beans, beans, they're good for your heart...

Day 12 folks. It's been 12 days (not counting NYE) since I have allowed myself to really indulge.

I have a few things to say about this.

1) My body is loving this!!!! I have more energy throughout the day. I'm able to get out of bed in the morning without 15 snooze hits. I feel lighter. And, dare I say - I have a bit more patience with my little kiddies at school.

2) Dr. Joshi says that by sticking to this detox for three weeks your palate will change. Well, I will say this - I have had very few cravings (aside from the odd chocolate and wine crave) since starting this. But I don't really have many cravings on the daily anyways. And if by "palate changing" he means "you will lose all interest in food". Then yes, my palate has changed.

This, is not a welcome change. I love food! I love everything about the process of eating. Thinking about what I'm going to eat, going to the grocer to pick up what's needed, coming home to prep, stealing little tastes here and there during the making and then sitting down to enjoy. ~Notice how there was no mention of dishes...those I can do without.

3) I'm finding this detox quite limiting and a bit bland with what little resources we have here. The other day I made a bean salad, enough for both Mike and I to bring to school for lunch for a few days. Day 1, salad was tasting pretty good. Day 2, couldn't even bring myself to open the container come lunch time - so went out for fish soup instead. Day 3, had a hard time getting through it but I found that by going slowly - one bean at a time - I could finish it off and have enough energy to last me until the next meal. Where's the enjoyment there?

I feel robbed, robbed of my hunger. Did I mention that I LOVE food. Larry David put it best when, upon finding out he couldn't eat Tuna sandwiches because of it's mercury content he said "lunch is now the hardest part of my day". Preachin' to the choir LD. Preachin'. to. the. choir.

So, all bitching aside, I really am finding that my body is totally diggin' the natural foods. I'm also finding that I'm taking more time to really learn about what I'm eating. And I have to admit that all of the time in the kitchen experimenting with different things is pretty fun...despite my kitchen being the size of an easy bake oven. We even gave homemade mayo a try. Round 1 = a miss, but will try again.

This detox takes some patience and creativity. When I think about how to keep things varied for the next week I have to use every ounce of restraint from going into my speed dial for PIZZA. Yes, we have pizza in our phone. But, I find if I just look at it as one day, one meal, one bean at a time I know I can stick with it.

I'm actually quite looking forward to incorporating a lot of these changes into the daily. I'm also quite looking forward to my post-detox glass of wine and plate au cheese! Oh ya.

And...who's kidding who - or is it whom? Anyways, I'm following Dr. Joshi's advice and allowing some leniancy as I go.
~She says as she picks the chocolate covered acai berries from her teeth.~

~peace :)

happy theme year!

And in this corner.....the year...2011!!!!!!

I've talked in the past about Mondays being my big day for change. Fresh week, fresh start. Well, let me tell you how I feel about the start of a new year. Talk about a clean slate!!!

It's been a few years since I've actually sat down on January 1st, pen in hand to hash out my goals for the year. In part, because I am constantly setting new goals for myself throughout the year. In part, because I never finish the goals I set out for myself throughout the year. And in part, because in the past the goals always looked like this; workout more, eat healthier, lose weight, stop smoking, drink less, save money.

I call these the "I'm not very happy with my current self" goals. Classic, timeless, universal, whatever. These are standard goals that really don't make you feel very good about yourself as you go over all the food, smokes and drinks you consumed the night before. I even did a little "googling" and 9 times out of 10 these were among the top 10 resolutions.

And they are all great goals, but being set year after year tends to pick away at the soul a bit. So I stopped. I stopped the cycle of starting off each year by creating a running total of all of my flaws.

But this year, this year I am making a resolution!!!! And one that I hope to keep because, well, that's what the resolution is....follow through! I resolve to follow through on my goals. I'm not going to make any specific goals for myself because I have no idea where I'm going to be in 2011 or what the year will to bring.

So I'm going to set a couple of themes instead.

Theme # 1 - as mentioned above is follow through. As things come up and goals are set, I AM GOING TO FINISH THEM!!!!!
Theme # 2 - give more. Give more of my time and energy to the people who need it.
Theme # 3 - take less. Regardless of where I am in the world or what I'm doing I am going to start living a greener life.
Theme # 4 - open up. Let go of my expectations and open up to the "rhythm of the universe".

