is this:

Only eat food I like. No forcing myself to eat something just because it might be "good" for me.

Try to buy whole ingredients as much as possible and cook food myself, so I know what is in it.

Eat a variety of food. Chicken one day, beef the next, vegetarian for a couple of days, then some fish. Oatmeal at breakfast, whole wheat bread at lunch, rice for dinner. Fruits and vegetables by color--a banana (yellow) at breakfast, a salad (green, plus red tomatoes) at lunch, peas (green) and sweet potato (orange) and blueberries (blue) for supper. Just not all yellow or green or whatever all day long.

Reduce oils and salt as much as possible.

I figure people have been eating bread and milk and eggs and oats and vegetables a long time. Until I see signs that one of these foods is bothering me, I'll keep eating them.

I do believe "moderation" is hard to define for many people. We have the recommended government servings, but then we have 24 oz. or even 1 liter pops in all the convenience stores, we have food marketers going crazy on us, we have the restaurant portions that Rosemary talks about . . . it's hard to know what moderation really is. So then if one (including me) feels one is moderating, they are really overdoing. For example, I just finished my second piece of toast from a delicious GF bread that has about 50 grams of fat per slice - :|( - and put butter and jam on it!

I was at a fundraising dinner for our school district foundation on Friday night and could only eat a handful of the items on the buffet due to gluten. Since I was questioning the staff about what would be safe to eat, then others inquired about what was up. I was chatting about it with someone in the buffet line and another man asked "if you don't know you've had it, do you still have a reaction?" I thought this was supremely rude. Just because most people can eat most foods and be fine, and I do get that the stay-away-from-x-y-and-z food culture we're in is crazy, that doesn't mean that some people don't have legit issues when they eat certain foods. So I just said to nosey man: "Correct," served up my delicious seafood stuffed mushrooms, roasted veggies and ham and moved along to my table.

I feel really lucky that I can afford good food. I don't really eat out much anymore. I'm also one who believes, "Everything in moderation." I also eat what I have, (so it doesn't go bad.) Today that meant cooking a rack of lamb and boiling some organic potatoes. Delicious! I had some homemade lemonade with meyer lemons from my tree. Because I grow most of my own produce, I eat a lot of seasonal fruit, which feels sensible to me. The one thing I've done is to stop buying junk. I used to get a huge bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and a box of gummy bears at Costco every month. I think that's why I was having aches and pains. Now I bake my desserts or buy truffles. I was really addicted to the junk. I'm lucky in that my body is lean and I'm very healthy. I also eat every couple of hours. If I go too long without food, I get cranky.

I like Michael Pollan's advice - "Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much". And his definition of "food" is real food, not processed stuff. His book, "In Defense of Food" is well worth reading. He talks about the rise of Food Science and how it has Beene so deleterious to our eating habits and processed food manufacturing over the years. Without going into too much detail, it has to do with food scientists trying to extract from food the individual components that are good and bad without taking into consideration the effect of how they interact when eating the whole food. Example - taking beta carotene in a supplement has nowhere near the benefits of getting it while eating a carrot.

I've been roughly following Dr. Joel Furhman's Eat to Live diet of mostly fruit, vegetables, nuts, and beans for the past few months and feel wonderful - so much better than I did before when I was eating more dairy, meat and simple carbs. I've enjoyed exploring new recipes and ingredients to make it interesting. Through all the years of reading different diets and the flip-flopping over what is and isn't healthy, I've never heard that fresh fruits and vegetables were anything but healthy so for now I'm going to stick with it as much as I can.

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Originally Posted by fidgiegirl

I do believe "moderation" is hard to define for many people.

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Good point. I pay no attention to shoulds and recommendations, moderation for me is half as much as I want. I don't eat things that don't agree with me and what agrees with me has changed over the years so I adjust. Too much reading, too many books and articles confuses and wearies the mind.

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I used to get a huge bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos

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Last week there was a fascinating article about how things like Doritos, ie junk food are products of food scientists who know how to make flavors addictive.

Personally, I don't like veganism or paleo or what have you being called "extreme" -- largely because i've practiced both and neither felt at all "extreme."

The reason being is that the label is usually applied as a form of social policing -- attempting to keep us from something that is different than what the other may do. This pressure is no different than the pressure that some foodies (depending on type) put on others, such as an evangelical approach to veganism or paleo. It is social pressure to be "like" rather than being 'different.'

In my own mind/heart, I actually do not find either diet "extreme" seeing as I have lived (or am living) both. Neither was is a "do without" even though, notably, whole groupings of food are off the list. Each one was a process of self exploration and expression that brought deeper self knowledge and awareness, understanding, and health.

For years, I struggled with gas/bloating. During veganism, I discovered a modest lactose intolerance. Tummy aches after eating were gone, once I decided to forgo milk (i can handle small amounts of raw butter and raw cheese, but these days I rarely eat cheese). I still had gas/bloating, and it was when we went paleo and decided to no longer consume grains that it went away entirely.

And it was intermittent fasting -- another thing that people consider extreme (I only eat food between 11 am and 7 pm) -- that has helped me overcome emotional eating, a process i've been working on for over a decade. These days, due to the fasting and what I eat when I am in the 'eating window' -- it is nigh-on impossible. . . physically impossible. . . to emotionally eat. I can find other avoidance tactics (and sometimes do), but this process has really been broken wherein there is no desire to eat when feeling emotions that I don't want to feel!

To me, this is not at all 'extremism' -- it's a process of discovering health, sometimes serendipitously. I don't advise other people on diet, but I will share what I'm doing and the benefits that it brings me over time. And what health benefits it has brought my husband -- who is healing gut issues, no longer having orthorexic tendencies, and even helping to relieve anxiety!

To me, that's powerful and exciting -- not "extreme."