For the love of food!!!

I don't think there's a person out there who doesn't have a food memory...or some food that they associate with an event in their life.  What's Thanksgiving without turkey, right???  I grew up in a family that celebrated with food...loved with food...showed our grief and sympathy with food.  I hardly have a memory of a big event that didn't involve gathering around the table.  We had food traditions...certain things that must be part of certain days or celebrations.  Christmas just wouldn't have been Christmas, without spending Christmas Eve with my Grandma Mullin, eating potato soup and oyster stew (which I did not partake in)..followed by a fresh bun covered in butter!  I don't think I had many birthday celebrations that didn't include my mom's taco salad...always served in that big yellow Tupperware bowl!!  Wedding showers and baby showers must include my mom's raspberry punch...I really could go on and on!!!

I know I've written about this subject before, but today I got thinking (never a good thing) about our societies feelings about food...about my feelings about food.  I got thinking about the short conversations that I heard (and had) many times throughout my lives at different events..."Oh, geesh, I shouldn't be eating this, but...".  For some reason, at these large gatherings, society has made it okay for us to eat and enjoy our food....all the foods that are "off limits" for the remainder of the year is somehow "okay" on specific days.  Those mashed potatoes, made with cream and butter...that potato soup with fresh rolls I mentioned earlier...and I haven't even talked about pecan pie...cookies....all those "no-no's" are okay, just for that one day...for those few hours.  So, what do we do???  We gorge ourselves like we haven't eaten for years, and won't eat for a couple of more.  Why???  Well, if you think about it, it's sort of true...we spend most of the year restricting ourselves to what we think (and have been told) we are supposed to eat.  We have developed a love-hate relationship with food in our culture...we love food, who doesn't...but we are constantly told that eating is bad, food is bad...food is killing us.  So, we obsess...we deny ourselves...we crave and long for those things we love.  So when those occasions come around to eat those sacred foods...we eat until we can't fit one more tiny bite of pie in our stomachs...then we sit around for a couple of hours talking about how terrible we feel!!  The conversations following most Thanksgiving meals I've been at usually involve a lot of talk about how we will be regretting eating so much the next day and will be working extra hard the following week to burn off all that indulgence! 

This is obviously a cycle that isn't only limited to special occasions...how many people, after spending an entire day of eating carrots and salads at work, sit on their couch at night and eat a whole box of cookies or an entire bag of chips??  I've heard so many stories of people secretly eating their fast food hamburger and fries in their car...hiding it from their family, their coworkers, themselves.  There are others who eat like birds all day when people are around...only to order and eat entire pizzas themselves.  Obviously, what we are doing isn't working...the system that we have in place is serving no one, except the diet industry (which is booming, by the way!!!). 

So, let's think for a minute...what could we all do to change this??  I've read lots of books on the subject of nutrition and whole food...and I remember one of the authors had a very simple theory...have tea before every meal and dessert every night.  Why??  Because they made a decision to make every meal an event…..make every meal special.  This was very small way their family enjoyed food...something they thought made their meal special...making everyday a special occasion.  It made sense to me...now, I don't make dessert for every meal (I really dislike baking!!!)...but I do agree with enjoying every ounce of everything we put in our bodies.  Eating should be something we do not just to feed our body, but it should feed our mind and our soul.  Everything that I put into my body goes there because I love it....and because it tastes good!  Now, don't get me wrong...I do think that we should feed our bodies with the best we can find.  I believe in decreasing toxins and preservatives that enter my body...and getting the most out of what I do eat....but I do not think this should be a confusing process.  Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full.  Enjoy your food and enjoy your life.  Feed yourself and your family the best that you can find.  Become knowledgeable about nutrition and decrease the toxins and processed foods that you put in your body...but if you really want those french fries...eat them!  If we enjoy our food everyday of our life...we would be much less likely to feel deprived, our cravings would decrease and so would our binging.  We'd feel better about ourselves, physically we'd feel better and again, our binging would decrease.  If we changed our internal voice and changed the way we think about food...I think we'd make huge steps towards improving our health.

I have been working on changing the little voice in my head that beats myself up when my family goes out to dinner and we order chips and salsa....I'm enjoying life...and loving my food!  I know that I'm not going to drop this extra weight overnight, I gained it over nine months (3 months on bed rest!!) while pregnant with my boys.  I'm not drastically decreasing calories and I do not have a workout routine...I spend most of my free time playing with my boys...enjoying them and watching them grow.  But, I'm happy right now with losing 1-2 pounds a month...and feeling complete, satisfied and happy in life.  It is definitely a process...it's hard to change something you've thought and felt for 25 years, but I'm working on it!  I'm really hoping that someday, I'll look back with disbelief about how I viewed myself and my food.  But most of all, I am hoping my boys don't carry the same burden on their shoulders.

So, for yourself and all the people in your life...start making some little changes...and make every day a celebration!!!!! 

