HEALTH

You’ve come a long way

NUTRISPEAK Vesanto Melina MS, RD

Do you feel guilty? No, that’s too mild. Let’s put it another way. Are you guilty? I’ll bet a lot of you answered a big resounding “Yes.” It just came automatically. But what, exactly, are you guilty of? In case the list that immediately formed in your mind isn’t long enough, here are a few points you might add. 1. You just ate a huge piece of chocolate cake, even though you had resolved never to do that again. 2. You know that you ought to join AA, but you can’t bring yourself to admit to your problem in a church basement full of people. (Plus, there’s that higher power thing.) 3. Heart disease (or breast or colon cancer, or diabetes) runs in your family, but you have hardly cut a morsel of fat out of your diet. 4. You are exhausted from work, plus caring for a family, and rarely have the energy left to assemble decent school lunches for your kids. 5. You never got to the gym all week. 6. You haven’t gotten to the gym yet this year (despite having a membership). 7. You bought discounted products that were a real bargain even though you know if you looked at their labels they’d contain awful ingredients – cook ies loaded with transfats, shampoo full of slaughterhouse by-products and chips with a fat content that’s over the moon. 8. You know that if you tried on your bathing suit, the bulges of flab would be even bigger than they were last year. 9. You’ve heard that the best step to reduce global warming is to cut animal products from your diet, but you can’t bear to eliminate bacon or cheese pizza. 10. You know that wheat brings on allergic reactions, but sometimes you want it anyway – or it might be coffee, dairy or sugar.

When I consult with my nutrition cli ents, I am often surprised by the myriad ways in which we make ourselves feel guilty. We expect superhuman achievements. We drive ourselves so hard. Where does all this guilt get us?

Aren’t you parenting as well as you can manage right now, considering all the conflicting pulls on your time and energy? Aren’t you beginning to accomplish a few shifts in your habits? Although you haven’t checked off every item on your imaginary to-do list, didn’t you, in fact, recently perform several kind acts?

Can you release a little of the pres Give guilt the shake

As it turns out, guilt is not such an effective motivator of good behaviour. It may even make you resist exercise and eat more bad stuff, leading to more pounds. It’s better to get on with enjoying life and simply do your best. Perhaps you won’t drop the guilt habit over night, but there comes a time when you have to say “Enough!” Give yourself credit. Take pride in what you are able to accomplish. Meanwhile, here’s a recipe that’s pretty much guilt-free. Quick Chocolate Shake

If you have leftover bananas, you may freeze them; ripe bananas are especially sweet. Peel them, leave whole or break into chunks. Place in plastic bags or containers and freeze. A sprinkling of fresh lemon juice will keep them from turning brown. 1 peeled banana, fresh or frozen 10 ml (2 tsp) cocoa powder (or to taste) 175 ml (3/4 cup) fortified soy milk or rice milk

Place banana, cocoa and milk in a blender and process until smooth. Makes 300 ml (1 ¼ cups).

Nutritional analysis using fortified vanilla soymilk: calories: 175; protein: 7 g; fat: 3 g; carbohydrate: 35 g; dietary fibre: 4 g; calcium: 222 mg; iron: 1 mg; magnesium: 52 mg; zinc: 1.8 mg; vitamin B12: 2.3 mcg. sure to be so darn prefect? When you look back to five years ago, you may see that you’ve come a long way in achiev ing valuable goals. It’s worth taking a moment to pat yourself on the back, take a deep breath and smile. You aren’t doing so badly, after all.

Vesanto Melina is a dietitian and author of nutrition classics Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, Raising Vegetarian Children and the Food Allergy Survival Guide. She offers personal consultations from Langley or (during April) in Vancouver. 604-882-6782, www.nutrispeak.com Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving. – Irma Bombeck

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