I'm the Wagon/"What Do You Eat for Breakfast?

Friday's here in case you hadn't noticed! Tonight Christ and I at Schaller's - haven't seen him for a while - been licking my wounds over the whole "I've been dating" thing and wondering what it is about me that makes me date-unworthy in his eyes. But Landmark - "Accept other people for who they are and who they're not." So, we'll play music together tonight, talk about great books, compare notes about what we're doing to live a life we love (Landmark).  We're foodies so we'll talk ingredients and recipes and I'll tell him about Wheat Belly. And we'll both share worries about our kids like parents do when they get together. Friends.

Tomorrow date with Luke.....have been waiting to be swept off my feet but he's  been circling the wagons (I'm the wagon apparently), calling occasionally but nothing more.  Yesterday I broke down and said, "I have no plans for Saturday - do you want to do something." He was delighted but why the heck do I keep having to make the first move? My theory is that he's frightened of me, attracted and repelled simultaneously. He knows me well enough by now to know that I'm seriously powerful and results oriented - that there would be no being with me part way - he would have to jump in with both feet. There would be no place to hide his feelings - a relationship with me would mean peeling away the artifice and layers of protection. These days my bull-shit meter is well tuned. I want and expect "real". Maybe he just isn't ready for that and he knows it.

The food thing has thrown me for a loop. It's seriously as if I had just moved to Portugal with all the challenges  that would entail. Learning a new language, finding lodging, setting up an infrastructure, making friends, finding a dry cleaner. Starting completely from scratch. All my life I've eaten wheat, dairy and lots of fruit. Now I'm being told no dairy or wheat and moderate the fruit. Mark was up yesterday and he shared what works for him - i.e. "What do you eat for breakfast?" I asked. (Answer: a couple of hard boiled eggs and a handful of almonds and a clementine - or something like that)

The hard part is when you compile all the current food wisdom and try to create a roadmap for your own healthy initiatives. Wheat Belly would have you eliminate wheat altogether, limit fruit and other grains so as to mitigate the blood sugar/insulin effect, but still enjoy cheese and all uncured meats. Body Ecology requires 80% of your intake to be vegetables. Many nutritionists counsel no dairy but some of my friends say goat is fine. All oils but coconut and olive seem to be out of favor and food needs to be cooked barely at low temperatures. Sugar is a huge no-no including honey and maple syrup and even agave syrup - seems Stevia and Truvia are OK. Substituting wheat flower with tapioca, potato or rice flour is a mistake, but almond flour (which is really just ground up almonds), flax flour or coconut flour is fine. Soy's out of favor - small amounts are OK but almond cheese works.  And all of this needs to be eaten with mindfulness of calorie content if weight loss is a goal. Arg!

My goal - negotiating all this wisdom into a food plan that incorporates the following:

• Simple and affordable
• Delicious
• Supports weight loss
• Doesn't require huge amounts of cooking
• Has enough variety
• Is sustainable
• Allows me to eat out with friends

Today, I put pencil to paper and made a list of things I CAN have (trying not to focus on what I can't eat). The list is lovely with plenty of variety. I'm headed to the store today to stock up on ingredients - my pantry is going to look very different than in the past!  Here is just some of what I'll be eating in the days to come.

• Tuna made with my own homemade mayonnaise - just looked at the olive oil mayo I bought at Whole Foods - primary ingredients are unhealthy oils with olive oil too far down the list. Mayo is easy to make in the blender - eggs and oil - so I'll make my own.
• Delicata Squash Curry - I'll have it with a very small amount of brown rice and no chutney, raisins or banana on top
• Apple Slaw 
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Wilted Arugula
• Asparagus Soup
• Spicy avocado lettuce rolls
• Cabbage white bean soup
• Spring rolls with ginger carrot dipping sauce (need to get wheat-free soy sauce)
• Healthy lean meats cooked at a low temperature

THIS IS AN ADVENTURE AND A WORTHY ONE!  When I've put all the pieces together and have adopted this new way of nourishing myself, I expect the rewards to be enormous: kick-starting the weight loss, pain-free joints, good brain health (no unhealthy dementia-causing plaque), proper body Ph which means my body won't be self-correcting a too acid ecology by leaching alkaline from my bones, vitality (evidenced in great hair and skin and energy), increased libido, a great old age!

Challenge for you is considering, just considering there may be much you need to learn about good body ecology. There is new wisdom, backed up by credible science, that turns much of what we think is healthy on its head. And you already probably suspect there's a better way. If you feel sluggish, joints hurt, sleep bad, digestion a problem, have health problems that require medication, experience low libido or dysfunction, have skin issues, are getting forgetful - much of this can absolutely be reversed with proper nutrition. And if Sarah has her say and applies her culinary acumen, we can absolutely love our daily fare and not feel deprived one bit. It is just going to take adjustment. It will be our new norm.

Peace,

Sarah