Discussion Board

A very close person to me told me ...



It kind of broke my heart.

I'd rather eat like this than get cancer.

In my mind that kind of thinking is backwards. When I get my terminal diagnosis I’m going out and buying a carton of cigarettes and half a dozen boxes of Costco chocolate chip cookies. Why eat healthy if you are about to die anyway?
Letha

I had a conversation like this with my husband last night. I said a lot of doctors put people on a low fat diet after they get heart disease or have by-pass surgery but I have chosen to go on it BEFORE I get that kind of diagnosis. He looked at me like he really "got" what I was saying. He is slowly coming around.

I've never posed that question to my mother. She always just says she can't do it. My husband, well...I've never posed it to him either. I just tell him I need him to make healthier choices in general, like cutting way back on fat. He's trying. I figure one step at a time. He's had shortness of breath since he started putting on weight in his current job. It scares me a lot and I tell him this. But he grew up on the SAD and it's not something he can easily let go of. My diet growing up wasn't perfect, but it was at least better than his. We ate a lot of vegetables and fruits, a lot of tubers and legumes at least a couple times a week. Basically, if you remove the animal products and oil from my childhood diet, you have a low fat vegan diet. It wasn't like that for him. They had some potatoes, some carrots and some spinach and they will only eat black eyed peas or butter beans if they're mixed with cornbread and mayo. I can at least make the cornbread vegan, but I can't do anything about the mayo. He did like vegenaise, and it would at least be vegan, but it's a bit pricey. I'm not trying to break the bank. It would be nice if he could at least try legumes unadulterated, but he won't. He'll always say, 'I'll have some of your red beans,' and then he won't. Sometimes he'll insist that he had some even, but I know better. When he buys chilli now though, he at least doesn't seek out the bean free version. It's a very slow process for him. We've been together for 3 years, so you can see just how slow.

His family isn't supportive of veganism and thinks I'm weird. In fact, the first time I met his aunt, he told her I was vegan and she told him to break up with me. Crazy stuff. My MIL came to visit for our daughter's birthday and I caught her giving her cheetos. I think she only had one, but I pretty much died inside just then. I told her no way. She said she's pretty sure it's fake cheese. Oh...cause that makes it better? *sigh* And read the label for crying out loud... They strike me as cave people, but I've only told my husband this.

People who think that they couldn't do this diet are just plain wrong. If they did the diet for 60 days they would be unlikely to go back to SAD. Doug Lisle explains why in his dvd The Pleasure Trap - also in Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind.

We have not even reached 50 days, and we are so committed to this.
Of course, since I have my diabetes meter, I get so much immediate feed back , that it is a little easier for us.
If people would just do it for the 12 days, They would see so much.
That said, I think each of us has a time when the AHAH moment comes to us.
I was shocked when my husband jumped on board.
So , it is easier for me.
He never ate beans, or encheladas, becasue he did not like 'Smoochie" tortillias. So imagine my surprise yesterday, when he served himself a huge serving of my bean encheladas, and said, Well, those were good.!!
He was so much the guy who always bought Bean free chilli.
In fact he once won a contest where he made this chilli from an old cook book. It had pork chops, a roast, I don't know all this meat.
So don't give up, if he, and Rocco can do it, any one may.

I dare to dream then.

Being latina, I grew up with the belief that beans were the main ingredient in chilli but it could be made with added meat. So when I saw bean free chilli in the grocery, I was so utterly confused. I had to ask, 'So what's in it then?!' My husband gave me a strange look. We've had some interesting and funny moments, most of which have been in the grocery.

Remember when they said Chili Con Carne, as in Chili with Meat as though it were a different dish. When did the meat take over??

Exactly. And that's how I remember it. He still thinks that's odd. I find it so sad that his childhood diet was so poor.

At least they said they would eat that way if they were dying of cancer I've had several people tell me that they would rather die then eat the way I did.

I'm not sure why giving up meat and dairy is such a big dang deal to so many.

A person I work with said he "would rather take a bullet in the brain than stop eating meat". I think he was only half kidding. Even my own dad made a gruesome face at the thought of not eating meat. I think people are really hooked on the taste.

The irony is that meat tastes like nothing until you spice it up with a bunch of seasoning that comes from plants.

It really is heart breaking. I have a close friend , who tells me about her GRD, what medicines she takes for digestion, how she has to be so careful of supplements----not because of questionable worth--because of the coating. Any way she has a list of things that upset her stomach. But she cannot try McD for even a week, because she cannot give up coffee, butter, cheese and BACON> I mean she isn't even to the "I only use healthy oil, and lean meat!!

I think the people who "can't" give up their meat should see what it REALLY looks like without the nitrates and other coloring added to look "palatable." Then see how fast they run from that!

I think they should too. Let's see how many people keep eating it then.