Sunday, October 26, 2008
I am rapture. I am passionate. We are bountiful.
I had dinner at Cafe Gratitude in San Fransisco last night after a day in The City with my roommates. I literally think that might have been the first time I've ever ordered an appetizer, entre AND dessert at a restaurant in my life. We started out with WE ARE BOUNTIFUL which is a platter of 2 different kinds of crackers and 4 different spreads. The dill cheese was my favorite and the olive tapenade my least. The main course was I AM PASSIONATE (marinara pizza) which was pretty good. I'm a big fan of sunflower sprouts so that was a plus. My roommates got the sushi bowl which was pretty good and the taco salad which was okay as far as I could tell but I didn't really get the full aray of flavors since I was doing my best to avoid the black beans and not get sick. The layer cake (I AM RAPTURE) was banana and chocolate. The texture was greeeattt and as I was eating it I did like the taste but it left a bad vanailla extract-y (for lack of a better word) taste in my mouth. The tiramisu that my roommate got however was INCREDIBLE. You know it's good when a commited SAD foodie says she would go raw if "all raw food was like this". Overall the food was pretty good (I know my review doesn't sound like a rave or anything but it was) and the atmosphere was so cute. Going to raw resturants is a really fun treat every once in a while although I still think that simple 811 is the way we were meant to eat.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cravings
I forgot to post this in my last entry but it's a little more about the observations I've made over the past day and a half. Yesterday, when I did have cravings I was craving the WORST things (French fries, tortilla chips, bread etc). These are cravings that disappeared after my first MC but came back during my second. It's very strange how that worked. Anyways, I realized that it wasn't the flavor of these foods that I was craving but rather that I was craving a binge! I like the comfort of eating that QUANTITY of food and complex carbs are just easy to shove down. It's not that these foods are good, they're just satisfying on that level. So far today I've craved sunflower and pumpkin seeds. That just shows what Dr. G was talking about in the emotional eating section of the 811 book; when we eliminate those complex carbs and other junk, we look to fatty foods to stuff down our emotions. Wow, many things are making sense to me. I'm interested to see how my cravings will evolve on my third day of fasting. Right now I'm very sleepy, almost in a haze. I don't know if it's from sleeping too little or too much. I know I'm not getting any energy from food so that could be it. Last night I had very clear dreams like I haven't in a long time. When my alarm went off this morning I wanted to stay sleeping, not really because I felt tired but because I was so into my dreams. I use to have that feeling a lot when I was younger but I haven't in a long time.
Addictions
Today I've got a short reading to throw at you; just something to think on. This is an excerpt from The Daily Raw Inspiration a few days ago
"According to the latest research addiction is a Chronic Relapsing Brain Disease. So when you feel an addictive urge to indulge in something that you know is not right for you, see if you can stall for time, until the dis-ease passes. Sometimes you will feel completely over it in just a few minutes! Try distracting yourself with your favorite hobby, or whatever work you feel most drawn to do at this moment. Perhaps our human brains are wired for addiction, and we can also help ourselves by cultivating addictions that are not destructive. If we could cultivate a few good addictions that could balance each-other out such as a work addiction, an exercise addiction, and a play addiction - we could indulge all three without over-indulging any one, and actually make our addictive natures work for us rather than against us!
In Joy!
Jinjee"
After fasting for a little over a day, I've made some observations that relate to this idea. When I'm not feeding my addiction for food or lending my brain to thinking about food, I leave open space for "healthy addictions". All day yesterday I was craving different random songs that I hadn't heard in years. I was thinking about music, art, love, relationships etc etc. These concepts are abstract and a little harder to digest. It's a lot easier to think about the simple things like food than it is to think about bigger ideas. In the interview on Rawkathon last night, Dr. G was telling a story about how he heard someone giving a raw food speech say he his goal was to make Raw Food the most talked about topic in the country. After that, Dr. G stood up and said that he wanted to make Raw Food so fundamental and familiar to every person that it didn't NEED to be talked about at all. There are more important things in this world than food. Wouldn't it be great if we all grew up in a world where fresh, raw, organic food was a GIVEN?!? We wouldn't have to think about it or be inconvenienced by a society where something so simple is so foreign to others.
I also caught this article on hotmail today. I'd like to hear what you think about it if you get a chance to read.
