What CAN you eat?

Food is such a bone of contention, isn't it? It is our most primal human activity, eating, and yet it has become so complicated. I'd be lying if I said I did not like it better before we knew what we know. Things were so much simpler back then (as every generation before me has said). But, I like to believe the 80's were the last bastion of simplicity. Especially when it comes to food.

My most favorite memory from my childhood was 'pizza night'. Do you remember when pizza was a big deal? On rare occasions, my mother would decide we would have pizza for dinner. She would call my Dad at the office and inform him of the plan & give him the pick up instructions. She would then call the pizza restaurant and place the order. Now this was of the upmost importance. Pizza was such a rare treat and really pretty much the only time we, as the kids, were allowed any input as to what was for dinner. My mom would turn to us, sitting on the flipped over ironing board stool by the phone on the kitchen wall and ask, "What kind of pizza do you want?" The wave of joy that came over me in not just being given a choice, but more-so, not being judged for that choice, was intoxicating.

I had endured, during my childhood, many moments of anguish on long family vacation car trips for being the only person in the car who "needed" their drive-thru cheeseburger to be made plain. This inevitably caused my Dad to be told to 'pull forward' and wait for the burger place people to bring it out. These precious and painful immobile car minutes, completely throwing off the good time my Dad had been making, seemed endless to me - as the person solely responsible for them. My stomach would start aching the moment they decided to go to a burger joint drive through to grab a bite on the way to the lake. I knew how this was going to go. I'd wait 'til last to say what to shout into the giant clown mouth speaker, I would dare to utter the word, "plain". The resulting eye-roll was like a dagger in my gut. We'd pull forward & wait for my precious, everyone else already eating. By the time I received my food, I was too sick to my stomach from the guilt of just wanting my food the way I wanted it that I'd be unable to eat. (You can see how that guilt builds.)

So, you can understand how amazing pizza night was. I was given a choice. It was okay to get what I wanted. That 1/4 of the pizza with double cheese was mine, all mine. The only thing that made it taste better was the glass bottle of Pepsi my mom would pop open, with the olive green bottle opener. She'd pour it out over 2 small jelly jar glasses full of ice for my brother and I. Pizza night was the best. It was simple. It was a treat. It was permission to want what you want, the way you want it.

Food is such a personal thing. We are judged by what we eat, what we don't eat, how we eat it, and how much. It takes a lifetime to harness control over our nutrition. Not only are we trying to settle those demons from our childhood of having to finish our plates or having to choke down the burger with mustard, pickles, and onions because the person ordering it "forgot" to say plain & spent good money on it, but we are also trying to figure out how food makes us feel - mentally and physically. Once we come to that point, we again feel our eating is on display and subject of judgement. I have gotten to a point in my life where I feel I have a pretty good understanding of what nourishment feeds my vessel, but it is often met with that dreaded question, "Well, what CAN you eat then?!"

That question is a tricky one to answer. I often pause and ask the person back if they truly want to have the conversation. The list of what foods I try to avoid is long and most certainly a great deal of it is in the asking person's diet. Thus, leading that person to feel defensive, guilty, and look to me as some kind of a guide. The question of what 'can' I eat is, in and of itself, a telling question. The thought process that food is something you can or cannot have stems from restrictive diet thinking. I do not believe in food rules, in the 'do as I do' diet guru mentality. I often tell the asking person, we can get into this if you truly want to, but you will leave our conversation thinking I am weird and feeling confused about your choices. What I eat really should be of no concern. The answer is this, I CAN eat anything I choose to eat.

My hunt to change my nutrition began in my Doctor's office a little over a year ago. I was fed up with feeling lower abdominal bloating, literally, all time. I was also trying to learn all I could about how to fight against menopausal weight gain and muscle loss. My physician, also a woman, asked if I had tried the FODMAP style of eating. She gave me a sheet of paper which laid out all the do's & don'ts and while it looks like a very comprehensive and well thought out nutrition plan, it was so complicated to me. There was no way I was going to be able to remember the lists and still be able cook for my family that night. I continued to feel lost, bloated, and scared that I was on the well-traveled road of all those 50 year old's who came before me.

I hate when we are forced to accept things because 'that's just how it is' or my favorite, 'well, you are getting older.' I refuse to accept these excuses. You need to look no further than my personal hero, Dara Torres, to debunk these myths. Dara is the fastest swimmer in American history. She has swum in 5 Olympics, and in 2008 at the age of 41, was the oldest swimmer to ever make the U.S. Olympic team. Dara inspires me and reinforces in my mind dreams ARE attainable at any age. Age is a mindset. It is a number based on mindset. I say let the mindset gauge the number.

Dara Torres by Robert Maxwell

Dara Torres, Getty Images Jamie Squire

So my search for a simple nutrition solution continued. One thing I have learned about my vessel over the last 49 years is that sugar greatly affects my mental health. I have found a direct correlation, for me, between too much sugar and mental depression. This I know to me true about me. So, this is where I started. I began to research sugar, belly bloat, turning 50, and how this all relates to each other. I landed on a resource which really spoke to me and made sense based on my experiences. Through Dr. Becky Gillapsy, I have learned that I am not crazy, and what I have been feeling, physically and mentally, are valid and rooted in nutrition - namely sugar and starchy carbohydrates. It is not my intention to teach her plan or even explain it, suffice it to say we started the 0,1,2,3 Plan and then decided to try the 21-Day Low Carb Challenge after that. We have never looked back. My belly bloat went away, my mental health improved, my physical health improved, my weight came down, and in general I just felt better. If I had to give the style of eating a name, I would call it an anti-inflammatory diet. And, while the list of what I choose not to eat is long, the remaining options are simple, flavorful, and truly enjoyable. Eating out is slightly difficult, but as long as steak and salad is on the menu it's really not an issue.

I highly encourage you to check out Dr. Becky Gillapsy and her various plans if you are feeling at all lost or discouraged coming into your 50's. We have learned so much about nutrition, aging, and our physical and mental health through her research. Change is not easy, especially when it comes to nutrition and exercise. For me, a switch just flipped one day and I decided I had enough of feeling sad, bloated, and scared. Being able to make one small change at a time allowed me to harness that fear and face it.

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship." ~Louisa May Alcott

Simple Summer Salad

Combine the following ingredients for a delicious and low carb summer salad.

One low starchy veggie salad a day is step "1" in Dr. Becky's "0,1,2,3" simple plan.

• Torn Fresh Greens: Romain, Spinach, & Arugula

• Roasted Chickpeas: approximately 50g (12g carb) (Spread chickpeas on a sheet pan, toss with salt and roast at 350 for a few minutes to make them crunchy and delicious.)

• 1 Medium Tomato chopped: 5g carb

• Avocado: 146g diced in chunks: 12g carbs

• Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette: Combine ingredients in a jar and shake to blend. Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar (3:1 ratio) and dash salt/pepper. Add herbs and/or Dijon mustard to jazz it up!