Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Eating for LOVE and LIFE
I went vegetarian in l996 after a stomach bout that nearly put took me to ER. It had been happening for years and I even had surgery which I hoped had fixed the situation and for many years I thought it had. But in l996 I had a bout that just about threw me under the truck. I didn’t look at the stress I was under just at the fact that I had eaten meat and gotten sick…
I had eaten meat AGAIN and gotten sick. I’m no mathematician but it had added up… meat made me sick so I stopped eating it. Over the few months that followed I slowly added fish and dairy back in and became a vegetarian.
My brother who I admire a lot was vegetarian and so I figured, I’d follow in his footsteps. If he’s doing it, it must be a healthy way to go. I lost weight (180 back to 170) for a while and then just started figuring that the weight gain over the next few years (170-190) was due to my getting older. I accepted it and didn’t worry about it.
In 2008 I found myself 220 pounds and just figured that was the way of life for me. I walked regularly and felt I was active … enuff. But guess what, fish was making me SICK… dairy products were making me sick. Now I’m saying fish and dairy to include the few products that indeed make my GERD worse… along with some fruits, veggies and RAW things, popcorn and potato chips. SO out the window everything went and I went VEGAN. I quickly lost 15 pounds and felt I was on to something… well I found myself ON the FLOOR and realize I was not getting the nutrition I needed eating a potato and a salad each day… it wasn’t enuff.
So I decided to do some reading and figure out how to be a vegan… well, carb lover that I am, I didn’t give up anything that involved a HIGH carb food item or anything SWEET I could get my hands on so by Summer 2009 I was up to 240 pounds the most I’d weight in my entire life. Still walking 3 to 5 miles two or three times a week and even going to the gym now and then it wasn’t enough to BUDGE that weight gain past 20 pounds. I was still at a threat for diabetes which was surely waiting to kill me.
Finally a friend said, try ATKINS. My answer… ATKINS kills… she said, well cutting carbs works… but I thought… yeah in a fad diet everything ‘works’ for a minute… but after thinking it over, I knew I had to do something. Again, I was walking, dancing, trying to be active and NOTHING was budging the weight. I still had stomach pain and GERD really bad… so I took the ATKINS plan, crossed it with Richard Simmons Deal a Meal, threw in a little Weight Watchers Point counting and of course my favorite plan CLINC D which proportions food in a way where it burns on itself… and I got more active… VOLA September first I started and within 6 months I had dropped 50 pounds and counting.
In May 2010 I weighed 172 pounds I felt like a dream had come true! I was in love and happy and well … that just meant, I was EATING again… mindlessly and without regard. Sure I was ‘watching my carbs’ but I was watching myself eating them again. WHY… because I was cooking for a meat eater and my food just didn’t smell as good or taste as good as what I was cooking LOOKED and frankly I was losing my happiness with what tasted like ‘DIET’ food.
Now vegan food is NOT diet food it’s a life style but if you are not a progressive Vegan you’ll find that not much what you find in stores--prefabricated--is meant for everyday consumption as much of it is a GMO… or otherwise in layman’s terms… NOT REAL FOOD. Much of it is designed for periodic consumption… true VEGANS eat basically RAW… well I knew that was OUT for me so I daily consumed a fair share of high protein GMO… which unfortunately doesn’t do in the body what you’d want it to do .. all the time.
Now it’s 2011 and I find myself… HUNGRY. I feel malnourished and weighing 185 pounds. I dance between 182 and 188… UGH… it’s scary because 200 pounds is right there.. ready to jump back on my body bringing a HOST of health issues with it… and why… why would I just wait for that to happen?
So I had to stop, drop and think… why and who where and when, did the rules on my life and my eating get made… and why do I insist on trying to FIT my life into ready-made molds… well that’s another discussion I’m sure… designed for someone with a degree and a ‘couch’ and an expensive HOUR of time set aside just for me… hahaha but just as I had to combine many ‘diet’ plans to lose weight, I need to put together many EATING plans to keep it off…
So I decided to look over YEARS of eating and exercise to see what WORKED for me. YES and I found that on all levels there is something about EACH type of eating that works for me. Seeing as how I have a delicate constitution I needed to personalize my eating and not ‘worry’ if it looks a little OFF to those who ‘in my world or mind or whatever’ seem to care.
It was s imple solution… Michelle… eat what doesn’t make you sick!
WOW... what an epiphany… so simple it was like… shocking… wow.