I'm so excited for 2011! My time in Korea is almost finished and then I'm free. Freeer than I've ever been - freeer than I probably ever will be again. No commitments, no job, no set plan. Just an open road of endless possibility.

Breathe. Open up. Give. Love. Live.

Go!

the detox

Dear Dr. Joshi,

I got your book Joshi's Holistic Detox for Christmas. I sat in bed on Sunday, book in one hand, chocolate covered acai berries in the other. I flipped through the pages and thought "I can totally do this". Had a talk with the man to see if he was in and when he said yes decided that Monday was the day. We were going to do this detox!

Monday came and went and to my surprise it was pretty good. Then came Tuesday and already Mike and I were wondering just what in the hell we were going to eat.

No red meat
No dairy
No fruit
No wheat, gluten or yeast
No alcohol
No sugar
No artificial flavours
No cakes or biscuits
No spreads
No fun

So we headed to the grocer after school to pick up what little things we could seeing as all of the labels at our grocer are in Korean. This is what I learned - This is going to be hard - damn hard!

We left with a basket full of fish, spices, lemon, seeds and a soya drink.

Once home it was in to the kitchen to experiment. I began googling things that I've never googled before. "how to boil chickpeas", "how to make homemade mayonaise", "recipes for tofu".

The next couple of days consisted of quite a bit of time trying to find recipes and even more time trying to sort it all out in the kitchen. I give major props to people who eat this way on the daily. It takes serious time and planning.

Wednesday after school we were both starved so we headed to a chicken joint with the plan of getting some oven baked chicken. We ordered what we thought would be the healthiest thing on the menu. Plain chicken wings. They came out and just looking at them we knew we were cheating, and after our first bite there was no doubt. These wings were just too good to be considered detox. But, being the non-food-wasters that we are, we had to go ahead and eat every. last. wing. As I licked the last drip off my fingers a slight headache started to set in. I'm not sure if it was the grease or the guilt.

I've embarked on many a detox in my day. Most of which were with the goal of changing my body for appearance sake, most of which were never finished. For the first time in a long time I'm quite happy with my body and this detox is happening for a totally different reason. I need more energy! I need to get rid of the dark circles under my eyes! I want to be able to bounce out of bed in the morning ready to take on the day.

It's been a while since I've tried something like this and I'm excited to give it a go, especially with Mike as my comrade.

Thanks for the challenge Dr. Joshi

I'll keep you posted!

Fa la la la la

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...is what I would be saying if I was at home, in the snow, having already put up Christmas lights and a Christmas tree. Is what I would be saying if I was flipping through the channels only to be bombarded with commercials full of Santas and this years 'must haves'. Is what I would be saying if I was at home, in a place where Christmas basically throws up all over you. Christmas, does not throw up here in Korea, it's more of a stifled burp.

I'm trying to feel festive. Planning Christmas activities with my kiddies and showing them Christmas videos but it's just not the same. Mike and I weren't planning on decorating the diz (our apartment) this year because we'll be in China, but I think it's a must.

At least a bit of sparkle here and there. Missletoe maybe? Something to light the Christmas fire. It's the build up of Christmas that gets me excited. Where new books and Popples used to do the trick, carols and coloured lights now get me in the mood.

One of the teachers at school today was wearing a shirt that said "bring your own sunshine if you're looking for love".

And that's exactly what I plan to do, bring some sunshine to the diz.

~A note on Korean shirts. Full of non-sensical sayings that depending on my mood and the day, totally make sense. They're never written in Korean, always English, so for the most part people don't even know which message their spreading.~

Bring your own sunshine if you're looking for love. So often we look to our surroundings to make us happy, to shed the light and lead us to love. But really it's up to us. Love comes from within and shines out. It's about attitude and outlook.

Is the eggnog half full or half empty?

Who's bringing the sunshine?



Green Christmas tip -Be smart when choosing your Christmas greetings.
For every billion christmas cards sent - and there are BILLIONS - 200,000 trees go to waste. And think of how many of those cards end up in the trash after the holiday season. Try to send recycled cards, holiday texts or e-cards instead. Check out cards for causes to see how you can get your hands on some funky enviro friendly cards and help out a charity as well.