Why am I so Afraid of Vegetables?

On a typical trip to the produce department of our grocery store, my first stop is right to the fruit. During the summertime, there is plenty of eye candy …fresh strawberries, cherries, watermelon! After picking out a wide selection, I turn to the vegetables. This is when I speed past “the section” – the rows of all those things I don’t know what to do with: collard greens, kale, fennel, turnips, beets, leeks and even the broccoli and cauliflower.

Nearly every time, I think to myself that someday I will cross the threshold to that section and start using some of those healthy things in my diet. The thought quickly vanishes as I push onward to the red bell peppers, pre-washed lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and other things that I am used to eating, and find are quick to prepare. If I am feeling ambitious, I grab a head of broccoli now and then. But, it usually goes in our refrigerator and lives a life of slow decay until I happen to clean out the refrigerator. “Oh yeah, I was going to steam broccoli!” goes through my head, shortly before I pitch it.

This was all before my husband, Andy, and I decided to embark on a two week cleansing diet with the bulk of it being vegetables. After looking at various books, we landed on the “Fat Flush” plan by Ann Louise Gittleman. For two weeks, it includes fruits, lean protein, and a whole lot of non-starchy vegetables. No beans, nuts, processed food of any kind, grains, or sugars.

As I looked at the menu plan in the book for our upcoming two weeks, I was overwhelmed to say the least. As I read the list of all the vegetables on the plan, my anxiety spiked. When I finally couldn’t read another page, I went upstairs to try and calm down, employing some deep breathing (don’t laugh, I’m not making this up). I wondered if someone had decided to call vegetables “veggies” to make them seem less scary, like Hammy the Squirrel in Over the Hedge when he named the intimidating bush “Steve”.

However, determination won out and a few days later I bravely made my way to “that section” of the grocery store. Here we were, after all these years. The “someday” had come when I would delve into using some of these foreign items. I picked up some kale, yellow squash, parsley, asparagus, and spaghetti squash.

Part of me was a little afraid these things might meet the same destiny of previous vegetables that had gone on before them. But I was about to learn something: When you feel like you are starving and one of the few things you can eat is vegetables, you find a way to eat them! (after all, this is probably how vegetable eating got started, in the early ages before grocery stores).

This week, we have had all those things – spaghetti squash, kale, squash, and more, and we are actually enjoying them! At last, I am making friends with “that section” which is no small victory, and even finding creative ways to eat and enjoy some of those long avoided vegetables. A few days ago, I bought a fennel – still have to see how that goes, as this is my most ambitious purchase yet.

So in a small way, this diet / cleansing plan has tremendously helped me face my fears and do something out of my comfort zone. And bonus: Andy and I are losing weight and feeling better. Maybe these things really are our friends! And maybe I’ll name the fennel I just bought “Steve”.