Escapades v. 2.0

I watched Super Size Me. I read Fast Food Nation. I was indignant about what I was seeing and hearing, but my indignance slowly waned. I went back to my fast food diet, and, as I’d been warned, I gained weight. I can honestly say that I was living on a fairly steady diet of fast food. Fast food is so much easier than going shopping, picking things out, preparing them, and finally cooking them. Fast food is one stop. You order it, they give it to you, you eat it. It is fast.

I’ve had The Omnivore’s Dilemma sitting on my bookshelf for two years. The book came highly recommended by my friend Russ. He had stopped eating French fries after reading it. I had started reading it, but then walked away. In the course of those two years, every time I’d considered picking it up again, my mind had said, “I’m tired. I don’t want to have to think. Read something that is easy and requires no mental effort.” Whenever my mind puts up an argument like that, I tend to acquiesce. Last week, I decided that the time had finally come. I’d been spending a lot more time at the farmers’ markets, meeting wonderful people who were active proponents of fruits and vegetables and a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to know what my dilemma, as an omnivore, was. Now that I’ve read it, I don’t think I have much of a dilemma anymore.

I learned that one of the antibiotics given to cattle on industrial feedlots is erythromycin. I’m allergic to erythromycin. Is that why I got a stomachache every time I ate beef? Supermarket beef is out. Even if it doesn’t all contain erythromycin, there’s no label telling me which does and which doesn’t. I’ll have to avoid it all. I’m left with natural farm-raised beef. I know just where to find that.

As I’ve mentioned before, supermarket foods travel an average of 1,500 miles to get to me. That’s a long trip. I don’t want my food to be better travelled than I am. I guess that means that I’ll be eating local fruits and vegetables, which have come an average of less than 50 miles to get to my plate. If I don’t need to get meat, fruit, or vegetables at the supermarket, what does that leave? Soda.

But soda’s out, too. Whether you are for or against high fructose corn syrup, the simple fact is that soda provides empty calories. No nutritional value, outside of the sweetener. I’ll stick with water, tea, and juice, thank you. If I’m getting no nutrients, I don’t want the calories. Diet soda doesn’t have any calories, but much of it has caffeine. I’m pretty sensitive to caffeine. I can drink small amounts, but I’ve avoided energy drinks due to the high levels of caffeine. I’ve looked at the labels on diet, caffeine-free soda. Basically it’s brown carbonated water containing a lot of things I can’t pronounce. I could find that for free in some puddle in the street. I’ll pass.

On a recent visit to the supermarket, we mentioned to the cashier that we’d been to the farmers’ market. The cashier replied, “The farmers’ market is so expensive!” I’ve found some items to be more expensive, some less. In the case of those items that are more expensive, I’ll save up the money that I would normally spend on sodas. That should cover the difference. Another noticable difference may be in the overall value. I recently spent $15 for a roast from Scally’s Natural Beef. My mother bought a comparable roast from the supermarket for $10. The one I bought was so tender that I was able to eat it with a spoon. My mother complained that all the roasts she ever bought at the supermarket were tough, regardless of how long or low they’d cooked.

Hmmmm, it sounds like I’m on a new form of escapades. Instead of eating all of the processed foods from my pantry, I will try to stick to local and/or healthy foods. Fresh foods, like zucchini, tomatoes, and blueberries. Local, natural meat and poulty. No soda. I’ve been doing this for about a week, and I already feel a lot better. Hopefully, this version of the escapades, Escapades v. 2.0, will last longer than the previous version. Wish me luck!

End of the Escapades Part I

There are worse things in life than being called a quitter, and I’ve probably been called a few of those things. But now, I am calling myself a quitter, and I am proud of it! I have decided to quit the escapades. Is it the end of an era? Not really. I’ll gladly provide my justification for this decision.

I knew going in that I had a lot of packaged, processed foods which were probably not very good for me. I bought them for the same reason most people do: they were cheap, filling, and quick to prepare. Cheap is still ideal, as I am on a reasonably tight budget. Filling is always a plus. Now that I’m not working, quick to prepare isn’t as high of a priority as it used to be.

While I was still working, I didn’t cook much, even the packaged foods take longer than I was willing to spend. I ate a lot of fast food. When I stopped working and started the escapades, I ate much less fast food and cooked at home. I also realized that I wasn’t losing any weight. You’d think that I would, if I weren’t having McBurgerjangles all the time. But I wasn’t. I actually started gaining. Maybe I’m getting less exercise, since I was often on my feet and walking around the office. I was eating more junk food at work than I ever do at home. I was baffled.

Recently I finally figured out that I was gaining weight because of what I was eating. All the high sodium foods that made me thirsty and all the soda that I was drinking to quench that thirst. A few days ago, I was reading an article on the effects of high-fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners. Thursday was a rough day, and I did, in fact, have some soda. Those days are over. I’ve given up soda before, but I always return to it to comfort me at whatever high-stress job I accept. I don’t have a job, so I don’t need soda.

Like Morgan Spurlock, in his movie Super Size Me, I also noticed that I had less energy, less desire to do anything, and I was getting fat. Also like Mr. Spurlock, I attribute that to my diet. When I eat fruit and veggies and wash it all down with herbal tea, all that I’ve gotten from one of my many farmer’s markets, I feel so much better. I eat something from the pantry and leave the dishes on the table. I eat something from the market, and I have the energy to clean the kitchen and maybe still write something.

It’s doubtful that I will give up junk food for good. I’m not going to claim to try. I know I will still be tempted from time to time, and I am fine with that. For now, all the processed food in my pantry will either stay there or make its way to a new home. Or get thrown out, since I am not thrilled at the prospect of giving unhealthy food to someone else. Either way, I am proud to be a quitter and look forward to the better health that will come with it!