Below is a great poem by Roy Holman about maintaining balance in our lives

when it comes to our dietary “ideals,” but first I’d like to share with you a few of my

own thoughts on “dietary perfectionism”…

 

Although diet is important to our health, we must always remember not to focus

on our diet to the exclusion of other things…including fellowship with family and

friends.

 

And we mustn’t allow our diet to become a source of stress in and of

itself…because stress is just as bad for our health as a poor diet!

 

I know I have certainly fallen prey to some aspects of “trying to eat a perfect

diet” in the past. Heck, I struggle with bits of it from time to time still – I find that it’s

an ongoing journey, really, to find “peace” with what I eat. And even “what I eat”

seems to be constantly evolving.

 

It’s quite a balance to figure out just how much to allow yourself to read, research and

study…and just how much to look the other way and just live your life.

 

Of course improving your diet can help you feel better. That certainly was the case

with me – I resolved my Fibromyalgia symptoms by eliminating all food additives from

my diet back in 2007.

 

Buuuuuuuuuut…..there can come a point where cleaning up our diet

begins to have the opposite effect – like when we start stressing out that we’re not

eating well enough or we start worrying that we’re not “doing it right.”

 

Or when we start feeling guilty for the times when we eat foods that we’ve

deemed “unacceptable” for one reason or another. Or when we start losing even a

bit of our connection with others by ostracizing ourselves because of our

food choices or by making them feel “condemned” for their food choices when

we’re around.

 

Only we can know when we’ve crossed these lines with our dietary ideals, but

it’s an important thing to keep our eyes on!

 

If you have struggled with “dietary perfectionism,” I hope you enjoy this poem.

And I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

 

Ever find yourself yearning to return to those days when you hadn’t yet learned so much

about food?! I can relate! 🙂

 

I’m sure many of you reading this have overcome this habit of “dietary

perfectionism.” If so, please share your tips below in the comments section to help those

who still struggle!

 

“Eating Our Way to God”

 

by Roy Holman Copyright © 1999 by Roy Holman. All rights reserved. Contact author for permission to republish.

 

Sitting at the juice bar, one fine sunny day,

met a cool guy–called himself Ray.

We got to talking, about food and health and stuff,

he said he liked his bounty in the rough.

Feeling ignorant, I asked, “What do you mean?”

as I noticed, he appeared quite strong and lean.

“Raw food,” he said, “is the only way to go.”

I had to admit, he had quite a glow,

bright clear eyes–a look of confidence.

“Cooked food is dead,” he said, “It’s just common sense,

kills the life force, and every living enzyme,

wish we could talk more,” he said, “but I’m all out of time.”

So off he went, but left me quite certain,

my diet, I now knew, was causin’ all my hurtin’.

So raw I went, filled my home with sprouts and fruits,

grabbed the tofu, rice, and beans, and gave it all the boot.

Felt strong, light, and clear–oh, so fast,

I was committed–goodbye to poisons of the past!

Got so excited, told everyone I knew,

“I’ve found the key to happiness–you can do it too!”

They looked at me quite strangely, but what did they know?

So full of toxins, their brains are kinda slow,

to all that junk food, they can’t say no,

leaves their colons hangin’, heavy and low.

Several months later, lucky my fate,

ran into Ray again, helped me validate,

how righteous I was on this path of mine.

Ray himself was fasting–now on day nine!

“Raw food is key,” he said, “but hardly enough,

we need to fast, to clean out all the bad stuff.”

So home I went, tossed out all my food,

imagining my intestines, becoming all unglued.

Began my fast, ignoring warnings from my wife,

showed her Shelton’s book: Fasting Can Save Your Life!

She still didn’t get it, so I offered a clue:

“Jesus and Gandhi did it; they knew what to do.”

Two weeks later, and ten pounds lighter,

so cleansed I glowed, eyes never brighter.

But months later, and my vibrancy receded,

cravings and addictions of the past, crying to be heeded.

Feeling disappointed, not yet quite pure.

Was this the path? No longer was I sure.

I needed support, and this was my lucky day,

for who do I run into, but my good friend Ray!

Helped me confirm, “just a healing crisis,” he said,

but then I noticed, his eyes a bit red.

“What’s up Ray,” I asked, “you couldn’t be sick?”

“I’m fine, just fine,” he answered real quick.

“Silly thought,” I laughed, “of course you’re okay.”

“Just detoxing,” he mumbled, and quickly walked away.

One year later, was when I hit the wall,

weak or not, I had to heed the call.

Dyin’ for something cooked–Mexican sounded terrific,

or Thai or Chinese–but would it make me sick?

“I don’t care,” I cried, “gotta have it now,

” baked, fried, or barbecued, I didn’t care how.

Made sure no one saw me, looked up and down the street,

entered a buffet, sign said “All You Can Eat!”

Didn’t give doubt a chance–didn’t hesitate,

right to the food, filled a heaping, steaming plate.

What remained of guilt receded with that first bite.

How delicious–tasted oh so right!

Then, I couldn’t believe it, at first he looked away,

but eating at the very next table, was my good friend Ray!!

