Vegetable Reviews and Resolutions

If you had told me in December of 2002, or even 2005, just how far I'd come in a few years with regards to my understanding of diet and health, I might not have believed you. I definitely wouldn't have believed you if you told me I'd be trying to live without cheese. Even in 2005, when I was contemplating the possibilities of a vegetarian life, I never expected to learn how to make my own non-dairy milks and cheeses, to graduate from a vegan chef school, or to look at nutrition as the bedrock foundation of good health. My oh my, how things can change, expectations included.

My quest for a healthy eating pattern (a.k.a. a daily, permanent diet) has been ongoing ever since I consulted with my doctor about the annoying-to-dangerous symptoms of hypoglycemia I was experiencing. This was about a month before my wedding, in 2002. After subjecting me to a glucose tolerance test (that orange sugar drink is nasty!), my doctor advised me to eat small, regular meals and avoid junk food. Said advice was hard to follow due to my work schedule, my habitual unhealthy food choices, my struggle with bulimia (of which I was too ashamed to speak with any health care practitioner at the time), and the overwhelming prevalence of junk food in every imaginable setting of my life. A year later, my nurse practitioner recommended limiting my sugar and carbohydrate intake. She gave me a food diary template to help me monitor how many servings of what food groups I ate, and she told me to keep track of my daily diet. I tried the diary. It was a dreary record-keeping project, but it did show me that I never ate enough fruits and vegetables. I did, however, consistently meet and often exceed the recommendations for carbs and fats.

I'm a do-it-yourself kind of learner, a trial-and-error kind of student, a learn-it-the=hard-way self-teacher. Over the next three years, I tried various dietary foci: low-sugar, sugar-free, low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, etc. My weight fluctuated, but over time I experienced a slow-but-steady gain. Part of this was due to the changes in my physical exertion levels. I went from an impoverished Americorps tutor (who had a $10 per week food budget, lugged her tutoring supplies uphill and down in all weather, and often walked a ten-mile round trip to church functions), to a special education staff member (whose husband owned a car, and who actually got to participate in the various classroom and staff food-centered parties throughout the year), to a full-time college student (who had no time to eat, and whose daily exercise consisted of walking to various buildings on campus and bashing her head against her desk when the studying got especially tedious). But much of the gain had to do with the fact that I could not settle into a permanent eating pattern. The nutritional information to which I had access was contradictory and confusing. None of the dietary options I tried were sustainable over time. I had a terrible time fitting exercise into my daily schedule when it was no longer a part of my personal transportation system.

Then in the summer of 2005, I enrolled in my university's summer session to complete some general grad courses that I couldn't quite fit into my regular school year schedule. Two of those courses were health-and-fitness related: cycling, and principles of wellness. The cycling course was a God-send because it was fun and encouraging, and because we purchased a new bicycle for me and that bike became my local transport of choice for the next two years. The wellness class was one I thought would be a waste of time. What could it possibly tell me that I 1) didn't already know, 2) hadn't already tried, and/or 3) already failed to implement?

Let it never be said that I am never wrong.

I learned more about the science of exercise and nutrition in eight weeks than I ever learned in my entire K-12 education, or even during the previous three years when I'd been focusing on these subjects. My text book for that course remains a regularly-consulted reference to this day. The pictorial exercise guide it contains has been very helpful. When I was taking the class, the text's section on vegetarianism particularly caught my attention.

A question lodged in the back of my mind: What would it be like to correct my over-consumption of fats and carbs, and under-consumption of fruits and vegetables with a vegetarian emphasis on produce over processed foods? I did not, at that point, intend to dive into veggiehood. Ever. But the "what if" was intriguing.

The "what if?" possibility exploded into a "holy cow!" imperative later that fall. I picked up a book at the bookstore that promised to reveal "the dark side of the all-American meal." Yup. Reading Fast Food Nation changed my life. It launched me instantly into a low-fast-food diet. It had me questioning all packaged food in the stores. It had me questioning meat. It introduced me to the outrageous nature of industrial agriculture and the secrets of the American food industry.

Another book that I read during Christmas break that year brought diet into my realm of collegiate specialty: theology and spirituality. Gaia and God offered me a spiritual rationale for living simply and eating vegetation. It also introduced me to the idea that organic agriculture is a really good idea.

Spring 2006. I went veggie. The full story can be found here, with a follow up post here.

What followed that decision was a wild rumpus of a food and lifestyle adventure. The experiments continued with a new focus: semi-vegetarianism, ovolactovegetarianism, just the lacto version, the ovo-only version, vegan, organic vegan, organic raw vegan, organic raw vegan chef. I have discovered a lot along the way, and am learning more every day. After all this time, I think the secret of a sustainable healthy diet is simple: align yourself with the most wholesome emphasis you can and keep learning new things about your chosen path.

The point of all this dietary self-reflection is that I want to put it all together in 2010. I want my annual resolutions to improve my health, lose excess weight, and live within my means, to become a feasible way of life. I want to re-purpose this blog to record this part of my journey. So for the next year, I intend to share whatever I'm doing that concerns holistic health, fitness, nutrition, and tasty food. I'm hoping the writing will keep me honest and that the record will reinforce my learning.