Trying to eat "healthy" is a battle most people encounter on a regular basis. There are always those nacho and ice cream cravings that you sometimes can’t get through the day without. Not to mention the late night pizza or Australian equivalent: KEBABS. And of course the reason for eating late night to begin with....alcohol. The deal sealer. The X's on your eyes. The reason you want to resort back to those not so healthy options even after the fact...
Ahh..It’s a never ending cycle of Crave. Consume. Regret. (at least in my life) Though I agree 120% there needs to be indulgences in life. I’m discovering more and more each day how much we all just need to find the balance to food and our consumption. How can we find a healthy routine that incorporates the elements that will allow us to feel in harmony with our bodies and our surroundings? Yes it will be different for everyone. However I wanted to share my latest and greatest development of food in my life. A process in which I am intentionally having to make very mindful decisions about the process of selecting food and to make this latest phase of my life not about a diet craze, but about a lifestyle change. I’m writing this not only to share with whomever cares about selecting healthier food for overall well being, but also as encouragement for myself to remember the roots of why I want to really jump in head first to this lifestyle. I’m hoping that in sharing this new and exciting journey it will also help me to stay focused on my goal, and that goal is simply, to feel organically happy and healthy, because YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. J
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
I have to thank both of my fabulous parents for ingraining the power of healthy food into my life at a young age. My mother, though she died at the tender age of 46, was the beacon of health, teaching me the value of creating, mixing and trying new and different foods to create a palate of delicious goodness not only for the taste buds but for the bod. The turning point however for discovering the POWER of food came when my mother fell ill of melanoma skin cancer with a brain tumor. Through her treatment of the traditional medical procedures consisting of chemo, radiation, and surgeries, my father took it upon himself through the education of library books and many out of the box practitioners to incorporate my newest friends...the SUPER FOODS into her and our lives.
At the age of 15, when my father started bringing home all organic fruits, vegetables, pureed wheat germ, wheatgrass, spirulina and berry mixes such as Acai among other vitamins and supplements I didn’t think much of it, however rolled with the punches and helped in the process of getting my mother to consume it. Pumping all these foods into her and our systems opened my eyes to how beneficial food can be to a person and their overall wellness. Though obviously my mother didn’t make it, it is amazing how healthy and vibrant she was through her illness and I like to believe to this day, it had all to do with my father’s innate response to take it back to the basics with nature's way. I don’t think my father to this day understands the seeds he planted in my life for discovering new ways to take care of our bodies, for they clearly are vessels that need to be treated with care and respect so they can thrive,enhance, and protect us in every situation we encounter and face on an everyday basis.
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| Monteverde Friends preparing food together |
After college, having battled finding a healthy balance with the regular consumption of alcohol and all varieties of healthy and unhealthy food, I took a teaching position in a small mountain community in the cloud forest of
Costa Rica.
Among many beautiful life changing experiences I encountered during my year and half life living in Monteverde, one of the most influential was discovering a class of people whom really explored new food ideas with delicious healthy ingredients.
The majority of the people whom I worked with and lived among through the community had adapted a vegan or vegetarian diet of some sort. Many of them also adapted a sustainable living environment where they raised their own chickens and produced their own dairy. Through weekly potlucks and group dinners my world in this area of living expanded above and beyond. They broadened my awareness and taught me new ideas and techniques of how to create beautiful tasty dishes using natural ingredients. This “healthy” way of living I soon discovered was not just something that occurs occasionally for these people, or once a week for the communal dinners...
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| Friends chowin down at a dinner |
This was a LIFESTYLE. My friends not only worked together, but shared together outside of school. Helping each other in the community was a focal part of everyday life. This even included participating in activities such as yoga, hikes through the cloud forest, environmental education, salsa dancing and many other simple natural influences.
From my perspective, the focus was organic. The intention was to keep life as simple enough to enjoy and thrive off of what the community has to offer. At the time, since I was still new to this way of living, I embraced the lifestyle but was hesitant at times knowing it would take time to be so full on. Overall this experience was the catalyst for positive change in my life.
I am eternally grateful that I lived among such a vibrant community in a Eco-friendly culture with some of the most amazing, influential,and inspiring people I have ever met.
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| Me with fellow teachers at a Potluck dinner |
Having lived at home with my father for the past year after
Costa Rica and before my most recent move to
Australia, I was once again emerged into a health zone.
It is refreshing to see the person my father has developed into over the past 11 years since he first discovered the power of food. Every morning I had a fresh smoothie waiting in the fridge when I woke up pumped with vitamins and healthy goodness. Among the delicious breakfasts we had everyday, we ate regular meals that consisted of fresh vegetables and local fish and crabs that my father and other members of the community caught. It was during this time when I lived at home, or honestly looking back on it, the year I lived in a retreat, I was again taught the value of taking care of our bodies through food and how to do it through moderation and portion control.
One of the greatest lessons my father has taught me since my mother’s illness and his own cancer experiences, (given that he has been diagnosed twice with two different types) “Your body talks to you, you have to have the intuition and the sense to listen to it.” Though my father told me this when I was 15, I think I am finally learning the true meaning of it 10 years later. What exactly are our bodies telling us? How do we feel after we eat a cheeseburger versus a salad packed with nutrition? Delicious Satisfaction for a split 60 seconds, but an hour later? How do our body respond physically? How do we feel mentally? How full are we?
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| Me and my Dad |
I'm certainly not the expert on portion control and eating healthy food by any stretch of the imagination, Ive definitely eaten my fair share of cheeseburgers. What I'm getting at though, is when comparing the two options and then reflecting on our bodies response to them, what is the difference? Is it worth it, and are there short and long term effects to either option?
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| home grown wheatgrass at my Dad's |
The entire reason for choosing to write this blog today is that I have been on one of the greatest health kicks of my life for the past month and have never felt so alive, energized or empowered.
It has simply just opened my eyes once again to the power of food. I think we sometimes under estimate the value of nature and what is so voluptuously provided for us on this luscious earth.
The beauty of nature surrounds us and if we take a step back and look at all of the health benefits that eating natural raw food does for our bodies I think we will be amazed the power that can come from within. Evidence based research has shown the healing components that food can have for us not only physically but mentally as well. For example just having two hand fulls of cashews has been proven to have the therapeutic equivalence of a prescription of Prozac which is used to treat depression.
One of my favorite documentaries which has inspired me to embrace a more organic approach to this way of living is the film FOOD MATTERS which shows more in depth ideas of what all these super foods can do for us. Just my latest and greatest of new hobbies, I hope whoever reads this understands why I or anyone would want to embrace the simplicity of it all. Obviously I am no expert on the topic, but I just wanted to share, discuss, and embark in discovery with anyone who is curious of the benefits of nature and and how beautiful it can be to our lives both inside and out.
J
I actually really lucked out with my job working with "Bruce Wayne". Having befriended some second year masters students after I arrived, I was contacted one day by a girl with an opportunity to work her old job that she was no longer able to. She informed me that it was a pretty easy set up as I would be a companion or “executive personal assistant” (as he likes to call it) to a 40 year old dying man with Motor Neuron Disease aka Lou Gehrig's disease.. A disease I mostly knew about through the obvious famous Steven Hawking, but also from having to read Tuesdays with Morrie exactly three different times from high school to college for a variety of classes. 
