Margarine is soon to be banned in this house. As soon as that big tub of Smart Balance runs out, there will be only butter to be found.
Why? It tastes better. It’s less processed. And there’s evidence that maybe saturated fat isn’t the culprit behind cardiovascular disease. (Although I’m holding my breath on that last bit – in twenty years, something else will come along to be demonized, just as carbs are now and fats were twenty years ago.)
Let me put the emphasis on the “less processed” bit. I’m starting to think this way more and more. Instead of limiting any one food group or any one nutrient, I want to limited the processed food I eat.
And that includes sodium found in all that processed stuff. Since returning home from the hospital following my December ordeal, I’ve become extremely sensitive to it. While I enjoy sea salt sprinkled on steaks, the frozen meals I’d come to rely upon for work week lunches are a thing of the past. Even some of those labelled organic have found their way out of my freezer.
It’s been easy to think butter instead of margarine – there had been little use for the latter around here anyways. In recipes where we might have used margarine in the past and where butter may not be appropriate, there is always olive oil.
The sodium thing, on the other hand? I’ve had to rethink those lunches – taking the time to make sandwiches and salads instead of grabbing the convenience meals. My trusty low-carb pre-cooked breakfast sausage is out, too, instead I’m switching to eggs, Greek yogurt, avocados, or cooking fresh sausage. (Yes, I said I don’t want to limit any one nutrient, but I also suffer from the common dawn phenomenon that wreaks havoc on my blood sugar in the mornings, so breakfast has to be low-carb.)
I do believe I’m banning the right things from the diet. Real food tastes better and it makes me feel better, makes me feel prepared to take on anything – exercise, work, writing, life.
(Never fear, I’m not giving up diet soda yet…sigh…sometimes you just have to pick your battles.)
I grew up on margarine – but now I only eat butter- and damn….”it’s like butta!”
Of course, I don’t eat butter at every meal- I don’t even eat it every day, not even every week!
But when I partake in the butter experience, I spread it on thick and luxuriate it the buttery goodness~
YUM & YUM!
Kelly K
I banned margarine close to 30 years ago, when I first read about the ills of trans-fats. That said, since diagnosis I use butter rarely and sparingly. Except for the pre-Christmas cookie-baking spree, I rarely go through more than 1/2 lb butter per year. I try to trim out as much flesh fat as possible (with the exception of fatty fishes, though I rarely eat anything from the water), and except for specialty cheese, I keep our dairy low- to no-fat.
On the other hand, I do go through about a liter of olive oil, maybe a liter and a half, and small amounts of other flavoring and finishing oils.
I�m a solid believer in varying ones eating wonts to something you can live with for a lifetime. Myself, I don�t require cheating days, I only consume a sensible mix of nutritional nutrients every day with the proper macronutrient mix for the outcomes that I want to attain.