These past few weeks, I have been exploring ways to improve my diet. I was finding that I was generally getting lethargic and prone to sickness. A visit to a Chinese herbalist/doctor woke me up to the fact that my poor kidneys, stomach and liver were exhausted from all the food processing activities – and that my immune system has been greatly lowered. I decided to make changes immediately!
I bought The Beauty Detox Solution by Kimberly Snyder, based on a recommendation by fellow ServiceSpace friend, Anne Marie (who is such a ravishing person!).
The book became a journey for me, as I read it with tremendous openness and hope to find a solution on how to be more kind to my body. All my life, I had assumed that being vegetarian, and eating mostly ‘healthy’ food, were enough to keep disease away. But as I started to notice my energy start to wilt and I was getting sick much quicker, I knew that there was something deeper.
What I truly appreciate about Kim’s book is that she embodies non-violence in her philosophy – how can we be kind to the planet, to ourselves, to all living beings? Although her book is about ‘beauty’, it is about the harmonious aspects of conscious living and eating; her teachings derived from indigininous cultures around the world. She’s a strong proponent of veganism (that too organic, locally-grown and sustainable sources) and tries in many ways to open up our awareness about the world. She is a yoga teacher, and strong follower of Paramahansa Yogananda – the book is sprinkled with beautiful nuggets of wisdom from this spiritual teacher.
The beauty is that the depth of research and findings shared in the book led to a simple truth – the less energy our digestive system uses to break down and assimilate nutrients, the more energy can go to other functions of our body – including important ones such as removing toxins and improving hormonal balance, to what manifests as outer beautification – nails, hair and skin. Moreover, eating fresh, raw vegetables and fruits, helps create more digestive enzymes, which we have depleted over the years.
These past few weeks, I have tried to implement the following in my diet:
- Cutting out caffeine, wheat and other gluten products, dairy, soy products; processed foods
- Starting the morning out with lemon squeezed in hot water
- Drinking a green smoothie as the first meal
- Eating salads before each meal (lunch and dinner)
- Having fruits in between meals (at least 1/2 hour before a meal, 4 hours after a meal)
- Waiting to drink water before/after meals
- Eating more leafy greens, especially kale, spinach, swiss chard, etc.
- Being careful about Food Combining
- Eating light to heavy during the day
- Eating healthy, whole grains such as amaranth, millet, quinoa and buckwheat (trying to stay away from all wheat products, even rice)
- Baking gluten-free cakes! (I just tried a recipe for Blueberry Crumb Cake yesterday from the Gluten Free Goddess blog – it was pretty good, fun to experiment with millet and sorghum flours!)
- Eating an avocado at least once every 1-2 days
- Buying only organic food
- In general, only eating when hungry (although, I have to say, I have binge eaten a lot as well! I am exploring why I have a need to eat when I’m bored)
- I just bought a juicer recently – hope to include a fresh juice everyday, to get more minerals and vitamins!
- Incorporating mineral and enzyme rich foods, such as Saurkraut (which Kim calls the Probiotic Enzyme Salad), sprouts, nutritional yeast, and dulce (instead of salt)
- Using digestive enzymes before eating heavier meals
This diet is more ‘conscious’, in that I spend more time planning and buying for a fresh and healthy meal plan for the week. I have also developed a deep regard for where the food is coming from – trying to buy more local and seasonal fruits and vegetables. It’s made me grateful to have the means to eat healthy, and to explore this side of my spiritual development.
The pudding’s in the proof: I am feeling more energetic, happier – although I know that I have a ways to go to be disciplined and on a high vibrational diet!
