Are you following a Paleo Diet?

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Kindle I am very dissatisfied with the food sources here in Indianapolis. I can get farm fresh eggs, yum. But I have yet to find a source for fowl or a CSA or farmer's market that I like. I'd welcome fresh river trout but have not seen that here. I am going to take a look again and see what's available, which may have changed since 2-yrs ago when I moved here. I am so weary of shopping at Trader Joe's.

I completely agree with the way that you eat. Oh and goat cheese is my favorite. I once in a blue moon eat it even though I am paleo and lactose intolerant.

Thanks for an enlightening conversation.

[drmeow 323]

The key really is to know your farmers. I buy organically raised, pastured eggs, chicken, beef and raw milk (though I rarely have milk anymore, just occasionally heavy cream) from a farmer that I know, I've seen all of his animals and talked extensively with him, etc. (He follows Joel Salatin's type of farming) I am very lucky to be 30 min away from this, and another farmer for beef (I just put 87 lbs of pastured beef in my freezer last week), strawberries and blueberries (pick your own) that I've been buying several years. I realize many people don't have those options.

I think, in addition to BigAg going for profits, is the fact that people still want food to be cheap. With all the govt oversight for "safety" and various middlemen for slaughter, packaging, transport, etc. it adds costs, and in the case of milk, there are govt price controls to keep it below a certain cost b/c it's considered a mandatory food for everyone (so not true).

Buying a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs straight from the farm eliminates so much of those costs, and if everyone could do that, the prices would sort themselves.

Not to mention make much healthier food for everyone.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Kindle well, I joined a CSA yesterday!!! And I sent emails to a few local butchers who source their poultry from local farms raised on pasture w/o hormones or antibiotics, as well as one farmer who sells direct. I asked them about coming up with a bulk purchase freezer package. The farmer seems to have ver good prices, whereas one of the butchers that got back to me is much more expensive than I used to pay in NJ. It surprises me that food is more expensive here than in NJ. Anyway, thanks for the conversation because it was the impetus for getting me on this path again. I guess I had sort of given up and settled.

BTW what is your opinion on GMOs?

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@drmeow I love Joel Salatin! He is one of the people I listened to in over to become educated about my food.

I recall one of the food documentaries that I watched interviewed this very old man. Now I forget if he was formerly with the FDA or some sort of politician, but he was pivotol in changing the US to mass agriculture. And his very belief was bringing down the cost of food so that everyone had better access. The cost of food that my great grandparents paid compared to the money they earned was quit high. Not knowing what we know today, I can see that BigAg made a lot of sense when you took it at face value back then. But the ripple affect of that decision was pretty disastrous. If we were to plot obesity and disease and processed food and factory farming on a timeline no doubt we would see them all rise along the same curvature. I should do this for one of my articles!

Yes. People demand low prices. Even I belly ache about the cost of organic food and fresh fish here in Indy compared to what I paid in NJ. I believe it is a pay now or pay later situation. I am either paying more for quality food now or paying more in medical expenses later.

Did you eat the way that you eat now before you weight loss surgery? How did you learn to eat this way?

What state do you live in?

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Kindle Did you eat the way that you eat now before you weight loss surgery? How did you learn to eat this way?

[drmeow 323]

@@drmeow

Did you eat the way that you eat now before you weight loss surgery? How did you learn to eat this way?

What state do you live in?

I am still pre-op. I will hopefully be having gastric bypass in late June of this year. My first introduction to Joel Salatin was in the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, and it (as well as Nina Planck's book Real food) got me interested in reading and learning a lot more about pastured animals vs conventional, etc. I had already been growing and eating from an organic garden for 15+ years so it was the next step to improve the meats I was getting. Then, when I did Atkins a few years back I started paying attention more to the fats specifically, and really shunning processed food. It made sense that the fat from pastured beef, chicken and pork were much healthier than the factory farmed stuff.

Over the last 5-6 years I have read a ton of books on food. Back to what type of diet, it's true that there is not one-size-fits-all and that is primarily due to our individual genetics. however, it's been proven that many of our genes can be silent, and then turned on by environmental factors, whether this be true chemicals, or just huge amounts of sugar. My ex and 2 of my kids can overeat sugar and never gain much weight. But I and one of my kids are quite different.

I live in western Maryland and the farm where I get my eggs, milk, etc is in PA but it's not that far for me.

btw, @@Kindle, I'm a vet too. The farmer I deal with uses medication for humane purposes when needed for sick animals, but pulls them out of the production line. I'm strictly small animal, though, for work.

[drmeow 323]

One of the best purchases I've made to help in eating well is a food Saver. I love wild-caught salmon but it's quite expensive here. My local grocery store, however, has a very good sale on it about every 3 months. I buy a lot then and package it in small portions, vacuum seal and freeze it.

I have completely quit eating any farm-raised fish, as they are usually fed a corn-based diet and probably medicated as well. I live near the Chesapeake Bay, source of great seafood, but I am not convinced the Bay is all that clean anymore, despite the extra surcharge that goes on my sewer bill every month for that! So, while I love shrimp and clams, I eat them less frequently - they are bottom feeders so who knows what they are picking up.

