Not too much!

For me there seems to be a very fine line between enough and too much.

We have all heard of the "20 minute rule" where it takes this much time for the food you have eaten to reach your small intestines and signnal to your brain to stop eating. In theory if you eat slowly your food will get to your gut before you have woofed down a super-sized serving.

Why can't I be more like my mother and nephew? If you want to see a slow-eaters contest you just have to check these two out. Breakfast is only half eaten by lunch time. Me, well, not so much. I am more like my dad. We can eat a meal lickedy split. Since I can't seem to slow myself down I have implemented a new strategy. While I am cooking dinner I eat my salad in hopes to fill myself up on some healthy PLANTS and allow enough travel time for the road trip to my intestines.

That's it. Now go read the book: In Defense of Food.

Mostly plants....

This is a toughy. But, to sum it up, it is pretty much a universal consensus that eating plants is good for you. However, since I am an omnivore so here is the next point - you are what what you eat eats, too. Just as I should eat veggies, cows should eat grass. But they don't. Why? Because it is cheaper to feed them seeds. And this makes them sick. And so we give them antibiotics. And therefore I eat a less healthy slab of beef with too few omega 3's and too much saturated fat. You'll have to read the book (see previous post) for the details...

So, what to do? Pull out your wallet and eat organic. 100% grass fed beef....look for the word "pastured" on the package so you know the animals has access to grass. The same goes for chickens and their eggs.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I watched a movie a few weeks ago called "Food, Inc." about the food supply in America and all the things most consumers do not know or understand about where it comes from. It was interesting so I decided to read one of the books recommended on their website called, "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollen.

Here's the deal...he begins with the punchline- Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. That's it. That is the answer to all our dietary woes, right? After reading 150 pages of background info he finally gets to the good part. Some rules to live by:

1) Eat food

- don't eat anyting your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as "food" (I guess than means those yummy fruit roll-ups are out of the question)

- avoid foods that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number, or include figh fructose corn syrup.  (damn near impossible)

- avoid foods that make health claims (do the "got milk" commercials count??)

- shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle (got it, everythng in the middle was diqualified in the first, second, and third points)

- get out of the supermarket whenever possible

This is a lot to digest (hehe)...I'll get back to you later with points 2 & 3 (Not too much; Mostly plants). Anyone think they can follow step 1 for a week?