Too much food awareness?

I've gradually changed my diet quite a lot over the last 5 years or so. And done a crap load of reading on diet and nutrition. Though it is still definitely a work in progress (I recently gave up dairy foods that that is a huge change for me).

But recently I've started to feel that I am almost thinking too much about what I eat and worrying about it. I think a lot more now about humane animal practices, what the meat I eat eats (pastured, organic etc..) I think about GMOs a lot and recently thinking/studying the Bt toxin issue. I find highly processed vegetable oils very unappealing now. Along with produce that is not organic.

It's getting to the point that I can't find much to eat at social occasions and people get a little frustrated with me (though I never ask for any special accommodations). Going out to eat at a restaurant is often difficult and not rewarding (bad cheap overpriced food abounds IMO). I find a regular grocery store to be basically chock full of crap "not food". And there is a lot of tension with my husband because he is much more dollar conscious about groceries and definitely not on the same page--though it helps that I am a good cook.

Does anyone feel that struggle to eat right in a modern SAD diet society? How do you find a balance between living life fully and eating the way you think you should?

I am right there with you!

I am fortunate in a number of ways though. My husband, who I met on MDA, is as food conscious as I am. We are surrounded by farms and ranches with sustainable practices. We also have a number of restaurants that cook with good quality imgedients, even though some do use junk oils because they think they are "healthy" but it s usually fairly easy to order around those things. We also know which supermarkets have the best meats and vegetables. . We belong to a CSA and try to eat seasonally, which cuts on the cost a little. But sometimes life happens and we have to eat things that we might not normally.

Eating healthy is not cheap. I think people need to do the best they can and not worry about being perfect. We live between NYC and Philly, so even buying meat direct from ranchers is more than outside the area. We are considering buying a whole butchered pig and half a cow and have found the cost more reasonable in the Chesapeake area, which is about two hours away. We have started growing some of our own vegetables and either canning or freezing them for winter. Next year we will expand the amount of space to grow things. I also got a three shelf growing light system to grow micro and mezza greens year round and for seed starting next spring.

The thing that makes it fun is we do a lot of this together. We love exploring farm stands, distilleries/breweries and butcher shops both locally and when we travel. A lot of cities and towns have market places, which have multiple vendors under one roof. We go to the Reading Terminal Market in Philly regularly because they have several great butchers. I have a lot of food sensitivities, so we have to carefully vet restaurants before we go. if you have kids, a lot of the farms and orchards have fun things for them to do and explore as well.

Food awareness is expanding here, which is very helpful. I know that is not true everywhere. I am sure there are still people, especially family, that think we are a little weird. i never question what I am served at friends and family other than to make sure it is gf and dairy free. Fortunately it is pretty easy for them to set a little of what they are cooking before they butter it or sauce it.

What we eat and the quality of it impacts our overall health. How it is raised is important too both for sustainability and quality of the food.. And quality food tastes better. I try to be careful but not obsessive. Food should be fun and delicious. I wish it was affordable and available to everyone.

I have to keep reminding myself at times that perfection can be the enemy of the good.

Fortunately or unfortunately due to my circumstances, I don’t get out to eat very often, so it is easier to keep a lid on my food choices. However, that said, where I live we are not up to speed yet and in many cases it makes it very hard to pick the best of meats etc. Grass fed is rare here, I can get ground beef, but that’s about it. So I go for organic. I don’t have the option to drive a few hours one way or another. Even if I did, not sure I’d find much better.

I try to go with the dirty dozen when I can. That too isn’t always possible here. So I do my best with what I can get and I try not to obsesses.

I look at it this way. I’m eating all real whole food, none of the boxed stuff so I’m still doing way better than the SAD out there. Sometimes we have to make the best of what we can.

Mark Sisson's 80% rule is very wise. In practice, it might mean, say, 95% compliance with your food rules in situations where you have a lot of control (e.g., home-ccoked food), 50% compliance when have some control (e.g. eating out), and only observing the most important restrictions when you have little control (e.g., at a family gathering). Then just be sure to spend most of your life in high-control environments, with eating out as an occasional treat.