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3/13/12 9:15 P

Count me in on agreement--I'm frankly enjoying being "off the grid" from conventional wisdom and the profiteers who try to sell me all this processed junk. Feeling way better is so important to me, and lately I've enjoyed the chance to see that going back to "old foods" on some days gives me the symptoms I suffered for years.

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3/13/12 12:12 P

Sunshine what is profound to me is that allowing myself to be okay with it for a bit has resulted in weight loss! :)

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3/13/12 11:38 A

Sunshine - I totally agree! Those ingrained ideas that eating fat = automatic heart attack are hard to kill, especially when the warnings are so dire from "Them".

Like you said, though, some are receptive and willing to change... the great thing is that even going in 50% will give you benefits. Changing a lifetime worth of habits is hard, and when the rest of the world isn't on board with with it, it's really challening, give yourself credit for doing what you can!

*I* know it's hard to not to compare myself to others, or get caught up in their perfection - I keep reminding myself that I'm doing the best I can for where I am now... some days I do better, somedays not so much. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm a heck of a lot closer than I was before!

Steph

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3/13/12 2:59 A

As the resident "Newbie" I will tell you this though: It is hard to break those cycles. I'm already struggling. I have things planned out but if they don't go that way... I tend to fall back into old habits, especially when you have to make snap decisions! It's easy. It's what I know. Heck, it even helped me drop 20 pounds!

I honestly had no idea that grains weren't healthy until just recently. I will tell you it's kind of hard to be okay with cooking in oils and eating 'fats.' It goes against everything I've ever heard before! Doing something like this is a huge step and I have to re-train myself and my way of thinking about what 'good foods' are!

Some of us are pretty receptive though! YAY!

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3/12/12 11:42 P

I completely agree. I cringe when I hear the phrases, "healthy grains" and "lean meats". It's in the common philosophy, and we're so inured to it after all these years that most people don't even pass it through their common sense filters.

It reminds me of an article I read EONS ago in Ann Landers (I think?) about a woman who always cut her roasts in half before putting them in the oven ... when asked why, she couldn't answer. She went to her mother, who was the one she learned this from, and discovered that when her mother and father were first married, they lived in an apartment so small that their oven wouldn't accommodate a normal roasting pan. So she had to cut it to make it fit! This woman was following that "good" advice for most of her life without questioning or even thinking about it.

I think this is where many people are with nutrition and health. It's how it's been. It's their comfort zone. They don't engage their brains to ask WHY they're doing anything, they just do it because that's what they've always done. If something does finally shake them out of that complacency, they might take a closer look at what they're doing and why. But then, even if they see the data, some people just can't step out of the familiar. It's too scary or too much trouble.

I guess everyone has a twist on what they believe is healthy. The research today supports the lowcarb lifestyle, but even within that genre, there are variances. That's why we all take an active interest in what works for each of us, and create our own health. Seems to me this is healthy for our bodies AND our minds. Good for us.

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3/12/12 3:46 P

"The two camps on eating are so completely different, aren't they??"

Betty... so true!!! I was thinking about it the other day - I love Tom Venuto and he's done several articles, not really bashing the paleo/primal approach, but doesn't agree with it in principle. He does advocate for a lower carb (in carb cycling) and low, to no grain (basically chose the nutrient density over calorie/carb dense) apporach, but puts in in the context of making those choices depending on your overall _physique_ goals.

And *I* think that's the key - are you focused on your physique, because you certainly can get lean eating oatmeal, bread, rice, etc.... Look at the typical bodybuilder 'diet'.

Or are you focused on optimal health?

Lean doesn't automatically mean that you've achieved optimal health. And being truly healthy doesn't mean you'll be lean, but it will make it a whole lot easier to get there AND stay there.

Just my $.25 :)

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3/12/12 2:49 P

Ladyrose, I don't think that's sarcasm, that is the truth!! I just cringe when I see these people touting "healthy" breads, cereals, etc. They seem to think if it's whole grain, it's healthy...

The two camps on eating are so completely different, aren't they??

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3/12/12 2:49 P

Very interesting and I totally agree with you.! Diane

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3/12/12 2:23 P

Just had to share this blog post!

www.liftbigeatbig.com/2012/02/your-health-
is-not-profitable.html

It got me to thinking, with the outcry to ban/enforce government regulation on sugar, would they ban "healthy" cereals that are loaded with sugar in the form of 'heart healthy whole grains'? I mean, 32g carbs per serving is still 32g of sugar, regardless if it's corn syrup or whole grain... (but there's that whopping 2g of fiber in the whole grains which makes a /load/ of difference! ooooh, was that my outloud typing? LOL!)

(sorry, sarcasm filter didn't engage this morning... ;)

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