expressing gratitude for every meal

Today I want to talk about the importance of being grateful for our food. Growing up in a Western country, having enough food and a wide variety of available foods to choose from, it is sometimes easy to take it for granted to be provided with (more than) enough to eat. Well, when I was younger and spent more time with my grandparents, we spoke prayers before every meal. These prayers were Christian prayers and they kind of did not connect me to my food, to the earth. So, I had to say those words without realizing a deeper meaning behind them and soon lost interest in this habit of speaking prayers when I grew older and wasn't told to so anymore. (I am not saying that the trouble was that they were Christian prayers, I am just pointing out that I felt a lack of deeper meaning and connection.)

It has been a few years since I noticed that I missed the pure act of sitting down, being still before having a meal and expressing gratitude for Mother Nature's gift: food. When I spent time with a dear friend in Thailand in 2009, we always folded our hands, closed our eyes and spoke prayers of gratitude to Gaia, either out loud or in silence to ourselves, before enjoying our fruity meals. This simple practice brought me to the present moment and made me feel warm and happy inside. What a lucky girl I am to have food! And such beautiful and nutritious food too!

Sometimes people, especially in the health food scene, get caught in their longings for 'perfect' nutrition. They analyze every bite, plan a lot and get annoyed when something is not ideal, or even beat themselves up for not eating 'the best/perfect' foods. If that is you, I recommend to take a step back and acknowledge that you are extremely lucky to be in a position in which you can even think about all this. I say, be grateful for every bite. The mind is a powerful thing, and what you think can make you feel very miserable - it is not only about the food. Of course, food is important as well. I am just saying, sometimes we make ourselves unnecessarily feel bad. Happiness is a choice, it is not dependent on having 'ideal food' at every meal. (Especially, since every health expert out there seems to have a different take on what 'ideal' means anyway.)

I feel that there is still a bit of anxiety inside myself when it comes to making food choices. I am working on letting go. I ask myself what I feel like, then I choose something to nourish myself with and whatever it is, I am grateful for the food. I am grateful for the sun, the rain, the air, the soil, the microorganisms, the water, the farmers, the trees etc. There is a lot to be grateful for! As you eat your meal in a state of inner calmness, honest gratitude and emotional poise, you will experience a difference in how you feel about yourself and your food.

Since my arrival in Bangkok I have enjoyed fresh coconut water (which is becoming one of my favorite things to nourish my cells), fresh squeezed OJ (this stuff is amazing here, so sweet!), durian (of course! How could I resist?), papayas (love them), lots and lots of dragonfruits (love them) and some bananas. Also had some organic greens.

I LOVE MY FOOD.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR EVERY BITE.

I THANK THE RAIN,

I THANK THE SUN,

I THANK THE SOIL,

I THANK THE TREES.

GAIA, GAIA, GAIA,

THANK YOU.

I will be doing a Yoga Retreat with my friend Jess in two weeks! It will be intense: Hatha classes in the morning, Ashtanga classes in the afternoon. And hopefully relaxing at the beach and getting a nice tan!

I love Bangkok, I am grateful for my time with Jess and I am happy that I have all I need.

Are you expressing your gratitude when you are eating? Do you have a prayer? 

I'm curious.

loving food that's loving me back

Alison is presenting her interview series 'Living on Fruit' and the video below features long term low fat raw vegan Andrew - there is no doubt that he genuinely enjoys his food and whole lifestyle. And I know exactly what he means. Right now, I am experiencing such high levels of happiness, contentedness and well-being resulting from my raw vegan fruit-based diet that I don't see myself eating something other than fresh, raw, ripe, preferably organic plant foods anytime soon or ever again. I am just too much in love with my current food and the results coming from it.



Do you love your food? And equally important: does it love you back?



Sometimes people think I am an ascetic eating this way, when actually the TASTE of these foods is one of my main reasons to choose this diet. Whole, fresh, ripe, raw fruits and vegetables are the most beautiful, tasty and satisfying foods I know of. I have not always viewed it this way, I am still evolving and growing more and more into it. Practice is a crucial factor: The more you practice being low fat raw vegan, the better you will become at sticking to it. It takes time to change habits, change your perspective and change your actions, I made so many decisions in the past that were not serving me - but in the end, they brought me to where I am now.
Doug likes to tell one of his many great anecdotes and it goes somewhat like this: He once asked a very successful and popular man about the secret behind his success. The man answered: All comes from good judgment. Then Doug asked, how do we gain the ability of good judgment? Experience, is the answer. And how do we get experienced? Poor judgment!
Failing is part of life, and part of success, if you handle it the right way. It is a vital source of experience and so it can be very valuable for making decisions in the future - hopefully decisions, that serve you much better.

Don't stress yourself with thinking too far into the future ('Oh my god! I can never have candy/pizza/french fries (whatever) ever again!'), but stay in the moment and ask yourself, if you are willing to experience the uncomfortable consequences resulting from your choices in the now. Change your focus from a deprivation point to an ABUNDANCE point of view - because that's what this lifestyle is ultimately about for me anyway: abundance. I love to eat. And I love to eat A LOT.

