Medicine is not healthcare -- Food is healthcare.
Medicine is sickcare.
Let's all get this straight, for a change.
Usually, I by pass messages that are sent with a "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude since there is plenty of gray areas and room for different opinions. I am going to focus on "Food is healthcare." I do not think of food in this way. I am of the belief that if you are what you eat then I am fast, cheap, and easy with emphasis on the easy. I spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and still eat to survive. Food brings comfort and some nutrition if I think about it but mostly a required because you can't live without it. I spent some time in the hospital with a stomach problem so was fed intravenously with no eating. I was amazed at how much time I spend just eating not even counting prep time and cleanup. Downside, I was stuck in the hospital and not able to do some of the things I would enjoy doing. However, when I was allowed to eat the clear chicken broth tasted like a little bit of heaven. Eating is a required life activity that I really enjoy.
I enlisted MyCounselor as part of my support team in tackling my summer project. My doctor has nagged me for years to be kind to my heart and loose some weight. I did for awhile and reverted back to the higher weight as soon as stress kicked me in the chins - hard. I went right back to eating for comfort. One thing I know for sure peace and bliss is not at the bottom of a popcorn bowl but it taste yummy and I enjoy the voyage to the bottom. MyCounselor gave me two assignments for homework to get me started.
1. Count calories...a calorie is a calorie is a calorie...count them. Find out how many of those little critters are going into my mouth in the first place. I am not fond of this activity. I watched my mother count calories for years on all the different diets she used. I knew that counting them doesn't change me. However, I want MyCounselor's help so I will play by his rules. He recommended an App for my phone. Well, bust my buttons, I actually like this little annoying App. It is giving me all sorts of information that I did not know. Some of my "healthy" choices are really fairly high on the calorie count plus some that I knew were high were much higher than I thought. (One plate of Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo busts my calorie count in one serving.) For anyone that would like to play along on your phone or computer go to http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Do not feel obligated to do so. Do not think I am saying this because if I am doing it, I think you should do it. Not true. Some people would find this App extremely annoying. I find it annoying but in a weird kind of fun way. So, I am tracking calories. It is also tracking my exercises. Big shock to me to find out that my stretching exercises do NOT count as an exercise for burning calories, aerobic or strength building but not stretching. So there goes half my time exercising out the window. Well, I dusted off the elliptical and I am cautiously making friends with it. (Temperatures here are already in the high 90's F. Heat is not a safe place to exercise so the elliptical is a good choice for me.) So in the first week I am discovering some interesting things. For one, I eat more during 'snack' times then I do at a meal. Eating at Olive Garden, I need to make healthier choices and Alfredo sauce isn't one of those choices. They do have a whole wheat pasta that is very yummy. Pineapple packed in its own juices still spikes on the calorie and the sugar count. I was amazed that sugar count was higher than the piece of chocolate I ate. Surprise, surprise. I will probably write again on some of the things that I am learning from this program.
I said there were 2 assignments. MyCounselor believes in facing issues head on. I like that. Homework number 2 write about my beliefs about food. UGH. In the first few days thinking about this part of the assignment, I thought about the weird past I had with the punishments and rewards all surrounding food....but the assignment is not about my past it is about now. How do I feel about food right now? Stating the obvious, I can't live without it. Full stop. I have to eat. When my kids were little, I researched quite a bit because I knew all along that I had a weird relationship with food. How weird, I am not ready to share with anyone but MyCounselor. I worked at finding different answers. One of the books I read was Richard Simmons book that he wrote over 30 years ago. Of all the books I read I liked his best. He was no nonsense, no magic pill, no mumbo jumbo, diet advice. My children were raised by many of his teachings without ever knowing it. (Found it, Richard Simmons Never Say Diet 1982.) Started with the very easy serve meals from the counter, do not bring the food to the table. If someone is hungry enough to get up to get it then they are still hungry. I also went with his idea to use a smaller plate, eat slower, give your brain time to realize you ate. Yup, I liked a lot of his ideas. I also dance to the oldies with him on VHS. I was far more conscientious about what I served my kids than what I ate myself. For myself, I really suck at feeding myself in the healthy way I already know. This is not a case of ignorance. My mother shoved every dieting bit of information down my throat for as long as I can remember. I watched the poor egg go from good for you to bad for you more times then a "match at Wimbledon's." (Quoting my sister, Judy. Great analogy, thanks.) I heard about every fad diet to ever grace the tabloids. But what do I believe now? Clear out the past, ignore all the crap, what do I believe about food? This is by far the harder of the two assignments. I am working on it. I may post it, I might not. My relationship with food is very personal and very complex and sometimes I feel embarrassed by my obsession with food. I watch cooking shows. I own a cabinet full of cook books. My cupboard above my stove is filled with cook books and recipes. I have lids and boxes with recipes, clipped and tucked into notebooks. I get emails with recipes and have a hard time deleting them. I am crazy about food. I turn to food when I am sad; I turn to food when I am happy. Oh boy is this going to be one tough assignment.
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