Unlearning And Relearning The Lessons We Were Taught

Who had it right? Our parents or us? Maybe our grandparents?

What is right?

I find that the more I learn about food the more confusing things get. We speak of our parents and all the fat that they consumed as if they must have been the unhealthiest people on the planet. My family likes to recall a story of my brother sitting at the table and crying because my parents wouldn't let him leave the dinner table until he had eaten all the fat from around his meat.

Sounds crazy doesn't it?

Perhaps. But is it any more crazy than putting processed packages of food into ourselves and our families day after day after day? Any more crazy than giving any chocolates we have in the house to children and grandchildren just to ensure we don't eat it ourselves? Any more crazy that baking things we know are unhealthy for our families during the holidays simply because it is tradition? Why can't we start a new tradition?

We have also reached a point in this world where we somehow accept that chemicals are ok as long as they make things lower in fat.

It is a sensitive subject and to be honest I sit completely on the fence.

I totally believe that whole and unprocessed foods is the way to go, but I also understand that sometimes, goals have to be prioritized and things have to be done in stages. If eating low fat processed foods gets you to a weight goal you wish to be at, and you are certain that eating those foods is at least eating healthier than you were before, then I say go for it. Just know that it is a healthier food choice but not the healthiest food choice, and aim to make yet another positive change later.

I think I just made every nutritionist in my program at school cringe.

You see...it really is a journey...and you can't do everything at once. I think you should keep the end goal in mind, and I think the end goal should be 100% non-procesed foods for everyone, but how you get there and how long it takes to get there is an individual thing. As long as you are always striving to be healthier than you used to be, you are on the right track.

I had an interesting conversation with a nutritionist friend of mine a while ago about the fact that Fish and Chips are often cooked in Lard in Scotland. His reaction? "That's amazing! Oh man I would eat that...that is soooo much better then the manipulated crap we cook our own foods in!". It was not the reaction I expected...but when you step back and think about it...there actually is some logic there.

It made me wonder if our parents didn't have it right in the first place. They certainly were not as obese as we are on average. In all likelihood it was the grandparents who really had it right. Processed wasn't as much of an option back then.

My statements are all relative of course. I am 47. If you are twenty something it was probably your great grandparents who had it right. Adjust as necessary :-)

We look healthier I think...but are we? Maybe we just look younger. We say we are more active. Some are...many aren't. "Forty is the new Thirty" right? Maybe from a vanity perspective. From a health perspective? Is looking healthy being healthy? We are becoming more aware all the time, but aware of what? Aware of what food and drug companies, often with the backing of the government they fund, are marketing to us as "healthy"? I think that is very likely.

You may agree or disagree with that last statement and that is totally cool, but either way the only way you will really know what is going in your mouth is to start with raw ingredients and make it yourself.

That takes time...both mental and physical.

It is taking me a very long time but I am getting there. Two steps forward and one step back, but I am still getting there.

It's all food for thought.

The bottom line...be as healthy as you can whenever you can and choose processed foods only if it is a better choice than the choice you made before.

Day four of my cleanse today. Feeling pretty good :-)

Be healthy!

Alan