I enjoy every meal. REAL food is better in every sense, including taste.

Ross

I diverge on only one point. You say you eat to live rather than live to eat, but there’s no reason eating has to be simply a utilitarian act. I eat about 90% local. Being in Colorado, that means I have to prepare for winter in advance, but our farmer’s market is outstanding. Each fall I put back enough frozen vegetables, fruits and grass-fed meats to last the winter. I also stockpile local organic honey, popcorn, potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash of every variety, and spend several long weekends canning peach butter, apple butter, crab apple jelly, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, pasta sauces, ketchup, salsa and much more, and drying fruits. All made from scratch, all with local ingredients, and use no ingredients you couldn’t have found on a 19th century farmhouse. Throughout the year I buy raw dairy fresh from the farm, from which I make my own butter, yogurt and soft cheeses. I also have access to yard eggs year round.

Sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But I enjoy it. And I have a full time career as a scientist at a National Laboratory and train regularly. I have the time because I make the time. It’s easy when you get rid of television, video games and the other modern distractions. My point is that I get an immense amount of joy from food. I cook at least once a day and we sit down for every meal. In my household we have a food culture. Everyone knows where every bite came from and how it went from being a plant or animal to being a lovely and tasty dinner entree. We enjoy reasonable portions of highly nutritious, often very rich, flavorful foods and no one has weight or health problems. Americans don’t understand that when it comes to food, you actually can have your cake and eat it too, just as long as it’s a real cake and you don’t eat the whole thing in one sitting.

Thanks Ross, I love what you’re doing.

The message to this blog entry is twofold. First, by simply adjusting daily habits, one can live a much healthier life. In addition, real/natural foods actually taste much better than the processed foods that fill supermarket shelves. You will physically feel better. I’m not talking about mental/psychological feelings. That is an entirely different subject.

Ross

First, I know that yeah, junk food is bad, but who says it was totally bad? The only reason it’s unhealthy is because people eat it repeatedly. Just because you have a cheeseburger (and just one!) doesn’t mean that your’re going to fatten. You shouldn’t feel bad about what you eat, even if you crave it.

I excercise and eat right, but if I want some fries, then why not? And I don’t eat it everyday, and I will not eat it everyday. I cook real foods and stay true to what I’m supposed to eat…I think there is a word for that: Self-control.

If you’re a person who can control him/herself, then you would understand that life is all about moderation. You only live once, so why not? I personally believe that moderation is the key to life, as well as good physical activity. I read this article and it just offended me to read that you should feel like crap just because you ate one burger.

I know that you’ve worked hard to hone your body to new heights, but at the same time, is your body going to actually fatten because on one chips, one ice cream, one this, one that?! If self-control kicked in, then maybe you wouldn’t be saying that junk food is bad. Like I said, junk food is not necessarily bad; it’s the ones who take it profusely.

I just want you to know, Ross, that everyone is different, and no one feel bad about what they eat. Life’s too short to feel like crap.

Man, I’m always telling people that real food tastes way better than the fake stuff in the grocery. Junk tends to be either overpoweringly sweet or overpoweringly salty. Real food is earthy, minty, sweet, sour, savory, peppery, spicy, etc. I can make 10 different meals from ground beef, onions, and something green just by altering what spices I use.

Cheers
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager