The Way I Eat

With new visitors coming to this blog all the time, I realize it would be helpful to include a brief synopsis of the macrobiotic diet I follow and why I eat this way. As of Monday, this post will remain prominently at the top right of this page. Getting Started tips will be right below, and you can always learn more/get more details by perusing the archives of this site and my Web site, too.

Macrobiotics is somewhat flexible, in that it can be tailored to suit the specific needs of people, depending on their conditions. Someone needing to heal from disease, for example, would follow a much stricter diet (sometimes starting with little or no oil) than someone who is healthy and just wanting to reap the many benefits of macrobiotics (a person in this position might eat more fish, raw fruit or fruit desserts).

I eat this way because I thoroughly enjoy it (and now can't imagine eating any other way!), and because I believe it keeps me healthy. As many of you already know, I started eating macrobiotically after my breast cancer doctors all-but gave up on me. At the point when they told me to make my peace with God, I learned about some women who had been helped by following a macrobiotic diet. I had NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain by giving it a shot.

Within weeks of changing my diet, my health started to dramatically improve. And here I am 9 1/2 years later, at age 50, feeling healthier than I ever have. I consider myself living proof that macrobiotics works, and feel compelled to share this knowledge.

So ... in a nutshell, here's what a macrobiotic — a.k.a. plant-based diet — is about:

DOs:
Organic whole grains, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables (seaweeds), soups, some fruit, and some seafood.

DON'Ts:
Junk or highly chemicalized processed foods, dairy, animal products (and yes, this means saying no to cheese and eggs, too!) Fish is the exception, though personally I have recently decided to eliminate it from my diet because of mercury and other toxic chemicals frequently found in many types of fish.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Children and pregnant women are the exception and not my expertise. But from what I've learned from other people, practicing macrobiotics children are given eggs and other animal foods occasionally and more fruit and desserts. Pregnant women should have whatever they want and should not attempt a change of diet while pregnant. Someone like longtime macrobiotic practitioners Wendy Esko, who raised her many children this way, or Luchi Baranda from the Kushi Institute could better answer these questions on children.

While a macro diet may at first seem limited, believe or not (!), I've found over the past nine years that my diet is far more varied than when I was eating a typical American's diet.

BEYOND THE FOOD:
Macrobiotics also is about doing healthy things for your body, including eating three balanced meals a day, not eating three hours before bedtime, getting exercise, chewing your food well, eating reasonable portions, and — actually sitting down and taking your time to eat!

TO LEARN MORE:
My first book, Becoming Whole, much more thoroughly explains macrobiotics and how I got started with it, and contains many great recipes and a month-long Healing Diet menu planner.

Further, I recommend you read, study, take cooking classes! And perhaps make an appointment with a qualified macrobiotic counselor, especially if you're trying to heal from a serious illness. Becoming Whole includes a directory of macrobiotic counselors that I recommend, listed by geographic region and internationally.

Best of luck to you on your own journeys to excellent health! Love, Meg

Comments

[Ricki]

A really useful summary, Meg. And strangely, I've also found more variety in my diet since I eliminated a whole bunch of foods--I think eating this way encourages one to try out other, previously untried, ingredients, thereby opening up a whole new range of possibilities!

[Meg Wolff]

Ricki,
Isn't it amazing how much variety there is and all the foods untried out there?! Yes, a whole new range of possibilities!

[Nicole]

This is really helpful and clear. You hear so many conflicting things about what macrobiotics is and isn't... you have proved with your recipes how not-limiting this diet really is.

[San]

Meg, this way of eating sounds delicious and satisfying. Especially the taking time to ENJOY a meal. I find that I eat the most poorly when I am stressed and tend to put things in my mouth unconsciously.

As I've said before, you are radiant! It is perfectly believable that you feel the healthiest you ever have.

[Meg Wolff]

Nicole,
I'm glad that you found this helpful. I hope to help make it a bit easier to understand. I do think there is a lot of misinformation about what it actually is. I plan to write more. Thanks for the feedback.

San,
Yes, sitting down and taking time to enjoy our meals IS as important as the food we eat. And believe me, I am so much better for it now ... it has truly changed every aspect of my life in ways that I couldn't have imagined! Thanks for the compliment ... I will follow you anywhere. :-)

[Lisa]

Hi Meg! Thanks for the comment on my blog. Your blog is a wealth of fantastic information! ... and I totally agree with Ricki's comment above! I have introduced far more new foods to my repertoire than I have eliminated by becoming a vegetarian!!

[Meg Wolff]

Hi Lisa,
It is great that you have introduced far more new foods since becoming vegetarian. You have some fantastic recipes too!

[Pritya]

Dear Meg,
I read about you in http://jugalbandi.info/2008/04/muhammara-roasted-red-pepper-and-walnut-dip.
And your write up here is so inspiring, with your openness and optimism. This is a lovely site and I shall be visiting here more often.
Take care and Cheers!

[Meg Wolff]

Dear Pritya,
Thank you for your kind words. Please do visit again and I will visit you as well!

[Ellen Wallace]

Hi Meg, just to say I discovered your site via the cybermacro forum and what a delight it is! Beautiful photos useful information and what a wonderful story you tell, so inspiring.

I do not have a serious health problem (and for this I am so grateful) but I have lost several women close and dear to me to cancer, and I am sure that macrobiotics can lead to health and happiness for ourselves and also the planet. Thanks for all your hard work producing such a lovely blog. All the very best from Sweden - EJ

[Meg Wolff]

Dear Ellen,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment and for helping spread the word that there is a lot we can do to regain our health and that of the planet.

[maria]

hi meg
i've just been looking through your blog - very useful information for me, as my mothre died of breast cancer.
i can't imagine eating completely macrobiotically - i can give up meat quite happily, but not cheese - but i like the idea of eating lots of grains and vegetables; that's pretty much how we eat on a daily basis in our home.
at the moment, no one in my house is suffering from a serious health problem (my mother in law is 84 and takes no medication whatsoever apart from calcium supplements), and i'd like to believe that this is partly due to our consumption of greens that we grow ourselves.
there's so much we can do to improve our quality of life through nature itself

[Debbie]

Very interesting Meg! You really are someone who is not only surviving ...but thriving! My husband and I spent three weeks at the Pritikin Clinic a number of years ago. It sounds a bit similar in that it is a plant based diet with lots of complex carbohydrates. Unfortunately, we've gotten away from eating that way and we've both gained some weight. I think I need to spend more time on your site.

Thanks for sharing what has worked for you!

[Debbie]

Sorry Meg- I refreshed my page because it seemed stuck and my comment was posted twice! I don't know if you can delete it. Debbie

[ummelbanat]

This is my 1st time at your blog & I'm I have to thank you for the amount of usefull information you've taken the time to put up on your site....

It amazing to read about your recovery...
I'm practicing the macrobiotic diet but in baby steps...& what's amazing to me is that my body protests now when I feed it junk!!!

I'll be visiting your site alot thanks for being an inspiration.

[Betsy]

Dear Meg,

I just had a major realization today--for the past week or so I've been kind of depressed, which was odd, because my husband was just offered a new job. We were so excited and relieved, so this feeling of depression and listlessness took me off guard. Then I realized that my husband and I had been eating really poorly after learning of the offer--some kind of release, I guess? I don't know. But really, pizza, ice cream, a 20-oz. soda, all in one week? I feel sick just thinking of it.

I now realize my malaise is very likely a response to all that sugar and dairy. I never put it together before, but now it seems so incredibly clear . . . Tomorrow's breakfast is oatmeal and maybe even some kale.