You EAT that?

This post is different than others. At previous assignments, people were ok with the fact that I do things differently than they do. It was just an accepted fact that I ate weird foods that people had never heard of, but in a certain friend's words, "Obviously it's not harming you any. You're healthier than most of us." Right on, sister. I am healthier than really anyone else I know, and I believe it is because I eat pretty well most of the time. And yes, for me, eating well includes things a lot of people have never heard of. (I am still floored at how many people have never heard of tabouleh!) Before I came here, that was fine. Everyone knew that I wasn't interested in recipes from the usual suspects (Campbell's Kitchen, Craft Foods, etc) because I do not cook out of cans and packets, and that if I showed up to a potluck, it would be with a big heaping bowl of some vegetarian delicacy nobody had ever heard of. It was my thing, and my people were ok with it. Some of them even liked my food enough to ask for the recipes, or at least request that I bring it next time, too!

Here, it's nothing like that. I shop at certain stores that are a little more expensive than many other stores here in town. I have tried the cheaper stores, but I really could not find the foods we eat there. For one, I do use a lot of southern ingredients, and the only place to get those is on post. (FYI, for anyone reading this, southern does not equal fried and fatty. Do not stereotype me that way.) For another, I buy things like flax meal, kefir, and as many organic products as possible, and those things are only available in certain stores. It's just the way things are. I'm ok with the fact that we spend more on groceries than a lot of people. I'm also ok with the fact that we spend 1/10 as much on pediatrician bills than the others would if they were on our same policy (because our kids are never sick. Knock on wood.), and that I weigh roughly half what the cheap food shoppers weigh, and will probably outlive them by decades, and in better long-term health. This is NOT coincidental, nor 100% attributable to genes (maybe 50%, if that).

I'm not shoving these facts in their faces, though. I figure they own mirrors, and can see what their out-of-this-world consumption is doing to them. Why rub it in? Even so, they always tell me, when I so much as mention food, or going shopping, or meal planning (as in, "Well, I've got to get going now. I need to work on the menu for the next two weeks." or "I've gotta stop and pick up a few things on my way home."), that they save a bunch of money by shopping at Store X (not its real name). I have told them 150 times by now that I tried shopping at Store X, and was totally miserable because they barely had anything that I actually wanted to feed my family. Then whenever I say that, three more of them chime in about how there's no feeling in the world like saving money. At which point I'm tempted to say there's no feeling in the world like being thin without effort, and healthy without medication, but I hold my tongue... I always do when it comes to these fools.

The point is that they don't GET the point! They're so hell bent on converting me to their side that they are always just poking me with these little jabs at the way I live. No, I do not CARE that disposable diapers are on sale at Store Y. Have you EVER seen my son wear a disposable diaper? That's because he never has. Not once. I DON'T CARE that they have supersized boxes of Lucky Charms for dirt cheap at Store X. Do my kids LOOK like I feed them that crap? I really do not care how much you saved by buying all your groceries at Store X. I've seen what these people eat, and let's just say, it's not doing them any favors. I thought one in particular was in her mid-30's, and was SHOCKED when I found out she was 23. That's the most drastic case, but all the Store X zombies look at least 5 years older than they are. I don't know how old I look, but people tell me mid-late 20's, and late 20's is right, so obviously it could be worse. In any case, let's just say a dumpy woman who weighs twice what I do, looks 10 years older than she is, and drives around in her gas-guzzling SUV all day long, while wearing pajamas 24/7, is definitely not something I seek to emulate.

People live their way. I'm not trying to change them, and it's quite annoying that they appear to be trying relentlessly to change me. Maybe they think I think I'm better than them. On a human level, I don't. Do I think I am more knowledgeable? You bet. Better informed? Oh yes. Healthier, fitter, going to live longer barring freak accidents? Definitely. These are facts, though. Anyone with any knowledge at all of nutrition, or the human body, would cringe at their diets. I don't (openly) cringe when I watch them stuff their faces with three days' worth of calories at a sitting, but I surely do not intend to participate in their slow-paced mass suicide at any point this lifetime either! They need to get this memo, and fast.