Our eyes met–a moment of shame,

I even felt pissed off–him I wanted to blame.

Then a huge smile slowly lit his face,

I felt all my anger disappear without a trace,

we stared in silence, giddy with the grace.

“Beat ya for seconds,” I cried; we grabbed our plates in a race.

We ran like children who never knew of guilt,

beautiful sculptures of delicacies on each plate we built.

We sat down together, Ray said, “You know,

raw food’s great, but I hadda say, Whoa!

When we get so focused on what we need to eat,

friends, family, and fun take a back seat.”

The waitress came by; I ordered a round of beers,

“I’m so tired,” I said, “of living life in fear,

I got so thin and yin, haven’t had sex in years!”

We laughed so hard, our eyes filled with tears.

“Seems we got too rigid,” said Ray, “our lives trying to perfect,

as if we joined some zealots, in some cult or crazy sect.

Moderation, balance, perhaps this is the key.”

“Except for today,” I said, “more food and beer for me!”

No more depriving my beautiful bod,

“Who says we can’t eat our way to God?”

—Roy Holman

This poem is reprinted from Roy Holman’s book, Poems from the Passionate Heart.  www.holmanhealthconnections.com.

 

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OMG! I just realized it’s been 2 years since I posted Part 1 of this article (in which I may have “promised” you more details “soon.” Ooooops!).

Well, better later than never, aye?

Okay…so…in Part 1, I explained that during the past several years of our travels, I’ve finally gotten up the nerve to lighten up a bit on my 100% additive-free diet.” I’d say I’m in more of an 80/20 sort of situation these days – 80% additive-free, 20% eating for fun, fellowship, etc.

After about 7 years of eating only “clean” foods and not eating any typical American processed foods nor going out to eat, nor partaking in social food events, etc., I’ve started doing all of these things now…at least to some extent.

(And I’m including a bunch of photos here of things I’ve eaten during the past few years for those of you who’d like to see some examples of exactly what I mean.)

Throughout the many years I spent coaching folks on how to clean up their diets, one of the most frequent questions I would get from readers and clients is, “Do you ever go out to eat?” And for many years, my answer was always, “No. never.”

And, really, that fact more than any other obstacle seemed to discourage people from eating “cleaner.” At the time, I really didn’t understand that because I felt soooooo good that I didn’t even desire to go out to eat or to partake in any foods that were less “clean” than I preferred.

Buuuuuuut….a few years ago, I started to feel differently about things.

Eventually, I just started to feel like I was “missing out” sometimes. And I’d never felt that way before.

During our full-time RV travels, we would sometimes come across cute, quirky little places that looked like they’d be fun places to dine. But I wouldn’t go.

Or we’d come across free samples of local fare, and I’d be too scared to try a bite.

Or we’d do a favor for someone along our journey, and they’d want to take us to dinner to thank us. And we’d politely decline.

And then..one day during our travels, we were on a tour of San Francisco. We landed in China Town at lunch time, and I could tell that Chad was longing for some Chinese food. (Before we started eating an additive-free diet,  we used to go out for Chinese food quite frequently.)

I knew I would make his day if I offered to eat Chinese food with him…in China Town.

So, I took the “plunge.” And, honestly, even as I’m writing this years later, I still can’t believe I did it. I was soooooooo nervous, and I didn’t eat very much. But it’s a memory we look back upon fondly. And I’m glad we did it!

I’m definitely not saying that any of this is good for my health, and I’m definitely not encouraging (or discouraging) you from doing the same.

But, I definitely wanted to post an update for you about how much my diet has changed these past few years.

I do, now, enjoy going out to eat (and ordering more than water!)…and I’ve eaten holiday meals (and “just because” meals) with family and friends on many, many occasions these past few years.

I’ve even eaten some regular ol’ processed candy just to see if I would like it the same as I did before I ever stopped eating it! (Turns out…not so much!) 

Basically, if I feel like I might be missing out on something these days…an experience… or fellowship…or sometimes just simply the flavor or convenience of something, then I’m generally willing to consider giving it a try.

Of course, I still fully believe it’s physiologically healthier to eat a 100% additive-free diet. And I’ve actually been inching my way back closer to that end of the spectrum lately.

I have put on some weight these past few years (which I can’t say is entirely due to the dietary changes, of course), and I don’t always feel quite as amazingly healthy as I used to. But, for now, the joy and freedom I gain from being less strict with my diet is totally worth it!

I definitely believe that our health is determined by many factors in addition to our diets…with our mental state being very high on the list. You may disagree, and that’s okay.

Loosening up on my dietary restrictions has brought me much excitement and fellowship and also encouraged me to believe that I’ll be able to travel more freely in the future (perhaps internationally?) without having to be so 100% concerned with every ingredient in every thing that passes through my lips.

And that has been so incredibly liberating!

So…how about you? Do you eat an entirely additive-free diet? Why or why not?

What factors do you consider when deciding whether or not to eat certain foods? We’d love to hear from you!

Oh, and here are a bunch of additional pics from the past few years in case you want to see more…