What the joy of eating means to me: my journey with cooking, nutrition, and balance so far.
At my young age of 23, you can take my "always" with a pinch of pink Himalayan crystal salt if you'd like to, but I know no other truth than to say wholeheartedly that I have always loved food. And when I began delving into the world of preparing it for myself, I learned that I also have always loved to cook... I just hadn't done all that much of it.
I have now spent years cooking for myself, my roommates, my boyfriend, my fundraisers, and whatever else sets my hand to skillet, and am entirely enveloped in the world of developing meals that are healthy and fulfilling, complex but doable for the at-home chef, indulgent and affordable, and meet the dietary restrictions and preferences of as many of my beloved dinner guests as possible. To me, cooking well is a creative outlet, a necessity, and an intricate puzzle with multiple, delicious solutions.
I like to cook fresh, and I like to have options. Variety, authenticity, and atmosphere are at the root of what makes my life feel complete - whether I am at home alone or feeding a room chock-full of my loved ones.
A few years ago, some medical ... frustrations... sent me rather dramatically into the world of the Body Ecology Diet. I had been raised around a pescetarian mother, a meat and adventure loving father, a vegan best friend (living in a household of only natural and unprocessed items), and an abundant mixture of vegetarian, Halal-practicing, Kosher-keeping, or allergy having families. With this upbringing I was well accustomed to meals that met a diverse set of needs, very welcome to the idea that not every meal was solely centered around a primary meat and/or grain. Alongside this, my Sri Lankan heritage, Filipino environment, multi-cultural schoolmates, American exposure, and years of travel also primed me well for an openness to spices and complex cooking. To herbal or natural healing tools as well as more traditional medicines, to substitutes for dairy or gluten-based products, to "unconventional" cooking uses of particular ingredients (as compared to the norms of my college friends), and to the important role of familiar or unfamiliar comfort foods in filling the heart with a sense of "home" no matter where you are.
All this meant that when I decided to attempt the Body Ecology Diet, cutting all sugars (including fruits and juices), dairy, legumes, yeast, and more out of my daily life and actively focus on food combining and developing beneficial microflora, to easing digestion and kill negative bacteria in my system, I knew that it was something worth trying.
I had never lived a particularly unhealthy lifestyle and have in fact gravitated towards fresh fruits and vegetables with an aversion to regular consumption of milk, bread, or greasy foods from the get-go... but even still I struggled with the BED big time. There were many frustrations for me: the endeavor was expensive, time consuming, difficult to explain, restrictive in my social experiences, painful at times, and easy to be swayed to cheat side (macaroni and cheese and chili being my boyfriend's go-to, low budget, weight-gain meal at the time and paired with fruit juices, my primary weakness). Mentally, changing the way I lived and nourished myself was exhausting.
Eventually, I more or less learned to master the shift as a challenge, using it as an excuse for experimentation and delving deeper into peculiar aisles of Wegman's and specialty stalls of the local farmer's markets in search of xanthan gum and kimchi dogs. Although I was feeling significantly lighter and more committed with time, when the worst of my health concerns were over (and I had just moved to Rome for 6 months) I was glad to be done with the strict do and don't guidelines.
I gladly embraced fruits and natural sugars again for the sake of gelato and spremuta, incorporated beans and meats into my soups or other homemade meals, reintroduced some gluten and cheese for rich pasta (an array of dishes I had little care for before living in Italy) and beautiful pizzas sold by weight just down the way. Bringing this all back, of course, required me to train in the art of moderation. Relapse and rapid weight gain were not appealing to me by any means.
In trying to marry my two worlds, I found that I had come out of the BED having learned to balance my meals and value salads and smoothies as a more meaningful source of daily nutrients. I suddenly had become equipped with grains like quinoa, black rice, and millet flour; convenient and filling milk substitutes like flavoured kefir and almond milk; a host of exciting resources for recipe ideas; and a whole new outlook on feeding myself. My body and mind were both remarkably happier in this in between space than they had ever been. Even more fun was folding in the task of cooking for 8 other girls all with biases for or against different nuts, cheeses, spices, and vegetables, with a budget in mind, and while on an incredibly demanding school and travel schedule. I became aware for the first time that I could be expressive, even eloquent, with the food I put on the table.
Since then, my cooking and eating habits have shifted back and forth, for better or worse, leaning one way or the other in terms of cost, nutrition, freshness, ease, homemade (ness?), time, method, and originality.
I now live with just one roommate and prepare meals only for myself. Over time, I have learned to find my own balance of maximizing flavour, health, indulgence, and craving satisfaction, all the while limiting waste, exhaustion, and time spent.
I don't fall specifically into any defined category like vegan, celiac, dairy free, pescetarian, meat-lover, foodie, etc. and I embrace that readily. I take pride in eating well for my body, mind, heart, and soul and strive to reduce my harms on the environment and other beings wherever possible. More than anything, I am excited to be adventuring into the world of feel good, culinary delight and love having the opportunity to learn from and share with you.
With ladles of love and lemonade,
the_btb
