The 'Food Rules' Real Food For Life Challenge

"Resolution season."  "New Year, new you."  "Get fit for good."  Why does January always turn into one big marketing campaign for weight loss fads and dieting regimes?  It's enough to drive me to drink(ing milkshakes).  Shopping at Barnes & Noble yesterday I was faced with table after table of Eat This, Not That, This is Why You're Fat, Belly Fat Cure, and too many other conflicting titles by so-called nutrition experts featuring conflicting advice.  Back at home, telly flipped on, within two minutes I'd seen commercials for Nationwide Insurance pronouncing the need for resolutions, a Weight Watchers ad complete with cute and cuddly plush "Hungry" muppet,  an Alli ad touting its (super gross) effectiveness, and a Nutrisystem commercial featuring the 1992 House of Pain hit "Jump Around."  And beyond the commercials just about every news show, day-time talk outlet, even the almighty Reeg (Regis Philbin) for chrissakes is spewing health tips.   

Wha-wha-wha-what?  (That's me shaking my head in all manner of disbelief and confusion.)

As someone who consistently deals with the ups and downs of the scale, I used to buy into pretty much all of the above shite, only to cry in my pillow when nothing seemed to work.  It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I slowly started to realize that the problem isn't a quick fix - in fact, it's bigger than you, me, and your grandma.  It's the Western food industry and diet, and it's a big ol' cycle controlled by the weight loss companies, health insurance companies, multinational food conglomerates, and money.  It all boils down to money.  People are obese, riddled with cancer and heart disease, strange new food allergies, all for money.  And don't get me started on animal cruelty for food.  It's enough to drive me to drink (really this time).

But I'm not a politician.  I'm not an activist.  I'm not a preacher.  And, strangely enough, not a vegetarian.  The purpose of this post is not to tell you what to buy or how to eat.  All I'm saying is that the current food system in this country isn't working for me anymore, and since I'm just little ol' Jaime, I will not be changing the industry any time soon, on my own.  So I'll have to adjust my interactions with the industry.  I will have to change how I eat.

It used to be that I would gain exorbitant amounts of weight around the holidays.  Okay, maybe "exorbitant" is a bit of adjective overkill, but I do recall one year, long ago, when I gained at least 12 pounds.  In one month!  The past few years I've made more of a concerted effort to maintain, if not stay within three pounds of my pre-holiday weight come January 1st.  And I have to say I should have always made more of an effort on this front (let's just chalk it up to growing pains, no pun intended).  What I do know for sure is that not only have I been eating the wrong things and making poor food choices, but I've consistently done so.  Can't blame the food companies for that...they haven't forced me to buy sugary granola bars or fruit-enhanced yogurt cups.  It's all me, and it's time to make a change.

Okay, I should mention that this time last year I also, privately, vowed to make such a change.  And in a way, vowing to make said change in January amidst the aforementioned despised diet propaganda is a bit hypocritical.  But there's no time like the present.  This time last year I swore off white flour and all refined sugars.  I felt great, shopped at Reading Terminal Market every weekend, ate more fruits and veggies and quinoa than you can imagine...and even got Earle into the act a bit too.  Thinking back on it, I even ate kale.  And I hate kale.

Unfortunately my "life change" lasted only a mere five weeks.  An ill-fated trip to a Reading, PA Bojangles' completely ruined me, and I proceeded to gain weight over the duration of 2009.  Seriously, you guys.  RUINED ME.  

So this time around, armed with Michael Pollan's new, compact and illustrated guide Food Rules, I think I have a better shot at fighting back against the typical Western diet.  The basic mantra of the book actually comes from his In Defense of Food and is very, very simple:  "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."  Food Rules is comprised of 64 suggestions for healthier eating and living, some self-explanatory ("It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car"), some a little hard to swallow ("Don't overlook the oily little fishes").  Oily little fishes??!   Gross.  Ick.  I hate Michael Pollan!  He thinks we should all shop at farmers' markets with our reusable Whole Foods bags and eat nothing but dried plants and herbs forever and ever and ever...

Okay, so that's not what Michael Pollan wants us to do.  He knows it's not always so easy, especially in our get it, got it, good society of near-instant gratification.  Pollan's Rules are a way for us to take back our health, reconnect with or discover the pleasure of consuming real food.  Yeah, the thought of eating a mound of Cheetos is pretty damn glorious, but once you get a couple bites in and that initial sickness starts to creep...you just can't stop.  It's all chemicals, man, and they're messing with our brains. 

So here's the deal.  64 rules, some of them currently incorporated into my life, most of them not.  Every week I'll profile a new rule - if it's an item I don't prescribe to or am deadly afraid of, I'll tackle it (like the oily fishes).  If it's something I know a little bit more about, I'll profile it anyway, like maybe I'll follow a friend through a farmers' market (rule 15) or try to eat more like the French or the Greek for a week (rule 41).  And maybe this little experiment will not just help me, but help you a teensy bit, too.  Some things you need to know up front:  I will probably not go in order.  I will probably not incorporate every single one of Michael Pollan's rules into my daily life.  I will probably break down and buy Toaster Strudel in a fit of anxiety and sugar lust.  But I swear on a stack of Oreos that something will stick this time.  For real.  For good.

Comments

[Helen]

Good luck, Jaime! I wouldn't hold myself up as some paragon of healthy eating, but I agree that it was the cheap treats that got me every time. I stopped buying cookies, snackies and cereal except oatmeal (for the most part) a year or two ago. Seemingly, that small change balanced out the greatly increased number of french fries, burgers, chocolates and cupcakes I eat in the name of blogging.

Sustainable changes are the grail for everything you want to change in your life, food or otherwise. I hope you find some that work for you!

[Sarah]

This is a fantastic idea! I've been trying to make more conscious decisions about what I eat, so I'm interested to see these rules laid out. Good luck!