brenda, I'm so sorry you went through that. Thanks for sharing, though -- that's really an inspiration for me to start eating some new and different vegetables.

Wow, Brenda, you're my hero when it comes to vegetables. I eat far more of them than I ever have, and I've cut my sugar, fat, and protein intake by half or more.

It's odd--even whole grains like cereal or oatmeal send my blood sugar up, while bacon and eggs keeps it level. But then my cholesterol aims for the sky. It's always a balancing act.

I've always felt vegetables were basically a waste of time and energy. To me they're not "food", not really. Food is protein and fat, not much of either, but it's the basis of my concept of "food". Carbs are next, in complex whole grains, but I have to be careful because they convert quickly to glucose. Fruits and all other sweets are used only sparingly. They're not really necessary, and do more harm than good. And vegetables are just filler.

I've always had the (completely wrong!) notion that veg have no food value. They're certainly not filling. They take an enormous boring amount of time to shop for, store, use before they rot on you, and prepare. And after all that trouble what have you got? Vegetables, yay (not). It takes too much time and energy to bite chew and swallow something that rewards that effort so little.

So basically, I've always been: I can eat less of what I like. I can eat none of what I like, as long as I don't have to also eat what I hate. It's just always felt so punitive to have to give up every single thing that ever tasted "good" to me, and force myself to chew and swallow things that don't taste good, things that bore me, things that turn eating into a chore I'd rather not have to think about or bother with.

I have always had--and still have--a reallyreally bad adversarial relationship with food. And reading your blog posts are encouraging and inspirational. Maybe there's hope for me. So thank you.

To rescue this from being a completely mememe post, I do want to say that I'm impressed with the determination and courage with which you attacked the things in your life that you felt were wrong. And the inspiration and willingness to listen to and follow your intuition you used to find a path that works for you. I'm happy that you feel better, and I'm glad you're healthier, in more ways than one. You're a fantastic role model.

Thanks for posting that, brenda. Your food choices are resembling mine over the last year, and I find that encouraging. I've cut back on the meat but I probably should cut back even more, and I hope the CSA share will force me to do that.

I've been looking for shelf stable non-cow milk, so I'll be giving Almond Breeze a try.

I've always felt vegetables were basically a waste of time and energy. To me they're not "food", not really.

Bev, this is not so far from where I started off. I had to really force myself to change that mindset. But it really was not nearly as hard as way more satisfying than I thought it would be. I still have to push myself sometimes (and the CSA totally helps with that!) but it's really changed my whole perspective.

And like I said, I haven't given up anything. I'll stop at McD's at the airport or train station, or I'll have a crab rangoon with my lunch or order the steak frites out at a restaurant. But it's the day to day stuff that's changed so dramatically, and it really becomes second nature after a while.

By contrast, when I was starting to think about what to write, I took a look at an lj my sister and I started up to track/encourage our diets a few years back. Here's a couple of days worth of food posts:

3/15 - 22+2

Having a much harder time of it today - I think tonight is going to be rough.

2 waffles - 3 pts

small banana - 2 pts

carrots - 1 pt

subway turkey sub, no cheese - 5 or 6, can't remember

goldfish - 3 pts

yogurt - 1 pt

popcorn - 1 pt

another yogurt - 1 pt

WW meal - 4 pts yay!

piece of toast, probably too much butter. Still calling it 2

3/16

waffle, ww yogurt - 3 pts

ww meal - 6 pts

goldfish - 3 pts

banana - 3 pts

CRAP! Chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. I had 2. 5 pts. (C'mon, they're weren't very big.)

Most of a bottle of not very good wine (not the new fave, H, something else)

2 pieces toast

3/17

Donut day at work! Fortunately, by the time I got here there was only one left of the kind I like. 4 pts.

Spoke too soon. Add another half-donut. 2 pts.

Um, yeah. Three Guiness lunch at a cajun joint, gumbo and a 1/2 BLFriedGreenT sandwich. That officially ends the count for today.

Who could live like that?

Thanks for those posts, brenda! I'm just starting this process after meeting with the dietician on Thursday and I'm hoping we can develop habits that really do become second nature.

My relationship with veggies is very much Beverly's. I want it to be different.

I can't believe I typed "meating." Oy. In a post about veggies.

I've got to say, the roasted veggies are da bomb.

Cauliflower is probably my favorite. Broccoli heads taste best when they get all ugly and brown. I stopped cooking them together though because Broccoli likes to suck up salt.

Thanks for the kale ideas. We have a really good and easy kale recipe we make all the time, but I made it a week ago, and I want something else now.

Pasta with beans and kale (originally from Moosewood, but with curly endive)
1 small onion
1 mess kale
1 big can whole peeled tomatoes in juice
2 cans white/cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 lemon
salt and pepper

Saute onions until soft, add kale and salt and pepper, cover and cook down.
Add tomatoes and juice (break them up with a wooden spoon or knife), add beans. Cover and cook while the pasta cooks (minumum 15 minutes, but you can let it go on low as long as you like - at this point you're mostly heating it up.)
When pasta is ready, add juice of the lemon, mix, and serve sauce over pasta, with parmesan cheese and more pepper if you like.

brenda, I think that's really amazing, what you did.

My relationship with veggies is very much Beverly's.

Yes, me too.

I want it to be different.

I really don't, but losing weight without switching my diet to mainly vegetables seems impossible. Of course, switching my diet to mainly vegetables also seems impossible.

Hmm, I have all those things. Or, well, I have chard and collards, so close enough. Might try that tonight.

Oh yeah, you have to be super careful with the salt on roasted brocc. And it looks awful, but it's really really tasty.

It's odd--even whole grains like cereal or oatmeal send my blood sugar up, while bacon and eggs keeps it level. But then my cholesterol aims for the sky. It's always a balancing act.

If there's anything I've learned through all this, it's to pay very close attention to what your body (and your taste, and your appetites) are trying to tell you.

Possibly the weirdest thing that's happened to me - several years ago I had a long stint, a year or so, frequent back aches. I wasn't at my heaviest then, so I don't know that it was weight related. But god, it was awful. Advil, tylenol, back cremes, hot pads - I remember borrowing percoset from my dad and getting no relief. It was awful. And somehow after a year or so it gradually stopped. No idea what changed.

But now - if I eat a really high fat meal - 10 minutes later I feel that backache starting up again. It's happened enough times, 6 or 8 or so, and doesn't happen otherwise so I know I'm not imagining it. Freaky. (When I'm more paranoid I think this means I have spine cancer or something. But I'm pretty sure that's not it.)