So... What am I doing wrong?

There are two major flaws with the "healthy diet" you've become accustomed to.

The USDA recommends you eat the majority of your calories (60%) from grain products, then fruits and vegetables, then some meat, fish, and dairy. Finally, they lump sugar and fats all in to one big general category and tell us to "eat sparingly." Then, they wrap it up, tie it with a pretty bow, and call it the Food Pyramid that you are familiar with today.

I'm sure you've heard of the USDA, but do you know what it stands for? It stands for United States Department of Agriculture. Do you know what we produce a lot of here in the United States? Grain. Wheat, corn, and potatoes to be exact. Sounds like the USDA and those it represents want us to "Buy American," huh? Granted every company desires to sell its product, we just do it at the expense of our nation's health. Have I gotten your attention yet? This is problem #1. We rely far too much on processed carbohydrates.

Now, let's head up our Food Propagan... I mean Pyramid to the very top where we have our "everything else" category where fats and sugars reside together. Putting these two groups macronutrients together is comparing apples to... vacuum cleaners. Sugar isn't a whole lot different than the processed carbohydrates I've mentioned above, so you can trust I'm surely not rushing to defend it. However, fats on the other hand, I do want to stick up for a bit. Fats are essential to human survival. The cells in your body have an outer membrane that is made up of fat. Your brain is mostly made up of fat. All of your internal organs are held in place by layers of fat. Fat provides a much more efficient amount of energy per gram than protein or carbohdrates. Your body relies heavily on the fat you eat to provide essential fatty acids to your body. That's problem #2. We have been told to limit our fat intake to 85g a day or less.

So why are carbs bad and fats good? That goes against everything I've ever been told! Yeah. I know. I know. I'm getting there. This is about to get good.