Much happiness! Enjoy!
Jasmin

hakuna matata

A quick update: Everything is fine, I really enjoy my food, I am deeply grateful for being alive and living a non-violent and abundant lifestyle! I feel like everything is flowing more these days and I need good rest and more sunshine to get more balanced, but overall I feel really good. My skin has improved so much which is a great motivation to stay raw! And the Summer is coming soon, so I'm super psyched for all the yummylicious fruit!

My breakfast today:

Really good video about the importance of a plant-based live food diet:




The Fruitarian Diet. Theoretically, and in practice, a diet composed of high quality, ripe, raw fruits provides the human body with all the nutrients it needs with the very least expenditure of digestive effort, at the same time producing no toxic by-products and so allowing the body to detoxify itself and perform at its peak. Raw fruits are more palatable and provide more energy for a given amount than vegetables and can be prepared with less effort and less waste. Not only can the highest level of health be attained on a fruitarian diet but, because it places so much less wear and tear on the body's vital organs, degeneration is slowed down and the lifespan extended.

From: Health and Survival in the 21st Century by Ross Horne

... and: Don't worry, be happy! Hakuna Matata! NO WORRIES!

rawvelations

I made a decision today. I hid my pot on top of my cupboard where I cannot reach it easily, hehe. I am not going to eat cooked vegan meals anytime soon again. I am going all raw NOW. This is why:

I have been eating cooked vegan meals (no salt, no oil) every day since last Sunday (5 days) and I do not feel my normal happy self. I feel heavy, down and sluggish. Although I cannot surely say that it is solely because of the cooked food, I am sure it is a major factor. I have experienced swell and some weight gain (I do not own any scale, but I can tell by how my clothes fit and how I look). I experience more thirst than usual. My digestion is OK, but I know it can be better. I do not feel like exercising after eating something cooked - especially, since I ALWAYS over-eat (= eat more than is comfortable) on cooked foods, it does not matter, if they are salt- and oil-free, if I am honest. I thought I could happily include cooked vegetable dishes in my diet and stay high raw vegan and low fat, but at least right now, this does not seem to be the case.

I feel more determined than ever to stick to 100% raw now. So, that is the positive side of this! I feel so sorry for myself that I do not go outside and enjoy the good weather or do some exercise, when I am actually such a big fan of sports and working out. It pains me deeply to see myself gaining weight and hiding behind closed curtains since I feel so disgusting because of over-eating! So, with ending my cooked food binges, I need to find a good alternative way to cope with my emotional void. Any ideas or suggestions? I have a lot of ideas, actually, but still I have gone back to old behavioural patterns again and again. So, how do I make the change once and for all?

Another interesting thing: the blood type diet! I saw a discussion  about it and got curious. I have always thought that the blood type diet was bogus, but maybe there is something to it. I clearly do better on temperate fruits and interestingly that is what is suggested for people who have blood type AB. ;) Alas, it is somewhat true in my case that orange juice can upset my stomach, I have always thought it is due not optimal quality oranges! And I used to drink water with lemon juice every morning some time ago and felt amazing doing that. I stopped this habit because I read somewhere on 30BaD that lemons are not a good thing to put into your body. I also love grapefruits. So, for now I will do a temperate fruits only experiment. (Although some of the melons and other fruits I consider temperate are imported from more tropical countries.)

So, again: mono meals - or rather one type of fruit and greens at a time - and no overt fats AND all raw are my priorities. Starting now - because I am worth it and deserve the best.  ♥ And you do, too! ;)


PS: Here you can see some foods recommended for AB:

• All kinds of Grapes and Plums, Berries (Cranberries, Gooseberries, Loganberries), Cherries
• Pineapples
• Grapefruits, Lemons
• Kiwi
• Tomatoes
• Celery, Green Leafy Vegs, Cucumber, Parsley

 Not recommended:

• Mangoes, Guava, Coconuts, Bananas and other tropical fruits except Papaya (which I love)
• Oranges 

best foods for academic performance?

Well, as a student, the title of this video sounded very interesting, and indeed, what Dr. Doug talks about makes so much sense to me. I love his holistic approach to health. Eating fruits and vegetables provides our bodies with the best fuel and nutrients in order to function properly. Also, our mental clarity is best, when eating these foods. Diets high in fat not only result in all kinds of physiological problems like high blood sugar and candida issues, but also result in brain fog. Garlic is known for its negative impact on the brain, it hinders the proper communication between the left and right brain hemisphere. The brain loves simple sugars. ;)

Enjoy!

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green smoothies

i want to add more greens and nutrient-dense foods into my daily diet. michele from raw natural hygiene talks about the importance of greens in a healthy diet in her latest video.



i ♥ greens.

today's green goodness:

strawberry-romaine

• 300g strawberries
• 1 small head romaine lettuce
• 1 small apple
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of water

blend & enjoy. :)

natural hygiene

http://soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020125shelton.pristine/020125toc.htm