"Deja vu all over again"

                               
I can’t think of a person who doesn’t struggle with nutrition at one time or another. We all know those things that are “bad” for us and what the healthier choice should be. This struggle is one I know well. I come from a family fraught with diabetics and heart disease suffers. I loved going to my grandmother’s house because she always had food cooking on the stove, flour tortillas made with lard coming off the comal, and butter ready to slather on the tortillas

My mother’s aunt lived in a house behind her brother’s store. I really don’t remember what he sold there besides the candy. There were glass containers full of gummy candy, gum balls, jaw breakers that just mesmerized us. When we visited, our first stop was to give our great aunt a kiss, then off we would run to the store to see uncle Tony, my mother’s voice trailing behind us “No candy, kids!....” .

My mother was a registered nurse and learned in school how bad the traditional food she grew up with was for her health. She tried to feed us healthy, nutrition foods. This was a challenge as it is today, but in a different way. Back in “the day” as we lovingly call it now, eating out was a rarity. We never had soda, candy, or junk food at our disposal. My birthday wish each year was to go to the Pail O’ Chicken for fried shrimp and soda. It was the perfect birthday gift. I remember the first time I had a Taco Bell taco as a teenager. I had never seen a fried taco shell. Who knew food could taste so good?

Thankfully, my parents helped create fairly good eating habits among their children. None of us struggle with the heredity-based diseases that plaque other members of our generation and contributed to the deaths of most of our parents and their generation – diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I have struggled with eating properly through the years, but have only been on one “diet”, or put more appropriately, lifestyle change. 

In the mid 1990’s I became vegan, removing all meat and dairy products from my diet. To make a long story short, I loved it. I felt great, lost weight (not that I needed to), and had a ton of energy. The down side included always having to think two or three meals ahead, finding places to eat out, and not being able to donate blood because my iron dropped below the level they wanted. I finally gave up the vegan life style when I met my husband. As the story goes, I had been single several years and during the time I was eating vegan, it was hard to keep a boyfriend. As soon as I took them home and cooked for them I never saw them again. I never made the connection until I met Phil. He was special, and my friends counseled me not to cook for him if I ever wanted to see him again. Indeed, he really is special. He eats anything I cook and never complains. I should have gone with my healthy gut and shared my lifestyle with him. I would not be writing this now. 

We struggle to eat well, as do most families. Eating on the run, fast food choices, late dinners, prepackaged meals, and the ever present junk food end cap displays at the grocery store, really make eating properly a job not for the faint of heart. Thinking ahead, purchasing the proper foods, and having a well-stocked kitchen is expensive and takes planning. So I came up with this idea. I am going to journal our journey from the “white bread, white rice, and bologna” lifestyle to a healthier lifestyle. Not to say that we are bad eaters. One cannot be a vegan for three years and not retain some of the eating habits of the lifestyle.