So, the post below was first and foremost for ME. I must have skipped the lesson while writing it ( don't you love how that happens?). I still mean the "don't go crazy" part, just want to add " STAY FIRM on your believe" to it too. Here is the story.
When me moved to NYC, I was blown away by the availability of fresh organic produce. Considering that the two towns in UT ( and us living on the border of both) had the grand total of 2 health food stores, it makes it rather wonderful to live with 5 of above mentioned around your BLOCK. The prices were less. Produce fresh. Gets any better? Really no. But I didn't quite know that. Yet.
See, very soon we realized that if we took the train , we could get to another borough of the city, and get the produce dirt cheap. Like 29 cents a lb for apples, 5 for $1 oranges, $.99 HUGE bunches of dill, parsley ( etc ) ( the size of 3 store bought ones). So, as the street markets started to change their produce ( due to weather) , and more and more I had to go to 2 or 3 markets that are spread over the manhattan to get what we wanted, I more and more was leaning to just going to another neighborhood, and buying it all at once. I sure could do that in manhattan too. But my reasoning was : WHY pay double here if I can get it REALLY cheap else where? I don't mind the trip. Reasonable, right? Well... Apparently not so.
When came to buy some fruit in brooklyn, my very first question was " is it organic". The guy didn't really speak English ( or Russian ,or any language I could recognize) very well, but he readily shook his head and nodded " YEEES, YEEES, organik! See ! All aur farmz organik! Onlee ze best!". Stuff looked good. So, I - and mind you SOOOOOO pleased with myself- paid the grand total of very little money for two HUGE bags of food, made my way back to the train.
And so it became a habit. I bough some things here and there ( there ARE plenty of amazing deals in Manhattan), but decided to simplify my life, and rather then going to all the places with good deals, just went a couple of times a week to brooklyn, for groceries. It was more then convenient all around, since all the grains, spices and everything we love was in there anyway.
A few months went by, I noticed that I didn't feel as good as I normally did, but then we did have a lot of unexpected situations, so I wrote it off to that. I noticed that my skin started to act strange, but then I am breastfeeding still, so that could be a possibility. I noticed that my side started to cramp a bit, but then I was up most of the time and night and not resting with teething and demanding little one, so that definitely can ( and does ) affect the liver. But then... the cramping got worse, and worse. And after a consultation, I found out that ... the " organic" produce I was so happily buying , turned out to be just the regular, if not more , heavily sprayed , kind. I let my guard down, due to a multitude of farmers that simply do not want to bother with all the certifications, and bought he very nice tale of a happy money-maker ( I know ...) . So, basically , for the last 3-4 months I was feeding myself with organophosphates. By the spoon. ( all those greens I was loading on). Considering that my body is used to certain types of nutrients, it was a very unexpectedly heavy load. And the best part is - what I was saving on the produce, will now go to an "essay" of things for liver rehab.
So, the moral of the story is : Don't go crazy, but KEEP YOUR STANDARDS. And remember too :
Free cheese is only in the mouse trap.
Wow it is amazing how in tune you are with your body. I can tell your soul is very quiet and patient and I love that. I am trying very hard to eat better... more fruits and vegetables and less white stuff. Always with you in mind.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) You know, though, it's all about one day at a time, but constantly. And the most important part - KEEP FREE. There is no such thing as "healthy", if it is binding. There is a difference between choosing to do something, or doing because "have to" - you know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of cooking though - there is a GREAT book "raw food real world" by Sarma Melngailis,, or "Living Raw Food" by her too. If you like gourmet food, if you like cooking, and want ANYTHING to be healthy - this is it. I had a tiramisu cake by her for my birthday, I did not want my birthday to end. Bought her books, and DO NOT WANT to make anything else. It's really easy to adapt it to cooking too, if you don't want to bother with that. Just use an oven instead of a dehydrator :) But it seriously is to die for. CHeck out the bookstores in specialty cookbooks. And when you come to nyc, her restaurant is a MUST.