I am not that good at compromising…unless it suits me 😉
But I find the best way to make a compromise is to rename it…less compromise…which is just 7 letters longer than fail…and more “adjustments”.
I have been aware for some time that my Diet change has had a far greater impact on the family than I ever anticipated. The total removal of red meat from my diet was at first tolerated – because it was over the summer & I could eat fish & chicken whilst everyone else enjoyed burgers or pulled pork from the smoker. But over the winter season the impact on the family has been less welcome. At first, because I was away enough on various work or conference trips that the Little People could sneak in the odd steak or chop no comment was made….but then we loomed towards Easter & I faced revolt!
The prospect of a Turkey or even a huge salmon was met with cries of “not again”…and so I made an adjustment….once every month or two we would have a joint that involved red meat.
An adjustment that I didn’t exactly feel too tortured by if I am honest….The Mr is a demon in the kitchen & the Beef Rib was unbelievable. The fact that it came with 8 veg side dishes was a bonus….and the fridge was bursting with deliciousness for days!
I shall also share a picture of the dessert options…if only to reiterate my previous comment of the fact that these compromises are only a problem if they don’t suit me….whilst I have generally reduced refined sugars….there are certain compromises that are a step too far & not indulging over Easter is ludicrous.
So I learn to adjust the diet “rules” a bit where needed….but I haven’t been as successful in all ways.
You see we grow so much of our own veg – and from early summer onwards much of the green veg we eat is organic & comes from 2 metres outside the front door…that I forget that from Christmas onwards we no longer have this bounty at our disposal….and I haven’t been buying it as much as I should be.
So we haven’t been eating as much of the good stuff.
I have – rightly or wrongly – been trying to make these changes to my diet without external influence – doing it all by food.
The flaw to this plan is tiredness….I have been tired.
Now I know that most of you will be reading this & just laugh…of course I have been tired I am trying to hold down a challenging full time job & organise a conference at the same time….and yet just to be on the safe side I felt it best to get my bloods checked.
If I am honest I wasn’t really thinking of the tiredness bit when I had the bloods taken – I was more thinking Vitamin D.
Melanoma patients are notoriously deficient in Vitamin D & this can cause problems – not just the famous issues like rickets – and I was concerned that I wasn’t getting enough Vitamin D through diet alone.
It turns out that my Vitamin D levels are well within normal parameters – must be all those long walks on spring days.
My test results did however highlight lower than ideal B12 levels & very low Iron levels. At this point they are considered too low to fix through diet alone. I have been advised to take a course of Iron supplements for 3 months, then get the bloods re-tested & as long as the levels are brought back to closer to “normal” I can continue to improve the balance through diet alone & have learnt my lesson that over winter months I need to adjust the family diet to allow for the fact that I need to purchase more Dark green veg than I normally do.
This…is an acceptable compromise…an adjustment for my benefit.
Accepting the sting in the wallet as I replace all the Little peoples drinking bottles with stainless steel canisters rather than Plastic bottles is also acceptable….it’s beyond scary how reliant we are upon plastic & even more concerning that we are not educated about the potential chemical leeching through our plastics into our bodies & the harm this can & is causing.
I feel no need to enforce a lecture…but would recommend the viewing of THIS for those that want to know more.
Compromises that are less beneficial adjustments & more bitter pills are those that involve the conference plans.
I am not so good at learning to accept that I can’t seem to convince enough companies to sponsor the event in time to ensure it is everything that I set out to make it.
I am going to need to compromise.
As long as I can call it an interim adjustment…I will do my best to make the tweaks to my plan without throwing too many toys out of my pram!