REAL FOOD IS DISGUSTING (Plus, 3 Tips on Making Healthy Eating and Cooking Less Painful.)

Recipe: Eric’s Mom’s Homemade Asian Greens

As many of you know, I’ve been promising a guest post from Eric Wang over at healthdemystified for a few weeks now. Eric, who is studying to be a pharmacist, decided to take a stand against so much of the disempowerment that is perpetuated in the healthcare system. In his words, “Health Demystified started with the belief that it’s time for us to stop blaming others and to start taking responsibility for our own health. Taking responsibility for our lives is the key to success.” Needless to say, we speak the same language! He’s real, he’s got an amazing heart, and he can work that sarcasm to make a point about anything! Without further ado–here’s Eric!

REAL FOOD IS DISGUSTING

Real food goes bad. It decomposes and goes rancid. And, food that’s not laced with preservatives just has a terrible smell of rot after a while. Ughhh… Nasty. My nose is in deep need of recalibration after getting a whiff of that 4-day old lasagna. Yeecch!

And, why are there so many flies flying around here?

Thank goodness for preservatives and chemical additives. And for industrial-grade food, conveniently processed for longer shelf-life and minimal spoilage.

Take a McDonald’s hamburger for instance. It simply doesn’t go bad. Apparently, a McDonald’s hamburger is just as fresh in 6 months as it is when it’s first prepared (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/mcdonald-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-six-months.html). You don’t need to refrigerate it or do all sorts of random nonsense. You can literally pick up the hamburger at 6 months, and just eat it off the table. No preparation required! Although I do suggest that you microwave it – it tastes better warmed.

Real food – on the other hand. It’s so much WORK!

You have to wash it and peel it or chop it or core it or dice it. There’s always some effort required.

And, sometimes you even have to COOK it (although some raw foodists would disagree).

Let’s talk cooking. The people on the Food Network make it look entirely too easily. Seriously, cooking is way easier said than done.

First, you have to turn on the stove. Then you have to get a pot or pan. Then you have to put some ingredients in the pot or pan. And, then you have to watch the stove to make sure your food doesn’t burn.

And just when you thought you were finished, there’s yet another step required: you have to turn off the stove or else your house might go down in flames.

And the marinating process. Who the heck has TIME for that. We’re busy people. We don’t have time to cook or eat healthy or do other things that are good for us. Geez, people, I haven’t even… I haven’t even gone on Facebook for 2 days! 2 whole DAYS. Geez, my family is probably wondering if I’m still alive.

And, it’s not only the cooking process that’s strenuous. Let’s backtrack a little bit. Let me remind you that, in order to cook, you had to first individually pick out each ingredient. It’s not like Lean Cuisine, people. You had to individually pick out each and every carrot, onion, red pepper, broccoli, parsley, etc – painstakingly inspecting each one for flaws, getting a bag, bagging the produce, and putting it in your shopping cart or basket. And, by the way, when you’re shopping, you quickly realize another problem with real food. It’s full of flaws – insect bites, mushed corners, little brown smudges.

Anyway, after you’re done the arduous task of going to the grocery store, and picking up a shopping cart or basket, and inspecting the groceries, and bagging them, and putting them in the cart or basket, and purchasing them, and putting them in the trunk, and closing the trunk, and returning the shopping cart/basket, and driving back home, and putting what you don’t need away, and then washing, and peeling, and dicing, and marinating, and turning on the stove, and sautéing, and watching, and waiting, and stirring, and simmering, and turning off the stove, and plating, and serving, and eating, YOU ARE NOT DONE. Not yet.

Because another problem with real food is that you have to refrigerate it after you cook it. Otherwise, it goes bad. Life is a bitch.

And, then you have to clean up the scraps and mess that you’ve made while cooking. Seriously. I’m hungry! I just want to eat some food, people!

–

I dare say the reason why many of us are struggling with weight loss is because unhealthy stuff like McDonalds, Burger King and Hungry Man TV dinners are convenient, easy, and even fun. Cooking and eating healthy on the other hand is, well, inconvenient, hard, and NOT fun.