"According to the latest research addiction is a Chronic Relapsing Brain Disease. So when you feel an addictive urge to indulge in something that you know is not right for you, see if you can stall for time, until the dis-ease passes. Sometimes you will feel completely over it in just a few minutes! Try distracting yourself with your favorite hobby, or whatever work you feel most drawn to do at this moment. Perhaps our human brains are wired for addiction, and we can also help ourselves by cultivating addictions that are not destructive. If we could cultivate a few good addictions that could balance each-other out such as a work addiction, an exercise addiction, and a play addiction - we could indulge all three without over-indulging any one, and actually make our addictive natures work for us rather than against us!
In Joy!
Jinjee"
After fasting for a little over a day, I've made some observations that relate to this idea. When I'm not feeding my addiction for food or lending my brain to thinking about food, I leave open space for "healthy addictions". All day yesterday I was craving different random songs that I hadn't heard in years. I was thinking about music, art, love, relationships etc etc. These concepts are abstract and a little harder to digest. It's a lot easier to think about the simple things like food than it is to think about bigger ideas. In the interview on Rawkathon last night, Dr. G was telling a story about how he heard someone giving a raw food speech say he his goal was to make Raw Food the most talked about topic in the country. After that, Dr. G stood up and said that he wanted to make Raw Food so fundamental and familiar to every person that it didn't NEED to be talked about at all. There are more important things in this world than food. Wouldn't it be great if we all grew up in a world where fresh, raw, organic food was a GIVEN?!? We wouldn't have to think about it or be inconvenienced by a society where something so simple is so foreign to others.
I also caught this article on hotmail today. I'd like to hear what you think about it if you get a chance to read.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Right on Dr. G!
Just watched the rawkathon interview with Dr. G. It's the only one of the 4 so far that I've actually been able to sit through. I respect a lot of the raw food "gurus", don't get me wrong but what Dr. G says just really makes sense to me. He has such a simple view on raw foods and how it ties into health overall. It's very comprehensive, quite the opposite of the magic bullet approach that fad diets and yes, even raw food can often take. "Eating well is so easy and such a gift that people actually need to experiment and find out that hey, the water's fine here...So that we can start paying attention to the other issues in life. Paying attention to our food and our fitness is not what's important in life. There's a lot going on in the world that need help." Dr. G is right! We need peace of mind, an ability to handle and process our feelings, connections with other human beings, sunshine, physical activity ANNDD a healthy diet. You can't have tunnel vision and just focus in on one thing. We're so hungry for a quick fix but that's not what life is about. It's a journey and the challenges are always changing. It's an adventure and it should be exciting, not daunting.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
BED returns with a vengence
I've been binging on highly processed carbs for the past 3 days like I haven't in MOOONNNNTTTTHHHSSSS. I think my cycle is that I restrict myself too much (811), put too much emphasis on diet and take the fun out of it. Then the stress that comes with obsessing over it causes me to binge. I've been eating a lot more highly processed foods since my second cleanse which is ironic since my first one helped me so much. Why is the second one hurting me????? It's such a horrible feeling to feel so out of control. I think I want to do a little mini cleanse for the next 3 days with some very alkalizing foods. I'm sure my stomach acid levels are having a fit right now. I just need some fasting time to reflect on my priorities and start respecting my body again Here's an excerpt about Emotional Eating by Dr. G
"One of the primary ways we handle painful emotional is to literally 'eat ourselves numb,' with dense, hard-t0-digest foods-the so-called 'comfort foods.' This is effective because of the nature of our nervous system. Our bodes have a finite amount of nerve energy at any given time. The digestion of food and the conduction of emotions each demand so much energy that they cannot be performed simultaneously.
A classic example to demonstrate this property of our nervous system is a funeral, where some people are grieving so intensely they cannot eat at all, while others cannot stop eating.
As we lighten our diets to vegetarian, vegan and eventually raw, we quite commonly become more aware of our emotional selves. When we commit to eating a raw diet, we gravitate toward fatty foods to provide emotional numbing, as most fresh fruits are not sufficient sedatives to overcome emotional distress. Usually this leads to the consumption of exorbitant amounts of nuts or seeds, which are easy to overeat, because they do not quickly trigger satiation. Digestive distress and undue suffering result from this behavior.
