Whats it like having dietary restrictions?
Depending on the day, its full of contradictions.
Some days I eat all my favorite foods
The ones that make me feel good and on top of the world.
For breakfast, I eat eggs, sausage, and buttery potatoes.
For a snack I eat goat cheese and sun gold tomatoes.
For lunch I eat leftover homemade veggies or meat curry.
For another snack, I eat carrots or celery, slathered and peanut buttery.
Dinner will have some sort of meat, veggies and special sauce
And maybe I'll have some whisky with club soda and lime (just a splash).
Those are the good days, when I feel on top of the world
When I have energy all day and can focus amidst the swirl.
When I feel like I have a power center and believe in myself just a little more.
When I can tap into the secrets that usually hide behind previously hidden doors.
And some days I eat my other favorite foods
The ones that distend my gut and distastefully affect my moods.
The ones that make my joints ache and my face blotchy and red
Creating noxious fumes as if something is now rotting and dead.
Those days involve pancakes and sandwiches and donuts.
They have pasta with cream dressing and sugary sauces that make me go nuts.
They have chocolate chip cookies, pizza and beer.
They involve corn chips, popcorn, and foods that trick-or-treaters hold dear.
My tongue gets so happy and my body gets sluggish and tired.
I think about napping and wonder why I no longer feel wired.
I feel dumber and slower for just a little bit
Until I adjust and then cant remember what it was like to be fast-twitched.
Its amazing the difference a small amount of food
Can make on my daily experience and contributions to the world.
I wonder how many people are constantly running at half-mast
And how many of our stomachs are held together with some semi-permeable cast.
I wonder how a culture gets to the point that we are
Where people think I am different for wanting to know what is good for me and what is not?
How can Dunkin, PizzaHut, Little Debbie and Micky Ds
Be soo popular and normal while they take us out at the knees?
How their food can be soo much cheaper and practically not be food?
How their marketing is so amazing that it makes young children drool?
So, today I will eat some of my favorite treats
Hopefully they will be the ones that make me stand balanced on my feet.
And my roots will grow deeper and my branches towards the sun.
And if for some reason that chocolate chip cookie happens to cross my tongue
I will have compassion for my body and brain
And know that tomorrow I will start again.
Today and tomorrow I will give myself a chance
To grow up and show up, energized and ready to dance.
Liz, I love your prose here. It reminds me of my journey--eating what my body can handle (which is very limited) and resisting that which I really want to eat (which is the rest). I too wonder how people can function when they eat McDonald's food and at Dunkin Donuts. They do though. It is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite line:
ReplyDelete"I wonder how many people are constantly running at half-mast."
Imagine a world where all people knew what worked and what didn't work for their bodies!! I seems like an amazing privilege!
Liz, thanks for this post. My meal decisions offer the same opportunities-- to feel great or feel like stinking up the room. Something I'm learning is that it's hard to make an educated decision. I was at Disneyland this past weekend and surprised how many menu items were full of gluten- things that are naturally GF if I make them at home. It was a good reminder to always ask and not assume when eating out. Also, I have to say Disney was really prepared to offer GF options that weren't on the menu.
ReplyDeleteBria, thats great to hear that Disney does have real GF options. I totally hear you on asking too. I forget how often cheese gets sprinkled on top of foods but isn't listed as an ingredient.
ReplyDelete@JMR, You know, I wonder how much of a mast I run at too. It is an amazing privilege AND I wonder how healthy I really am. Am I now super healthy . . . or am I now just barely reaching half-mast? Who knows, the number of toxins and chemicals everywhere may be shifting what our highest potential is. . . or maybe our bodies are evolving. Soo hard to have a conversation that we can never see from the outside.
I really loved your poem Liz! In particular, the stanza starting with, "I wonder how a culture gets to the point that we are
ReplyDeleteWhere people think I am different for wanting to know what is good for me and what is not?"
Thank you for sharing your experience in such a creative way!