If we somehow made this whole process of eating healthier less painful and more fun, we’d be more successful at our efforts to lose weight.

So, how can we make eating healthy and cooking fun and enjoyable?

HOW I MAKE COOKING FUN AND AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE.

1. Music. Grab my stereo and put on a little Hall and Oates or some John Mayer. Sometimes, when I’m feeling adventurous, I put on a little Kanye, and, dare I say, Nicki Minaj
2. Grab a partner. My girlfriend and I love cooking together. Find someone you love cooking together with. It might be the start of a “healthy” relationship. Get it? Ok, fine – don’t laugh. Jerk.
3. Just relax and take in the experience. I remind myself I deserve to not worry about things 24/7. Cooking is my “me time.” Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh says that when we do the dishes, we should think only of doing the dishes. Similarly, when I’m cooking, I’m not thinking of anything else but the experience of cooking. I am mindful of every sensation from chopping the carrots to smelling the fragrance of the herbs and spices. Cooking is a really sensual process. And, you don’t even have to be Giada.
4. Invite people over and entertain. The more the merrier.
5. INSERT YOUR TIP HERE. Got a question for you: How do YOU make cooking and eating healthy “fun”?

[BRY note] True to form, Eric has served up a recipe for BeReal. With only a handful of ingredients, this healthy recipe can be a triumph for culinary neophytes everywhere! Eric’s Mom says so!

Mom’s Homemade Asian Greens

Ingredients: Vegan Oyster sauce, Sesame oil, some type of greens (spinach,

Yu choy, etc)

-Boil water

-Add greens. Don’t overcook. In fact it’s better to undercook.

-Drain.

-Plate it. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 1.5

tablespoons of sesame oil on top. Serve warm!

-Eric

It’s been a long day.

Recipe: Three Cs Salad

Sometimes cooking is the only thing that will do it for me. Cooking, creating, it’s all the same. I come home, and if the day has been long (especially if it’s been long!), I cannot wait to get my hands in the kitchen! I just get in the zone, and before you know it, I have three or four things on the go at once! I mean if the oven’s on anyway for those cookies, may as well roast some almonds for some almond butter! Or if the food processor is already dirty, what the heck—let’s make hummus! It doesn’t matter. My kitchen is where I ground myself. It’s where I mellow out, dabble, explore, create. If I’m sad, anxious, or restless, it is here where I just let go. It’s an act of pure flow. I’m not thinking, I’m not worrying, I’m focused. As you can see, I’ve been busy:

3 Cs: comfort meets colour meets crisp!

This cornbread bows to nobody’s jam!

This could be yours (if you own a ridiculous oversized donut mould!)!

So I’m just curious – where is it that you find your flow? What is your way of release or unwinding? How do you get lost in creativity? Just wondering…… Stay tuned for next week when the ever-amusing Eric Wang from healthdemystified treats us to a guest post (and recipe!)! Eric, by-the-way, recently added me to his list of Nine Rising Stars in the Health and Fitness Blogosphere. Check it out!  For now, I’ve posted my 3Cs salad recipe, pictured above. And no, this salad does not involve John Ritter. Enjoy!

3 Cs Salad

(serves 2)

2 cups red cabbage, sliced in food processor

1 cup carrots (sliced in food processor or cut thinly)

1/2 cup chickpeas (cooked and rinsed)

1/2 cup fresh dill (chopped)

1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)

1/2 tsp herbamare (herbed sea salt but regular sea salt will do)

juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions: Heat a small amount of water (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) over medium high heat. Add cabbage and cover for two minutes. Add carrots, and cover for 1-2 minutes more. Still want some crisp left in those Cs. Turn off heat, stir in chickpeas, herbs, salt and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil and serve. Simple but marvellous!

Wu-Wei, my friend, Wu-Wei.

Recipe: Unreasonably Large Peanut Buttery Cookies

Are you feeling freaked out right now? Does it feel like everything in your life is in flux and you’re grasping for solid ground? If so, you are not alone! Almost everyone I know, myself included, is being challenged in this way. So many people are changing jobs, moving, ending relationships, and making other life-changing decisions. We think that by engaging with the external and diving head-first into the frantic we can quell this restlessness. And what better circumstances than these to remind ourselves that when things feel crazy on the outside, we will be best served by turning INWARDS.

