It is a very serious choice, you know, to completely give up a common food type. Firstly, it can make you an ungracious guest. I know that I always try to accommodate my guests if I know they have a food aversion. That is me being a hostess. The host/hostess is required, pretty much by definition to do whatever he/she possibly can to promote the comfort and enjoyment of his/her guest. HOWEVER! Being a good guest (a lost art, in my opinion) is showing outward appreciation for his/her host/hostess' (English language really needs a neutral pronoun....) efforts while being as little extra trouble as he/she can. I once had a house guest very politely ask if he could call long distance to Chicago for a social call while staying at my family's house. This was back before cell phones or free long distance of any kind. Can you believe that? Ridiculous! And of course the only polite answer was yes. The point is that having a long list of dietary concerns that are not necessary is adding to the burden of guest-hood.
Secondly, the body is... How to describe? Um...the body is like a multi-tasking mom. It can handle a lot at once, but it has no patience for rescinding your lunch order. Hee. That's pretty good. Here is what I mean: I have noticed during my slow stroll through life is that once you give up something, you are no longer tolerant to it. My allergies were negligible until I moved away from the allergens, and then moved back. Now, oak pollen can make me feel pretty bad. Similarly, I have known someone who gave up dairy, and then became intolerant to it when she tried to add it back in. The same happened to a long time friend from way back. She became a vegetarian, but was quite sick when she un-became one and added meat back in to her diet. Adding it back in is the real issue. Your choice might begin a philosophical one, but it very well may end up a medical one. (Just think of universal food tolerance to be like a muscle. It needs exercise to stay strong!)
What I would recommend instead, is to limit your food of un-choice, instead of cutting it out. You can have dairy free Saturday. Or you can give dairy up and only eat it on Saturday. Then, if you are somewhere where yogurt is what is being served, you can politely accept and your body won't throw her hands in the air and send you to the corner, metaphorically speaking.
Personally, I eat dairy daily on purpose for the calcium. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped doing that I would be lactose intolerant inside a month, and would have to resort to pills. Don't need more pills in my life if I can accomplish the same goal by eating a balanced meal.
We went to the zoo yesterday! It was pretty great. St. Louis Zoo is really one of the best. I took the kids and Michelle, and we met Theresa there. Later, Emilee and her kids joined us for a while. What a great day! We saw the elusive bat-eared fox, and one of the gorillas looked right at Abbie. Natalie was working at the insectarium, so we got a private tour of the research room! We looked and looked for the otters that allegedly live on Historic Hill, but as usual I didn't see anything but their sign. The one in the children's zoo was cheerfully playing, though! The butterflies were out like crazy in the butterfly house, and it was super nice and very empty in the bird house. The kids and I shared a quesadilla from the Lake Side Café, and I had brought applesauce and crackers to fill in the corners. It was a great day. We walked for 8 hours straight. After we dropped Michelle off, the kids and I had dinner at Panera Bread (a.k.a. St. Louis Bread Co.).
Happy Otter
Having a restful day today, and then tomorrow is a baptism for Josh's niece. Still having swim lessons, music lessons and ballgames, too. Whew! So much going on!
Hope you are having a happy weekend! The weather is great!
No comments:
Post a Comment