Lunch: at the potluck, the food was quite healthy. I had my fruit salad + a delicious lettuce salad. Then there was a black bean salad and a corn & asparagus dish. I had small amounts of those--would have had more but I didn't want too much salt. They were good. I should point out the reason I'm sensitive to salt now is that since I don't add any to my food, my kidneys are used to retaining all the sodium I consume. So when I consume a large amount, my body bloats up from retaining the sodium. In contrast, most Americans excrete large amounts of sodium every day which is why their sweat is salty. The kidneys have to work pretty hard to do this. (I learned this from a Dr. Fuhrman telecon).
Dinner: cabbage salad and the leftover fruit salad. snacked on spinach, 1 carrot, and 1/3 cup frozen peas while preparing. I guess I look at that as the first course. The local spinach is so good I just love to eat it plain out of the bag.
I didn't snack today. I felt hungry in my stomach at 4 pm (according to Dr. Fuhrman, that is not real hunger, which you feel in your throat). I told myself to wait, and went out and worked on turning and rearranging the compost pile, and then realized I wasn't hungry anymore. Then I was hungry at dinner and it was good. It really is easier to not snack, just eat 3 meals a day, and focus on your life and not food.
6 comments:
Excellent, Barb! It's great to experience true hunger and get that experiencing of waiting for it.
Hey Strix,
I've got a question for you. I don't know if this is the right place, but I'm wondering, you seem to be the most 100% ETL-er I know. What do you do in social situations? Do you ever take a bite of food someone else prepares? I seem to be heading this way (not eating anyone else's food) because of the salt issue. Sometimes people prepare pretty healthy-looking things, but, it always has salt in it. I'd even accept a small amount of oil (the other thing people put in everything), but the salt physically bothers me.
-barb
Barb, no, I don't. You make a good point about how it affects you. I once dipped into some guacamole my Mom made, thinking she had made it ETL -- she had made 2 sets of foods, one ETL and one for the sickies :D. Anyway, the non-ETL guac was in the ETL section >:( I seriously couldn't swallow it! It was SO salty...just gross. It was hard to believe that at one time, I used to eat that with gusto!
I just thank whomever and "pass," on their "great looking dish!" I like to be gracious and acknowledge the effort but pass on it. I think if you respect others they respect you. I don't find it the least bit difficult to decline from others' food. It's not like I make a face and go "Eooow! You don't expect me to eat that salt-laden, sugary garbage, do you?!!" LOL. I mean, when someone is offering you food, for goodness sakes, I think it's silly to launch into a "nutrient density, phytochemical, nutritional excellence" lecture. :D
Just a thanks and a pass does just fine.
Are you finding it hard to do this? Do people continue to press you when you decline?
Thanks for the reply. I don't have much trouble declining other's food anymore--it turns out to be easier than I previously thought. Sometimes I think I want it, based on old habits, and then when I take a bite and taste the salt and oil, I regret it. Dr. Fuhrman says you can still be healthy with 90% compliance, so I figure there's no harm in indulging every once in a while. It's just that I'm finding I don't want to because I like my food so much better. Since everyone else in my life puts salt and oil and usually processed grains in their dishes, I'd just as soon not eat anything anyone else prepares. It makes me wonder if I'm becoming too extreme, too obsessed with healthy eating, that sort of thing. Tomorrow night I'm going to a dessert potluck. I requested that I bring a fruit salad and they said no, I'm a guest, but one will be provided. I think it's hard to ruin a fruit salad so hopefully that will be okay. Would you eat someone else's fruit salad? :)
-barb
Sure! If it's not dressed in marshmallows! Haha. Yea, fresh fruit is always reliable. Even some of the worst food events have at least fruit. I think I more often don't eat; but it depends on what the gathering is.
Sipping a glass of water sometimes keeps people from questioning. As long as you have something in your hands, people feel okay about you...sigh. Such a food-drink obsessed society!
Yes, every social event centers around food! I commented on that recently. Anyway, I agree with you. Tonight I will eat a small amount of the fruit salad. But in most cases I think I will not partake. And you are right, most people don't even notice or care. On my business trip last week, I brought my own food to restaurants and no one said anything. And I don't care what they are thinking. That would be too much to worry about!
-barb
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