I've been thinking a lot about food lately. And not just about the cravings for the foods that I'm not eating - although I did have a very realistic dream that I ate seven out of eight cupcakes that were given to me by a doctor (I'm not sure what happened to that eighth cupcake, but I'd sure like to know). No, I've been thinking about what and how I've eaten over the years, how I learned to eat, and how (if at all) this experience will change my eating patterns once Whole 30 is complete. As I approach the end, I feel like I'm at a dietary crossroads - although it's been an interesting journey getting here.
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| ployes - aka Acadian pancakes |
Growing up in Northern Maine, there was no such thing as healthy eating. There was just eating - whatever was on your plate. Acadian cuisine of the St. John Valley was in its own way a restrictive diet - thick hearty chicken stews served with ployes (buckwheat pancakes), pâté chinois (Acadian shepherd's pie), tourtière (meat pie) or cretons (a disgusting pork spread) were all cultural mainstays often found at our dinner tables or offered at Acadian heritage events. And since my childhood home was literally surrounded by potato fields, you can probably guess with what most of my meals were also supplemented. Pinterest once again comes to the rescue, with great photos of both Acadian and French Canadian-inspired dishes that I used to eat. Please note that almost nothing pictured through this link includes vegetables. The shepherd's pie may actually be made of real shepherds who froze to death during the unforgiving Northern Maine winters - and then cooked. Due to the thrifty, practical and no-nonsense nature of the Acadians, you should never rule this out. But seriously, no veggies - just meats and a crap-load of processed grains. And yes - I also ate mainstream 'Merican stuff like pizza, hamburgers and tacos as well - I promise you that I did not live in a weird Acadian cuisine biosphere. Although I don't think I'd mind being trapped in a giant bubble from which the smell of chicken stew cannot escape.
Portion control was also not a 'thing' - I don't think I even understood what a portion or a serving size was until my 20s. We kinda ate until we were stuffed, as opposed to full. It certainly didn't help that my mom was a great cook, and it was always a race to second helpings. Overeating was always encouraged, as there was always a concern that I somehow wasn't eating enough. I'm not sure why anyone would ever think that, as evidenced by my childhood chubbiness. I ate really, really well growing up. Junk food was never really seen as a bad thing either; we almost had some sort of unhealthy dessert. Delicious, but unhealthy.
This didn't end when I graduated high school and left the homestead. College was more of a enabler than a remedy to these habits, as unrestricted meal plans, unrestricted cafeteria servings and unrestricted opportunities to stuff my pie hole continued to encourage poor food choices. We also had 'dining dollars', which could be used at the USM Student Center grill. No vegetables were available for purchase, unless they were the onions and green peppers that smothered the loaded steak bomb, or the lettuce and tomatoes on a 'chickenwich' sandwich or on a double cheeseburger. And the late night Denny's runs didn't help either. I will be forever grateful that our cafeteria never invested in a soft serve machine, despite our lobbying efforts - I would have worn a path in the carpet making trips back and forth between my table and the machine.
And then around 2003 I became a vegetarian - or a cheese-, pasta-, and beer-atarian, before I realized the health costs of maintaining such a lopsided diet were either scurvy, death, or worse. Apparently I was concerned more with the welfare of animals that had inspired my diet change than my own health. Sluggishness and weight gain started creeping in, which nudged me to research different vegetarian food sources. Lentils, squashes, and different types of ethnic cuisines were introduced. I began to scrutinize what I was (and wasn't) eating, and started screening ingredient labels. I became better at buying, preparing and cooking with fruits, veggies, grains and dairy. I was also running and exercising more, and this encouraged me to prioritize food as energy sources that would 'burn clean' in my body over junk food and food choices I would regret later.
I reintroduced meat back into my diet a few years ago, but my approach to food has still been to take what I learned during the vegetarian years and use it to continue eating healthy. Sure, I probably drink too much, eat too many office cupcakes, occasionally consume an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in one sitting, and/or have a tendency to eat a couple parking lot burritos after a Phish concert - but my food 'resting place' is always healthy. Usually. Luckily my shopping and eating ruts end up being on the healthy side, and so I almost never purchase chips, candy, or any other snacks during my weekly grocery shopping. It's only really the bars, restaurants and other social opportunities with tasty beers and food that lure me out of the health cave and back to horrendous eating.
Portion control was also not a 'thing' - I don't think I even understood what a portion or a serving size was until my 20s. We kinda ate until we were stuffed, as opposed to full. It certainly didn't help that my mom was a great cook, and it was always a race to second helpings. Overeating was always encouraged, as there was always a concern that I somehow wasn't eating enough. I'm not sure why anyone would ever think that, as evidenced by my childhood chubbiness. I ate really, really well growing up. Junk food was never really seen as a bad thing either; we almost had some sort of unhealthy dessert. Delicious, but unhealthy.
This didn't end when I graduated high school and left the homestead. College was more of a enabler than a remedy to these habits, as unrestricted meal plans, unrestricted cafeteria servings and unrestricted opportunities to stuff my pie hole continued to encourage poor food choices. We also had 'dining dollars', which could be used at the USM Student Center grill. No vegetables were available for purchase, unless they were the onions and green peppers that smothered the loaded steak bomb, or the lettuce and tomatoes on a 'chickenwich' sandwich or on a double cheeseburger. And the late night Denny's runs didn't help either. I will be forever grateful that our cafeteria never invested in a soft serve machine, despite our lobbying efforts - I would have worn a path in the carpet making trips back and forth between my table and the machine.
And then around 2003 I became a vegetarian - or a cheese-, pasta-, and beer-atarian, before I realized the health costs of maintaining such a lopsided diet were either scurvy, death, or worse. Apparently I was concerned more with the welfare of animals that had inspired my diet change than my own health. Sluggishness and weight gain started creeping in, which nudged me to research different vegetarian food sources. Lentils, squashes, and different types of ethnic cuisines were introduced. I began to scrutinize what I was (and wasn't) eating, and started screening ingredient labels. I became better at buying, preparing and cooking with fruits, veggies, grains and dairy. I was also running and exercising more, and this encouraged me to prioritize food as energy sources that would 'burn clean' in my body over junk food and food choices I would regret later.
I reintroduced meat back into my diet a few years ago, but my approach to food has still been to take what I learned during the vegetarian years and use it to continue eating healthy. Sure, I probably drink too much, eat too many office cupcakes, occasionally consume an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in one sitting, and/or have a tendency to eat a couple parking lot burritos after a Phish concert - but my food 'resting place' is always healthy. Usually. Luckily my shopping and eating ruts end up being on the healthy side, and so I almost never purchase chips, candy, or any other snacks during my weekly grocery shopping. It's only really the bars, restaurants and other social opportunities with tasty beers and food that lure me out of the health cave and back to horrendous eating.
Fast forward to this month of Whole 30. This has been a pretty drastic month, and not just because of the new ingredients I've introduced to my diet, or the new recipes I've needed to learn to keep my meals fresh. Whole 30 has turned all of my eating habits upside down:
- cooking my breakfasts or lunches at night so that I am prepared for the following work day
- planning almost all of my meals
- making this work when I'm traveling, especially around friends and family
- making sure there is no sugar or preservatives in anything I eat
- trips to 3 stores a week to get all my supplies
- no grains, dairy, legumes
- no grabbing a random dinner or lunch taco if I DON'T feel like cooking
- no trips to the corner pub for a pint, or pouring a scotch
- no office snacks. No snacks whatsoever
All of this really adds up over the course of a month, and the effects are magnified when your social life gets caught up in it. While it's been a tough month, I've actually really appreciated the structure! It's forced me to not put garbage in my body, and the guidelines are so strict that it's impossible to find ways to cheat. It has definitely been a learning experience, regardless of the results (to be discussed in post #8).
What I've really been thinking about today is how society evaluates healthy diets vs more healthy diets vs unhealthy diets. We've had the food pyramid around since 1992 (the USDA version, anyway), which is based off of a Swedish version from 1974. It seems like the original food pyramid was determined based on what was already traditionally eaten by normal healthy people, with a few tweaks from nutrition science - and maybe even a little bit of the conventional wisdom of the 70s (canned meat and gelatin notwithstanding). But who's to say that this is the ideal dietary structure, and what the 'goal' of the food pyramid is? To make us live longer? To be happier? To be fit? If the goal of the food pyramid is to provide us with a standard nutrition structure that allows us to live longer, then why isn't the standard version a vegan/vegetarian pyramid? After all, research indicates that vegans and vegetarians live longer than meat eaters, and with far fewer chronic health problems. If the goal is to live happier, then I want to see a pyramid made of Kit Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, like yesterday - longevity and health concerns be damned.
As much as we know about nutrition, there seems to be a lot we don't know, or at least a lot that we don't want to either know or accept. While the food pyramid could be on the right track, it's tradition, rather than science, that keeps it propped up and in place. Even if the studies on vegetarian diets proved to be correct and accepted, I imagine that the USDA would never promote that type of pyramid because of the political backlash they'd receive from meat producers, food chains, angry meat eaters and traditionalists alike. The resistance of society to change is just too great to overcome. I don't know if Whole-30 or Paleo is the ideal diet either, but after 30 days of it, I can certainly make a strong case (to be discussed in post #9) - probably better than I can for the traditional food pyramid.
I think the most effective approach to diets and/or food lifestyles is moderation (everyone says this) and culinary experimentation. Find what works for you and your lifestyle, and don't be afraid to turn your pyramid into a square, quadrilateral, circle, or whatever geometric shape gets you hot and bothered. My current shape (still being determined) is filled will Acadian foods I ate growing up, the garbage I consumed during college, the things I learned as a vegetarian, the ethnic foods I tried while traveling abroad, and endless amounts of beer and scotch - and now, whatever I choose to take to my new diet, post-Whole 30. I think as I get older, I find a better way to balance it all in a healthy fashion. I'm not sure if it's USDA-approved, but whatever I choose will be Tony Wilbur-Approved - the highest approval you can ever receive, by the way.
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