Mama Bear Has Emerged

I’ve put on a few pounds over the winter. I’m at “that age” now when you realize that if you don’t start making a few changes here and there, you’re going to end up the size of a bear, and much less fit. Unlike the bear who emerges from her den in the spring emaciated, starved and very grumpy, I have been….um…very well fed all winter long. And, it shows. I can no longer button my jeans, the ones I’ve worn for the past five years or so. The last time this happened, I was pregnant. I have no excuse for using the rubber band trick now (for the first couple of months of pregnancy I often used a rubber band looped from the button to the button hole so I could continue wearing my jeans a bit longer).

So, yes, I embarked on a radical change in our eating, much to the chagrin of my husband (who is trying to be a good sport about it) and children (who are not). I recently finished listening to the audiobook of In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which I highly recommend. He talks about the development of the food industry and “nutritionism”, and why it’s been so unhealthy for all of us. He points out that being compulsive about reading labels and listening to the advice of diet experts has not made us healthier, but has made us sicker, and explains why. And, he strongly encourages returning to a “native” diet – ANY native diet – for the sake of our health, and explains pretty clearly why those diets seem to work best. That was enough of a nudge for me to run out and buy some herb, tomato and pepper plants, and make a small kitchen garden in the front of the house.




I also pulled out my copy of French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano for some recipes and inspiration, hit the grocery store and loaded up my basket with fresh (okay, semi-fresh) foods, and started cooking. And, we’re moving back to having regular, sit-down meals. Between the real food that doesn’t look or smell or taste like the old food, and the quickly dwindling supply of manufactured snacks in the pantry, I’m pretty sure there’ll be a rebellion pretty soon (unless hubby sneaks out to the grocery store). Thankfully, we’ll have the buffer of our vacation coming up. If I plan things out right, we can have a blending of prepared meals and eating-out meals, and coming home we can hunker down into the “this is how we eat at home” mentality. Although, I’ve not ruled out the possibility of armed resistance.