here we go again

I am southern. When I went to college, I was required to take a Health & Lifetime Fitness class. Part of the class was nutrition. No problem, I thought. I'm a southern girl who helped a little in the fields growing up, we put up vegetables every summer, and I have good eating habits, other than the occasional binging on chocolate chip cookies and drinking Dr. Pepper to make me stay up late when I had a test the next day. I knew how to eat properly!

Until we actually hit the chapter on breaking down our meals and keeping a food journal. Before class began on that chapter, again, I had been down that road before. Only this time I was thrown a curve ball. Here's some of my favorite southern foods, specifically including my favorite vegetables:

Sweet tea- okay, I know this is a drink and not a vegetable, but this was a treat until I went to college. Sweet tea was for when I was sick, special occasions, or after we had a glass of milk and THEN a glass of water at supper and were STILL thirsty. When I got to college, tea became my coffee. I drank it breakfast, lunch, and supper. When I broke my foot my junior year, my Mother insisted it was because I had quit drinking milk at 2 of my 3 meals.  Sweet tea is not only delicious, it is VERY high in both calories and carbs. It's not to be found on the healthy person's diet.

Corn shucking contests - what southern kid didn't experience this growing up? Sometimes I cheated and peeled back the shucks a little before everyone got out there so I could put the wormy ones in my brother's pile. That saved a lot of time and grossness on my part. :) But guess what? This delicious vegetable is considered a STARCH! (in other words, it's high in carbohydrates). My freezer is full of this home-grown goodness, but it's a veggie we must back off of. :(

Crowder peas - I LOVED shelling peas as a kid 'cause it meant we got to sit inside in the air conditioner AND we could watch TV for more than one hour! We had to shell until we were finished! :)  Of course, there's also nothing better than peas and cornbread and a few pickles or beets.....which translates as Starch, Starch, and an additional starch! When did vegetables become bad for you?

Fried chicken - growing up,we only had this at potlucks (family get-togethers and church meals - 3x a year) and my birthday. It's still one of my favorite meats, and the last few years I've probably had it as many times as my whole childhood put together. Definitely considered a starch (because it's fried) and unhealthy.

Sweet peas, or English peas as my Daddy called them. This was one of the few veggies we got out of a can and didn't grow (Dad refused to grow something he didn't like).  My favorite way to eat these as a kid was to mix them into my mashed potatoes. But again...my health book labeled these as a STARCH!

My all-time favorite vegetable. I could eat a meal of just lima beans (or butterbeans as the Bryan family calls them). They supposedly help my iron count (according to my doctor growing up) BUT...my health book labels them as a STARCH!

Potatoes...mashed, boiled, french-fried, baked, hash-browned... I think this is one of the most versatile vegetables that exists, and was a staple at our house growing up. But guess what?  Yeah, STARCH!

Why does all this matter? My Dad was diagnosed with diabetes. Two people in this household have tested for sugar levels a tad on the high side, though still within the safety range. (I won't tell you which two people, so don't ask. :)   And since I'm supposed to be losing weight anyway, it's time to get a little serious. I can't become too serious about this or I will go crazy. I firmly believe all things should be in moderation.

But it drives me absolutely insane to know that all the vegetables I grew up eating and were taught were healthy, which are also some of my favorite foods, are now on my eat "minimal" amounts list. I like lettuce, and cabbage, and broccoli, but I don't want to eat them every day. My aunt who worked on several Indian reservations used to lament about doctors telling patients they had to quit eating all the foods they knew (cornbread, corn, peas, potatoes, etc) instead of teaching them how to eat them in moderate amounts and pair them with other healthier foods (I cringe just typing that about a vegetable!) I thought it was crazy the first time I heard it, but know I totally get what she was saying. Vegetables are not supposed to be bad for you, but now these "experts" are telling me all the vegetables I like are not that great.  Huh?

So now, I get to return to something I hate: meal planning and food journaling. And that stinks worse than the smell of cabbage or collards cooking.