Once again a brilliant melange of history, gastronomy and sociology! As much as I enjoy the times I feel fit and 'healthy', any food plan that disallows fruit and the occasional (ok, nightly...) glass of god's own grape, will never be an option for this (mostly) happy old granny.
I have a couple of friends who've gone through the Whole30 thing and they've come pretty evangelical about it, which is enough to turn me off even looking at it. Another friend went all in on the keto diet and, sure, she lost a lot of weight, but she also became fairly evangelical about it. I got lured into the paleo thing for several months and even bought a few recipe books, but it was just too hard and involved too much denial -- and I'm a fairly serious foodie normally.
I've settled into a "mostly vegetarian" lifestyle, eating mostly salads and grilled or sauteed veggie dishes during the week and then having some fish and a little chicken at weekends, with a small amount of meat and cheese "as a treat". I don't find myself wanting for things -- I can still go out and enjoy a steak dinner at the weekend on the now rare occasions when I actually crave red meat! -- and just tonight we went out with friends and I had poutine with a little smoked brisket, followed by beer-battered Alaskan "cod and chips" and a couple of beers. But it is hard to get to a comfortable place on this, with all the high-pressure nonsense in all the media around us.
I'm doing this mostly because my doctor warned that my numbers were going in a direction that would mean more medication and some serious long-term health issues -- "just add a little exercise and try to eat healthier", he said several years ago, without reading me the riot act or being condescending. And I've mostly been doing pretty well these past several years... except this past year, where even I've struggled with the ongoing pandemic and insanity of the world's politics and the effects of climate change and, at times, a crushing sense of the impending doom of mankind. This last visit, my numbers had all backslid -- losing me about 18 months of positive trends in just 6 months. So I'm trying to get back to that "comfortable" place that is a bit more healthy than my recent default. It's hard.
I have lost hundreds of pounds in my life and am now much fatter than I would have been if I hadn't spent so much time dieting. I also have a condition that would be alleviated if I lost weight, and some doctors are such smug bastards about it. If you're fat, you *must* be shoveling cake and ice cream down your gullet, right?
Once again a brilliant melange of history, gastronomy and sociology! As much as I enjoy the times I feel fit and 'healthy', any food plan that disallows fruit and the occasional (ok, nightly...) glass of god's own grape, will never be an option for this (mostly) happy old granny.
I have a couple of friends who've gone through the Whole30 thing and they've come pretty evangelical about it, which is enough to turn me off even looking at it. Another friend went all in on the keto diet and, sure, she lost a lot of weight, but she also became fairly evangelical about it. I got lured into the paleo thing for several months and even bought a few recipe books, but it was just too hard and involved too much denial -- and I'm a fairly serious foodie normally.
I've settled into a "mostly vegetarian" lifestyle, eating mostly salads and grilled or sauteed veggie dishes during the week and then having some fish and a little chicken at weekends, with a small amount of meat and cheese "as a treat". I don't find myself wanting for things -- I can still go out and enjoy a steak dinner at the weekend on the now rare occasions when I actually crave red meat! -- and just tonight we went out with friends and I had poutine with a little smoked brisket, followed by beer-battered Alaskan "cod and chips" and a couple of beers. But it is hard to get to a comfortable place on this, with all the high-pressure nonsense in all the media around us.
I'm doing this mostly because my doctor warned that my numbers were going in a direction that would mean more medication and some serious long-term health issues -- "just add a little exercise and try to eat healthier", he said several years ago, without reading me the riot act or being condescending. And I've mostly been doing pretty well these past several years... except this past year, where even I've struggled with the ongoing pandemic and insanity of the world's politics and the effects of climate change and, at times, a crushing sense of the impending doom of mankind. This last visit, my numbers had all backslid -- losing me about 18 months of positive trends in just 6 months. So I'm trying to get back to that "comfortable" place that is a bit more healthy than my recent default. It's hard.
I have lost hundreds of pounds in my life and am now much fatter than I would have been if I hadn't spent so much time dieting. I also have a condition that would be alleviated if I lost weight, and some doctors are such smug bastards about it. If you're fat, you *must* be shoveling cake and ice cream down your gullet, right?
Diet culture is eugenics adjacent and you know where that leads. Do not diet. Ever. Eat. Eating is a form of self love. You deserve to love yourself.