can we file this article under "chicken isn't paleo"?

im obsessed with food, but not in the way the author is talking about. i spend most of the day thinking about it, shopping for it, reading about it, talking about it, and making it. also, eating it. i love food. i love paleo, too but mostly i love to play with my food. what i do NOT spend my day obsessing about is macro nutrient ratios, micronutrients, calories, grams, ounces, etc. i have a JOYFUL relationship with food. some non-paleo people might think im in-freaking-sane for cutting out the things that i do, but a lot of paleo folks think im nuts for eating the occasional cookie, eating dairy, drinking daily coffee, ordering the creme brulee. meh. im happy and healthy, and thats really all i care about.

now, im off to make my peony jelly and IM EVEN GOING TO TASTE IT.

In a society that makes it difficult for me to eat the way I want, how can I NOT be obsessed?

I'm HIGHLY INTERESTED and MOTIVATED to seek out good food choices for myself and my loved ones. The good ol' Yewessay is a difficult place to do that. Not as difficult as some, but difficult nonetheless.

I looked out my window the other day and saw this skateboarder dude roll up to a food cart, order a burrito, eat it rapidly, roll a cigarette, light it and continue merrily along his way in traffic. I honestly really envied his complete disregard for health and realized that I can't just get hungry, grab some food that is nearby and continue living.

Dietary auto-pilot in America is simply too dangerous these days; you need a constant attention to what you're eating and its provenance. I cook nearly all of my meals and I generally plan most of them at least a day ahead of time, but as I've been figuring things out more and working them into a protocol, I find that obsession gives rise simply to habit. In a way I suppose I've constructed a new sort of auto-pilot for myself. I can stop it from consuming my thoughts, but with so much shopping, preparing and eating, I can't really stop it from consuming my time.

Well, What If there were no grocery stores???...It may be all you would do. When we had a mini farm as the kids were growing up, we spent two to three hours a day just weeding.Then we watered. We spent all morning feeding chickens, feeding rabbits, breeding rabbits, collecting eggs,cleaning cages, cleaning the chicken coop. Moving the fence for the chickens. Tilling, spreading horse manuer, planting, hoeing, , digging, picking , plucking, snapping, washing and peeling tomatoes dunking them in boiling water,cutting,slicing, canning, boiling, drying, sterilizing jars..In the fall we went hunting every spare minute, hunting mushrooms, hunting deer, hunting pheasant and duck. We built a fire and beheaded chickens and dunked them and plucked them and gutted them and bagged them and froze them. We picked strawberries, blueberries,peaches apples.. we washed and froze anything we could get our hands on. I was a stay at home mom. I also home schooled. We studied animal husbandry, we studied weather, we studied propagation. We built a house and a barn, We built compost bins. We built rabbit hutches, we built chicken roosts and nest boxes. We found out that if you put a male rabbit in a female cage she will neuter him. You have to bring the female to the males cage. If they don't have baby rabbits in exactly 32 days, you have to give them a shot of pitocin.

I could have had a job and gone to the grocery store and let my children play video games all day.

My daughters in law praise the fact that their husbands can do anything. One son is a building contractor, who went to Indiana University.He owns his own business. One son is a State Farm agent. One son is still in College in New York after serving two tours in Iraq and earned a purple heart.We also have a free spirited daughter is working at a boys and girls club in St Croix and managing a coffee shop.

Do you think that is a little obsessive?? It is not if you want to eat all winter.

Yes I'm obsessed, wanna fight about it? lol.

I want to start keeping track of numbers just so I can be more scientific for while. It's all part of being a self-experimenter. Nobody can count numbers their whole lives, but I want to get a snapshot of what I'm doing.

I'm a food blogger and am writing a cookbook, so yes - I'd say that puts me in the "obsessed" camp. Not necessarily a bad place to be when one is paleo, IMO.

Edited to add: Okay, so I didn't actually read the article till I posted this (my bad). Food obsessed? No. I just love it.

Not particularly but I do think that it is prudent and worth the effort to know how much polyunsaturated fat I'm consuming in a day. Fine line between chill and lazy.

I tooootally agree with the blogger... EXCEPT - I've found that I have weird food sensitivities that can make me feel VERY BAD, and it's not yet fully clear what-all can cause a reaction; so giving in to a "just relaaaxx" attitude just ain't worth a coupla bites of somethingorother.

But I'm assuming he's talking about people who don't (yet?) have health concerns and stuff - who are just being obsessive about an idea or something. I do pretty much think that many/most people can get away with "just" eating Real Food.

I'm food obsessed in the other way he mentioned: I'm the guy who ALWAYS wants a cookie. I don't count anything, I'm waaaay too lazy.

I am not obsessed about my food. I am obsessed about where my food comes from.

I really try not to be. I care a lot about what I eat, and believe strongly that what you eat determines your overall health to a very large degree, and the recommendations and products you find in the mainstream vary from being not-so-good to outright harmful.

However, I really try not to obsess about it. It is possible to fall into the world of diets, statistics, supplements, not to mention blogs (lol) etc. and it becomes a hobby, perhaps an all-consuming one. The point is to eat to live not to live to worry about one's food choices.

So I try to keep to simple rules, which is why the Paleo diet appeals to me. No grains, no sugar, no processed foods, exercise 3-4 times per week, and that is about it. Nothing could be easier and you are able to find something to eat almost everywhere you go, and your health will be very much improved.

To answer the original question, "YES!"

I think that food "obsessed" is an understatement.

I was obsessed with food pre-Paleo and am obsessed with food now that I follow a Paleo diet. I personally wish I were not obsessed with food in the way that I am (e.g. thinking about what I will have for dinner before I even eat breakfast that day). However, I am healthier post-Paleo, and my relationship with food, while still an obesssion, is better than it was.

Certainly you don't mean on this site.