Now that you know that makes you FAT… cut that out and eat what doesn’t… wow.
I thought I would feel guiltier biting into that tuna sandwich after three years of it being on my TABOO list, but I felt great. So great, my daughter thought I was high… my eyes glazed over my face just glowed. That was over 4 hours ago and still no belly ache. Nothing. But then again, Tuna has NEVER made me sick. I stopped eating it because it wasn’t VEGAN.
Now I did eat it with some vegan ingredients but nonetheless it worked for me… a zero carb tuna treat and wow… that’s all I can say. I had forgotten how good it could be. Now with all I’ve learned about nutrition and my body and my body on carbs… I can say that I think I’m onto something wonderful. I’ll keep you posted.
I officially start my NON-Vegan—NON-Vegetarian—NON-titled eating Feb first… I’m nervous, I’m feeling guilty a little bit, and in a way I feel kinda like I failed at something major… yet at the same time, excited to have succeeded at something even bigger… freeing myself to make my own rules and my own way in my own life regarding my own health and well being…
I keep waiting for that person that goes… so you’re not a vegan anymore… wow… that’s too bad. And when that happens I hope it doesn't make me cry. I hope it doesn’t make me feel like a failure or worse… make me do something psychotic or cause food to start suddenly and inexplicably making me sick… crazy huh… but it could happen.
I remember when my uncle who was a totally orthodox vegan went back to eating meat. He had married late in life to a much younger woman and for whatever reasons became a meat eater again and on until the day he died… many many years later of a UN MEAT related cause… but I remember thinking… Ugh she’s gonna kill him! I was wrong and well… I was wrong.
Not just because I’ve chosen to change back… but just because and the term BACK is even reflective of shame. I’ve decided to Adjust and adapt… and develop a eating life style that fits ME… and is HEALTHY for me… select proteins from all TYPES of eating groups. More Beans and oooh yeah Quinoa (the perfect food prepared with something really tasty like ‘real’ fish) and Edamame (with something like… hey… real cheese—like BRE … oh yum) … okay, so the recipes are like OVER flowing my brain… gotta go to bed and dream of grilled lean pork strips …. Yeah I said PORK…
Pork never made me sick and it’s NOT from the devil.
Today was a good day and I’m ready for tomorrow... and the RESTART of my healthy weight loss efforts.
Love ya,
Michelle McGriff
The NON-Vegan Writer...
I had eaten meat AGAIN and gotten sick. I’m no mathematician but it had added up… meat made me sick so I stopped eating it. Over the few months that followed I slowly added fish and dairy back in and became a vegetarian.
My brother who I admire a lot was vegetarian and so I figured, I’d follow in his footsteps. If he’s doing it, it must be a healthy way to go. I lost weight (180 back to 170) for a while and then just started figuring that the weight gain over the next few years (170-190) was due to my getting older. I accepted it and didn’t worry about it.
In 2008 I found myself 220 pounds and just figured that was the way of life for me. I walked regularly and felt I was active … enuff. But guess what, fish was making me SICK… dairy products were making me sick. Now I’m saying fish and dairy to include the few products that indeed make my GERD worse… along with some fruits, veggies and RAW things, popcorn and potato chips. SO out the window everything went and I went VEGAN. I quickly lost 15 pounds and felt I was on to something… well I found myself ON the FLOOR and realize I was not getting the nutrition I needed eating a potato and a salad each day… it wasn’t enuff.
So I decided to do some reading and figure out how to be a vegan… well, carb lover that I am, I didn’t give up anything that involved a HIGH carb food item or anything SWEET I could get my hands on so by Summer 2009 I was up to 240 pounds the most I’d weight in my entire life. Still walking 3 to 5 miles two or three times a week and even going to the gym now and then it wasn’t enough to BUDGE that weight gain past 20 pounds. I was still at a threat for diabetes which was surely waiting to kill me.
Finally a friend said, try ATKINS. My answer… ATKINS kills… she said, well cutting carbs works… but I thought… yeah in a fad diet everything ‘works’ for a minute… but after thinking it over, I knew I had to do something. Again, I was walking, dancing, trying to be active and NOTHING was budging the weight. I still had stomach pain and GERD really bad… so I took the ATKINS plan, crossed it with Richard Simmons Deal a Meal, threw in a little Weight Watchers Point counting and of course my favorite plan CLINC D which proportions food in a way where it burns on itself… and I got more active… VOLA September first I started and within 6 months I had dropped 50 pounds and counting.
