Levity

Dear Diary,

One thing I've discovered is that eating lots of fresh food makes me feel more energetic while dense food weighs me down.  In the same vein, last night I remembered just why they say "laughter is the best medicine."  Be it worrying, planning, "deep conversations," or just the weight of all that I have to do in a day, the load on my shoulders has been feeling a little heavy.  I've been feeling a little too heavy (emotionally) lately.

So, last night we did just what the doctor ordered: Shawn and I made big veggie salads, ordered pizza (whole-grain crust, vegan nut "cheese" from Pizza Luce), drank a couple glasses of wine and caught up on all our half-hour comedies in the DVR.  I laughed until I cried last night and today woke up feeling so good, inside and out.

In honor of feeling light-bodied and light-hearted, I thought I'd post this:

My Top Ten Ridiculous Raw-living Facts

10.  Rats.  Ok, not rats.  But squirrels.  And chipmunks.  Even in the winter, I can no longer get away with leaving that bag of trash by the back door until I get it out to the alley...turns out we are finally eating something the animals find palatable.  Hmmm...real food?

9. Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer.  I guess we can't wait for Uncle Pieter's biennial visit to get our knives sharpened.  With all this chop-chop-chopping, I need to sharpen my knives like twice a week.  Turns out, it's not that big a job and makes life WAY easier.  Huh.

8.  Well Rounded.  Speaking of knives, it seems that cutting round things isn't as scary as I thought.  I used to fear watermelons, pineapples and even the butternut squash.  But yesterday I broke open my first young coconut.  I guess I'm not as bad with a cleaver as I had feared (but stand back - far back - just in case).

7.  Thank goodness my favorite color is green.  Because it's more than the backsplash that's green in my kitchen now.  My white cabinet are constantly sporting green finger prints and green drip marks.

6.  It's not easy being green.  Not unless you have a money tree in the back yard.  I've spent up to $600 a week on groceries in attempt to eat organic, whole foods.  Reducing the "green" (as in money spent) is something I am really trying to work on.

5.  Hardens hands as you do dishes.  My hands are a mess!  I have green residue under my finger nails and my hands are so chapped from washing fruits and veggies and washing that juicer five times a day.

4.  Holy Buckets.  Funny how dehydrated I must have been before.  I am peeing constantly.  Healthy or not, it's very inconvenient having to make so many pit stops when I used to be able to go half the day without one.

3.  Equal and Opposite Reaction.  I've been amazed at peoples' reactions to my food choices: from those who've also changed their lives too, to those who shake their heads and roll their eyes and wait for me to "get back to normal," to those who, oddly enough, get up in arms about it, you never know with people.

2.  Naked Chef.  Who'd have thought that after all these years, years in which I've envied, idolized and feared those who know how to cook, really cook wonderful food for their friends and families, it would be the Raw food revolution that would teach me the most about cooking?

1.  I love veggies!  Who knew?  I was always good with fruit and ate a ton of it but I dreaded the veggie, scarfed down salads only to feel virtuous.  Funny now I can't stand the taste of processed food but can eat a raw parsnip for breakfast.

That's my Friday Food for Thought.  What have you learned????  I'd love to hear it.

Have a good weekend!

Love,
Becky