eating the angel way - part eight

today is GO RED day - a day designated by the american heart association to bring attention to the fact that heart disease affects millions of women. heart disease in women can manifest differently from the way it does in men, and so it is particularly important that women are not just aware of the symptoms, but also of their own bodies.

shortly after i began Listening to the Angels, i asked Them why it was that recommendations, diets, food plans, etc, all seemed to work slightly differently in everyone i knew. some found success on weight watchers, some followed the zone diet, others seemed to experience only limited success no matter what they tried. so what's up, i asked the Angels. why do things that work for me - like eating a lot of yogurt - not work for others?

because, They explained gently, men are like raindrops, while women are like snowflakes. what the Angels meant was that men vary across a much narrower spectrum of what's "normal." that's why it's easier to ascertain the amount of nutrients men need, and one reason why most research is - or was - routinely done on men. this is one reason why heart disease in women needs more attention. women are different and not just from men.

women are different from each other, too, rather in the way snowflakes vary. this is why what satisfies me and fulfills my nutritionl requirements is not exactly the same as any other woman i know - even my dear sister-in-spirit, laura, and we're remarkably alike in build and size and body shape. this is why some women have success on various commercial plans - and some don't. women vary across a much broader range of what is normal than men.

what happens for many women, however, is that when a one-size-fits-all plan doesn't work for us, or not as well as for someone else we know, we tend to blame ourselves. we tend to assume there's something wrong with US, or that we just aren't doing whatever it is we're supposed to be doing well enough. so we berate ourselves, beat ourselves up, resolve to Do Better Tomorrow.

but what if the prescribed diet plan is antithetical to YOUR own body chemistry?

it's not a question of fault, say the Angels - it's a question of figuring out what nourishes you, what satisfies and delights you and what feeds, not only your physical body, but your soul as well.

this is why you need to create your own personal lists of white (or complete protein foods) and rainbow colored foods - the ones you absolutely love and crave and/or are willing and can afford to eat. no one else can tell you exactly what it is your body needs. no one knows but YOU. the Angel Way of eating is really as much about learning how to listen to yourself, as it is about listening to the Angels.

the Angels encourage all of us to embrace our idiocyncrasies, to celebrate our differences, not condemn them. these are not flaws - they are evidence - down to a cellular level - of the uniqueness of the Divine Manifestation that we truly are.

and furthermore, the war must end.