Part One | Part TwoPart Two
By: Jean Johnson for Reflux1
Jill Schmidt’s story is one to which many overweight and obese people might relate. She was born into a chaotic family environment to parents who had addictions of their own – her father was alcoholic and her mother, and grandmother and great grandmother were all big eaters – “large Midwestern ladies in print dresses.”
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Seen the food pyramid?
The Harvard School of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Pyramid. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “this new pyramid fixes fundamental flaws in the USDA pyramid and offers sound information to help people make better choices about what to eat.”
The Harvard School of Public Health Recommends:
base of pyramid
Whole Grain Foods (at most meals).
Plant Oils: olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other vegetable oils.
Vegetables (in abundance) and Fruits (2 to 3 times).
Fish, Poultry, and Eggs (0 to 2 times).
Nuts and Legumes (1 to 3 times)
Dairy or Calcium Supplement (1 to 2 times).
Red Meat and Butter (Use Sparingly).
White Rice, White Bread, Potatoes, White Pasta, Soda, and Sweets (Use Sparingly).
top of pyramid
Many processed foods and many foods in restaurants have added sugar. Eating fruit more often than fruit juice, staying away from processed foods and cooking your own meals can help reduce eating too much sugar in your regular diet.
A Good Read
Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World, by Gina Mallet was published in 2004 by W.W. Norton in New York.
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“Yes, I came into life with an interest in drugging myself with food. When I was three years old, I sat down in front of the tomato vine and gobbled up every last fruit that was even borderline ripe, even though I didn’t like vegetables. After that experience I couldn’t eat tomatoes until I was 20,” said Schmidt.“And I used to go over to the neighbors to eat a second breakfast when I was just a toddler as well. The adults in my life considered it all sort of cute I guess,” Schmidt said, “But after I got old enough to learn how to sneak candy and keep a box of Betty Crocker cake mix and tablespoon stashed in my bedroom closet it was different. I still remember my fourth grade teacher telling me that I was fat and needed to eat my vegetables in front of my little girlfriends in the cafeteria. That was the first time I realized I had a problem. Poor little thing. After the teacher walked away and my friends started tittering, I puffed myself up real fierce and said, ‘Well, what was I supposed to say?’”
Schmidt says her first diets started when she was in high school. “I’d lose 20 or 30 pounds and look great for a few weeks, or a month even, only to balloon back up. All the diets were wigged out – grapefruit and hard boiled eggs, that sort of thing.
“It wasn’t until years later after college, when I’d figured out how to binge one day and then fast the next to keep my weight down, that I found a hospital-sponsored program that was sensible. It was basically a diabetic exchange plan: Low on fats and sugars, and balanced between proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. It was the first time in my life I’d eaten in a reasonable way and I was in my 30s.
“I was writing my dissertation back then from my home, so I was also able to cook a fair amount. ‘Laurel’s Kitchen’ was my guide. The authors were conscious about paring down the fat and ramping up the whole grains and whole foods. It was like finding a whole new world – a window into the wonderful world of California cuisine.”
But while Laurel’s Kitchen taught Schmidt a lot, she never did get away from her penchant for creamy, buttery sweets. “For me it’s never been just sugar. Hard candies can sit around my house for years. It’s when sugar gets added to rich dairy products or stirred into cookies or melted into fine chocolates (and not so fine) that I cave. I can make great meals all day long that are based on Mediterranean cuisine, and I haven’t been into a fast food joint since the 60s – unless you count schlepping over to Dairy Queen for a disgusting dip cone on my darker nights.
“When it comes to dessert, however, look out! One piece only makes me want the whole tart, or cake, or box of whatever. I’m so embarrassed about the behavior. That’s why I know swearing off is the only way for me. At least at this point I’ve not found a wiser solution.”
In addition to OA, Schmidt’s reading on sugar seems to be helping her. “The stuff really is drug – like right down to the tiny white crystals. Most OAers avoid sugar. They call it ‘recoiling from a hot flame.’ I know I should have right away when I found OA, but dear ‘sug’ always kept calling me back,” Schmidt said. “Until this past year.
“In part it was when I read a section of Gina Mallet’s ‘Last Chance to Eat.’ Her words packed a wallop. She was talking about how we’ve lost all the heirloom apples because the big food market chains support growers who turn out what Mallet calls ‘soda pop apples.’ Her point is that we’ve lost so much of our sophistication of taste that we just want food as sweet as we can get it.”
The particular line from Mallet’s work that resonated with Schmidt reads: “Sugar is the industrial narcotic, so bland it is preferred over any taste that causes the mouth to pucker even a tiny bit.
“Yes,” Schmidt said. “I guess it was the term ‘industrial narcotic’ that got to me. I haven’t had sugar since I read that line. I’m down 60 pounds from my high when I had to wear the long skirts and down 20 pounds from a year ago. I know my resolve won’t last if I don’t work my OA program, so I’m trying to stay right on top of that as well. I know I’m a new convert but I’ve been hammering away at this problem for decades. Perhaps this time there really is long-term hope for me.”
Continued in Part Three
