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A New Menu
Monday, February 06, 2006

Today is the first day that I am on a new diet plan. Over the course of about two years (and a dozen medical problems), I am finally sorting everything out. My medication is all taken care of, and I am now at the hard part, which is bringing down my weight.

I have high blood pressure. It is not very high, but it is far too high for someone my age. The weight gain caused from the myriad health problems is starting to affect my body adversely. Last week I saw a nutritionist. Her plan for me to come home and toss everything I am not supposed to eat or am supposed to limit (to be added back slowly) is unreasonable, if only because I need the time to determine what, exactly, I can eat.

I went to the grocery store over the weekend and took some time just determining what I can have to eat and what I cannot have. I am supposed to limit my sodium intake to 2,000 milligrams a day. In reality, this intake is not very low, but for most Americans, it is more than we eat in the time span of one day.

Approaching food in this way, as if it is an enemy and not a friend, is not a fun way to look at eating. We are a culture that enjoys eating. We do it to fellowship with friends and family; we do it to comfort ourselves. After a day or two of whining about how unfair it is, I decided to be proactive about the whole situation.

I went to the grocery store and started looking. If you have every changed the way you eat completely, then you will understand my frustration. It is difficult to create a whole menu based on the sodium requirements I have because it seems as if everything is off-limits. Instead I decided for a different approach.

First I told myself that I could have two weeks to observe my sodium intake without getting overly concerned about it. I am keeping a constant watch on my sodium intake for everyday. I am keeping a list with the food and its sodium content, and I am adding them up throughout the day. Right now, at 4:30 p.m. on my first day, I have had 1,060 milligrams of sodium, about half of my daily goal.

I am, however, making some fairly drastic changes. I am limiting my portions by using measuring cups and spoons to dip out what I am allowed to have. I am calculating the sodium in every part of each meal. Portion sizes are one of the biggest problems that Americans have when it comes to food. Instead of have four ounces of meat, which is about the size of a deck of playing cards, we order 12, 14, and 16-ounce steaks. Those meals are two to three days of meat in one.

Beyond the serving sizes, I have limited myself to a very basic meal. I bought chicken breasts and boneless pork chops. I also bought several bags of various frozen vegetables. I can no longer eat canned vegetables. The frozen ones (while not as tasty as fresh) are economical and have little sodium in them. So, my dinner every night this week will consist of a piece of meat baked with spices that do not contain sodium, two vegetables steamed, and seasoned (not salted) brown rice. While that may not sound tasty, it will keep my under my sodium intake everyday. Dinner is about 390 milligrams of sodium. The menu for this week is pretty bland, but I will be researching so that I can help my family to find new favorites.

We are approaching this diet, and the daunting task of my losing sixty pounds, as a new adventure. We are looking at it as if we are ready to learn about new foods. We are willing to try new dishes and replace our old, not-so-healthy ones, with new ones. In some instances, we are merely substituting, such as homemade spaghetti sauce with the store-bought kind. In other cases, I am sure, we will find completely new foods to tickle our palettes.

By Julia Mercer

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