I met a co-worker at my vegan cafe this morning for breakfast. He called me yesterday to tell me he took my advice and watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" on Netflix. He has been asking me about food and such this past week. I've always been the guy who brought fruit, salads, smoothies, nuts and endless bananas to eat at work, so he wanted input. He is overweight, a cancer survivor and diabetic. He's tried many things to lose weight and none have worked. As any of you who are diabetics know, losing weight is tough. You can work very hard and seemingly eat nothing, yet not lose a pound. I think he is feeling the itch to try something new and real. My advice to him was farily predictable: Switch to a mainly vegan diet with as much raw food as he can manage, avoid any processed foods (especially white flour, white sugar and added salt), use juice or smoothies for nutritional supplementation, and get in some exercise. He understood, but you could tell he wasn't sure. His love affair with food is deep and powerful. His family owns a restaurant that is an institution in our area. This is as much emotional as it is biological. He called again later to tell me he wanted to get a juicer. I wasn't sure he was ready for the commitment. I know I should encourage him to jump in, but I think doing things being driven purely by emotion and without thinking it through can lead to disappointment and discouragement. I told him that he might consider going to the vegan cafe and trying things out for a week. It would cost a bunch, but less than buying a juicer and never using it. Rebooting is like owning a puppy, it is a commitment. And, as we all know, the Reboot is not an end, just the jump-start to a new way of eating and thinking. On my recommendation he purchased Dr. Fuhrman's book for his iPad and said he'd meet us. He was eager to jump in and all was well. He tried a custom juice. I am worried about juice with him as it will certainly raise insulin more readily than most any other calories if he isn't careful with fruit and sugar. I told him to watch the fruit and to get a salad to go with it. He enjoyed it all very much. Will he continue? I don't know. I don't feel it is my job to be an evangelist for healthy living, but I do feel like I need to be a supportive friend. Like all of us, he is susceptible to temptation, so I do all I can to keep him honest. If I see him eating something I know is not best for his health, I chide him, but with love. At this point, I've gone over all the pros and cons with him. Intellectually he knows. Mentally and physically it is hard. I know. At this point all I can do is encourage him.
While at the cafe I had them make me up a smoothie. I've been taking photos of my smoothie(s) religiously since the start. Today, it just blew by me. When I got home to make my afternoon smoothie I realized my lapse and just rolled my eyes. Then, I stopped and I smiled. I was taken back to the French class. No, I didn't dream of a lovely lunch at an intimate Parisian bistro. But I realized that I was now comfortable with all this. The novelty was wearing off. It was just how I ate. I didn't think it was special enough to record for posterity. Combine that with my matter-of-fact conversation with my friend and all the pieces came into place. This way of eating, while familiar to me, was now re-imprinting itself on my psyche. This is the expected thing. My hope is that in thirty days my friend will start to order juice without even thinking, too. I hope that his food choices will be narrowed to the best things possible because he has made friends with this new way and found it to be a faithful companion. And, I hope I will be looking back on my full Reboot with gratitude and joy, having rekindled a relationship with an old friend as my current friend starts a new one of his own. Bonne chance à mes amis.
Progress:
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| I am 45% through the 60 days. |
Weight: 146.3 lbs.
Food: Fruit/Veg Smoothie With Hemp Seed
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| Missed the photo of the smoothie I bought. |
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