It’s been a pretty chilly January in NYC so far, and I’m writing on a holiday Monday that happens to be especially frigid. Tomorrow will supposedly be the coldest day of winter so far.
To be honest, I’m loving the coziness and quiet of this month. It’s similar to my love affair with January last year, though with a little more indoor time.
In any case, the thing I wanted to touch upon today was a series of conversations that I had with a few of my clients last week. It’s always interesting to me when several folks report similar challenges at around the same time.
What I kept hearing was the frustration that a form of treatment or dietary strategy that used to work was no longer working.
One of my clients has had a chronic health condition for years. Recently, she’s been frustrated to find that the tools she uses to manage it are no longer working. “It makes me feel as though I’m failing,” she said.
Another client expressed a similar kind of discouragement. Instead of feeling let down with herself, she told me that she feels “let down by my body.”
I hear these expressions of fear, disappointment, and vexation often.
Clients in their thirties and early forties suddenly find that they need more self-care—more sleep, more intentional nutrition, more stress management—than they used to.
Clients who’ve made their way through menopause often describe an entirely new experience of being in their bodies.
People can be surprised with new diagnoses, return diagnoses, or the spontaneous remission of symptoms at any time.
A meal pattern that was once practical can suddenly seem inconvenient or inaccessible.
All of this is a challenge to our fundamental desire for knowability and control. We want so badly to figure out something that makes us feel good, and then to keep doing that thing indefinitely. Yet that’s not the reality of inhabiting a body and living in the real world.
As the week wrapped up, I kept thinking about the definition of precision medicine: “to target the right treatments to the right patients at the right time.”
It’s the goal of all medicine, really, and it’s certainly my goal as a healthcare practitioner.
What works at one juncture may not work at another. Times change, bodies change, and we change internally. To acknowledge this is the opposite of failure; it’s adaptive and wise.
If you’re struggling to accept that you need something you didn’t need before, or that you can’t go on in the same way you used to, or that you have to let go of something that isn’t working, know that I’m sending you wishes of ease and acceptance.
I hope that the right tools will present themselves to you in the right time. Maybe one of them will become clear in the coming week.
Happy Monday, friends. Here are some recipes and reads.
Recipe
1. This recipe for no-knead olive bread looks both easy and delicious.
2. Could really dig into a hot bowl of vegan leek risotto today.
3. Likewise for this creamy beet soup. I’ve been making a lot of puréed vegetable soups this winter, and I’ll have to add a crimson-colored beet variation to my list.
4. Spicy garlic green beans (with flaky salt and lemon zest garnish), yum.
5. Vegan Italian bakery style butter cookies would be good reason to make a second round of cookie boxes.
Reads
1. Cooked dark, leafy greens are at the top of my list of calcium-rich combinations of vegan food. This article delves into more of their benefits for bone health and some considerations to keep in mind.
2. As reported by STAT, a new commission from Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology aims to decentralize BMI as the sole health assessment and criteria for diagnosing obesity. The commission is also making an effort to delineate types of obesity, drawing a distinction between “clinical” and “preclinical.” The preclinical category would likely include metabolically healthy obesity, or MHO.
As a practitioner, I’m glad for any widespread effort to add nuance to our understanding of the relationship between—and also the independence of—health and shape. But I have concerns about the proposed methodology, too, including (but not limited to) the patient’s experience of having anthropomorphic measurements taken at routine health appointments.
3. A lyrical reflection on the relationship between a place and its scent.
4. New research helps us to understand why the inherited mutation that causes Huntington’s disease takes so long to take effect.
5. Restaurants are not only a source of joy and fun in my life, but also an essential third space and source of community. I know that a lot of people have moved on from the memory of restaurants being shuttered during Covid, but I still think about it all the time. I shudder at the recollection of dark windows and locked doors at beloved, previously bustling spots.
This article is a reminder of how tenuous the existence of any restaurant truly is. It makes me think about the profound sadness and emptiness I always experience when a favorite eatery closes. It’s so important for those of us who love restaurants deeply to support them, because they give us so much.
My meal prep this week has featured a lot of appropriately wintery dishes.
One simple side dish that I made for the first time in a while was my citrusy sweet potato and butternut squash mash. It’s really delicious, and I’m not sure why I’ve ignored it for so long.
I also made the recipe from A Grain, a Green, a Bean that made it to the cover—freekeh, herbed chickpea cakes, and arugula with tahini dressing—and am looking forward to its zesty, lemony flavors.
To keep warm, I made the broccoli soup from Power Plates, and I’ll whip up my favorite crispy roasted chickpeas as a crunchy topping (with little bit of protein).
At some point this week, I want to share with you a new, fun breakfast that I enjoyed often during the holidays. It’s one of those viral recipes that I’m sort of reflexively resistant to trying, but it turned out so well and is a delight to eat.
More on that soon! Have a restful evening.
xo
You might also like
For me, the holiday season presents an opportunity to look back at the year behind me and practice gratitude for all I’ve experienced. One of the highlights of 2019 was having the opportunity to travel to South Korea, where I learned the story of Nasoya kimchi. I’ve long been a fan (and a proud ambassador) of Nasoya foods. The brand’s tofu is my go-to at home. I was so excited when I first got to sample Nasoya’s kimchi this summer: it’s completely vegan,…
Happy Sunday, friends. A lot of you have already tried this past week’s curried tahini pasta salad and given it a thumbs up, which makes me so happy to hear! I’m already excited to make it again. I’ve spent the last two days catching up on all of the stuff I didn’t take care of while I was wrapping up my spring semester: unanswered emails, chores, errands, cleaning, that sort of thing. There won’t be much of a breather this year, as my…
A quick little story: At one point this week, I got stuck on a subway car that was going nowhere fast. We’d been cruising along as usual, when suddenly the train slowed. And slowed. And came to a very full stop. I’m used to these moments on the New York City subway system. Short stops are common, but really long delays tend to be relatively unusual. This was a lengthy standstill. Even worse, we were stuck in a spot where my phone had…
Happy Sunday, friends, and happy Easter to those of you who are celebrating. It was a long and busy week here, but the weekend has brought a lot of happiness–namely, Steven’s and my two year anniversary yesterday. It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we met, both in such different places in our lives and living in DC. One move, two grad school programs, one career shift, and four semesters later, we’re still relishing the experience of living together and learning…
Leave a Comment
Thank you for this post, Gena – your words were exactly the words I need right now. At 54, I’m experiencing so much physical change right now, and along with that there’s the need, in order for me to stay physically well, to change a way of eating that has helped me to feel emotionally well for many years. It’s so challenging, and it makes me feel like I don’t know myself/my self anymore. Your words are compassionate and wise, and I’m grateful for them.