I can't believe I'm eating this!

I had every intention of writing about relevant things today, for instance like my upcoming move to France. But all I can think about is butter. It started out innocent enough, I was making a quesadilla for lunch and found a big ole tub of I can't believe it's not Butter! in the fridge. I'm not a huge fan of food substitutes like this--but went ahead and used it to grease up the pan. I was not prepared for the layer of gelatin that emerged as it heated up...followed by its disintegration into an amber colored ash. Grossed out, I started to read the ingredients (which might as well be in Chinese) and then started to search online for other blogs/sites that have addressed the issue.

To my surprise, most of what I found was praise for this fake food product, people so thrilled that they can now add gobs of calorie-free unmeltable faux butter to their favorite foods. Is this what we have become? And this isn't just butter, I feel like everything is being substituted and chemically altered so that we can feel better about consuming it. But the more synthetic our foods are, the more difficult they are to digest and the more health issues emerge. Sure, you  might lose weight from reducing caloric intake, but it's not good to get so comfortable with all of the fake foods out there. Questions need to be asked. If it's not butter, then what the hell is it?

After attempting to go completely raw last fall, I am weary of the urge to set a challenging dietary goal for myself because it seems like every time I set the bar so high, I fall far beneath it. But one campaign that I think would be both doable and beneficial is that Below Five Diet. This basically means that I will only eat foods that have five or less ingredients on their label. The idea is to quickly figure out how difficult this is, and to start consuming more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and lean meats..basically paleo. This seems simple enough but becomes significantly more difficult when eating out. Next week I am headed to Florida to visit family, where the food is plenty and the liquor cabinet is always wide open. So we'll see how that goes.

I tend to write about food a lot because first of all, I love it. And second of all I am determined to find a balance, where I am enjoying food and life and staying healthy--without consuming products like fake butter or becoming one of those women who has to create her own menu every time she eats out. You know, the no-gluten absolutely no dairy pescatarians. Does it really have to be so complicated? I am really thankful for other enthusiasts who promote eating balanced, organic, simple foods that taste good.