new definition of healthy

[redfoxglove]

Wow, I was totally surprised this w/e when I went to a class I'm part of. Most of those involved in the class are better than average health conscious massage therapists. When I've gone there before I usually feel a little challenged that my contribution to the pot luck is not quite politically correct for my mostly-vegetarian friends.

When I arrived I saw with new eyes how much of their eating is grain based. Lots of starch vegetables but in soups and casseroles, with who knows what kinds of ingredients added? Several salad dressings with sugar or corn syrup. There were 2 kinds of "good bread", a couple of rice based dishes, dried fruits and seeds, shrimp in a light cocktail sauce that did not taste like sugar, but who knows, usually if it is tomato based it has sugar...all good healthy things IF a person is not metabolically challenged by sugar. There was a wonderful eggplant,chickpea,tomato sauce stew type thing served with Ethiopian bread from a grain called teff. I had about 2T of that with a piece of the bread about the size of my 3 fingers, just to try it. There again, the tomato sauce most likely had sugar. There were some cooked garden greens. The only choice besides my deviled eggs that was legal was, I thought, the fresh garden salad. But it was already dressed with oil and balsamic vinagrette! Even the cooked garden greens were dressed with rice wine vinegar, and I didn't know until I had already eaten a good handful portion.

I brought Atkins style deviled eggs, and guess what was the first thing to be eaten? Yup, it was the eggs and the shrimp.

All this to say, I had a big insight into what I need to do next time I go to this monthly class: I need to bring a couple of Atkins style dishes. I did say I was on an induction into a new way of eating and was avoiding grain and sugar. Later in the day I told one of the friends who lost over 80 pounds with Weight Watchers that I was doing the Atkins diet. But I just didn't have the desire to announce to the group that I was doing a diet that allows liberal meat eating!

So this pot luck deviated me from the pure Induction plan, but it was not really a problem. I ate deviled eggs, fresh garden salad, greens, shrimp, and a small taste of the eggplant and Ethiopian bread. When I got home and the next day I just went right on with my plan. It's something I learned in Curves, if you go off plan just get right back on. There's no way I'm going to stop socializing, which usually involves food, and there's no way I'm going to grill each pot luck guest about ingredients, and I'm not going to sit there just eating what I brought that is legal. At this point in my development as a lifetime healthy eater I know what to do: the best I can under the circumstances, and then go right back to my own way of doing it.

I guess I mostly just wanted to share about what a "new eyes" experience it was to be with people whose eating style I have admired, and to now know that it's just not healthy FOR ME.

I'm eager to see what cool things happen during my second week of Induction this week!

[Outback Jess]

interesting read. I always find things interesting, when you go in "looking but not judging" observing what is out there and what other people do. Recently I met a gal for coffee, and that place where you add cream and sugar was in my direct line of sight. You would NOT BELIEVE the amount of pure white sugar people pour into their coffee's. My friend said time after time my eyes would grow huge watching people pour sugar! Not a word came out of my lips, but I wanted to scream, "NOOOOOOO don't do that!"

[redfoxglove]

Yes, Jesse, I know what you mean about the sugar. I have a good friend, lanky 6'4" guy, in his sugar tin in front of the coffee maker he has a 1/4 cup measuring cup, which he fills for each of his several large mugs of coffee each morning. It's never been a problem but now he's 50 he's starting to have a belly for the first time in his life. Gee, wonder why?

I'm trying to plant some seeds there.

It was such a shock to see my vegetarian friends' pot luck in a new way. After that I've been really studying the DANDR recipes and the ones in a book I have called Atkins for Life, and there are some references to healthy bread in there. One I'm interested in is zucchini nut bread....

Glad you enjoyed my story.

[eclectikat]

I enjoyed your story too... and Outback Jess's comments (as usual).

Oprah calls them her "aha" moments. I went shopping this afternoon with my sister and I had paid and bagged all my atkins friendly foods and then helped her bag hers up.. Almost every thing she bought was packaged...boxed... and all of it was carb based. She has 4 kids and buys what they expect... but it was eye opening in terms of how well I am staying on task...
I like your addage about just getting right back into the swing of things... It is the best attitue you can have.

Thanks for the great read....
Kath

[redfoxglove]

You're welcome! This board is about the best thing ever, I wrote to my sister about it, she's a year younger than me and having to battle to keep her weight at 170 (which for her is 23% body fat, the optimum for women supposedly)...I hope she will check it out...