Back in 2001 when Mike first found me I was subsisting on hazelnut lattes and pop-tarts. I ate at McDonald's, drank Coke by the gallon, loved boxed mac-n-cheese and didn't so much as know what a black bean was let alone eat one! Salad was something you just had to get through before you got to the main entree' and the floor of my truck was littered with Zebra Cake wrappers. My eating habits were at best...deplorable.
Then came Mike. He loved me and he loved to eat.He loved to eat well and with great patience changed my eating habits. He helped wean me off of pop-tarts - they are now reserved as a treat for camping trips - and onto a healthier style of eating. Over the years we have investigated different foods, new ways of preparing meals and healthier alternatives to what we already love. We rarely eat processed foods. Lattes are a treat not a daily habit. We have all but wiped out high fructose corn syrup from our diet. We don't use bleached flour and honey and maple syrup are the sweeteners of choice. Black beans are now part of my life, I eat more rice, salads have become meals. A whole new world of food has been open to me. In fact I'm sitting here thinking about eating an avocado for breakfast! An AVOCADO! Who knew?
A few weeks ago my sister gave me this wonderful book called The Flexatarian Diet. It's written by a Wisconsinite for those of us who want to be "sometimes" vegetarians but would occasionally like a bratwurst. Mike and I have been experimenting with some of the recipes in the book and are really loving them. Less animal protein; more new flavors and textures. Less meat ; more plant protein. More whole foods and less refined foods, more fiber. And that is where the new problem lies. Fiber.
Because of the side effects of Mike's treatment he has to cut way back on fiber! Mike's man plumbing is going to be irritated by the radiation and chemo. So, what he can and can't eat has completely changed. Whole grains are out, spicy food is out, nuts and seed are out, pickles, popcorn, fresh, unpeeled fruit, pears, melons are out. Raw vegetables are out (in mid garden season....great!). Veggies that aren't cooked to death are out. No granola, oatmeal or wild rice. No alcohol. And this is the short list!
So, what can he eat?...refined food. White bread. Mac-n-cheese. Lots of pasta but not so much with the tomato sauce. Mashed potatoes. Non-acidic fruit. Cookies, instant rice, canned veggies and cream soups. Pop-tarts? Probably.He's in the store looking at boxed dinners, noodle side dishes and canned soup. I managed to walk him past the bread isle without him noticing. It was brutal. I about had a heart attack in the grocery store last night as Mike threw stuff into the cart that I haven't seen in our cupboards in years! It's all so counter intuitive now! I've changed and we've worked hard at what we choose to eat and now...this!
So, I tell myself, it's only for five weeks, but doesn't it take like 3 weeks to develop a new habit? What if...? I can't think it. I don't have to change my eating only Mike does. But I pledged my solidarity to him. I said, "where you go I go." And here I go feeling like a recovering alcoholic at a kegger. All my old favorites are whispering, "Come on Karen, you know you want me." I'm afraid to take that first bite of Kraft Mac & Cheese or wants Hamburger Helper? What if he wants 99 cent pot pie on minute rice? I'm doomed! I'm doomed! Damn this cancer!
So, I tell myself, be strong, strategize, plan what you can. Make most of it yourself. Baking white bread isn't the end of the world. In fact, Corlis and Pam just sent us an awesome artisan bread baking book, the first batch is n the fridge and will go in the oven today (white bread, thanks you two). We can do this I remind myself as I walk out to the garden, pick a pea pod and pop it into my mouth. I brush my hands over the tops of the tomato plants, move a squash runner to the fence, smile at a pole bean tendril climbing the wire and bend over to look at the happy little broccoli guys. I smile and tell them all...we can do this.
Peace
Karen
6 comments:
No Sherri, he's married to a happy drunk! We had a really good day yesterday. We even got out to play badminton...heavy emphasis on the BAD! We've been thinking about you too as Becca, the kids and Dough Boy arrive for a visit.
See you soon! Love to all.
Karen Queen of the Marshmallows
I sympathize, I do. When we go camping, I venture into those seldom-visited center aisles of Luekens, looking for add-boiling-water-and-stir kinds of food. (I found out that they sell cooked rice in a package -- who knew?) It’s one of those times you hope you don’t run into anyone you know at the checkout -- you know, the type who will assess your moral fiber (as opposed to dietary fiber) on the content of your cart. Here you are trying to work towards health, and what could be more counter-intuitive to that than buying square yellow cheese? But you are a team (one of the best) and you are writers, so if anyone can, it would be just like you two to make some kind of meaning out of this latest set (in a relentless stream) of indignities, namely, white bread and canned fruit cocktail.
Grace and prayers,
M.A.
You make me laugh MA! I tell you. I couldn't get those groceries out of the store and into the back of the Ruby fast enough. I found I was even thankful we'd forgotten our green bags!
At least we still have our moral fiber left!
Peace,
K
Just so you don't think I am talking to myself up on the first comment here is what Sherry said:
Thinking of both of you. Hope you are feeling as good as can be expected. At least, Mike, you're not married to a mean drunk. That would be bad :)
Sherry
I accidentally deleted her post....didnt't think she noticed.
Sundog,
A Reality Check is in order.
The "low fiber/processed food" shopping wasn't all that traumatic. I think that was due to Karen's clever disguise. Who would look twice at a woman with fake glasses, nose,and mustache? Apparently no one is going to talk about the breakfast donuts that sometimes fall into our cart. They go very well with coffee on those days we can sleep in. For the record, no donuts were harmed in yesterday's shopping. We, collectively and individually, have our own special comfort food quirks. Some of them vary with the season and the occasion.
Fig Newtons always came with in the duck blind. I go for butter and peanut butter on Saltines, as a comfort food snack and I do like white bread; again with butter and peanut butter. We will not talk about corned beef hash for those late morning breakfasts.
Karen just read this and said I am undermining her. I said I was just keeping us honest. I have done very well changing her attitudes and eating habits. We have co-evolved in learning about new foods and recipes. Hey, did you see the recipe in the Pioneer yesterday? The fudge brownie with strawberries and ice cream with mint sauce?
The shopping we did yesterday was 'just-in-case'. We are trying to anticipate some of the side effects and what we can do to avoid them. I really don't want to get so sick I cannot keep up to my treatments. One of the best things about yesterday was the pantry cupboard was cleaned out and organized. We discovered we should not go to the store for a long time, because man, do we have a lot to eat and that is a real blessing. Aside from coffee and eggs and flour for artisan bread, we should be good. Lots 'o venison and venimoose in the freezer, a garden full of aspiring veggies,(for someone). Yup, we'll be ok; as long as we can get the dark chocolate fairy to deliver.
From the land of small meals eaten more often and chewed more slowly,
Peace,
Mike
I like sour dough english muffins, toasted with peanut butter with my morning coffee. I think I could live off that. Just finished a big spaghetti dinner with 'daughter' Sherry and 'grand daughter' Mallory before they had to leave for a band parent meeting. Invited my piano teacher also but he came late. We had enough left for a big meal tomorrow and even froze some. George ate all for our meal tomorrow plus some of my cake! Maybe I should try to make some oatmeal maple syrup bread, need the receipe tho.....! Oh well, there is always Fox's Pizza.
Eat hearty, be happy and know that we love you no matter what other people say!
terry. . . . & Judy
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