Getting used to eating "whole"

Back in the day, when we started the "anti-cancer" diet we suddenly had to incorporate an entirely new world of foods into our lives - "whole" foods.  Whole grain, whole wheat, raw vegetables, natural everything.  It was tough and for two very (previously) unhealthy eaters like D and I, it took a lot of getting used to.

Our all-natural, organic garden

You see, even back in the day when D and I were both dieting, we still weren't necessarily "eating healthy."  We would still basically eat whatever we wanted, just less of it.  So, we still ate french fries, or food with hydrogenated oils or trans fats, but just made sure that at the end of the day we didn't go too far over our allotted calorie counts.  We actually still lost weight this way, although I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 

We had tried healthier alternatives, like whole wheat pasta instead of enriched macaroni pasta, but we just didn't like it.  We didn't like the consistency or the taste.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we hated it, so at the time we just threw away the box and went back to our normal pasta-eating habits.

So when we decided to implement this anti-cancer diet - which consists almost entirely of natural foods! - we had to take an enormous step back in evaluating what we ate.  No hydrogenated oils didn't sound so hard, until we started reading ingredients and realized that nearly EVERYTHING we ate had hydrogenated oils in it.  (Everything that comes from a box nearly ready to eat and is tasty and has a long shelf life has hydrogenated oils in it.  Basically, it's a preservative.)  Eating whole wheat and multi-grain bread products didn't sound so hard either, until we realized that it meant completely cutting white bread out of our diets. What!?!? No white bread?!?!?

At first we hated it.  HATED it.  I hated reading the ingredients on a meal that I was particularly excited about, only to realize that it contained an ingredient that was a definite "no," or only to find that it lacked "whole" flour, the only kind of flour that is a definite "yes."  But we sucked it up and bought the healthy food, and even though we weren't excited about it, we ate it.  And kept eating it, and kept eating it.  Some days I was so sick of multi-grain bread that I craved sugar and simple carbs like crazy.  When that happened, I put a piece of sugar free gum in my mouth, and most of the time, it worked.   I found myself not wanting to make pasta, because I didn't like the whole wheat version, but I made it anyway.  For a short while, I stopped eating salads because I wasn't loving only getting to have raw spinach, but then I started making salads again. I wasn't willing to give up.

Slowly, gradually, at some point, we started developing a taste for it.  I used to say that if you eat something 15 times, ou'll develop a taste for it, but I'm not sure that I totally used to believe it.  Now, I'm starting to think I was on to something.  That manta go me eating broccoli many years ago, and it's now one of my favorite vegetables.  Not unlike the broccoli experience, we found ourselves slowly embracing this new food lifestyle.  It was amazing to see that we were really actually developing a taste for these healthier foods! It was definitely a turning point for us.

So we started eating all of these amazing, healthy "super foods."  And we discovered a problem that we hadn't anticipated.

As we started eating more and more of these healthier foods, I noticed that I was having more stomach problems than usual.  This healthy food can be  hard to digest and my body was NOT used to it!  Eating a full spinach salad ripped my stomach up!  So much fiber and I was NOT used to it.  Instead of mayonaise I was putting mashed avocado on my sandwiches, and the natural oils and fats were painful to digest.  D experienced similar pains as well.  Eating healthy was suddently hard AND painful because our bodies were so used to only digesting pre-processed foods.

There are still days when I really struggle.  I still crave some of my favorite, unhealthy foods (Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich tends to be my most common craving), and I have to use a lot of will power to not give in.  There is no secret, no simple trick or word of wisdom that I can share to help you avoid those temptations.  For me, I just woke up one day and told myself that I needed to make a serious change.  And I struggle and fight with my inner glutton each and every day.  But I've found that talking about my lifestyle change to others - such as co-workers and family - really helps to validate what I'm doing, and by putting it out there to the world, I hope that other people will help to hold me accountable.

I know that some people - a lot of people - have been eating healthy whole foods like those that I listed above for a long time.  And they actually enjoy it!  I envy those people, who get to eat what they love and be healthy and anti-cancer at the same time.  Perhaps some day I will be there as well.

In the meantime, I'm off to make a spinach salad!