French Girl Friday....Let's Get Real

La Nourriture Authentique, Real Food, is the subject of chapter 6 in The French Twist by author Carol Cottrill. It is an information packed chapter, going into the pros of eating real food. It breaks down what goes into artificial and convenience foods that many of us, as Americans, tend to rely on. I am guilty. Very guilty. I have no real good excuses. If I were to site some, I would fall back onto the basics I tell myself, my husband works unpredictable hours, my health issues make it hard to want to stand and cook when I am hungry,  it is hard to get the fiber in the amount that I need just eating real foods, to stay within the calories I seem to be able to consume and still maintain it is easier to eat pre-packaged. The list could go on and on.  I know that many of these foods are not good for me, that real food is always better. I know that I have gotten lazy, I know that I should buy real butter and not " I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"..even if I do buy the light version .... I tell myself I can have a bit more, and it is spreadable, strait from the fridge, important to a toast junky like myself. I know that eating these faux foods often can stall weight loss or even cause weight gain, but yet as I said, I am still guilty. 

I love being able to pop a pizza into the oven and though I like making my own spaghetti sauce, opening a jar is so much quicker, that fiber breakfast cookie I grab on the go ( French non-no the whole eat on the go thing), so easy when leaving for my walks.  I have tried made strides to go real in other areas to get healthy and to eat  I have given up white bread ( most days) , looking for healthy versions, I switched from artificial sweeteners and started using Stevia, in my coffee, I take real cream and skip the creamer, when I am feeling up to it I make homemade macaroni and cheese instead of the boxed kind. I even have switched to an all natural nut bar with all real ingredients as part of my way to get fiber in.  I in my heart and down deep know I should make more of an effort, and I would probably enjoy food much more, cause let's face it, the "fake" stuff is really not nearly as good or good for us as real food. That is part of the point(s) of the chapters point driven home by the author with her supporting information of what goes into all these artificial foods, and what they do to our bodies, and not just how they may effect our weight loss and maintaining our desired weight, but how they may effect our over all health. It really makes you stop and think before you eat. 

The French have a different mind set, now given they do eat at Mc Donalds, as was mentioned in an earlier post, but more times than not, they buy food fresh daily, cooking with food they have bought close to the source and as fresh as possible. " In France and throughout Europe, food is plucked ripe from the vine, the river or the farmyard and it arrives on a local plate within the day...." (The French Twist) It is an event, each meal, food is savored, and enjoyed and quality is very important. Many of us do not have this convenience, and sadly the time.  It is not that Farmer's Markets are not now popping up all over the country, as an example, I live in an area where nearly on every given day there is one open, and we even have an inside Farmer's market as well as a year round farm stand. My area is the leading Farm to Table movements. We live in a Farm rich state, it is pretty easy to buy local and buy fresh, it is about making the time, the effort to seek the real food out. It comes down to time, at times money and a lot of the time laziness. I have to wonder if I had made more of an effort to eat real, and do the work ( which for the French is not work, but pleasure, so a mind set??) would my health issues be a non issue. I am not sure I can reverse my health issues, but perhaps, if I get more real, with myself and my food, and become a little more French in my thoughts and my efforts, I can keep it from getting worse. I know that it is not realistic to say that I am going to change my ways or what I eat overnight, we can not afford to throw out previously bought foods and what we just purchased that sits in our pantry, freezer and refrigerator, but by taking baby steps, perhaps over time, I can get a little more real. How about you? Do you need to get a little more, or a lot more real...with what you put into your body that is.