On dinner plates and pogo sticks: The quest for balance

by Erin Roush
Freshlife Director of Wellness Services

One hundred and thirteen. That was my 9-year-old son’s standing record for consecutive jumps on his pogo stick. If I concentrate on my breathing and posture, I can stand on one foot, walk on the curb instead of the sidewalk, even pace the length of a room with a book perched on my head. But I cannot, no matter how many times I have tried, bounce on that pogo stick even once. I attribute this inability to a lack of balance.

Balance, as it pertains to Levi on the pogo stick, means the ability to maintain equilibrium. Applied to describing one’s food choices, balance means a harmonious or satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements. While all three of my beautiful children may posses physical balance beyond my ability at 30 something, they are dependent on my knowledge and intuition (with great protest at times) to provide them with a balanced diet.

When making food selections, my personal conviction is to maintain balance with little to no animal derived products in our household. While most of the items in my grocery cart, market baskets, refrigerator and pantry are organic and plant sourced, you may occasionally see a free-range egg or wild-caught salmon fillet on my plate. Because I make exceptions and allowances for myself and my family, I hesitate to put a label on our eating style. I suppose if I felt the need to define my diet it would look something like this: pescetarian (vegetarian who eats certain types of fish on occasion), wheat-free, dairy-free (except for raw organic cheese’s in moderation), low or no added sugar (and absolutely no HFCS, aspartame or sucralose), chemical-free, fair-trade when available, (mostly) organic, local and seasonal (when possible), favoring raw. Ridiculous right?

Vegan, vegetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescetarian, locavore, omnivore: do you have a label? I could sum it all up by saying I am mostly vegetarian, striving to reduce my chemical burden by choosing organically grown foods, and lower my carbon footprint by seeking local purveyors. The most recent label I stumbled across pertaining to one’s food choices was “flexitarian.” According to Wikipedia, “A self-described flexitarian seeks to decrease meat consumption without eliminating it entirely from his or her diet. There are no guidelines for how much or how little meat one must eat before being classified a flexitarian.” This label would best describe the rest of my family who tolerates my vegetarian preferences but still craves free-range poultry foods a couple times a week and grass-fed beef on occasion.

Let’s leave all this confusing labeling for a moment and return to the boyhood charm of a 9-year-old on a quest to beat his bouncing record. He recently came close to quadrupling his record with a new high of 400 (I counted myself). In addition to this incredible ability to balance, my son has a propensity to ask questions. Sometimes at lightening speed in succession, the questions just fly out of his mouth. On more than one occasion his battery of questions has begun with “do we eat as healthy as so-and-so?” or “does so-and-so eat as healthy as we do?” Because we are blessed with a diverse community of friends, family, and acquaintances, our children have been exposed to a variety of diet and lifestyle choices. Ranging from raw food vegans, to those who keep laying hens or hunt to stock their freezers with venison, our exposure to a range of choices has lead to very interesting dialogue about why we eat the way we do. I admit that for years I struggled with the same comparisons, and I always felt I fell short in the area of commitment to a label. I suppose it was that self-imposed guilt that lead me to drop the label and strive for balance.

Having grown up on cereal with milk and fruit for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, and the classic meat-potato-vegetable combo for dinner, I was left with a very unbalanced plate when I first eliminated meat from my diet. My first attempt at vegetarianism lead to a host of problems because I did not understand my need for protein. I thought I could just take the meat off my plate, double up on the carbs, and obtain optimal health. It is not uncommon for young people to follow this course of substituting cheese, or “fake meats,” or refined carbs for adequate and complete protein sources. I have seen many unhealthy and often overweight teens and young adults on this path. Fortunately, I received the guidance needed to develop a balanced diet - not just eliminating the meat, but understanding the principles of healthy eating. The following guidelines allow me to enjoy food without guilt and equip my children to embrace their best health.

• Know where your food comes from
• Eat real food, less of it, and mostly plants
• Buy local, organic, free-range, and fair-trade
• Incorporate the colors of the rainbow (fruit loops don’t count)
• At the very least, consider becoming a “less-meatatarian”

Interesting and compelling facts for reducing meat consumption

• Sixteen times more fossil fuels are needed to create one steak than to produce a plate of broccoli, egg- plant, cauliflower and rice.
• 28% of the world’s assessed fishery stocks are “overexploited or depleted,” according to a 2008 estimate from the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• Forty dollars’ worth of grains and vegetables is a lot of food. Forty dollars for meat and cheese won’t go nearly as far.
• Choosing not to eat meat is not a sacrifice, but rather a celebration of the abundance and diversity of food.

So what do I eat?

Today I had a gluten-free multigrain english muffin with coconut oil and a handful of almonds for breakfast. At lunchtime, I threw together a salad with greens and raw veggies dressed with raspberry vinegarette and topped with a black bean patty. For dinner tonight I’ll probably have grilled mixed vegetables and sprouted organic tofu. Two days this week I ate nothing but fresh fruit until dinner because my body needed a break from dense foods. Tomorrow I may feel the need for an egg and wilted greens for breakfast, or a few ounces of tuna steak with my dinner. It is ultimately not an “ism,” but rather about listening to my body and maintaining balance. Where’s that pogo stick?

Myth: Vegetarians must complement plant proteins at every meal in order to end up with the entire range of amino acids necessary to meet our protein-building needs.

Fact: A variety of foods including vegetables, grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds can be eaten over the course of a day, because complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the same meal.

Here is what the World Health Organization Study Group has to say about our evolving understanding on the subject of protein: “ Progressively, it was realized that even in totally vegetarian diets containing a diversity of foods, plant sources tended to complement each other in amino acid supply. If the energy needs of the child or adult are met by these diets, then so are the protein needs.”

For more information on how to be a healthy vegetarian, or omnivore for that matter, I recommend the book “The New Becoming Vegetarian” by Melina and Davis, available for purchase in the Freshlife book department. If you truly wish to make changes in your food choices but don’t know where to begin, consider treating yourself to a nutritional consultation. Ask a Freshlife wellness coach for more information.