A nutritional epiphany, with a side of veggies

Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about my food and eating habits and debating where some change can be made. Sometimes it’s due to sticker shock at the grocer; mostly I blame my birthday.

I shouldn’t really. I get a year older just like everyone else does and don’t wring my hands in despair over it. I am blessed with reasonably good health and a widely varying diet. Somewhere back about 10-12 years was my last gasping ‘Ahhh HA!’ moment about my eating and nutrition habits and it set in motion a huge change that I enjoy to this day, but I am thinking that my body is telling me it’s time to follow another big loop in the road. Literally. My body has been quietly telling me a lot of things lately and punishing me a little bit (or sometimes a lot) when I don’t listen.

Like I know that I can manage a slice or two of sausage pizza, and my body generally agrees; then I ignore it and eat more than that and spend the next day dealing with the consequences. I am rarely rushed when I eat but if I somehow forget that, and in my haste tear through a meal like I need to be somewhere right now, well then I probably deserve the gastronomic reminders and sense of malaise that, quite often and with frighteningly rote predictability, will always occur. My body often simply craves vegetables. I listen, eat a pile of them and am suddenly overcome with great peace and tranquility, as only one can when filled with tasty food. It’s nothing major, but it’s profoundly simple. If I listen, I am more comfortable. It I don’t, the ol’ bod wages war with me in a not-so-subtle effort to get me to pay attention.

So I am paying more attention and I like what I am finding.

Then there’s the sticker shock in the market, and unless you’ve been living under a rock, or in an ashram with carefully tended grass-fed pigs and chicken that provide fertilizer for your organic garden, well, you probably have also been a little surprised- like someone walked up and jabbed you in the back with a pin surprised- each time the friendly clerk at the market cheerfully (or not) repeats your total to you. My head swivels in a near-Exorcist like matter (without the spewing) as I glance at the belt, then back at the clerk; ‘What the heck did I just buy?’ while she stands there patiently, or not, waiting for me to do something. It’s in those moments that, when I look over my purchases, I inevitably see something in abundance that I am seriously struggling with right now; meat.

On those other days, when the clerk repeats a total to me that shocks me in a kinder, un-pin like way this time, and I swivel once again to look at my bounty, I see bulk bags of legumes and lots of pretty colored vegetables. One day last Fall I clearly recall going into the grocer and filling my basket with near a dozen bags of produce of all various kinds and shapes. I plunked it all down on the belt and a few minutes later the clerk told me an astronomically low number, whereas I immediately, upon returning home, told Mike and Griffin that we were becoming vegetarians.

Griffin turned white. Mike clapped his hands and cheered. But it’s entirely possible that I am inching ever so slightly closer to letting go of meat even more than I have.

Let’s face it; we eat meat because Griffin likes meat, and the boy is growing like a crazy weed and his body is craving protein galore to help nourish his bones, ligaments, muscles and everything else that is wildly spinning out of control to God’s perfect plan. I am OK with it, but while I sit on this fence of OK-ness about my only child’s nourishment needs, I am leaning ever-so-slightly away from the meat-end of it and really liking the view from there. What meals do we consume when he is gone? Vegetarian. What do we want to eat when his needs aren’t a factor? Fish, veggies and legumes. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh! It’sa makin’ me all crazy!

And I’m not even going to get into all the ethical reasons that most people stand behind when giving up meat. It’s not about that, not with the availability of humane meat products that are flooding the specialty markets these days. For someone who is really willing to do some homework and seek out more humane and decently raised animal products, they are there for the taking, albeit with a higher price tag. But they are there. No one is being forced at gunpoint to buy a shifty and suspiciously sourced meat item if they don’t want it; if it really is your issue then educate yourself, read a lot of the press that is out there and do some footwork. I do enjoy meat and likely couldn’t give it up entirely; I mean, no bacon? That is NOT happening, and our meat choices tend towards leaner products; chicken, turkey and pork; the rare time we eat red meat is a summer steak grilling, or as part of our burgers. I think I could do better with making more meatless meals, simplifying our diet and still get the highly nutritious aspect we have enjoyed for several years now.

So I am contemplating change, yet again- I don’t want to reach any sense of complacency where our diet is concerned. My body, which I know so well due to all these years we have spent together (happy birthday to me!) , is really the reason behind the change. It’s telling me something and telling me often, urging me to listen. I owe it to myself to pay attention.