Sunday, October 7, 2012

A sacred meal


I've been thinking about crafting a sacred food ritual with mindful eating practices. So far, this idea is very rough, but I want to put it out there in the hopes that this will solidify into something. I would have all participants sitting at a table, with food laid out. We would invoke the 4 directions, thanking them for their role in providing for us. So something like this:

   We call to Earth in the direction of the North! 
   You give us ground to walk on and to grow in. 
   All of us are nourished by your bounty and cradled in your womb.
   Sustain us, bless us. Hail and welcome! 

And so on and so forth for Air, Fire, and Water as well.

Then a call to the Divine in all Things, as opposed to a specific deity. And finally, blessings on all of the food on the table, thanking the plants and animals for their supreme gifts of their lives to nourish us, the hard working farmers who grew/raised the food, and to whomever took the time to prepare it. Then, of course, would come the good part: eating. All would be instructed to eat slowly, mindfully...not to rush. People could pass the food and drink with the standard "May you never hunger/thirst." People could also talk about the relationship they have with their food and how they would like it to change. What it could be instead, as it were.

 So yeah, that's what I have. I'd love to have some feedback. I think this would be great for say, Lammas. I know it's almost Samhain, but I'm thinking ahead here.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Whole 30 Days 21-30

The

So I did it! I'm done:) And yes, I'll do it again, though probably in February or March, just to deal with post-holiday scariness. So yes, let me talk about the last stretch of the Whole 30. Honestly, it felt easy. I've been on a restricted Candida diet anyway, so this was simply no big deal. If I wanted to eat out, I went to either Boloco (www.boloco.com) or b.good (www.bgood.com) for some tasty, unadulterated food that I didn't have to worry about. Yes, I went over their ingredient lists extensively, but I found food that I loved. Plus, they are Boston-centric businesses that I had easy access to. A big win all around. This last stretch I made it a point to eat breakfast, even if it was super early. Lunch was something I could keep small. I even found a place that could make a smoothie for me out of coconut water, bananas, and pineapples. That was a one time treat as it was $7! But it was tasty and I could do that at home. My cravings for salt diminished. Once I realized that salted nuts were throwing my digestion out of whack, honestly, it was easy to cut out. I am still going to use nut flour from time to time, I think. I'll see what it does. But since it's already ground, that may help. I think it was more of a texture/surface problem than anything. Carbs are also not necessarily my problem. I ate lots of sweet potatoes and squashes (delicata is my new favorite. I'll have to post a recipe on what I do with it). And I still lost 6 pounds. The biggest issue that I've been dealing with a stuffed nose/ throat thing that WON'T go away. If it had, I would have worked out more. But it impedes my breathing a bit, so that was a basic non-starter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I did have ice cream last night. Real ice cream with real sugar. Pumpkin flavored. It was delicious. But it left a coated feeling in my mouth, so honestly, it was less exciting than it could be. That's a good thing!!!! And it did not impact my weight. Oh yeah, so my total weight loss on Paleo is 33 lbs. I had gotten down to 29 lbs lost, but drifted upward again when I was cheating so much at the end of the summer. Ah well. I am lower now than I was before. I honestly think I am very close to the end. I want to turn my attention to getting more fit and toned than I was before. If anything I'll only want to lose about 3-4 more pounds, but it's hard to say. I have some excess skin that hasn't snapped back yet, if at all. But I look pretty darn amazing, if I do say so. And other than this yucky cold thing that I have had all month, I feel amazing, too.