You hear it left, right, and center these days -- the problem with modern people is that they don't COOK anymore! Well, anyone who says this is obviously just hanging around with a pack of non-cookers, because LOTS of people cook. Some people I know have exalted notions of their talents in that direction, too, because they and their families like their products ... but that's another story! ;-)
Maybe "the problem with modern people" is that they like to cook (and eat) things that really aren't that good for them. Just look at what people post on FB and Pinterest -- cakes and cookies and gooey carby casseroles. I don't deny that they look tasty, but if you're using your cooking-energy making those, you're not making the things that will help you get (or stay) lean.
A person doesn't HAVE to do a lot of cooking to eat low-carb-healthy. A person can do a lot of cooking and set themselves up for health catastrophes, too. Choose your path!
One can eat low-carb at restaurants -- it's not that hard (it's much harder to eat LC-paleo). You can carry-out LC from grocery stores. You can spend a half-hour in the kitchen and have a LC feast. NOT COOKING is not the problem!
If you have a copy of the "Fat Fast Cookbook" by Dana Carpender & friends, you have basically all you need -- add extra protein to her recipes and they'll feed you 365 days a year! :-) I consider Dana the greatest living cookbook-writer....
The problem is what we choose to eat, not whether we cook it ourselves or otherwise.
The whole pattern of modern eating is causing problems , not just the fact that people buy the food which is prepared elsewhere. I know many people who cook all their food and fat and unhealthy because of the food they cook from the scratch. You can bake bread and cookies every day, have a hobby of making home-made fruit preserves , you can get plenty of carbohydrates from different roasted root vegetables and beans. I remember how a person commented on Wooo's blog how she fed her children and husband all lovingly prepared food, like a breakfast burritos. That person really needed to live on LC for her health needs. My mom was the perfect example, always hungry on an almost sugar-free diet of whole grains, huge amount of veggies and fruits + some meat and fish. She was still healthier than a standard coach potato eating a standard junk, but her weight and blood pressure were on the rise.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think than the habit of snacking is a big part of what is wrong with a modern food consumption, and it is mostly the wrong combination of types of foods with the advice to eat 6 small meals a day to "fuel your metabolism" which creates the perfect storm. Industrial food only makes it worse.
As usual, i agree heartily! I think i remember the woman you refer to -- an Alaskan with lots of kids? :-) Lovingly-prepared junk food is still junk food!
DeleteSince i read J Stanton's articles on snacking, i've recognized that wolf-in-sheep's-clothing for what it is. Bottom line, if people are honestly hungry for snacks, they're not eating the right kinds of foods for their MEALS!
Yes, it was her. Unfortunately, no amount of love and care can make a food more healthy when it is fueling your health problems. Sometimes self-cooking limits amounts available for consumption, and it sort-of works as natural portion control. On another hand self-cooking may increase availability, I can keep a jar with a sourdough pancakes batter in a fridge 24/7 + variety of fruit preserves without any need to drive to a pancakes place.
DeleteVery often people have some unhealthy practices, like a smoking, and no one is thinking twice about it ,mostly because humans are naturally resilient creatures. Then marketing takes notice of a product, and companies push their product on as many people as possible, and something sub-optimal turns into a poison because in many cases dose makes a poison.
I believe there are many problems with snacking. When people start to believe they have to eat all the time, several things happen - they start to treat small hunger as an emergency so their body rarely has a chance to seek another source of energy besides glucose; they have to make a food as enticing as possible, especially for children, because plain food is unappealing for a not really hungry person, it leads to the popularity of special children foods high in sugar and artificial colors and flavors; they have to look for a packaged food, or they have to cook and clean kitchen several times a day.
My British MIL expressed her horror when visiting America that food was basically available 24/7 - while in the UK you might occasionally partake of a late dinner at the pub, you wouldn't find the proliferation of fast-food establishments tempting you to snack while traveling or otherwise eat between meals...
ReplyDeletewhen i travel and eat at odd hours, it's very convenient to be ABLE to get something anytime. more than once, i've gotten into a hotel rather late at night, and when there's a McD next door where i can get a double quarter-pounder with cheese and then eat it without the bun, i call that a WIN. :-)
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