Saturday, November 28, 2015

Be Your Own Health Guru

Both Thursday and yesterday, I watched some old YouTube videos of various vegan "experts" telling us how we should eat. There are so many "correct" ways to eat it's very hard to wrap your head around. There's Raw, Raw till 4, high carb low fat, high carb some fat is okay, but no oil, vegan paleo diet, eating only whole, organic foods, yes to juices and smoothies, no to juices and smoothie, and every person promoting one of these diets or lifestyles is right in their mind, and if you read any of the comments, it's like a war zone. A lot of food and body shaming. Some of these gurus go as far as to shun vegans who don't eat the way they promote. It's very strange. When I first started my quest to become healthy and happy, I discovered Freelee, and her Raw till 4 plan, lifestyle whatever. It was summer, so smoothies and raw fruit during the day were fine. But I wasn't able to "smash in the calories" as was recommended. I wanted to eat a whole packet of pasta, but I couldn't. I also couldn't drink an eleven banana smoothie. And, smoothies don't really satiate me. I feel hungry very soon after a smoothie. Then, fall came and I was not satisfied with smoothies and raw fruit, and also living in the snow belt, fruit options in the cold months are very limited. For this and many other reasons I dropped out of that scene. I did notice that eating a higher carb diet was really making me feel awesome, so I decided to just do my own thing with somewhat of a focus on starches/carbs. I also went awhile with trying to eat super "clean". No processed anything could pass my lips. I wasn't feeling great, and I wasn't enjoying eating. I spent over fifteen years of my life having an extremely dysfunctional and disordered relationship with food. I don't want to live like that anymore, and there are so many fun vegan junk foods out there, I want to try them all! But, I've also learned balance. I now listen to my body. For example, last week I ate a lot of heavy comfort foods. I made horseradish mac and cheese, I ate stuffing, I had the roast contest, I'm sure there were other comforts in there, but this week my body has been craving lots of fresh lemony and herb-y flavors, and lots of greens. It's like I'm getting to know myself all over!
It's getting to that time of year when people start seeking out diets for the new year, and cleanses and detoxes are going to be all the rage. I just want to say as someone who has tried and done pretty much everything to try to control my body and my food intake, nothing ever has been as effective as just listening to my own body! No one can tell you what you need like your own body! I used to mindlessly eat salty snacks like chips, and before I knew it the bag was gone. Now, it's impossible for me to do that. At a certain point my body just tells me to quit. I'm saying all of this to say that I think it's great to get little tidbits of information from various sources, but again, no one can tell you what's best for your body like your actual body.
Vegan is a lifestyle, it's something that goes deep down to your soul, it's not a diet. Now, I don't get pissed when celebs drop into veganville to lose a few, because an animal saved is an animal saved. But, the reason they leave veganville is because they view it as a diet.
I'm saying all of this to say that I hope at some point we can take a step inward and listen to our own bodies, and hit pause on all of the diet "experts" out there. I may not be losing weight super fast, but I can feel and see my body getting stronger, and slowly but surely the beer poundage is going away. And I feel healthier than I ever have. And I am definitely a "real" vegan!
I had some of the General Tso's sauce left over, and what could make such an amazing sauce even better? Peanut butter! I added a spoonful and made a spicy peanut sauce which I served over a bowl of rice, tofu, and vegetables. I also chopped mint and cilantro for the top. Yum city!
I was craving fresh spring rolls, so I tried to put all the flavors in a bowl! It was pretty spot on. I was thinking of the Trader Joe's spring rolls for this dish.
This was a much longer winded post than I meant, but I have to leave you with this picture of Chunk's tail. It has a little bend in the tip, and he was laying in the tree, and it reminded me of curious Geaorge, as a matter of fact he is a little curious Chunk!
He was laying with it straight, so the curve was super pronounced, but like a cat he moved it as soon as I pulled out my phone!
Happy Caturday!
And just listen to your body, and don't eat anything that causes harm to anyone, and life will be as it should!



8 comments:

  1. I think you would like the Health at Any Size book. It is a movement about weight and how to let it go. I don't 100% agree that weight is totally something to ignore, but I do think there is a lot of cause and effect going on, and I think once people ignore their weight and focus on health (rather than weight loss) they can loose weight, or just be happy and healthy.

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    1. I will check that out, thanks! I'm trying to do just that, but every now and again I do get caught up on the weight thing. I once had a yoga DVD and the instructor said something about how yoga helps your body find the weight that's right for you, and it would be different for everyone. I remember I really liked that. I was coming off of my eating disorder, and I liked letting go of the obsessive control.

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    2. That can be super rare with yoga! It is a very body negative practice not because the instructors are so bad, but I think a lot of it is from it's popularity, and the people who go to the classes. I felt bad one girl I knew loved yoga, but had to get help for annorexia. I don't think she ever felt comfortable going back to a yoga class because of the environment. BUT there are body positive yoga out there, but I think it is mostly online.

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    3. Wow, that's awful! I took one class like eight plus years ago, and it was a bunch of perfect people, and I felt uncomfortable so I just stuck to my DVDs, and now online.There are a couple on YouTube, Yoga with Adrienne, and Fightmaster Yoga that are excellent, and very self love and body positive. I feel much more comfortable working out at home!

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  2. I really like the title of this blog post! Be Your Own Health Guru. I listen/watch/red from a lot of raw vegans but am I a raw vegan myself? No. At times I tend to be high raw but I wouldn't consider myself raw vegan...why do I follow so many of them on social media? Because I like to 'pick up' things for anyone I can and apply it to my life. I don't exclusively follow any ONE person, pro, or guru...but 'ball' everything I learn from everyone into my own way of doing things, I guess!

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    1. That's the conclusion I've come to, is to take a little of this, a little of that and work it into my life and see what works for me. We are all different, and we can all help each other, but I don't think it's as simple as there just being one way to be.

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  3. I really liked this post and what you're saying. Consciously listening to what my body wants and needs is something I'm trying to start doing. As I have a chronic health condition I have a tendency to tune stuff out to just push through the day just out of habit.

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    1. I've kind of learned the hard way that not listening to your body can be really harmful. Listening to my body is definitely a new experience for me, and I'm hoping that meditation helps!

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