This is my ever evolving experience with food:
i have been a vegetarian since birth; as in i've never eaten chicken, meat, fish, or eggs. In the past, peoples reaction when I "broke" the news about my herbivorous roots was along the lines of; "you've never tried a hot dog?" or "you don't look sick" and my favorite "dude you have no idea what you're missing!!!".
Well over the years, as more of the truth about our food is revealed, the reactions are more along the inquisitive lines of "what do you eat?" or "I've been thinking about going vegetarian" or my favorite, which I am hearing more and more these days "show me how you eat...I want to do this".
I was raised eating dairy, but stopped drinking cow's milk around age 12 when we made the switch to soy. Then about 4 years ago, I began my battle with the cheese! This was such a laborious and heartbreaking separation. Even after many gut-wrenching relapses, it still "tasted sooooo good!" The last time I ate cheese was about 6 months ago and here is what happened: i had a lot of energy when I ate the cheese. Then I laid down in bed and my heart started racing. Then I felt like I was going to throw up. Then I suddenly passed out and had a horribly restless nights sleep.
I will not go into why eating animals is no bueno for the human body and our planet. There is copious amounts of scientific information and research out there to validate this. I am only blogging about my personal experience with food.
So, now after 6 months clean off the cheese I have evolved yet another annoying aspect to my interaction with waiters. Four months ago I stopped eating anything mixed with oil, made with oil, or cooked in oil. What? I know right! But olive oil & coconut oil IS good for us!!!The reason given to me by a team of four of our nations most reputable and respected Nutritional M.D.'s is that extracted oil is in fact not good for us. They say that oil is a pure fat, very high in calories, and a very low calorie to nutrient ratio. BTW these are the same guys who gave me the science behind a pro-vegan diet. I spent a week in Naples Beach with these gentlemen, eating all vegan, oil-free, fruit-sweetened, nutrient dense, delicious food! When we weren't eating they were feeding us the science behind this path and how we can cure disease and prevent disease from killing us and our families. We can do this, they say through diet and moderate exercise! Real talk.
The oil-free thing made sense to me, when after a month no oil i ate a small handful of popcorn with coconut oil. It tasted like rancid poison and I felt like someone kicked me in my stomach. But wait, what about fish oil, what about flax seed oil, my GOD where will we get our OMEGAS!?! I get my omegas from the whole food, non-extracted, makes perfect sense sources: hemp seeds, walnuts, and leafy greens!
So when people ask me if they should stop eating meat, or cheese, or oil…i say, if you hear that something may not be good for you and you know you can live without it, give it up for a month and see how you feel. If you feel better thats awesome! Stop eating it! If you feel the same go back and eat that piece of pizza with extra cheese and dripping with oil and see how you feel. I have found that oil free food taste like the food rather than what it is cooked in and it's much easier to digest. Also recipes with the original whole food sourced healthy fats…nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados are so much better tasting!
So now after my oil slick has dissipated and I have formulated around 40 original oil-free, fruit-sweetened, nutrient-dense, delicious recipes I have evolved yet again back to what makes the most sense to me. Now, as of yesterday i am a raw oil-free fruit-sweetened vegan. I have dabbled in the raw arts in the past. When I first moved to Miami(btw i live and work on South Beach), I stopped eating anything heated above 120 degrees. I didn't plan on this at all. During my move I tossed most of my food, leaving me with my staple green smoothie ingredients:
Makes 64oz(adjust to blender size)
.5 bunch(beginners) or 1 bunch(masters) of greens(spinach, kale, collards, chard, dandelions, sunflower greens, book choy, watercress)
.5-1 avocado
4 frozen bananas
4 T raw cacao
1 T hemp seeds
1 T bee pollen
24-32+ OZ water(until desired consistency is reached)
I drank green smoothies for two days and felt amazing! So, I decided to just go totally raw. I did a month of nothing cooked, processed, pasteurized, or otherwise altered by man. I ate all fresh fruit, vegetables, and a ton of leafy greens. It was green smoothies for breakfast into lunch with a raw food snack then a huge salad for dinner with homemade salad dressing. I felt amazing! Crazy energy!Working out and running everyday, only sleeping 5 hours, and I had a greater sense of balance. Then I went home for my mother's amazing vegetarian Thanksgiving spread and ate cooked food for two days. However, after one month raw, I saw results and I felt great!. Now, i recently met a beautiful woman who has inspired me beyond words with her zest for life and her enthusiasm for the raw food lifestyle. 2 weeks raw...maybe a month...maybe longer...here we go! Du er smuk!!!
