Editor note: This post was originally published in July 2005. I posted an update which can be found here in October 2005.
I have started and stopped this post about a dozen times - I think for fear that you will read this and think that I am making a big deal out of nothing. But I am hoping that people who read a blog about food will have some understanding of how mandated changes in ones diet really affect ones life.
Our household has been a bit turned upside down lately. Jason had a doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago, and we received some news that has changed our household dynamic - and especially our relationship with food. Before I tell you about it, I should say that he is fine, and that we are both totally committed to the assessment and the instructions that the doctors and the nutritionist have given. Basically, it's the best answer for the moment, and is going to save him from some potential very big problems. He has a genetic condition and something is very out of whack with the way that his body processes alcohol and fat ... it's nothing that he has done to cause this, but he is going to be able to make changes that help the condition.
So ... what has the doctor told us?
1) Jason can drink no alcohol. Period.
2) He can only have 25 grams of fat a day.
Of course, both of these things are workable, and in light of many world events, these issues are nothing. But for two people who have such an intense connection to food (and drink), it definitely gives us both pause.
We went into the doctor appointment kind of half expecting the fat restrictions, but the alcohol restriction kind of came out of left field. I spent the first couple of days really kind of mourning this decision. The first time, after the doctor's appointment, that we went out to dinner and I ordered cold sake and Jason ordered water, I cried. It was upset at the idea that we won't be able to sit at A16 for 15 minutes going back and forth about our wine decision, and knowing that a trip to a winery won't ever be the same, or that sitting at the Absinthe bar at 3 pm on a Sunday - drinking cocktails and having french fries will be different. Our relationship is not built on alcohol or drinking, but it's definitely a dynamic change.
The change that is really affecting our lives on a day in and day out basis, however, is the one that has to do with the fat grams. Twenty-five grams of fat is a small enough amount that we are working on a daily basis to be sure that he is getting enough protein and calories. To give you an idea, here some sample things that have 25 grams of fat: 2 Starb**k's white chocolate mocha frappuccinos with whipped cream, 1 Wendy's baked potato with bacon and cheese, 4/5 of one average avocado, 1 In-N-Out cheeseburger, protein style, 1 Wienerschnitzel All Beef Chilli Cheese Dog, 1/3 of a slice of Cheesecake Factory black-out cake, 40 dry roasted almonds. But the good news is that worked out carefully, 25 grams of fat can also include very filling, happy-making and nutritious foods. Yesterday, J had oatmeal for breakfast and chirashi sushi for lunch and salmon, brown rice, lentils, and salad for dinner. All on 25 grams of fat. So it's definitely doable.
But the implication of taking numbers - the fat grams and nutritional value - and assigning them to food to determine whether the food is "good" or "bad" is what I have really been struggling with. I am used to food being "good" if it is grown locally and with purpose, if we know the farmer, if we are happy with the way the cow or the chicken was raised. The trick is to combine our idea of "good" with the nutritionist's idea of "good" and try and find common ground, rather than throwing out one set of principles for another.
I believe I have found a kindred spirit in the nutritionist. She and Jason talked for about 10 minutes before I started with my questions. The first that I asked had to do with chicken. I told her that I don't have any interest in bringing boneless, skinless chicken breasts into our house, and asked her how I make his diet work with a whole chicken, for instance. Her answer won me over. The first thing she said was "Well, it would be better if you used free-range chicken than chicken raised in cages." She went on to tell me which parts of the skin were okay (the leg because there is the least fat on parts of the animal exercised the most) and to talk with me some more about how to make it work. We really lucked out with her.
We have been doing this for almost two weeks, and I am no longer concerned about whether we can do it. I know that it's possible, and have better ideas of how to do it. Now just comes the time when we really start to remember the important questions: How did the food taste? Where did it come from? And did it satisfy me? and somehow work them back into these new rules.
A lot of this change is very exciting. We have both been wanting to get back into shape for quite a while, and this is forcing us both to. And I am enjoying the challenge of re-jiggering my recipes and finding lots of new ones in order to be sure that we get enough variety and good food. I definitely think that this "project," so to speak, is another new path on this food journey that I have been going through for the past few years, and I am looking forward to where it takes us.
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