The answer to all this lies not in consuming food at all, but in maintaining emotional poise and developing the ability to fully feel our emotions. "
Wow, what a lesson. I know I have yet to really learn it, but I'm on the path which at least offers some comfort. It makes so much sense though. I stopped being so into songwriting and poetry when I first began struggling with BED. I thought it was just that I was so obsessed with food that I wasn't allowing my other passions in but that wasn't the whole of it. It was also the fact that I was suppressing my emotions by smothering my nervous system with food. For the next three days I'm going to live off of cucumber and lemon mineral water. I might put in a little wheat grass powder and stevia too just to make it even more alkalizing. I don't have a whole lot going on so I won't be stressed. I'll be able to take the time to relax, meditate and reflect on some things. I need to allow myself to feel and process emotions without stuffing them down.
"One of the primary ways we handle painful emotional is to literally 'eat ourselves numb,' with dense, hard-t0-digest foods-the so-called 'comfort foods.' This is effective because of the nature of our nervous system. Our bodes have a finite amount of nerve energy at any given time. The digestion of food and the conduction of emotions each demand so much energy that they cannot be performed simultaneously.
A classic example to demonstrate this property of our nervous system is a funeral, where some people are grieving so intensely they cannot eat at all, while others cannot stop eating.
As we lighten our diets to vegetarian, vegan and eventually raw, we quite commonly become more aware of our emotional selves. When we commit to eating a raw diet, we gravitate toward fatty foods to provide emotional numbing, as most fresh fruits are not sufficient sedatives to overcome emotional distress. Usually this leads to the consumption of exorbitant amounts of nuts or seeds, which are easy to overeat, because they do not quickly trigger satiation. Digestive distress and undue suffering result from this behavior.
The answer to all this lies not in consuming food at all, but in maintaining emotional poise and developing the ability to fully feel our emotions. "
Wow, what a lesson. I know I have yet to really learn it, but I'm on the path which at least offers some comfort. It makes so much sense though. I stopped being so into songwriting and poetry when I first began struggling with BED. I thought it was just that I was so obsessed with food that I wasn't allowing my other passions in but that wasn't the whole of it. It was also the fact that I was suppressing my emotions by smothering my nervous system with food. For the next three days I'm going to live off of cucumber and lemon mineral water. I might put in a little wheat grass powder and stevia too just to make it even more alkalizing. I don't have a whole lot going on so I won't be stressed. I'll be able to take the time to relax, meditate and reflect on some things. I need to allow myself to feel and process emotions without stuffing them down.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Asian Inspiration
My sushi rolling skills need a little work but this flavor combination is deeee-lish
tomatoes
oyster mushrooms
zucchini
a sprinkle of sesame oil
a sprinkle of nama shoyu
As far as assembly goes, I think it might be smart to use the shredded zucchini as the rice and press it down across the nori as a base...we'll see next time. For now I'm out of zucchini...that was amazing though.
I bought a sushi rolling mat and a bunch of chopsticks at an Asian Market downtown a few days ago and today, at natural foods, I bought raw nori and kelp noodles. I feel inspired to create my perfect raw stir fry for dinner tonight. I'll report back later!
tomatoes
oyster mushrooms
zucchini
a sprinkle of sesame oil
a sprinkle of nama shoyu
As far as assembly goes, I think it might be smart to use the shredded zucchini as the rice and press it down across the nori as a base...we'll see next time. For now I'm out of zucchini...that was amazing though.
