"You need to get past the idea that food is communal--it's not. Eating is personal. You're not having what your spouse is having or what your neighbor is having--THEY'RE eating it, and now their body is going to have to deal with it."
--Robin Quivers, The Vegucation of Robin
This summer, my husband has deemed our kitchen "vegetarian". This is not a shotgun decision. It comes after years of his reading books and watching documentaries about food, the value of it, and the rape of it by our government and mass producers. This decision has been a long time coming... and not an easy one--after all, my husband is an Italian who grew up with a lot of Mexican friends.
Now, he won't admit to this, but I've asked for this in the past and touted it's benefits. I even decided to go a semester as a vegetarian, for which he did modify his cooking a bit so I could eat accordingly. But in order to make this a family decision, he had to get there on his own. And because he's the foodie and cook of the house, I have followed along with whatever food decisions he was (or was not) making, thinking I was the martyr for doing so.
Last night, I engaged him in a discussion of our future kitchen--if we are in agreement that this is a better way of life we want to see sustained in our family. We agree that it is. I expressed to him that I finally feel empowered to eat and live the way I've always wanted to because he, being my other half, is on the same page (barring the occasional addition of morally produced meats). I also explained to him that, in the past, I've felt bullied into eating a certain way because those around me are not making the same choices I want to make. The worst of this happens when we have family or friends in town. I find that I resent visits from out of towers because it means I'm going to have to eat foods that make me feel gross, fat and unhealthy.
So because people are in town visiting, I have to make myself feel unhealthy.
What is wrong with me?
Enter The Vegucation of Robin. I picked this book up at the library because I thought my husband might want to read it. Not so. This book was 100% for me. I needed someone who understood my own personal journey with food/healthy who has walked the path ahead of me to teach me the real life lessons that come with leaving behind emotional eating, overeating, heavy eating to embrace something that makes me feel good and healthy in every aspect of my being. The quote that opens this blog is one I read this morning and directly relates to the conversation I was having yesterday. Feeling bullied into eating a certain way doesn't have to be my lot in life. I can be empowered to make my own decisions based on how my own body and mind are going to feel about eating X, Y or Z. I'll deal with my decisions and others can deal with theirs. Period.
This might not be news for you, but it is a freeing little tidbit for me... so much so that I had to blog about it in order to reference it in the future. Feel free to respond or discuss. I'm always interested in what other people think about food and lifestyle. This part of my life will forever be a work in progress. :)
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