I loved this article so much I had to post it, though it's not exactly "news."
Thoughts? How does this relate to your own philosophies on eating?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/di...=1&oref=slogin

Wow, that's what I'm trying to do! It really is a whole lifestyle shift, which is hard.

I think if you read the maintainers forum here, you'll find that a LOT of people have that attitude already. I think many people who are maintaining and many people like me who are still losing but who have committed to a lifestyle change have already decided to eat clean and healthy.

Of course, I do have a little cynic in me and I have to admit that I do think a lot of people are "bandwagoning" clean/green/healthy eating. It's cool and trendy to be "green". Eating organic foods, whole grains, demanding that your meat be hormone free and humanely raised ... you used to be a freak if you were into that. Now it's not only cool, but your friends look down on you if you're not.

So I think there are a lot of factors there - more awareness, more concern, and some green-snobbery.

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I think that one of the reasons "this time" is so drastically different than all the other countless weight loss attempts is that I don't eat anything "just because it's low calorie" anymore. I hate "diet" salad dressings, so I don't use them anymore.

Hubby and I love eating out, cooking, and just good food in general. In the past, dieting meant eating things I didn't like, "substituting lousy low calorie "fakes" for things I did like, and generally focusing on what I "wasn't eating," more than on what I was.

It may be the reason it's hard for me to lose weight "faster," but I'm definitely having a better time losing weight than I ever have before. When you eat like your meals are a prison sentence, it's hard to feel enthusiastic about the process, but if you're eating what you enjoy (that just happens to be healthy) you really can see "doing this" forever.

While I do shop at the farmer's market during the season and limit my meat and dairy consumption, I'm not an all-or-nothing-organic person. I don't seek out sepcifically organic foods, particularly at the grocery store because from what I've read, their impact on the environment is the same as non-organic foods. I eat very well and am in excellent health, so non-organic produce doesn't bother me too much

Now, I will say that the lifestyle I have practiced over the years has greatly diversified the foods I eat. Less processed foods are better for me, simple as that. Also, I think it takes the acquisition of quite a bit of knowledge and a big adjusment in beliefs to change your lifestyle and through that I know so much more about food in general. It was just part of the process.

I have also discovered a great appreciation for food preparation and cooking in general. I recently received a set of high quality knives as a wedding present and I love nothing more than having vegetables sprawled out on the counter ready for me to chop and mix to create whatever I'm in the mood for. I think this comes from my dad who loves nothing more than being in his kitchen, not to mention he is a vegetarian so I have always felt at peace working in a kitchen with a variety of foods.