Back Off, Foodie!

Sometimes food enthusiasts get on my nerves.  They remind me of evangelicals in the worst sense.  Like, you know there are some cool evangelicals who say, “I go to church here; if you’d like you can check it out with me next Sunday,” and then there are the ones who say, “If you don’t believe exactly the way I do you will burn in Hell forever while I mock you as I stand in Heaven next to my bff, Jesus.”

Sometimes foodies can be a bit overzealous too.  I know it’s for good reasons – they found something that works for them and want to share it with the world – but one shoe cannot fit all feet.

When I was in college my friend became vegan and then turned into a total pain in the ass.  I’d join her in the cafeteria with a burger and just before I’d take a bite she’d say, “Are you enjoying your flesh?”  in a holier-than-thou tone, to which I responded, “Yup!” and took an extra big gulp (’cause I can be obnoxious too.)

Another acquaintance didn’t eat meat, wheat or sugar, but would get drunk on occasion.  I was surviving on Ramen Noodles and Spaghetti-O’s, because that’s all I could afford, and she told me how bad that was.  I was in agreement with her, until she felt the need to tell me that foods ferment at different rates in our stomachs and everything I ate was rotting in my intestines, but a diet like hers did not ferment at all, which made her bowel movements have no scent.

…You caught that, right?  She literally told me that her s*** didn’t stink.

Fast forward about 20 years, and now I’m eating clean and healthy.  But if I ever turn into a zealot like those two chicks, please tell me to shut up.  Because if they had just toned down their rhetoric a tad, I would have been more open to trying new foods, which in all honesty, would have been lot better than what I was eating.

Last year I was reading a blog, Life With A Dash Of Pepper, by a mom who also was a bodybuilder and vegan.  She wasn’t in-your-face, just offered recipes and told what what worked for her personally.  In other words, she was cool about it.  So I tried my first vegan meal, and it was pretty tasty.  Am I going vegan?  Nah, I love meat too much.  But an occasional meatless Monday is something I will try out.

I preach about eating clean 6 times per day, because that’s what works for me, and hope that reading this blog inspires you to give it a try.  That said, there is a reason why bodybuilding is such a niche sport – it’s really hard to cook up and eat six healthy meals from scratch every day!  So, if you find that Weight Watchers, or the Paleo Diet, or some other healthy meal plan works for you, then go for it.  We are all trying to reach the same goal – a healthy body.  Follow the path that is right for you and when you talk to others about it, try to build a bridge instead of a wall.

What are your thoughts?  Does passionate food rhetoric challenge you to change or does it turn you off?

Lisa

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