It’s this idea of non-action, or as Lao Tze (of TaodeJing fame) would say, “Wu-Wei.” Nothing outside of you will bring that inner peace you seek. If you don’t know what direction to go, nothing or no one can tell you. The guidance comes from within, and we can only hear it if we take the time to sit there, in our own stillness and silence, and listen. When you feel the pressure to act, bust out the “Wu-Wei” and DON’T. I don’t know what it is about us humans that makes us want to create more chaos in the midst of chaos, rather than take a time-out and assess our inner needs and the situation. Be wary of this tendency in yourself: if you find yourself turning to food (i.e., sugar), shopping, or general crazy-making, pull back! The energy right now is conducive to this, but you do not have to partake. In the midst of all of this uncertainty, awareness is absolutely key.

I posted about Dreena Burton’s Super Charge ME cookies a while back — which I love. But then I had these AMAZING peanut buttery, chocolate chippity cookies at this restaurant in Portland and was inspired to create replicas. Immediately. I used Dreena’s SCM recipe as my base and worked to produce what you see below. What I changed: more peanut butter, no oil, all oats, and whole peanuts. Oh, and apple sauce. Oh oh…and BIG. And don’t omit the peanuts. I made them the first time without and it’s just not the same.

 

Recipe: Unreasonably Large Peanut Buttery Cookies

1 cup oats
1 cup oat flour
1/4 tsp (rounded) sea salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 –1/3 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit
1/4 c peanuts
1/2 c chocolate chips
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup ground flax
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp apple sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In a bowl, combine dry ingredients (including chocolate chips, raisins and peanuts) and stir well. In a separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Add wet mixture to dry, and stir until just well combined. Use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. The key to these cookies is BIG. Spoon batter onto baking sheet evenly space apart, and lightly flatten. You will likely only get about 7-8 cookies if you go for the big guns. Bake for 15 minutes and remove to cool. I left mine on the sheet until they firmed up.

Trying times

Recipe: Pleasing Tomato Pesto Pasta

Do you say yes when you want to say no?

Do you invest more in people than you get in return (and then keep investing in those people)?

Do you over-identify with other people’s feelings, and take it upon yourself to look after them?

If you answered “yes” to two or more of the above questions, you might be a people pleaser—a phenomenon that involves a constant de-selfing process whereby we fail to vocalize our own needs for fear of hurting another person’s feelings and not being liked. But fear not, oh weary pleaser—there is help: YOU!!!

We typically fall into the people pleaser role when we fear not being liked and require the approval of others. But here’s something else I’ve noticed about us food-stuffers. Many of us are incredibly sensitive people. We are empathic and we often feel in ourselves what others are feeling around us (hence our ability to take such care in our dealings with others-—a lovely quality, by the way); it’s this heightened sensitivity in combination with our own insecurity that can create in us a misplaced sense of responsibility for a feeling we are experiencing/aware of that isn’t actually our own! We are not responsible for how others feel!

Awareness is key, so check in with yourself. It’s one thing to demonstrate caring and respect for others. It’s another thing if doing so is at the expense of your own inner truth and needs. As well, if there is a lack of reciprocation or you are not being met with respect, than it’s probably time to re-evaluate the dynamic of the relationship (and the relationship itself!). That means finding a balance between looking after your own needs and knowing what belongs to you, and what belongs to the other. You are absolutely worth showing up for! So keep showing up for yourself and hold out for those who authentically show up for you too. And just remember—you can’t please everyone! So just please you!

So I’ve been doing some cooking. Some baking. You know, stuff. One thing I made recently that I really enjoyed was a sundried and roasted tomato pesto zucchini pasta dish inspired by the pesto recipes of both Dreena Burton’s and Angela Liddon. The pesto is rather substantial, so I wanted to pair it with a veggie pasta (spiralized zucchini) to lighten it up a bit. I broiled up some broccoli and BAM – dish delish! 

