Die to Diet

It’s no fun to feel like we have to die, in order to diet. I can’t tell myself I’m going to “diet”, or I will get that feeling of impending death… My mind goes beserk, trying to sabotage my efforts. I start craving food worse than ever. Food suddenly exerts more power over me than it ever does when I’m not dieting. Forget that!

But when I tell myself I’m going to start eating to nourish myself, I have a much better attitude. It seems that when we’re truly nourishing our bodies, our bodies start cooperating with us. We might want to be in shape, but the body might scream, “Well, what have you done for me lately?!” I don’t think it’s our body that craves the junk food. It’s probably our mind that needs something. But feeding the body what the mind wants is like pumping water into our car because our plants are thirsty. It doesn’t work well!

I’ve mentioned how I start my day with a heavy-duty, nutrient-rich breakfast. By lunch-time, my organic salad with olive oil and a touch of sea salt really hits the spot. I usually add plenty of nuts, or beans, or avo, plus herbs and what have you. It’s so good. And then, by dinner-time, the heavier whole-grain dishes, full of stir-fried veggies (and meat or beans or whatever one chooses for protein), really hits the spot again. I’ve been eating very satisfying portions, yet staying slim. I think my body is truly cooperating with me; I’ve got more energy, and my tummy’s content.

I’ve heard a lot of moms express a certain dilemma: What to do about the fact that we have to prepare food for the whole family? We can’t be making two different menus, right? I’ve also heard complaints about the expense of having to buy “Jenny Craig” special dinners, Nutrisystem, etc. Well, I’m making the family the same food, and it’s been working quite well. I don’t add the sour cream and cheese to the top of my whole wheat tortilla filled with plenty of healthy goodies, but I add it to the guys’ burritos, and they don’t think twice about chowing down. I haven’t been eating the meat part of the dinner lately, but if I’ve served a bit of meat along with everything else, no one else feels cheated. It saves on grocery bills too, to be serving less meat.

The whole family could stand to get in shape anyway, right? There are a lot of out-of-shape people in this world, and they’re not all moms. I’m not saying everyone should be waif-like; just healthy. The doctors are saying childhood obesity is practically epidemic. So should moms be concerned that their children might suffer if they serve too much healthy food? I figure it’s not going to hurt anyone if I’m serving more portions of freshly-prepared veggies, whole grains, and salads. Even kids and dads can stand to eat healthy. I don’t want my husband dying at an earlier age due to health complications that could have improved through diet! So I will continue to serve healthy foods to all of us.

I’ve also heard people say, “But everyone else craves the junk food. I have to keep some on hand.” But, mothers have the awesome privilege of providing those things that will truly nourish. When we had a chocolate habit going on, I always had chocolate on hand for us to munch as we watched a bit of TV after dinner. When I got on my health kick, I started slicing up fresh, crisp apples, or preparing dishes of fresh pineapple or what have you, and the rest of the family almost didn’t miss the chocolate! Note that I did say, “almost”. Because, at first, anything that’s become a habit will be missed. But give any new habit 30 days, and you will be transformed. Our son, who whimpered some when the chocolate supplies dwindled, has grown accustomed to his new fate. Maybe it’s because he’s feeling healthier! It’s hard to complain when your body is happy.

There’s probably a lot of people who think they can eat the average American diet, pop a few multi-vitamins, and be covered. But I question that; it didn’t work for me. God made natural foods with countless qualities, only some of which have been defined by scientists. I can’t take the currently discovered vitamins in an isolated form, without suspecting that I might be missing something. Synergy is a scientifically accepted term to define “the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate effects of the individual agents”.

In simple terms, I’m going to nourish my body with the natural, whole foods God gave us, and I will feel blessed. When we start a new habit of healthy eating, and give it a full thirty days, we can reach that point where we appreciate healthy foods. We won’t have to “die” when we diet. We can die to the efforts of going on stringent diet plans eating boxed, prepared “diet foods”, but we don’t have to “die”!

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Jennifer Cote’s cookbook, From the Land of Milk and Honey, is available online at Winepress Books. (Or at Amazon.com)

Sign up for Jen’s newsletter at the PC Cuisine Home Page.

Jen also blogs about her Christian walk at Recipe for Life.

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