food snob

So, I suppose I've always been a bit of a food snob.

Between the spring of 1998 and the summer of 1999, I lost 65 lbs. I had always struggled a bit with my weight, and I had finally had enough. I'd had enough of hating my body. I was tired of crying over it, and wanted to do something about it. My weight loss strategy consisted of portion control, "balanced" meals, and going way low-fat. I became the low-fat/fat-free queen. If there was an item at the grocery store that bore a "fat-free" description, you can bet that I knew about it. I've spent so much money on fat-free cookies, low-fat crackers, fat-free & no sugar added ice cream, fat-free cheese, and so much more. It makes me feel a bit sick now to think about it all.

Yet I suppose that playing the food snob goes farther back than that. I was a picky eater as a child. I know kids tend to be, but I suspect that I frustrated my parents far more than did my brother. I turned my nose up at...well, the list is really too long to go into here. It might be easier to say that I would eat only one variety of cheese (American) until the day I finally deigned to try cheddar, and as far as vegetables go, I believe I had an "acceptable list" of three. My mom's meals were tasty, but I was very stubborn about what I allowed to pass my lips.

And yes, I am certainly getting what I deserve in my children. They, too are...selective eaters. But I do see improvement!

Back to my days of being the fat-free queen. All my life I had been a slave to the “diet dictocrats” and the belief that way to be healthy was through a low-fat diet. Even after I had lost that weight (and I maintained my new weight, too) I frequently had little slip-ups where I would overeat on “fattening” things -- because eating as I was, I simply wasn't satisfied. I was borderline obsessive about low-fat food (although I gave myself free rein with sugar!!), and it made for very dissatisfying mealtimes.

Then last summer I stumbled across some information that started a revolution in how we eat. I've learned how essential fat is to our health (yes, even animal fats!) and the wonderful benefits of raw foods, particularly dairy. Yes, we've started buying organic foods, but that's only part of it. There is so much validity to preparing whole foods in the traditional way (although I certainly use modern equipment like a food processor, mixer, etc.). For all that we think we know about food and nutrition now, it seems we as a society have lost some vital knowledge of what's best for our bodies that people of past ages practiced.

And the result is that I so satisfied in the foods I eat these days! We eat a lot of butter in our house, and coconut oil, and olive oil. We eat as much grass-fed red meat as we can manage to squeeze out of our budget. Pastured chickens, and eggs from the same. Full-fat yogurt, milk, and cheese. I doubt I'll buy any low-fat anything, ever again.

Here is some information about why whole dairy products are so good for our health:

Average butterfat content from old-fashioned cows at the turn of the century was over 4% (or more than 50% of calories). Today butterfat comprises less than 3% (or less than 35% of calories). Worse, consumers have been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as a health food can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short- and medium chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress and conjugated linoleic acid which has strong anticancer properties. (source)

There is so much freedom in eating this way! I am falling back in love with cooking again, and I feel so good about the service that these foods are doing to my family. So... I guess I'm still a food snob. It seems I always will be. But the changes we've made feel so solid. No more will we be tossed by the waves of trendy diets. Instead of being the obsessive low-fat queen, I'm once again picky about my food. Yet now I have a much greater sense of satisfaction & peace.

My hope is that my children will grow up loving real, whole, well-prepared food, and never be slaves to the way society expects us to eat.