Pleasing Tomato Pesto Pasta

4 tomatoes (roma or other) halved, drizzled with olive oil and roasted face down on baking tray for 1 hour at 400F

3/4 cup sundried tomatoes in oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup toasted almonds

2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

pepper

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup fresh basil (I tried a version without it, and it was still nice)

For the pasta:

2 zucchinis, either peeled into stripped with a veggie peeler, or put through the spiralizer

1 head of broccoli

juice of half a lemon

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Prepare the pesto by first putting the almonds through the food processor until crumbly and setting aside. Process the rest of the ingredients until smooth, then add the almonds in and pulse until mixed.

In a bowl, toss the broccoli with some olive oil, salt, and chili flakes. Broil for 5-7 minutes until slightly charred (watch carefully so they don’t burn!). Remove from oven and toss with lemon juice. Toss with desired amount of pesto and zucchini noodles. Voila!

Feelings: A Survivor’s Tale

Recipe: Bonzai Spelt Pilaf

A mentor of mine always says to “lean to into your learning” and I always feel like this wisdom can also be applied to our feelings: “breathe into your feelings.” Whatever is there, the breath will take you into a deeper, richer experience – it will take you to a place of surrender, to the flow of your feelings, and ultimately, to your learning.

I like to think of the experience of our feelings much the like sediment at the bottom of a river: Rapids can stir it up and sometimes we have to allow ourselves to be swirled about. Once we move through the rough current (Breathe deep!), our feelings start to settle; clarity arrives, and we can once again see our way to the surface and make sense of what just happened to us. But we have to trust we will be okay (aka SURVIVE!), be present, and breathe our way through.

Now, a little piece of advice from a survivor of a recent emotional pummeling: to be clear, this “feeling our feelings” business is certainly not an enjoyable process. Satisfying and triumphant at the end, yes. Enjoyable? That’s a stretch– I hated every grueling and unpleasant moment of it! But hating the experience was also part of the experience; I gave myself permission to hate feeling my feelings. I acknowledged that I hated it, then proceeded to hate every second! It’s when we resist our experiences that we get caught up in the snags and start creating side stories about what’s going on – instead of just having a really uncomfortable feeling, we start to attached a story to it (I’m fat, I ate too much X so I’m a bad person vs. I have a really uncomfortable feeling right now and it really sucks!). If hating your feelings happens to be part of your experience, live it out honestly. Validate it for yourself, and I assure you that you’ll move through it with a lot more grace than you ever knew you had! Whatever way you find to be present for yourself and your emotions, breathe through. It won’t last forever. It will pass. Go spend time with the discomfort: breathe into your feelings and you will survive!

Unfortunately, not all of us live to tell a survivor’s tale….poor almonds….

 

But this recipe? A hit! This is comfort food at its best! I cannot take credit for this recipe, but I can take credit for devouring eating it and loving every bite! It’s a hearty nourishing dish that uses whole spelt berries cooked at a very low temperature for an hour or so; it turns out as more of a pilaf or risotto with so much flavour! Plus, what’s not to love about spelt berries. They are high in protein, they can hold their own in a pot (they don’t become mush like barley or rice) and they have a lovely chewy texture. Hmmmm hmmmm.

Bonzai Spelt Pilaf

1 cup spelt, rinsed (and pre-soaked in 2 cups of water for a few hours if possible)
3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2/3 cup water (more if needed)
1 small zuchini, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 can black beans
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
pepper

Rinse spelt and add to a large pot. Heat olive oil over medium heat and brown spelt with onions, garlic and spices. Add beans and zucchini, cook and stir. Add water and tomatoes, stir, cover and simmer for 1 hour on low heat. Stir periodically and add more water if it looks dry. Bonzai!

To All Yee Yay-Sayers

Recipe: Tofutti-Less Cream Cheese Icing

You may only get one shot at it, so you may as well be you. As I prepare to turn 30, I reflect on the ways I still say yes when I want to say no or when I silence a preference or opinion for fear of creating discomfort –  luckily I can say that happens less and less the older I get, but it still happens. All that “yay-saying” creates anger and resentment, and before we know it, we find ourselves seething at something (or someone!) totally unrelated! The resentment from our yay-saying ways can often mutate into passive aggressive behaviour as we struggle to regain the power we gave up when we didn’t give voice to our truth.

