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The zen of boring meals
Has anyone on here looked at how we eat and how we think about food beyond the nutrients and toxins?
In last 32 months of dealing with sempai (older vA people) and kohei (people new to vA) I noticed the biggest beef people have with low vA is how restrictive the diet is. For last 40 plus years I experimented with as many diets for as long as I could. Most I stuck with more than ten years. I wanted to be sure to stick to the diet well enough to know whether or not it worked. I wanted to avoid being a tourist or to just have a taste of the diet. I saw too many people claim to have tried a diet after doing most of the requirements for 30 or 40 days and giving up. And remember cheat days once a week for sure.
So it was hard for me the first 15 months sympathizing with people who could not bring themselves to cut their vA intake below the RDA. Sure giving up the supplements was easy. But giving up pork or eggs or yams or carrots or whatever was impossible. Remember hearing and reading studies proving that carrots are more addictive than cigarettes. So it all makes sense. And where I see signs of addictive behavior that makes me go harder to that point. I learned in 1990's that the one food we crave and think about constantly is usually the one giving us the worst symptoms every time we eat it. That is addiction. Or worse giving us symptoms when we do not eat it. That is withdrawal. Much worse.
So what happens to us when we eat a boring limited diet? If it is deficient in something important, then we can expect symptoms. Ice cream might excite most people for the first 2 or 3 meals. First hand experience, ice cream gets boring fast beyond that. And it starts to hurt.
What happens when we eat a boring limited diet that is sufficient in everything we need? Ever go on a well supplied camping trip? Not a lot of value in packing variety when tasked with carrying what we will eat. Go more than a week hunting, fishing or just camping and count on it. Hunger is the best sauce. Simple meals of meat and grain get the job done. No need for fancy coloring agents, entrees and whatnots.
When I was a kid my Dad bought a fast food restaurant similar to BurgerKing. I ate flame broiled hamburgers 4 times a day for 2 years. Never tired of it. Loved it. Refused to trade with kids at school during lunch. Kids fought over sitting near me in case I brought an extra burger to lunch. Never once got tired of it. Bored? Yeh sure. And loved it. Cold, hot, whatever. Hamburger with one pickle maybe catsup. Every day all day. My health was crazy good. My siblings were off at college. They all had cavities. I had none until I was 25 (and eating vegetarian for 5 years).
So the point of all this -
What are the odds we are made to be bored with our food WHILE we enjoy it? Where is the science that we need to vary our diet? How many farmers, back when the majority of the population was farmers, how many farmers ate mostly the same thing day in and day out depending on the seasons? How many were bored in a good way with excellent food everyday? Anyone know any Amish farmers personally?
It has immensely simplified my life, and this is for a person that is simple to begin with. Sure, it costs more, but only because I'm buying fancy beef from a local yokel. I got 60 lbs of dried beans and rice for $75 a few days ago, which will last me a few months. I like Grant's calling it a "prison diet" because when I make my massive tin enamel plate of beef, beans and rice, it is light years better than anything a prison would offer. It is a symptom of our times, that you're depriving yourself by confining yourself to perennial staples. Self discipline is exercised. Patience. Continence. People living in one place wouldn't vary their diet. It would be impractical and unnecessary. Lusting after food in the way that "food scientists" encourage with their flavor enhancers is obviously not natural. Foodies are an abomination. It is my theory that after the report from Iron Mountain in the late 60's our dear leaders determined that while armies fight on their bellies, people will die on them as well, and in a much more gradual, controllable, profitable and incognito way. The almighty "healthcare spend" is the best way to blow through money while controlling population on a grand scale. The report from Iron Mountain only elaborated why this waste of capital was necessary to the stability of nation states. But hot on its heels followed the supplementation and the closing of the gold window. Obviously it's all hands on deck since the deliberate destruction of the environment elucidated as desirable in that report is also proceeding apace. An existential crisis which can only be solved by a central authority. It's so damned tiresome, but I agree with you, this simple diet is eminently desirable, especially in these times.
This channel is interesting to see how people used to eat (not as much variety). It may not be a ‘good diet’ but it did allow people to survive and led to a new generation (otherwise we wouldn’t be here). May be the body is built to go far on little (which is why we may not need as much supplementation as we are conditioned to think we need - although deficiency is bad, we wouldn’t have survived if we needed excessive quantities of the vitamins we now ingest regularly). It makes more sense to me that humans could survive on less so they could adapt to different environments and the body would utilise vitamins and minerals in the most efficient way to ensure survival. The channel also brings to life some foods mentioned in discussions, like portable soup
I was eating meat, rice, veggie meals last 25 years. I am a master of boring meals hahaha
If you have any tips on discipline, motivation and the emotional connection to food let us know! It is hard when you may not see immediate results and when the diet is long term (although the bad effects from not following the diet should be motivation enough). I have found that it helps to keep the end goal in sight
I resistant to the idea that eating should require discipline! :). But then again, I'm on the slow boat. Without disciplining myself, I actually find myself eating less and less sugar lately. I actually haven't been making lowering sugar a goal but it is happening on it's own. And wanting less and less spice. I like the un-interrupted taste of the actual food. And I never want ice cream, which is startling. I've written about how I now don't crave eggs.
Things make my eating life "fun" I splurge on dairy foods like cheese, milk, yogurt and small amounts of butter. I adore pineapple. I crave salt. White wheat foods such as the dry cookie part of oreos (but not the cream filling), pretzels, Italian bread, pasta. Morning coffee, and tiny amounts of red wine or booze (away from sleep time). I also sometimes do eat spicy food, mostly in a social setting (because the young people in my life insist on cooking that way). Pickles and cucumbers are huge here with us. Every now and then I get an urge for apple or banana. Salty peanuts, white corn products. Nothin like potato chips with a sandwich. Cold cuts, for that matter are sometimes fun. And we do use mayonnaise!
I guess the question is, what are you craving and is it VA-worthy?
Yes, food should be enjoyable. I just miss the freedom of being able to eat most things without having to worry about pain and the other vitamin A effects and not having to worry about ‘allergies/food intolerances’ (I didn’t have these before the vaccine so I can remember what good health/strength felt like). I don’t have cravings as such (I did want ice cream at the beginning of the diet which is strange as I didn’t really like it before as the cold hurt my teeth) and I’ve never been a foodie or gone on fad diets. I would like to eat more vegetables and dairy although I can now (after 2 1/2 years after the vaccine), eat some bread and wheat without it making my whole body weak, so perhaps some of the micro-holes in the organs (caused by retinoic acid) have healed. I miss having to curb social activities because it is seen as antisocial not to eat and just having to think about food so much - before it was fuel to keep going and made me feel physically good (as food should!). Now, it has become a source of physical pain and sadness as the vaccine damage is so great - not sure if it’s even possible to recover from extreme vaccine damage so it’s helpful to hear others’ reports.
eg before it would be possible to eat a jacket potato with cheese or beans, or vegetable lasagne, or dahl, or fish and chips, or an omelette, or a cheese sandwich, or quiche, or soup, spaghetti/pasta with tomato sauce etc - everyday meals that were not problematic before but would be now because of the chemicals/technology (we don’t know for sure) that have been put in our bodies.
I hear you. I do eat those things; sometimes I pay the price though, haha
I have been experimenting with some meals eg (1) turkey mince, pinto beans and rice/tapioca noodle soup (with some dessicated coconut, not coconut milk) and a splash of lime juice (2) white corn tortilla with turkey mince and pinto beans and onions (3) turkey mince and pinto bean casserole (using the bean juice).