I love you, Fatty Fatty

I've gone on here before about the absurdity of some people's continued obsession with "low fat" foods as a key to dietary balance. Between the processing it takes to make what was once relatively whole foods into fractionated "diet" food and the ill health brought on by the imbalance as well as trying to make up for the dearth of flavor and satisfaction created by removing fat (hello, Snackwells!), it's very satisfying to see trend pieces that tout an increase in the consumption of foods that retain it's fat.

Public health authorities have long urged Americans to cut back on foods high in saturated fat like butter, meat and whole milk. But a new report on dietary-fat consumption suggests that the public is increasingly eating more, not less, of these foods.
The new report, which was published last week by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, found that sales of butter in the United States rose 14 percent last year and climbed another 6 percent in the first three months of 2015. Sales of whole milk rose 11 percent in the first half of this year, while skim milk purchases fell 14 percent. The report also predicted that consumption of red meat and eggs would climb in the coming years.
The trends reflect what appears to be a shift away from processed foods and toward those that are considered more wholesome, even when they contain saturated fat and other macronutrients that were once vilified as unhealthy, such as dietary cholesterol, said Stefano Natella, the Global Head for Equity Research at Credit Suisse and an author of the new report.
“I think this is part of a trend toward more natural foods — more organic, unprocessed and simple foods,” he said. “All these foods have a natural characteristic attached to them. Full-fat milk sounds a lot more natural to people than 2 percent or skim milk. Cows don’t produce skim milk. You have to process it to take out the fat.”

Regardless, when you get down to it, regardless of what macronutrient is vilified or celebrated, the cornerstone of any shift in nutritional thinking needs to be "all things in moderation". We shouldn't start slamming pints of heavy cream and start banning any and all sugar from our diets; we should perhaps make small changes, see how we feel as individuals, and slowly change our own diets accordingly.

Despite the rant below criticizing the federal school lunch program, I'm grateful there IS a school lunch program, happy people in government are actively doing something, and Michelle Obama is fantastic. OK?

But of course, when it comes to BIGG GUBBERMINT, such nuanced and micro-tweaks are impossible when trying to feed almost every single child 5 to 10 times a week in a school cafeteria.

MORE than 30 million children trundle through school cafeteria lines every day in the United States and thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which took effect in 2012, they are no longer served greasy pizza, salty French fries and sauced up chicken wings. Meals must now be lower in fat, calories and sodium and contain lean proteins, more fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And kids from coast to coast are wrinkling their noses.
Food and nutrition directors at school districts nationwide say that their trash cans are overflowing while their cash register receipts are diminishing as children either toss out the healthier meals or opt to brown-bag it. While no one argues that the solution is to scrap the law and go back to feeding children junk, there’s been a movement to relax a few of the guidelines as Congress considers whether to reauthorize the legislation, particularly mandates for 100 percent whole grains and extremely low sodium levels, so school meals will be a bit more palatable and reflective of culinary traditions.
“Other than mandating more fruits and vegetables, the new regulations haven’t really changed anything except force manufacturers to re-engineer products” so they meet the guidelines but not children’s taste expectations, said Bertrand Weber, director of culinary and nutrition services at the Minneapolis Public Schools. “Now kids get whole grain doughnuts — whoop-de-do.”

The guidelines of the school lunch program is not keeping up with current nutritional thinking. They're cutting fat, cutting salt, cutting sugar -- three things kids love, and adding things kids hate -- fruits & veg. What they SHOULD be doing is using their economic power to get higher quality whole ingredients, amping up the good fats and flavor and reducing portion size. Paying for on site from-scratch cooking rather than pre-fabricated space-meals from a central commissary will be more expensive, but the kids will like it more, it will taste better and be fresher, and in the end serve it's purpose -- feed our kids good, not save a buck or allow Big Food untold profits. 

Fat is good for food, for flavor, for health, for kids. Anecdotally speaking, too many women (and, uh, "metrosexual" men) of my generation seem to conflate healthy eating, low-fat food and femininity itself. I hope my daughter (and my son) figure out for themselves what foods make them healthy and happy before a profiteering harpy like Susan Powter comes along and messes it up for everyone.

Never forget.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2593

Not a bad week, not a good week. Livin' it.

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BIKE CREDIT: 1140
MONDAY COUNT: 2110

SLEPT: 8:30pm-6am, 9.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 1:30pm, homemade granola bar, 320 cal

BIKE SNACK: 2:40pm, homemade granola bar, 320 cal

BIKE LUNCH: 3:45pm, subway veggie patty hero, corn chips, diet coke, 750 cal


DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, roasted asparagus, poppa salad, 650 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm popcorn, +/- 400 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal, 9/10
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2820

SLEPT: 9:30pm-6:15am, 8.75hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am,  iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, sardines and avocado on whole wheat toast, chicken soup, momma salad, pickles, 720 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm. cheezits, 210 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, French Bread Pizzas,  poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

HUNGER SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal, 8/10
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2795

SLEPT: 9:30pm-6am, 8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced black chai tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 2 sausage patties of indeterminate animal and 4 mini pancakes, +/- 200 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, grilled chicken, poppa salad, 700cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8pm, burrito, diet coke, ice cream, +/- 1425 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 735 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2560

SLEPT: 11:30pm-6:45am, 7.25 hours

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:15am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK: 11:45am, homemade granola bar, 325 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, cheezits, poppa salad with dressing, 410 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 slice streetza, +/- 500 cal

PM SNACK: 8pm, watermelon +/- 400 cal

DINNER: 9:30pm, instant ramen, 850 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2680

SLEPT: 11:30pm-6:30pm, 10am-1:30pm, 10.5 hours
An active night with not the deepest sleep, good thing I had no where to go but sleep in the morning.

AM SNACK: 1: 7am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 9am, corn muffin, bacon, +/- 500 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 2:15pm, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

LUNCH: 3:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin on toast, momma salad, 780 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, bigos, potato pancake, peanut butter pie & ice cream +/- 1000 cal