From Extreme Diets to Balanced Meals: My Journey to Healthy Eating

 

Picture From Pexels by Ella Olsson 

    I learned to live a moderately healthy lifestyle from my parents. I chose the word ‘moderately’ because my parents were on the extreme spectrum when it came to diet. I remember as a child picking at my plate of tofu lasagna, oatmeal burgers or tempeh. Both tempeh and tofu come from soybeans and can be a source of protein. Oatmeal burgers are made from oats and are a substitute for meat burgers. My parents thought this was the best diet in order to be healthy. They would try to find foods with different nutritional benefits such as nutritional yeast flakes on popcorn. The nutritional yeast was supposed to provide B vitamins. My parents were vegan then vegetarian and finally pescatarian. In my teen years, my parents decided to incorporate chicken and turkey into their diet but no red meats like pork or beef. 

    I remember times I would go to Walmart and punch the snowball cakes I passed in the pastry aisle so that other people could not eat it since I could not. It is important to eat healthy but balance is key. Enjoying your food is important to overall health. As an adult, I have tried to balance my meals with carbohydrates, proteins, veggies and fruit. I love desserts but eating too much dessert causes weight gain and elevation in blood sugar. I found when I tried to eat less desserts, I craved sugar less and found I can satisfy my sweet cravings with dark chocolate or fruit which is much healthier. 

    As a physician associate, I advise patients with diabetes or obesity to reduce portion sizes especially of carbohydrates. There is a Japanese phrase to eat until you are 80% full: “Hara hachi bu”. If a person is accustomed to eating a lot at once this may take some adjusting but using suggested serving sizes can help. Another way to avoid weight gain, is making substitutions. Switching white rice with cauliflower rice, or lettuce wraps instead of flour wraps reduces the calorie content. In summary, I have noticed both extremes of diet and the key seems to be balance.