"The Kind Diet"

Did you see how great Alicia Silverstone looked on Oprah? She was thin again, her skin glowed, and she's having great success in the poop department. I immediately ordered her book, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. Well, I requested it from my library and a month later, I'm curled up in bed reading all of her secrets. I've got to say, I love the concept, the vegan/vegetarian/macro-biotic fusion thing. Except for the no meat, no dairy , no eggs part. That's just it - the whole thing is obviously great for our bodies and mind, it just seems so . . . extreme. Yet, I keep getting drawn to books on macrobiotic cooking, and vegan eating and vegetarian recipes (one means no meat or dairy or eggs, the other is just no meat, I think) so may be my unconscious is crying out for that green food.

At this point I have read half the book and I am feeling a little convicted, but really more a sense that this is a really good next step in my journey of eating for health and happiness. So, whatever, I will make the switch. Sigh, decision made. How hard can it be? I already eat a semi-Asian diet, which is the basis of the macrobiotic concept. Did you know miso soup protects you from radiation poisoning? Now you know. I've got to admit, I feel a little sniggling of pride at my new found puritanical dietary resolve. I am woman, see me eat.

I take a deep, cleansing breath and, sob. I am not talking the sniffles here, no trickle of a tear down the cheek. I mean really weeping, grieving. Is it merely the thought of no more pork baby-back ribs, the absence of juicy steak, turning up my nose at cheese? Well, yes, who can live without cheese??

After blowing my nose into my sleeve, (like you haven't done that) I move into the next stage of the grieving process, i.e., groveling in the throes of dairy-addiction: bargaining. I can bargain like nobody's business. Oh yea. Should I be embarrassed that I am already back-pedaling and I haven't tossed even a dollop of sour cream yet from the fridge?

I remind myself of my already virtuous foodisms: naturally raised beef, a yearly garden - note to self: buy organic seeds - and anyway, I am practically devoted to buying locally grown produce . . . For crying out loud, I am only one woman!! Besides, I can't possibly ignore all the beef in the freezer, can I? It's already paid for!

So, I calm down, sip a little medicinal brandy, and tell myself I should just start slow, buy more organic meats and produce, and start switching out the sugars and flour to brown rice syrup and whole wheat, which, by the way, all cost a lot more moolah. I know . . . it's worth it . . . I'm just saying.

Cruising the grocery aisles, I resolve to cut expenses somewhere else and march with great determination to the organic, pasture-raised chicken then . . . veer off and grab the two-pound, big bag of water-logged, ammonia-contaminated, hormone-raised, frozen chicken breasts on sale for $5.99. Disgusted with my wimptitude, I tell myself I will balance it by adding brown rice. I am making a start, I say. Easy does it. Besides, something is better than nothing.

Resources: