Since I was diagnosed with diabetes, doctors and dieticians have told me I needed a new relationship with food.

It wasn’t that I was eating so poorly- I never ate much candy or a lot of red meat or fatty and processed foods – it was more than I wasn’t thoughtful or disciplined about what I did eat, I didn’t understand carbs or the importance of vegetables in a healthy diet.

I just didn’t grasp how many of the things I put in my supermarket cart are just not very good for me. Now,  don’t put anything in the card I don’t know isn’t good for me. I walk in different aisles.

I didn’t give food enough thought; I didn’t know enough, I didn’t learn enough. It is very easy to eat poorly; it is challenging to eat well. Greedy corporations determine what is out front on those supermarket shelves.

Eating well isn’t just smart, it is also a matter of life and death. If I don’t eat well, I will die soon, and I’d like to live a while and feel good.

This isn’t just a matter of giving up ice cream and desserts; it’s more complicated and takes more planning, commitment, support, and learning. I had to be willing to shop differently, experiment with new foods, think very differently, cook very differently,  and carefully about what goes into my body.

I have to credit the Mayo Clinic Diet program, which costs $99 and runs for three months. It is not a diet in the classic sense – those tend not to work over the long run because they don’t alter thinking about food or understanding food and one’s body.

They have offered me ways to eat well and enjoy it. I am proud of myself for what I am eating now; I don’t think I could ever say that before.

I don’t like to shill for companies, but the clinic is a non-profit; it offers a straightforward, affordable, and very practical approach to weight loss that has a good chance of lasting a lifetime.

They deliver on their promises. Their app provides grocery lists ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (realistic, inexpensive, and tasty) and focuses on mindset and motivation, not calories.

Maria does not diet or need to diet, but she loves vegetables and healthy food and agrees that the program is exceptional and effective. The program has worked well for her as well as me.

I don’t love everything Mayo recommends, and I don’t eat everything they recommend. But I like and eat most of what they suggest, and they have given me a lot of good ideas to branch out and eat creatively and in healthy ways. We eat all kinds of things they inspired but didn’t specifically suggest.

Their recommendation of oats as a vegetable supplement, for example, (see photo)  inspired me to start getting into oats like steel-cut oats and experimenting with different kinds of milk, temperatures, and simmering times to have some excellent health and delicious breakfasts.

All oats are not alike, and how good they taste depends on more than a few minutes on the stove. The ones we had this morning were delicious, creamy, and with surprising flavor.

First, I had to accept that vegetables are not a side dish; they are in many ways the ur dish. A healthy diet is about vegetables, fruit, fish, and low carb additives – almond or oat milk, whole grain bread only, and the elimination of many foods I love – non-wheat pasta, rolls, and most bread, pizza (in most cases) and foods and baked goods that are not close to nature or their natural state.

I’m not a great calorie counter and will never be, I realize, but I have reduced all of my portions by a third, even a half. And my stomach is adjusting; I don’t feel I’m starving during the day.

Half of my meals are vegetables, all of my desserts are fruit yogurt, and some sugar-free cookies and brownies (small, all, lots of sugar-free foods have a lot of calories.)There are finally some healthy and low-cal sugar-free snacks on the market.

There is no sugar, no foods out of packages, no processed foods, no red meat or fatty meat. I shop in different aisles, in different ways, for less money. Look for Keto snacks but make sure to read the sugar and carb listings carefully.

I eat pizza, but I get cauliflower pizza; they sell the cauliflower crusts in supermarkets. And two slices with vegetable toppings are a good and healthy meal. When I shop now, it isn’t a matter of what I buy, but what I no longer believe.

I find it’s significantly cheaper to buy vegetables and food as primary foods – along with tofu and the family of grains – barley, oats, quinoa.

Those grains are filling and healthy, and to my surprise, delicious, especially when mixed with sauces and herbs.

It took about a month for me to get used to these new foods, and to my surprise, I love them as much or more as I loved what I ate before.

The creative part is learning how to use pieces, mix foods like tofu and quinoa with vegetables and change my idea of what a snack is. My snacks are often a small number of nuts and berries, and veggie and celery sticks (tomato, sliced red peppers, some low-fat cheeses.)

I am making this change mine, not just theirs.

I’ve also come to love smoothies, and I mix them with all kinds of things – protein powder, oats, apple, banana, berries, plain low-fat yogurt, almond butter, kale, peas, carrot chunks, cinnamon, oat or almond milk, coconut strips.

They are filling and quick. And they taste good.

I change the formula of the smoothies all the time and have fun experimenting with what tastes good. The new blender we bought helps.

It also helps that Maria shops with me; we support and experiment with each other.

Natural and healthy diets allow room for all kinds of creativity, and we try new things all the time to keep from getting bored.

Since I began eating in this way – vegetables now make up half of everything I eat – I’ve lost between 10 and 15 pounds. I don’t obsess about weight; I know I will lose weight if I keep on eating right. I don’t get on the scale on time; I weigh myself two or three times a week.

The weight is coming off slowly and naturally. I feel this change all over my body. Most of these foods reduce cholesterol, reducing my cholesterol and my blood pressure and blood sugar. It will take me months, even a year or so, to get down to where I really want to be. Being able to walk in the Spring will help.

I’m on a soundtrack, and there are all kinds of rewards for that, a lot of gratification, instant and otherwise. I never felt great about my food; now, I feel great about it.

The new relationship with food everyone was talking about is happening. I see it differently. I understand what it does for me.

Finally,  food and I are on the same side. The people I grew up with gave me plenty of good, but no one taught me what I was eating.

Finally, I grasp the importance of eating things that are still close to nature. I avoid processed foods with high carbs, no sugar, period, except what is natural and unavoidable.

There are no cakes, ice cream, muffins, greasy egg sandwiches, no bacon, sausage, hot dog, and hamburger buns, no white or none grain bread, no alcohol except for occasional red wine and saki.

It is not easy, but it is not that hard either. Having heart disease and diabetes is much more difficult and costly.

I am giving both of my chronic diseases a vital gift and me as well.