Monday, February 28, 2011

more on the Douglas Lisle DVD

I was thinking more about the first talk on the Douglas Lisle DVD called "The Continuum of Evil." (see yesterday's post for a recap). So the first talk was about not trying to be perfect, but aiming for eating A+ foods most of the time and letting yourself have some A, B, and C foods here and there, and averaging an A overall. This is a lot like Dr. Fuhrman's 10% plan. Dr. Lisle emphasized that the most important thing is getting right back on track when you eat the C (sugar,oil), D (dairy), and F (meat) foods. He follows the McDougall program which is a little more relaxed about salt and sugar than Dr. Fuhrman's program. Having followed Dr. Fuhrman's program for a while, I do prefer going without salt and sugar because the salt makes my fingers swell up, and it's even worse after breaking my elbow; and your taste buds get much more sensitive without salt and sugar, and then fruit and vegetables taste really good.

But the problem is that makes me an extremist or darn close to a perfectionist. It means any food prepared by a restaurant or grocery store is off limits, unless it's just plain raw or steamed veggies special ordered. There's a good side to this: it's easy in some ways, because the boundaries are really simple--no to salt, sugar, oil, or processed food, yes to everything in the produce section and whole grains and nuts and seeds. It's easy to remember, and it really is possible to eat on the go even with these restrictions.

Dr. Lisle says we want to average an A. Well, then you have to keep track. Today the co-op had some samples of this treat that is peanut butter, sesame seeds, cashews, honey and salt. Well, I thought, I don't have to be perfect, and this has no added oils! (somehow my brain ignored the salt and honey). So I had two pieces. Is that okay? Well, it had more salt than I would like. My hand was already swollen and now it will get worse. I think it's easier for me to have boundaries, like no salt. Then I just say no to the samples.

I do understand how these boundaries can lead to the perfection problem. When you go off-plan, you can end up in a binge and a promise to come back to perfection some day. I guess you have to remind yourself it's always a choice: "Yes, I can eat those samples. But I don't want them right now because I prefer not to eat salt and sugar. I think I'll try to make something like this at home without the salt and with dates instead of honey." And when you go offplan, you just dust yourself off and jump right back on. because you want to.

Darn it all, I don't understand this any better than when I started. I think I'll just get back to living my life.

5 comments:

Carol1one said...

Interesting dilemma. I've got the same one. :)

I love reading you think.

Ginger said...

Oh, yes, I was there this weekend. My sweetheart was home, and we went to Thia. I had veggies with tofu and brown rice. So why did it knock my flat? Sugar and salt and oil...I rationalized...I can do this because I am so good most the time. Ha! I guess my personality is the A+ type and so is my body....speaking of intake and not gorgeousness. Hehe

Holly said...

Or, you could reframe it like this: "Yes, I can eat those samples. but I don't want them right now because I prefer not to eat salt and sugar. I think I'll HAVE ONE SMALL TASTE so I know what they are like and then I can try to make something like this at home - without the salt and with dates instead of honey."

So rather than eating two, eat one nibble and say, nah it isn't worth the effort to try to create on my own, or yeah I like this and I'm going to try to recreate it.

There was an edamame salad I was eyeing up at the local deli counter and so one day I asked for a spoonful to taste & for them to run me a label so I could see the ingredients. Predictably it had some sesame oil way down on the list. I liked it, so I ordered one half scoop (came to less than 1/4 lb.) to have something on hand to compare to my homemade version. Then I went home and made a facsimile which tasted close, and in the end I threw away the scoop but I'd had it on hand if I wanted to compare. My husband thinks I am a nut.

I love eating in restaurants so I make allowances there and have gotten really good at say no oil or added salt when ordering vegetables - but mostly I stick with large salads because it is really easy to avoid most oil and salt that way. I will hopefully have more in-depth thoughts to share later.

Claire said...

And see, after reading your blog for a long time, I'm thinking "Why fix what's not broken?" If YOU are happy eating the way you are without the salt, sugar, etc., then keep doing that! Does it hurt anyone else that you aren't eating those things? Do you rub it in people's faces when they eat those things? No? Then again, I say, "Why fix what's not broken?" :)

kneecap said...

You said it Claire! That summarizes it nicely!