The one part about my job that I love is my one on one patient visits. Whether it's introducing a woman to her baby's heartbeat for the first time at 10 weeks, or counseling new parents that, yes a lil' jaundice and weight loss is normal in their 3 day old, or when I sit down with patient with newly diagnosed diabetes or perhaps, pre-diabetes.
Just the other day, it was my sheer and honest pleasure to tell a 50 something year old woman with CRA-ZAY out of control diabetes and super non compliant that "sorry, a watermelon-only diet is actually NOT good for your diabetes......", and "yah, maybe you should stop drinking 4 cans of pop a day..."
I also recently had a blind, elderly Ethiopian chef tell me that he is BLESSED he has diabetes. WHAT?! He continued to say plainly, that he is grateful that it's not HIV, or it's not cancer. It's something he can live with and manage and he is thankful to God that he's still alive to tell other people about his journey with diabetes. (ummmm perfect patient). He continued to express his genuine gratitude for the physicians and nurses who saved his life (he called them saviors) by telling him how nutrition, exercise and stress all impacted his health. Wow... this sweet gentleman renewed my spirits and gave me more motivation to do what I do daily - counsel patients on basic nutrition and exercise principles and to help them set small goals to be healthier.
Not quite sure when my general interest in nutrition started.... It definitely was not when I was a kid, when I hated all veggies except for corn and potatoes. I think I even called my mom the night I ate some carrots and/or a salad for the
first time in the cafeteria my JUNIOR year of college. She was proud, but probably thought I was pretty pathetic.....
I know I got a big whiff of nutrition, health snobs, and diet fads galore when I moved to Denver 2 years ago. At times, the health conscious population could be kinda annoying and I felt I had to sneak around when I wanted a cookie or explain myself if I felt the desire to order a diet coke and fries when I was with my friends. It's also slightly refreshing and nice to be around people so aware of food! I did an experiment one month where I went on a nutritional cleanse with no processed foods (like none), no chocolate, coffee, or meat. It was so darn hard, but it was so darn awesome. I learned a lot about different types of produce that I never would have tried. I reset my taste buds to decrease my affinity for sweets. I discovered how my body functioned and felt when I was chalked full of spinach, kale and berries. It was cool! But honestly, I was so relieved to eat cheese again. ahhhhhh gouda.
Since the nutritional cleanse, I've definitely fallen off the "no processed" train onto the yogurt lovin', qdoba eatin' track. Not that I'm a complete mess, but I've got some room for improvement.
Tonight I watched a documentary you may have heard of "Forks over knives". Basically, two physicians review their extensive and solid research that tells us a plant based diet can prevent and even reverse many chronic illnesses that plague our society today. They argue that animal protein found in meats and dairy can actually promote cancer growth. well crap. I love cheese and yogurt.
I do think that it is absolutely fascinating that God has designed our bodies in such a way that physically respond to the nutritious garden he has so creatively made for us! He has created an environment in which we can thrive from veggies, grains, beans and fruit! However, I think He has also created food to be a social and fun outlet as well. It's a balance that I'm still looking for.
Ideally, I'd love to be a plant only eater and help my body thrive in the matter that God intended (thinking way back to Adam and Eve...) However, with 40 hr work weeks, a bacon and milk lovin' husband, and a passion for honey flavored Noosa yogurt, I've got some challenges.
I'm going to go pinterest some vegetarian recipes.