Why skim milk is making us all fat!

So, this is information that I passed on to my family several months ago after reading some research...I was baffled at!!  One of the most startling statements that I read about research related to skim milk was that farmers, for years, have fed pigs skim milk when they want to fatten them up...pigs they want to keep thin, they get fed whole milk!  Now...farmers don't tend to do things that cost them money and don't work in the end!

The name alone "skim milk" made me think that the watery grey milk that I had been drinking and using for cooking for several years was just milk that the fat had been skimmed off of...pretty sure that's what most people think....but we are all wrong!!!!  To start...I'll just go through how the beautiful, thick and wonderful milk cows give us becomes that watery, strange colored liquid that is "fat-free" and "healthy".  First, milk is put into a centrifuge and all the fat is removed...along with this fat is most of the nutrients that are found in the milk...so to replace the protein, skim milk is passed through small holes under great pressure and high heat and turned into powder.  What you are left with is damaged proteins and oxidized cholesterol (a PROVEN cause of heart disease!)...this powder is then added back into the watery substance that is taken from the centrifuge...bottled and sold to us as "healthy". 

So, what happens to that watery, powdered milk when it enters our body???  Well, without the saturated fats that are normally found in milk...the milk quickly passes through our intestines, we have a spike in blood sugar and and insulin response...you receive no lasting feeling of fullness, and most likely feel more hungry than you were before!!  Not to mention you are putting denatured proteins and oxidized cholesterol into your blood stream.  What happens when you drink milk that contains the saturated fats??   Absorption of the milk is slowed, you feel more full and satisfied...your body is given a good source of energy, an immunity boost and fat soluble vitamins.  It has been proven that fats actually curb your appetite by triggering the release of the hormone cholecystokinin, which causes fullness. Fats also slow the release of sugar into your bloodstream, reducing the amount that can be stored as fat.

You are probably wondering, like I was...why are we told skim milk is so healthy then???  Well, I hate to say it all comes back to money...but....

Before the 1950's...as a culture we graded our milk based on how much cream there was on top...the idea of a milk without cream would have been laughed at!  Around that time, Americans began eating more cheese and the dairy industry needed to figure out what to do with all that leftover product....so they created low fat milk.  Lucky for them, around the same time there was a bunch of people spending a bunch of money to promote low fat, over processed diet as a "healthy" diet...and one that all Americans should follow!  Big industry has big money...which has big influence in our government...hence, the government recommendation to eat all these foods. 

Now, technically...the best milk to drink would be raw, non-homogenized, non-pasteurized milk...however, our government has also made that almost impossible to obtain (unless you grow it yourself!).  So, in our house, we by non-homogenized when we can...and whole milk at all times!  We have found a farm locally that we hope to buy our milk from in the near future...and we also hope to get some of our milk from our goats! 


I think we can all say that the diet that we have been told to eat is not a healthy one.  We are all fatter and much less healthy thanks to all these interventions...and if we don't start changing the way we eat...we are going to get worse.  Read up on it...there's lots of information and lots of studies out there...but I'll go back to what I always say...doesn't it make the most sense to eat food in the most natural form you can find it in???  Same concept applies here!! 

So, I read an article the other day that said that 70-80% of the food we eat contain genetically modified ingredients.  Now, a year ago, that statement would probably been disturbing to me...however, my thoughts when I first read this was that 70-80% is probably a pretty accurate number...that correlates pretty closely with the percentage of foods that we eat that contain processed corn and soybeans. 

My first glimpse into this reality came last year after I had a friend and a family member suggest that I read Michael Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma".  (Thanks Diana and Kasi!!)  The book opened my eyes as to series of events that took place with the industrialization of food over the past decade and how corn made it into almost everything we eat today.  Pollan goes into a lot of detail about the how and the why of the changes to the corn industry in particular, but I'll sum it up...government farm programs had started after WWI, with the intention of using up some excess nitrogen and helping out the farmer.  During the Nixon administration the way farmers were paid for corn changed...this led to a chain of events that got us where we are today.  It started with farms changing from diverse ecosystems, to monocultures...farmers were just growing corn...the government was buying all this corn, then needed to figure out what the heck to do with it.  So...they began to promote feeding it to our animals, putting it in our fuel, and processing the heck out of it to create hundreds of different additives, sweeteners, thickeners, etc. and added to our food.  Farmers tilled the pastures and started putting their animals in feedlots...giving them mainly a diet of corn...the animals got sick, so we started giving them antibiotics and growth hormones...etc, etc, etc.  Here's just one example of a chart that shows the correlation between the consumption of high fructose corn syrup and obesity.


Did you know that the obesity rates is 1992 in the US were approximately 35%...today we are sitting right around 65%. To me that's telling...we are in need of some drastic changes in the way we think about food. 

