Thoughts on fast "food."

I read today that McDonald's has "selected a frying oil without trans fats" in it. Eureka, right? Now their "food" isn't bad for you anymore...right? McDonalds has finally opted NOT to serve products that will send you to an early grave...right?

We'll come back to that.

If you know me, you know I'm a pretty health-conscious eater. We cook dinner every night at my house (well, almost every night---we go out about once a week). We only eat all-natural foods, as nature intended. Whole grains, vegetables and even (fresh) meat....nothing out of a box except maybe brown rice and whole-wheat couscous, both of which are natural grains. What I find strange--is that I'm in the minority for eating this way!

(Granted, when I was pregnant, I succumbed to a few less-than-optimal temptations, but I bought all-natural products when I had to have the hot dogs or the potato chips. No chemicals or preservatives, thank you!)

That said, I've been thinking about a friend of mine lately that eats fast food, a lot. Even though she KNOWS it's bad for her. She's overweight, she has cholesterol issues, and still she eats it. She's a mother of small children....and yet she frequents the drive-through like it's going out of style. She also drinks a lot of soda, even though she knows she shouldn't. Worse, she takes her kids with her to eat fast food all the time. Kids need vitamins, protein, fiber---building blocks on which to grow up healthy and strong. None of which you can get from a Happy Meal.

Today, I looked up the definition of "poison" in the dictionary.

Poison: (n) a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health; something harmful or pernicious, as to happiness or well-being.

So, poison impairs health and causes harm to the body. Everybody knows that. Well, guess what---fast food has been PROVEN to impair health and cause harm to the body. Ergo....

FAST FOOD = POISON.

And there you have it.

You would never knowingly eat rat poison or drink Drano unless you were INTENDING to injure yourself. Why would you continue to binge on cheeseburgers and french fries, knowing full well it's bad for you? Just to clarify: It ain't harmless. It ain't good for you. It IS detrimental to your body to eat it. (And just because you tell yourself otherwise to justify eating it, that doesn't make it so. I don't care what it tastes like!)

I feel really strongly about this, especially now that I have a youngster of my own. I don't intend to "run him through the drive-through," EVER. I care about him too much to do that.

What I don't understand is how our society is riddled with cancer and heart disease and diabetes and even freaking "ED" (and the list goes on), and yet we don't look more closely at what we're giving our bodies to live on. If you don't give it the nutritious foods and fuel it needs, is it any wonder it can't function properly?

Wake up and smell the instant coffee, everybody. Fast food ain't food at all....

It's poison.

Eliminating trans-fats from the deep-frying oil is just a drop in a big fat empty bucket, my friends.

The upshot is that the pendulum is finally starting to swing back the other way....I'm seeing more organic, natural foods more and more wherever I go. Do yourself a favor...don't make the quick choice...make the natural one. Take five extra minutes and fix your food yourself...Your body will reward you a hundred different ways.

More later!

Eee!

New computer has arrived = now I can post.

Hello my dearies, it has been ever so long since I've been able to post! My 'new' computer 'got really hot' and 'the keyboard started melting' and 'almost burned me' not to mention 'could have burned my house down.'

So I sent it back and got a new-er one, which hopefully doesn't have that tricky meltdown problem my other one had. How irritating!

I hope you are all swell, I am doing just swimmingly, enjoying the infant I made. He is super fun and super cute, which helps. Here is an action shot I snapped just the other night:



Just to clarify, he's the one on the right. The hairier one on the left was actually asleep in this position, as well, which defies all bounds of gravity and logic. He reminds me of my mother, who is infamous for being able to sleep any time, anywhere. I am told she once fell asleep standing up, with her hands in the dish water. Now that takes talent.

More soon!