"Today, women are reclaiming this position of power, as they control an important source of wealth: the food supply of the people. Today, women are reclaiming this position of power as they resist widely available convenience and fast foods to nurture their families and provide for a healthier next generation on the reservation" (Jacob, 2010, p. 361).
I start with this quote because I wanted to think clearly about what my feminist politics have to do with my eating. Jacob's quote above nicely summarizes some of the reasons that providing healthy, home cooked meals for my son, husband, parents, and of course, for myself, has become a part of my being. My motivation for making changes in my diet and cooking meals from scratch; was in part a reaction to the health crisis in the Mexican American community. I thought about my sisters and my mom. Heart disease is one of the number one killers of Latina women. The diabetes crisis is serious. Like the community members in the Yakama Nation that Jacob mentions above, the health and well-being of the Yakama people is comprised as a globalized and neo-colonialized context undermines traditional cultural practices. This isn't just happening in our communities within the U.S. context, but internationally we export our fast food and unhealthy diets to other parts of the world. Mexico is now facing a childhood diabetes crisis like never before. In Guatemala, there are other issues as malnutrition rates are higher than any other country, because of the lack of micronutrients in the diet. They produce the food, but do not have access to the very same food produced in their own land. That food is produced for us. I know, these issues are very complicated and I certainly don't always behave in way that is consistent with addressing some of these issues. However, any movement in the direction of understanding our interconnectedness and the role that food plays in our personal lives as we make choices about how well we care for ourselves as well as how the decisions we make on a daily basis about how and what we consume impact others in a globalized context. I am making a commitment to myself, to my family, to my local and global community to be thoughtful about how I eat and what I eat. So, now I want to tell everyone a little bit about my personal journey with making a shift in how I eat and take care of myself.
Getting off the wheat and corn
What? A Mexican who doesn't eat corn?! How can that be?! Yes, folks, that's right. About six years ago, I discovered that wheat, corn, and processed sugar were not good for my health. I had been living with chronic pain in my joints, which the doctors said was arthritis. According the the medical profession, I would just have to live with it and I could take a pill. I was in so much pain, going down the stairs in the morning was difficult. I also had chronic fatigue and just did not feel good overall. I should say here as well, that I was experiencing serious compassion fatigue as a social worker. I was very good at taking care of others, but did not think it was priority to take care of myself. I finally did make a decision to make some significant changes in my life. I began a serious yoga practice. I learned and tried many alternative healing practices. However, despite my best efforts at wellness, I just could not get over the fatigue and the pain. Eventually, I discovered that it was the wheat, corn, and processed sugar that were the culprits and eliminated them from my diet. I was highly motivated and immediately made a decision to eliminate these things from my diet.
It took six months I would say to adjust to this new way of eating. I think this change was most difficult for my husband. I don't know if he understood that I was incredibly serious and that this would be the norm in our household. In the end, all of the symptoms I mentioned above were gone. I had no more pain. I felt good, I was sleeping well, and I had energy.
The Next Step
This was a significant change, but not enough of a change. We still ate a lot of processed gluten free foods - whatever staples we could find at Trader Joe's. I was busy. Rolando, my husband, was busy. We rarely cooked from scratch. We had just substituted regular pasta with gluten free pasta, for example. So while I had eliminated wheat, corn, and sugar, as drastic as this sounds, was not really a significant shift. So now fast forward about 5 years. I was overweight and getting heavier. I knew that if I continued on this trajectory, I would be facing the same issues that other women in my family faced: high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. I also was incredibly out of shape. Walking up a flight of stairs would make me winded and I didn't like that. I was used to being very physically active and enjoy hiking, camping, biking, etc. I don't know exactly what happened, but there was a shift that just made me incredibly determined to lose that weight.
On January 4th, 2013, I joined weight watchers. I already ate fairly healthy, but WW encouraged me to eat even more fruits and vegetables than I had in my diet at the time. I had not been able to lose weight since I was in my late 20's. For some reason, this time, I did it. The major shift, however, occurred at this point. When I started weight watchers, I was still eating gluten free bread, rice, etc. I decided that I would read more about a Paleo diet and began to cut back on almost all grains, legumes, and dairy. I still eat them, but in much lower quantities than I did before. My diet is made up mostly of fruits, vegetables, good fats, and lean protein. I do eat meat even though I was a vegetarian before I had my son. Given that I also have a negative reaction to soy, I really can't easily follow a mostly grain free, soy free, dairy free diet AND be vegetarian or vegan. Plus my son is a huge meat eater. He inherited those Nuevo León genes of people who love beef. So I try to incorporate some vegetarian/vegan recipes in there too.
The second major shift that occurred at this time, encouraged by the weight watchers plan, was the exercise. I realized that I would not be able to lose weight on an exercise plan of yoga. I had to incorporate something more vigorous. I began to run. I did zumba, I joined a commit to be fit program at the Y, etc. Well, never would I have imagined that I fell in love with running. I started out barely running 5 minutes to running 5 k's and 10 k's on a regular basis. I smile when I run. I feel so good. This time is solitary and I am able to appreciate the beauty even in my highly industrial and working class neighborhood. I love it. Recently, I also began lifting weights and following the plan in a book called "Lift Like a Man: Look Like a Goddess." This has made a huge difference in my metabolism. I feel like I just burn calories like nothing. I feel good. I feel strong. I feel healthy. I lost 45 pounds. As my nephew once reminded me, think about this as 9 5-lb. bags of flour. Imagine carrying that around? That is a lot of weight. I didn't lose it on some fad diet. I lost it by making a commitment to a lifestyle that I was willing to live for the long term. Because I had done WW, I was shocked at how much I could eat and still lose weight by following a completely Paleo diet. It really is amazing.
I have continued my yoga practice and I was amazed at how simply including running in my routine advanced my yoga practice incredibly. I can do poses and things I had not been able to do before. I think partly it's due to the weight loss, learning to challenge myself in a different way through running, and just overall improved fitness. The weight training has also helped my yoga practice. Many poses require significant arm, leg, or core strength. I have that now.
My son, a teenager, has really embraced this way of eating and although he is not wheat and sugar free completely, he really watches what he eats and thinks about healthy eating. I never "forced" this on him. He could eat whatever he wanted when we were out and he had wheat based snacks in the house. But at home we would all eat the same meal. Modeling is a very important tool. We also work out together at the Y. He encourages me with the weight lifting and I provide the smoothies! Going almost completely (but not completely grain free) has really helped my emotional and physical health incredibly. I really have so much energy and just feel good.
Recipes on this Blog
I am not exclusively Paleo or dairy free, although I try to reduce the amount of grains and dairy that I eat. So, what you will see on this blog is ALWAYS gluten free and ALWAYS corn free. You will see grain free, dairy free, and vegan recipes as well - but not exclusively. So I will make sure to indicate what type of ingredient "free" the recipe is.
Peace and Solidarity!
Leticia
Reference
Jacob, M. (2010). Claiming health and culture as human rights: Yakama feminism in daily practice.
International Journal of Feminist Politics, 12(3), 361-380.
No comments:
Post a Comment