In May 2010 I weighed 172 pounds I felt like a dream had come true! I was in love and happy and well … that just meant, I was EATING again… mindlessly and without regard. Sure I was ‘watching my carbs’ but I was watching myself eating them again. WHY… because I was cooking for a meat eater and my food just didn’t smell as good or taste as good as what I was cooking LOOKED and frankly I was losing my happiness with what tasted like ‘DIET’ food.
Now vegan food is NOT diet food it’s a life style but if you are not a progressive Vegan you’ll find that not much what you find in stores--prefabricated--is meant for everyday consumption as much of it is a GMO… or otherwise in layman’s terms… NOT REAL FOOD. Much of it is designed for periodic consumption… true VEGANS eat basically RAW… well I knew that was OUT for me so I daily consumed a fair share of high protein GMO… which unfortunately doesn’t do in the body what you’d want it to do .. all the time.
Now it’s 2011 and I find myself… HUNGRY. I feel malnourished and weighing 185 pounds. I dance between 182 and 188… UGH… it’s scary because 200 pounds is right there.. ready to jump back on my body bringing a HOST of health issues with it… and why… why would I just wait for that to happen?
So I had to stop, drop and think… why and who where and when, did the rules on my life and my eating get made… and why do I insist on trying to FIT my life into ready-made molds… well that’s another discussion I’m sure… designed for someone with a degree and a ‘couch’ and an expensive HOUR of time set aside just for me… hahaha but just as I had to combine many ‘diet’ plans to lose weight, I need to put together many EATING plans to keep it off…
So I decided to look over YEARS of eating and exercise to see what WORKED for me. YES and I found that on all levels there is something about EACH type of eating that works for me. Seeing as how I have a delicate constitution I needed to personalize my eating and not ‘worry’ if it looks a little OFF to those who ‘in my world or mind or whatever’ seem to care.
It was s imple solution… Michelle… eat what doesn’t make you sick!
WOW... what an epiphany… so simple it was like… shocking… wow.
Now that you know that makes you FAT… cut that out and eat what doesn’t… wow.
I thought I would feel guiltier biting into that tuna sandwich after three years of it being on my TABOO list, but I felt great. So great, my daughter thought I was high… my eyes glazed over my face just glowed. That was over 4 hours ago and still no belly ache. Nothing. But then again, Tuna has NEVER made me sick. I stopped eating it because it wasn’t VEGAN.
Now I did eat it with some vegan ingredients but nonetheless it worked for me… a zero carb tuna treat and wow… that’s all I can say. I had forgotten how good it could be. Now with all I’ve learned about nutrition and my body and my body on carbs… I can say that I think I’m onto something wonderful. I’ll keep you posted.
I officially start my NON-Vegan—NON-Vegetarian—NON-titled eating Feb first… I’m nervous, I’m feeling guilty a little bit, and in a way I feel kinda like I failed at something major… yet at the same time, excited to have succeeded at something even bigger… freeing myself to make my own rules and my own way in my own life regarding my own health and well being…
I keep waiting for that person that goes… so you’re not a vegan anymore… wow… that’s too bad. And when that happens I hope it doesn't make me cry. I hope it doesn’t make me feel like a failure or worse… make me do something psychotic or cause food to start suddenly and inexplicably making me sick… crazy huh… but it could happen.
I remember when my uncle who was a totally orthodox vegan went back to eating meat. He had married late in life to a much younger woman and for whatever reasons became a meat eater again and on until the day he died… many many years later of a UN MEAT related cause… but I remember thinking… Ugh she’s gonna kill him! I was wrong and well… I was wrong.
Not just because I’ve chosen to change back… but just because and the term BACK is even reflective of shame. I’ve decided to Adjust and adapt… and develop a eating life style that fits ME… and is HEALTHY for me… select proteins from all TYPES of eating groups. More Beans and oooh yeah Quinoa (the perfect food prepared with something really tasty like ‘real’ fish) and Edamame (with something like… hey… real cheese—like BRE … oh yum) … okay, so the recipes are like OVER flowing my brain… gotta go to bed and dream of grilled lean pork strips …. Yeah I said PORK…
Pork never made me sick and it’s NOT from the devil.
Today was a good day and I’m ready for tomorrow... and the RESTART of my healthy weight loss efforts.
Love ya,
Michelle McGriff
The NON-Vegan Writer...
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