Do you think you could ask for what you want 100% of the time? Whether you get what you want 100% of the time isn’t the point. The point is that you think your needs and wants are worth advocating for and that they are important, that YOU are important. Even when someone tells us “no,” we are left empowered as we decide what that information means for us. It’s a win-win, really. With nothing to lose, are you still not going to ask for what you want?

Icing!! I want icing!! I like to have my cake, yes – but really, I just like my icing. People who have known me for years will know that it’s not uncommon to find me hunkering down at the end of the dinner table with a small piece of my favourite cake under an avalanche of icing (or a bowl of icing on the side!). Not cheap, hydrogenated icing, mind you – nay, I’m more interested in the cream cheesey icings of the world. I’ll have dairy cream cheese occasionally, but I have often used Tofutti, a soy vegan substitute. The problem with Tofutti is that it costs around $5 for a little tub: it was becoming harder and harder to afford to have my icing and eat it (mass -quantity-style) too! This is precisely why I came up with this recipe!

Deduce, you say?

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Babaganoush

I had the pleasure of meeting someone over a month ago, whose humility and grace remains with me still. A fellow traveler on the road of self love, she asked the question “why is it that we are so quick to believe the negative things people say about us and so quick to write off the positive ones?” Like a detective looking for clues, we collect the evidence that supports our beliefs.

It got me thinking, not just about what I’m quick to believe about myself without evidence to back it up, but what I’m quick to believe about others as well. I was recently humbled when I indirectly implicated an acquaintance for something of mine that had gone missing, only to find the very object in question amongst my things minutes later. Rather than take some time, examine the evidence, and then form a conclusion, my mind instantly jumped to think the worst about that person. I felt horrible.

If we give others, as well as ourselves, the benefit of the doubt and allow for human fallibility or a simple misinterpretation of facts, we find we become much more conscious and neutral in how we approach such matters. When we can hold this space, we treat unsubstantiated beliefs with compassion. When all of the evidence eventually comes to light, this consciousness enables us to evaluate with clarity and choose our actions and our words with care.

What assumptions are you making, both about yourself and of others? Are you collecting objective facts, or are you jumping to a belief and looking for the evidence that supports that belief? Take time to consider where your mind wants to go and open it up for other truths to present themselves.

I like hummus, this is true. But give me babaganoush and the scale is instantly tipped! We had the ingenious idea to have a Mediterranean night, and so I of course got busy on this creation, which was voted “the best babaganoush of my life” by those seated ’round the table!

Roasted Garlic Babaganoush

2 medium eggplants

1 head of garlic

1/2 cup tahini

juice of two lemons

2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil + drizzle for garlic

dash of chili powder

dash of cumin

1. Poke holes in your eggplants with a fork and roast for 1 hour at 350 degrees, until collapsed. At the same time, slice off the top of the head of garlic, place it over foil, and drizzle with olive oil.  Wrap foil around garlic and roast with the eggplant (about an hour).

2. Once done, allow garlic to cool, then squeeze out the goods. In a food processor, add the eggplant (I like mine skin and all, but you could just scoop out the pulp) and garlic, and blend together with the rest of the ingredients. Do not add more than a pinch of cumin, or its flavour will dominate. Remove and refrigerate until serving. Adjust salt to taste, but babaganoush should be on the saltier side.

Hold Me: In the Arms of Mother India

As much as we think we can or ought to “do it on our own” – sometimes we can’t. Sometimes we need to accept the love and care of another. In fact, we must count ourselves so very blessed to have such people in our lives. I have just spent the last few days very ill, and if it wasn’t for the assistance of my dear friend and travel companion, I don’t know what I would have done. Oddly enough, at this very moment, I am crying in a sleeping car at 3 in the morning on the way to Agra, feeling absolutely sick to my stomach, and missing my grandparents like crazy.