I bought a sushi rolling mat and a bunch of chopsticks at an Asian Market downtown a few days ago and today, at natural foods, I bought raw nori and kelp noodles. I feel inspired to create my perfect raw stir fry for dinner tonight. I'll report back later!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Autumn delights
Here are some beautiful raw foods that are currently in season...enjoy :)
Apples
Broccoli
Cabbage Chinese
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery Root
Cranberries
Cucumbers
Dates
Fennel
Grapes
Greens
Head or Iceberg Lettuce Leaf Lettuce
Mushrooms (my current obsession)
Nuts
Okra (another scrumptious new discovery)
Mandarin Oranges
Pears
Chile Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Persimmons
Pomegranates
Shallots
Spinach
Winter Squash
Star Fruit
Broccoli
Cabbage Chinese
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery Root
Cranberries
Cucumbers
Dates
Fennel
Grapes
Greens
Head or Iceberg Lettuce Leaf Lettuce
Mushrooms (my current obsession)
Nuts
Okra (another scrumptious new discovery)
Mandarin Oranges
Pears
Chile Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Persimmons
Pomegranates
Shallots
Spinach
Winter Squash
Star Fruit
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Too much, sorry
I have to apologize to those who I promised daily menu plans, I just can't do it. I told myself that counting calories would be different this time because I'm doing it for totally different reasons: health, not immediate weight loss. Despite what I told myself, counting calories for any reason proved to be too reminiscent of an unhealthy mindset of the past and I just can't do that to myself. Another problem I was having with 811 is the strain it was putting on my wallet. It's a lot cheaper to get calories from dense foods like nuts and avos than it is to get them all from fruit. For that matter, it's a LOT cheaper to get those calories from top ramen so I guess how much you value your health is the real question. Can I AFFORD to spend 500 a month on food?! I digress, I don't know any answers. Dr. G's book makes a lot of sense to me though so I'll definitely be keeping his philosophies in the back of my mind. I went to the second installation of The Health Series last Thursday and we watched the film "Eating". I felt like it was a little bit of preaching to the choir but there were some interesting facts in there. The conversation after was better though. The woman who puts on the series is Marsha Vernoga. I've mentioned her in here before. She's a raw foodist and then she brought two other raw foodie friends down for a Q & A panel. As usual, I was the youngest in the room. It was cool to be able to connect with other people interested in health though. It would cool if more people my age were into it but what can you do? I guess I connect with those people on other things so it's okay. At least I have my roommate. She's doing her master cleanse now (day 6!)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
8/84/8
or at least that's what i was at when i finished my big salad around 9 pm. since i got off work at 2 am, I've kind of had a binge. i was still eating all raw but shoveling sesame seeds, walnuts, dates, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes and an apple down my gullet, still feeling completely unsatisfied after the whole thing. i still don't feel satisfied. i think it's a lack of leafy greens. it's also hard because i have been counting the calories and trying to adhere to a strict 80/10/10 regime. I do believe that this is the best way of life but I think it might be too much for me to balance with my history of eating disorders. I don't really know where to go with it. The book makes so much sense to me but at the same time there are so many obstacles in the way. I'm a little discouraged but I'm honestly not too upset about it. Should I be? I've been thinking about my weight a lot lately which is bad bad bad. I gained back most of what I lost on the MC which was really disappointing because last time I lost so much and kept it off. I almost feel like I did the second cleanse for the wrong reasons and that's why I went about it wrong. My body and I definitely have some issues to work out.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
811 Day 2
So far I'm loving 811! It's not as hard as I thought it would be, just EXPENSIVE! I know it will be worth it in the end though. I just need to up my calcium intake meaning more bok choy, broccoli, collards, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard greens, and okra. I should get some okra in my CSA box tomorrow I hope. I never had it before last week and it's AMMMMAAAZZZZIIINNG!
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 FOOD AND MEAL LOG | | ||||
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| Descripton/Name | Time | Summary | |||||||||||
 | Chard, swiss, raw | |
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| | Chard, swiss, raw | |
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| | Beet greens, raw | |
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| | Bananas, raw | |
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| | Dates, medjool | |
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| | Grapes, red or green (european type varieties, such as, Thompson seedless), raw | |
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| | Melons, honeydew, raw | |
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| | Lettuce, green leaf, raw | |
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| | Pomegranates, raw | |
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| | Nuts, pistachio nuts, raw | |
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| | Strawberries, raw | |
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| | Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, June thru October average | |
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| | Cucumber, peeled, raw | |
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| | Peppers, sweet, red, raw | |
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![Chard, swiss, raw (4 × 1 leaf [48g]) Calories: 36kcal --------- Tot. Fat: 0g Sat. Fat: 0g --------- Cholest.: 0mg Sodium: 409mg --------- Tot. Carb.: 7g Fiber: 3g Sugars: 2g --------- Protein: 3g --------- Vitam. A: 235% Vitam. C: 96% Calcium: 10% Iron: 19%](http://www.nutridiary.com/images/lnf1/icon_arrow.gif){kind=icon}
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