I read an interesting byline by Jason Ferruggia that really hit home. It went something like this:
If you can’t kill it, pick it or grow it then you should avoid it.
And it really did bring it home to me. I am no low carb or Paleo obsessive, but it makes sense to get back to basics.
My own take on it is this:
If you can’t kill it, pick it, grow it, or make it in a bucket then don’t eat it.
We live in a world where everyone seems to think that the food industry has our best interests at heart. Kind of mad really, they are in the business for one reason only, to make money. Sure there may be a few companies that want to offer quality food, to improve the standards of people’s diets in the Western world, but they are few and far between.
The reality is that it is down to profits. And we get sucked in to a mad consumer society where we buy almost everything we eat wrapped in plastic.
Don’t get me wrong, we buy in this way too. I am not any kind of food evangelist, I am a realist. And I know that sometimes convenience is an issue. But why does that mean that we have to buy junk? It doesn’t.
Our diet for the perfect body consists of very basic food stuffs for the most part. Meat, fish, vegetables and dairy. Not a lot else. Some of it comes in wrapping, some we grow, and in the past I have killed animals to eat. Urghh, it was not a nice feeling, to take a life. But although it was harrowing at the time, and I did it a number of times as I will talk about later, it certainly brings it home to you the responsibility we have when it comes to eating meat, if that is what you do.
Anyway, let’s look at the the 4 things I think we should base our decisions on, when it comes to what we actually feed ourselves.
Killing For Food
We always buy free range chicken, and feel better for it. And this is certainly a very good source of protein, perfect for getting lean yourself, and very versatile.
A few years ago we went through a stage of rearing chickens ourselves to kill and eat. I think I ended up killing a batch of 20 or so and then we did it again and I had to dispatch another 12 or 13. At the time it freaked me out to be honest, and I vowed never to do it again. But we did, the memory fades and the responsibility surrounding the food we ate took over.
I do recommend that everyone that eats meat thinks seriously about doing this themselves. It will bring home to you the responsibility that we share for actually consuming other animals.
But morality aside it is one of the prime considerations for anyone that wants to look after their bodies. If you want a diet that is going to do you well then forget buying anything that is ready made. Buy meat in its rawest (geddit?) form and cook it yourself. You do away with much of the artificial additives that are in packaged food. Source somewhere where you can buy free range or organic if possible, and do the animals that you are consuming real justice.
Our recommended diet for getting lean and losing weight is based around protein and other simple foods. If it is going to be a large part of your diet then it makes sense that you consume it in its most natural form. Not full of junk if it is bought with sauces, flavorings etc already on it.
Picking It
Second is to consider if what you are eating is natural and could simply be picked. Forget tinned, and frozen when it comes to most of your fruit and vegetables (peas excepted). Is it raw and natural, and as it was if people in our ancestral past were to come across it?
It brings you back down to earth (literally) and makes you question the decisions you make when it comes to what you put in your mouth.
If you want to get lean, and look good naked, then you need to eat a diet that is natural, and does not consist of foods that would need a degree if you were to make them yourself from scratch.
Growing It
I love our veg plot and I would encourage everyone to grow as many of their own vegetables as possible.
There is nothing like going out to the garden and picking salad for the evening meal and cutting off a few stalks of celery. We grow anything from tomatoes, to peppers, to leeks and everything you can think of really.
It is lumpy and bumpy and has actual dirt on it. That’s right, dirt. Dirt that keeps you healthy, no colds and regular illnesses in this household! It isn’t sprayed or tested for perfect shape, it is grown to for maximum flavor, and to hell with if it looks like a deformed cousin of the perfect bunch of broccoli.
Growing your own veg is something to be proud of. And you then eat seasonally too. You get to have a varied diet through the year based around what is actually available in your region. Just like our ancestors would have done. They would have a varied diet forced by circumstance, not by choice. Vegetables were and are seasonal so it makes sense that a healthy diet would be based around what grows where, and at what time of the year too.
and the bucket?
Oh yeah!
the bucket.
Look, a lot of people are against dairy and milk based products too. Especially people involved in sticking strictly to a Paleo diet. Personally I believe a diet based on aspects of Paleo and low carb eating is the most sensible for people. We all live in the real world though, and I don’t think most people can stick to rigid regimes for the rest of their life. There must be some leeway, and this is what me and Alexis recommend.
back to the bucket…………………..
You can make yogurt in a bucket, get raw milk in certain areas, although pasteurized is fine as far as I am concerned. You can make fresh cheese and probably a million other tasty things too.
Sauerkraut is great for keeping you at the top of your game and I guess you could even throw in beer too, although it won’t help you to get that six pack!
What I am trying to say really is that if you keep what you eat simple and based around what could be found, or produced before modern techniques basically ruined most of the food that is available, you are going to find yourself healthier, leaner and have better mental focus than you have ever had in your life up until now.
- Could you hunt it?
- Could you kill it?
- Could you pick it?
- Could you grow it?
- Could you store it?
- Could you make it yourself?
- Where is my bucket?
Just a few things to think about peeps.
Part of losing weight and getting a lean physique is making the right choices in life. I know from personal experience that eating too many processed foods is at the heart of people getting overweight.
Think about what it is that you are buying and consuming.
I can guarantee that if you limited your food intake to what we have discussed here, and without even trying to diet or limit what you eat, you are going to most likely lose weight.
If you then actually followed a plan, maybe skipped breakfast, and stopped thinking about going on a diet and instead focused on changing how you eat, then you are going to look like a new you in a very short period of time.
Keep things simple. Limit what you eat to things that you can produce at home or could go and find if you were desperate for food. Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and fermented foods etc. That is the basis of a healthy way of eating as far as I am concerned. Although fermented seabird may be taking things a little too far!
But hey! You never know, right?
