Macro-flexitarian Momma

So, here's what we have settled on:  macro-flexitarianism.  In researching a diet that gained popularity here in the US in the 1970s, I determined that the Japanese macrobiotic diet is the one that most fits the way we desire to eat, or the way we would eat if we weren't so miserably inconsistent.  It combines a Zen Buddhist eating-for-life philosophy with a flexible form of vegetarianism in which certain meats are sometimes an option.

We are Christians, not Zen Buddhists, and don't subscribe to the philosophy of balancing our yins and yangs.  We don't give a whole lot of thought consuming an even amount of sweets, salties, bitters, sharps and sours in order to feel well.  BUT...like the philosophy behind this way of living, we do believe that you are what you eat, and that if you want your body to be well and work the way it's designed to work, you need to put the right stuff into it.   This macrobiotic diet includes foods that we love to eat in reasonable (and preferable) amounts:  

• Whole grains, especially brown rice: 50%-60%
• Vegetables (and seaweed): 25%-30%
• Beans: 5%-10%
• Fish, nuts, seeds, fruits, miso soup: 5%-20%
• Soup (made from ingredients above): 1-2 cups/day

This diet also has certain rules that govern the types of foods to be consumed (essentially the most natural and least processed ones), how they should be eaten (by chewing slowly) and the ways they should be prepared.  It requires practitioners to stay away from a lot of stuff that we think is bad anyway:  refined sugar, white flour, fatty meats, caffeine, alcohol.  It prohibits the use of other foods that we feel are fine to use in moderation:  potatoes, hot spices, CHOCOLATE, poultry and zucchini.  (What the heck's wrong with zucchini?)

So, in short, here you have it: the way the inconsistent eat, in general, in our house.  Eat well, live well!