[Kindle 8,667]

@@drmeow I LOVE my food saver ????. And yes, we do have some organic farmers that do what's right for the animals when it is necessary even if it means removing them from production. Those are the ones I support. And I kind of guessed you were a vet...love your user name ????

@@My Bariatric Life I was raised on home raised/grown food. My dad was a farmer and our neighbors raised various livestock. We had 2 huge chest freezers where we kept all the veggies and fruit and meat my mom froze to carry us through the winter. My mom did not buy candy except for holidays like Easter and Halloween. We drank milk, Water and juice, never soda. Each of us kids were allowed to pick out ONE box of sugar cereal/year. I always went with Captain Crunch Berries. My little brother always went with the one with the best toy. Fast food was a rare "treat"... Maybe 6-8 times/year when we were traveling. I think I was in high school before I had my first piece of white, store-bought bread. Oh yeah, and we were only allowed to watch 1/2 hour TV on weekdays and 1 hour of cartoons on Saturday morning! Mom was a badass

When I went to college I rebelled and ate every kind of crap food I could find....along with lots of beer! Didn't care where it came from or what it was...as long as it was cheap and tasty. After college I went through a vegetarian stage. I was very conscientious about what I ate and really shot for healthy stuff. That lasted about 6 years before I went back to not caring anymore. I spent most of my 30's and early 40's eating unhealthy. I became so unhappy with myself I didn't care if I was doing damage by eating crap or not. It wasn't until I had WLS that I started making good food choices again. And I just happen to live in an area now where I have direct access to local farm raised food. Being in the veterinary field is a bonus because I can witness everyone's husbandry practices directly.

I guess choosing to eat this way is just a cyclic state of mind for me. Whenever I get on a healthy kick, I research the latest and greatest, but I have witnessed so many theories and "food truths" change through the years, I always take the extreme claims with a grain of salt and ultimately just use common sense.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Kindle

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@drmeow I thought you were a vet -- thanks to both you and kindle for taking care of our four-legged friends. I agree with the use of antibiotics for humane reasons and pulling the animal out of production. I am curious, what then does the farmer do with it?

I will share something curious, at least it is curious to me. I always ate red meat until the day I put my Boston Terrier down. He was my first dog to go and it was done humanely when his quality of life was such that it was what was best for him. My daughter and I were with him while our vet injected him and my daughter sang a lullaby to him as he went "to sleep." Oh crap this was so many years ago and I am now crying as I type this. The event has some trauma in it for me still. Anyway the day after that I never ate red meat again. In an instant red meat completely grossed me out. I guess it opened up my compassion to a new level.

I went organic shortly after I watched a few documentaries and researched information online -- I believe the Omnivore's Dilemma was one of the films that I watched. However I recall being completely upset and in tears after watching the trailer for Earthlings and telling my husband we had to eat organic. It was both the physiological (my concern for my health) and psychological (my concern for animal welfare) that caused me to change. Ugh I cannot imagine watching Earthlings. My friend who is a vegetarian said she stopped the film a few times to either vomit or cry. It is on YouTube for anyone who can stomach it.

You are right about the farm-raised fish! I only eat wild caught. But like you I avoid shrimp, which I used to love, because so many sources are contaminated that I do not trust it. I will check out the foodsaver. Which of the sealers is the one that you use http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-sealers/ ?

Thanks also for the explanation about genetics/gene expression and diet.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Kindle your mom truly knew what she was doing! I am thrilled that my daughter raises her children this way... they don't grow their own food but she does all the other things your mom did.

It is interesting how we rebel by doing the opposite of what our parents did. I had a friend who told me that his parents were pot smoking hippies and Drake rebelled by being a straight-laced teen (his words not mine).

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

Nope, I don’t follow a paleo diet. I can’t ignore all the studies linking whole grain consumption to reduced risk for heart disease and diabetes. And I really don’t see a problem with Beans and dairy (as long as you’re not lactose intolerant, of course). Yes, it’s great to cut out many processed foods with added sugars, solid fats, and too much salt, as the paleo diet does.

I think there’s a happy medium between the SAD and a paleo diet. For me personally, it’s about the calories. If I eat the same number of calories, I can eat them from (say) oatmeal and yogurt (non-paleo) or from (say) chicken and broccoli (paleo) and my weight will turn out the same. So, I try to eat unprocessed, high-Fiber, and high-Protein, but I don’t eliminate food groups like whole grains and dairy and legumes.

[drmeow 323]

This looks like the mine, http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-sealers/the-foodsaver-seal-in-savings-kit/FSFSSL3250-DTCK.html#start=10 except mine is white, but has the same buttons and features. I got it off Amazon last year.

I believe the organic farmer can sell the meat or milk to as non-organic to stores and butchers once the animal has passed the required withdrawal times (the time it takes the medication to leave the body). Until then, the milk is dumped and the animal is not taken to slaughter.

Edited March 30, 2015 by drmeow

[Kindle 8,667]

I've got the game saver deluxe plus.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@drmeow @Kindle thanks much!

[Chrystee 838]

I eat a paleo diet.. but low carb.