Simple Eating

Food is one of those things that a lot people have a complicated relationship with. This is especially true in the United States and even more noticeable in the Southeast where I live. I certainly have a storied past with my eating habits and it is something I have to continually keep an eye on. Some days I have a good and healthy relationship and other days I am abused but keep returning because of the way it makes me feel.

Recently I have been trying to come up with a way to keep my eating habits in check. However, this cannot be some sort of passing fad, but a lifestyle change that I can maintain indefinitely. I have made this transition already to a great extent and while I have not stopped, I have had to take a new look at what my goals are because there was certainly room for improvement. It is still too easy for me to fall into old habits; eating things high in sugar; getting a quick fix from a fast-food chain or simply just eating until I am full to bursting.

My curiosity about my relationship to food has led me to read books like The Omnivore's Dilema and In Defense of Food, and my opinion has been influence greatly by them. The conclusion of Michael Pollan in these books rings true to me logically, but then again so do some of the ideas put forth by the Paleo enthusiasts and even the Atkins crowd (sort of, I think low-carb and higher protein is correct, but so many completely forget the plants) and recently I have been looking at the Slow-Carb option (which I think is a much better approach to the Atkins concept) and I see lots of potential there. So that just makes this relationship with a daily necessity just that much more complicated.

So, what I am I going to do with all of this conflicting advice? Easy... I am going to make it more complicated.

Ok, that is not entirely correct. I am going to simplify my eating by complicating the process of food preparation and hopefully enjoy it all more.

Let's start with my absolute favorite food on the planet; pizza. I am a sucker for pizza, even bad pizza so it is too easy for me to overeat on this food that is high in saturated fat and has plenty of other bad properties. So my goal is not to deny myself a good pie, but to make sure it is a good pie by making it myself and then enjoying it as much as I want. But this is not as simple as popping a fozen pizza into the over, oh no. This means making my own pizza dough and my own tomato sauce. And over time, grow my own vegetables to make the sauce, buy the wheat to grind to make the flour for the dough, cultivate the yeast to make the dough rise, make my own cheese, truly be a part of every step of the process.

The same scenario for a hamburger; grind the meat, make to buns, grill the patties, grow my own tomatos and lettuce, make the mayonaise and the mustard and ketchup, cut and cook my own fries, etc, etc, etc.

Now there are certainly limits to this process as I cannot grow and make everything needed for all dishes. I do not have the option at the moment of raising my own chickens for eggs, nor raising and slaughtering cattle or curing pork, but there is a whole lot that I can do. I can raise my own seasonal vegetables. I can get locally grown produce and locally raised meat.

So, by complicating the process, I will be eating more simply on a daily basis, but not denying myself anything, just making sure I work for it and enjoy it.