I think most of us have seen something similar play out in our lifetime....a group lobbies in Washington, with enough money and enough promise, they get legislation passed through congress...fast forward a couple decades, and the entire way our food is made and almost everything the American citizen is eating along with our health has completely been transformed.  Sort of makes me a little angry actually...to think that our well being has been compromised so that a handful of people can get rich. 

Now...don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of science, progression and technology, and I am by no means trying to say that industrialization of our food supply isn't warranted.  With the population in our metropolitan areas, most people don't have access to land to keep their own animals or even grow enough food to feed themselves, much less a family...however, I don't like being lied to.  And I especially don't like being manipulated by a group of people for financial gain when my health and the health of my children is suffering.  I am also not saying that the only flaw in our diets is genetically modified corn products...there's also the increased consumption of artificial fats, colors and sweeteners...the push for low fat diets and fat free foods...skim milk and margarine...all things that we have been told for years we should be eating to help control our weights and control heart disease and diabetes...but what has happened???????  What's that old saying..."The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  What we are being told isn't working...so doesn't it make the most sense to look at what has worked in the past?????   Whole food...real food...the food that your grandparents ate! 

The one thing I dislike about Pollan's book...is his dietary recommendations "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."...I feel like this is the same old thing we've been told for years...and it's not working!  I could go on and on about this topic...but I just want to introduce this information...let you stew on it, research it and think about it...then get into specifics in future blogs. 

So...my challenge, once again...is to dump the HFCS!!!!  For the sake of your health and the health of your family!!  There are lots of great alternatives out there...lots of people are recognizing the health concerns and a lot of companies are responding with products that are free of HFCS.  Take this small step to climbing the mountain!!! 

Climbing the mountain

So, one thing I am most struck by when I converse with other parents about diet and nutrition is the general notion that making dietary changes give most people feelings akin to climbing a mountain.  I hear a lot of "I can't cook everyday" and "My kids would die without (blank)"...and I totally get it!  When my boys were younger, I remember reading a book about changing to a whole foods, all natural diet...and I laughed to myself, threw the book to the side and said "IMPOSSIBLE!".  I mean, seriously...get rid of all processed and prepackaged foods???  It couldn't be done!  Well...I suppose it could be done...but who could do that???  Not me!

The only difference between my situation when my boys were 4 months old, and 10 months ago...my outlook on the situation.  I started this process not planning on getting rid of every processed food...my goal was to get rid of 50% of it.  I figured, if I was feeding my family whole, nutritious foods 50% of the time...that was 50% better than I had been doing.  That is 50% fewer preservatives, 50% less artificial colors....50% fewer toxins entering my body and their body....and I was perfectly fine with that!  I did not ransack my cupboards and fridge and throw out hundreds of dollars worth of food.  I went through, found things I knew we would not likely use in the next 3 months (artificial sweeteners and condiments containing high fructose corn syrup were two big ones) and I donated what I could, threw away what I couldn't.  Then I slowly replaced foods in our cupboard with better choices.  I never had the intention that my husband and I would not go out to eat...and I sure never thought that my kids wouldn't enjoy ice cream or chicken nuggets!!  The difference was...I read labels and made the "BEST" choices I could.  As I continued to slowly make the transition, I easily found alternatives to 99% of our foods.  Transitioning slowly made the changes permanent...and I never felt like I was missing out.  I would say that today, we are making better choices 95-98% of the time...so I have FAR exceeded my goal...basically without thinking about it...almost accidentally!!  My theory...the fewer ingredients, the better!!  I also agree with a statement I've read several times "If your great grandparents wouldn't recognize it as food, neither should you!" 

Going to an all natural diet doesn't mean you'll be slaving over the stove either!  There are lots of options and choices out there that can help you to make a delicious and healthy lunch for your kids without spending the day in the kitchen!!  Keep things simple (that is the point!!!)...how about turkey burgers and steamed broccoli with butter???  My kids love peanut butter toast...we give them an all natural variety...ingredients "Peanuts, salt" and we've replaced our bread with one that is whole grain and doesn't contain HFCS (lots and lots of good choices out there!!).  Decreasing the number of ingredients in our food also is relevant to what I cook!  I have no intention of becoming a chef...just doing the best I can for myself and my family!

We are almost a year into this transition...I have lost several pounds without counting calories...without exercise and even more telling...I haven't gained any weight!  I eat butter and cream.  My kids drink whole milk and eat ice cream.  I just had a health screening for work and I passed with flying colors.  I am enjoying my life and my food and I am not a slave to dieting and "fake foods".  I am continuing to learn...continuing to further my knowledge, and my plan is to continue to to share that knowledge with others.  My blog might not always contain a recipe...but I will continue to share information...give suggestions on recommended reading and recent studies.  I really feel that knowledge is power and educating ourselves is key!

So, how do you climb a mountain???  One step at a time!  Good luck!