Let's All Quit Sugar! (Sort of) and Let's all be Flexitarians

I saw Kris Carr's (http://kriscarr.com) documentary "Crazy Sexy Cancer" before my mom got cancer the first time.  And though this was years before I would, as an adult, buy her books and start to really think about the path I wanted my lifestyle habits to follow, it struck a cord with me. Here was this really cool person (I was a teenager, so cool was important) that had this terrible disease but was doing all these super neat alternative things about it. Drinking wheatgrass?! Totally gross! But totally cool.... so cool was this woman. I instantly loved her. And I know she wanted me to love her. She was banking on the fact that I, an american teenage girl, would be seduced by her ballsy attitude and raucous vernacular. But even now, as a responsible adult who hardly ever uses raucous vernacular, I am confident she is more concerned with saving my life (or at the very least insuring that I have a fulfilled one) then selling me a program. And so even now as I try desperately to bridge the worlds of the like of Kris Carr and Sarah Wilson (http://www.sarahwilson.com) I know I will keep the basis of me, the raw foodie at heart. I can't turn back on that. I know my inner being feels at peace when my diet is light to heavy through out the day and when I limit dairy and heavy animal proteins. I know that, especially now as my mother battles cancer for the second time (caused by the treatment that saved her life the first time) (dramatic twist!!) , she and I have more than just wanting to be less bloated or thin, we need to save our lives. Heavy stuff. We were talking in the kitchen yesterday (we are spending a lot of time there now, as I am usually found chopping or shoving things in a blender more on that later) about how this eating plan has not been hard for her to stick with. She does not crave the sugar and she feels really good. I must inject here, because many of you do not know my mother personally, she and my father both work intense, life engulfing jobs, that pay really well, but take over your whole existence. So needless to say, they both have been living off of packaged foods and take out for a long, long time. As you can guess, no Starbucks lattés and no Sonic is a big big deal. But this is real life and yesterday (with all the construction going on in her house and two roommates under the age of 11) we ended up at Yogurt Mountain and Longhorn Steakhouse (in that order).  About three ounces of sugar free yogurt, salmon with green beans and salad later, we counted the night a success. Essentially my mother and I are solidifying our commitment to a Flexitarian (http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/flexitarian/bgp-20056276)  diet. In a broad sense begin a Flexitarian means that the largest part of your daily nutritional intake comes from a vegan or vegetarian philosophy and but you would not turn your nose at the flank steak dinner your girlfriend painstakingly prepared for you to celebrate your two and half month anniversary. You live in a world of give and take (with the compass always pointing more often to veggie island). Meat and dairy choices are organic and sustainable whenever available. In a more strict sense Flexitarian diets are vegan/vegetarian until dinner. Yet, again, I know I need more flex in my Flexitarianism. I may have a vegan day, followed by a ovo lacto day that was capped by a t-rex kind of dinner. Who knows, I am a bit of a wild card. But as my mother stated in her kitchen yesterday, "It really does make sense, and really is the way everyone should be eating!" We are experiencing a collective AH HA moment. And yes, it did take cancer to get everyone on the same page. But that's ok. Because right now, despite the chemo and the doctors appointments, I get to share green juice with my mom and give her praise every day she marks off her calendar that she stuck to her commitment to controlling our sugar intake. Not only that, but our two roommates under 11 (who are still allowed cookies, more on that later) are watching us. And just as I adored the coolness of Kris Carr and still feel that admiration and inspiration even now, I hope they look back at this time and don't remember that Mema was sick, I hope instead that they remember us drinking green juice and laughing.

There is little success where there is little laughter.

-Andrew Carnegie