The weight of the world…

It’s on my shoulders.

And by “weight” I mean literal pounds.  While at times I’ve certainly felt the figurative weight of the world (stress, worries, more stress) from time to time, for the last few weeks I’ve become very interested in the way people eat.  Most specifically the way my family eats.

This interest began years ago when I ran across a book called French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guillano.  It’s a native Frenchwoman’s take on the so-called “French Paradox.”  The media has predictably taken this idea and spouted such nonsense as “The French Paradox is a myth,” or “So these people eat ALL THE BUTTER and croissants and red wine as they want and don’t get fat?  Sure they do.”  Well, that’s not the paradox at all.  Traditional French eating is about celebration, about savoring the BEST food you can afford – slowly, and not stuffing one’s face with a bunch of chemical compounds masquerading as food.

And these mysterious food-like products are what many Americans typically ingest.  Go to the grocery store and take note of all the “healthy” foods you see: low-fat, fat-free, high protein, sugar-free.  Then look at the list of ingredients.  Chances are it’s a paragraph that’s chock full of words requiring a consultation with chemistry textbooks.

I’m about to finish another book called The Fat Fallacy that examines the “healthy” food-like substances that Americans have consumed in ever-increasing quantities in the last 30 years, all the while the obesity rates in the U. S. climb steadily upward.  The author, Dr. Will Clower, is a neurophysiologist (and a native Alabamian) who spent two years living and working in France – and who came home healthier and lighter (as did his family) than when they left America…all from eating real food: whole milk instead of watery skim, cream instead of low-fat Cool Whip, fresh vegetables instead of canned everything…

So, my personal goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate non-foods, while increasing our consumption of real, honest, and hopefully local foods.  To quote Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma): “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”  It just makes sense.  Is it going to be easy?  I can readily admit that it is not.  I spent nearly double my normal amount of time (but not double the money, which is interesting) at Publix recently, reading package labels and searching for the best products I could find.  It took me a full 10 minutes to find a box of crackers to go with my organic hummus (same price as the regular) that had fewer than 25 ingredients.  I hope to be able to find better food not only at my normal store, but discover other sources along the way.  The little Organic Harvest store in Hoover, even Whole Foods (if I’m selective).  The point is – there IS better food out there, and I’m going to find it without going bankrupt.

I plan to take this blog in a decidedly different direction, focusing on my “real food” goals and discoveries.  While I have grown tired of repeating myself about the problems that autism presents, you will still find mentions of autism here – because how could I not talk about the elephant in the room?  And the greatest challenge by FAR is going to be trying (and perhaps failing) to find healthier alternatives for Stephen’s extremely limited selection of menu items.

I’ve already tried a few new recipes and ideas, and soon I’ll share those, with some reviews and pictures of the finished products.  My goal is to eat BETTER foods – not to be a vegetarian, not to give up sugar or sweets completely, but to eat whole foods along with occasional treats that also happen to be real foods…to savor my food, to eat wonderful things that are good for me, and to stop when I’m full.

Today, we started watching the HBO documentary “The Weight of the Nation.”  Very eye-opening.  I wish every Alabamian could watch it.  Or, would watch it.  It has reinforced my resolve to just do BETTER.

I’m excited about this.  It feels good to do something so positive.