just over a week to go.

This month has gone pretty fast.  I'm still learning quite a bit about food...good and bad.  I'm realizing people really don't know much about food.  Not just people like me, but people that should know a lot about food...like dietitians and nurses.  I have realized that people do really care about what they eat, but just don't really think about thinking about food.

Looking back I was that guy.  I wanted to eat healthy but really didn't know how.  It'a really hard to know what's good for you.  Labels saying "all natural" typically have preservatives.  "Natural flavorings" may mean some chemical compound tastes like chicken.  And stores sell "healthy fruit juice" for toddlers that really contain no real juice.  It's crazy what companies can get away with to trick consumers.

From what I have learned, I fully plan on keeping up with my eating ways...mostly.  It's really not that hard to buy organic, or eat locally, or not eat processed foods.  I'm still up in the air about meat.  My buddy just sent me a link (http://www.nonviolenceunited.org/veganvideo.html) and it makes complete sense to me.  It basically points out that being vegan is very beneficial to the planet, and the people.  I am definitely going to stay mostly vegetarian, but I don't see myself fully giving up meat completely.

From a basic health standpoint I think "vegetarian" options for food can be bad for you also.  Most meat substitutes have some nasty stuff in them.  Boca burgers, imitation meat, ect can be packed with preservatives and a lot of sodium.  I think the general public sees a vegetarian diet as being very healthy.  I definitely think it can be, but it also has some very unhealthy options.

I will avoid factory farmed animals, but I think I'm ok with sustainable grass fed animals. I will mostly just eat fish (sushi is too damned good) but if I ever come across some organic farm with some fantastic meal that has some kind of animal meat in it, I'll give it a go.  I will also eat out every once in a while...its a nice treat (I do miss trying out new restaurants with my wife), but really hard to follow a strict eating diet when you eat out.

I guess it boils down to the more you know, the better decisions you can make.  The hard thing is if you really care about what your eating, you have to do the work.  Each company has a marketing team to make things seem more healthy than they really are.  There is also a lot of great information out there on how to eat healthy that you wont find if you don't look.  I have not once seen anything on cable tv about how to eat healthy, other than when trying to sell a product, or making vague statements like "eat more fruit and vegetables".

So far eating healthy this month has been pretty good to me.  I'm still too lazy to work out, but now have lost 12 pounds in three weeks.  Unfortunately my bald spot isn't filling in, so I guess changing your diet does have some limitations.