Some of us may be the nurturers to those in our lives, We are the people others turn to for comfort and reassurance that everything will be okay. We may forget what it feels like to have a mothering source of our own. We can surrender that role and allow ourselves to be nurtured. I have never been in a situation before where I had to be so dependent upon one person. I am so touched by such unconditional, reassuring, unselfish giving that my friend has imparted to me. I’m sure to her, this is just what friends do, and I am humbled further. Not only that, but in India, everyone is your mother. If you are sick, everyone knows you are sick. Even the touts don’t approach you, and all the ladies (and the men) offer their advice for recovery, check up on you in the night, pinch your cheeks, etc; there were many caring people who extended themselves in one way or another. I guess sometimes we need to be in a position where we are forced to surrender to the care of another. Even just knowing that someone cares for you, albeit near or far, is a beautiful thing. Give thanks for your care circle, both immediate, and the one that sends you the people and the circumstances you need at exactly the moment you need them.

There’ll be no food talk today, I’m afraid. I can’t even stand the thought of food, let alone approach the idea of cooking with any sort of enthusiasm. Stay tuned for when my appetite comes back cause I’m gonna be HUNGRY!! Like ANIMAL! xoxo

[Fore]Gone Conclusions

Recipe: Baked Apples with Cinnamon Cashew Cream

Just as we have our stories, we also have our endings. Many times we expect certain outcomes before they’ve even happened. Or we may react the same way to the same situation every time, and then be upset with ourselves in the same way for doing so. Our beliefs and actions can sometimes be so ingrained in us that we operate without recognizing that we have other options; it never occurs to us that there could be a different outcome to the same story, or better yet, a free fall – a complete surrender to what is real and true for you in that moment.

Say, for example, that every time you get together with certain individuals, you overeat and then you come home at the end of the evening and binge. This social scene isn’t really a “fit” for you, you feel inadequate, or are being triggered in some other way. As you sit there with these people, all you can really think about is what you are going to be eating once you step foot inside your house. And when you do finally come home, you go into autopilot and the night ends up with you feeling even worse about yourself….again.

Or, let’s say you go out and treat yourself to a massage or a yoga class, but rather than coming home and feeling good in your body and tucking yourself into bed, you come home and have a binge instead. This is because your story doesn’t involve you allowing yourself to feel good – this ending never even occurred to you. The only ending you know is the one that keeps confirming your story (i.e., “I’m fat,” “I have X eating disorder,” “I’m in some way not okay”).

What if we turned our stories into our very own “Choose Your Own Adventure” and we tried to visualize a different outcome to the usual way our predictable stories play themselves out? What if we went down a different path, and experienced a different outcome/reality?

With the above example, for instance, I might think about what a nice night at home after a massage might look like. It might involve curling up with a book and a cup of tea. Or a hot bath. Or maybe just hopping straight into bed, snuggling up under the covers. Can you picture it? We can’t always change our outcomes over night, but we can began to consider the possibility that we can live it out a different way. Even just this simple exercise of visualizing ourselves responding differently can plant a seed of what is possible for you and challenge your beliefs and behaviours around your current experiences. Give it a go and see what kinds of amazing conclusions you can fathom.

Baked Apples – who knew?? I have been baking apples straight for the last week. I love apple pies, crisps, crumbles – but after baking apples and letting the apples stand on their own, all that doe, sugar, and Earth Balance just seems unnecessary. Something happens in that baking process: some might call it “caramelization,” but I call it magic. The apples turn super sweet, which makes them not only a delicious dessert, but a fantastic sweetener to blend into puddings, spreads, and baking (also great for rounding out texture too!). Here’s one way I’ve been enjoying my baked apples lately, but there are many more which I hope to post about soon. By the way, pears are just as amazing!

Running

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Spread

I know what you’re thinking: this is a post about running to food and/or running from feelings. And you would not be wrong to think so, as that’s exactly the type of thing I would blog about; however, this post is ACTUALLY about running. That’s right: runners, shoe laces, cardio, sports bra – slappin’ on them shoes and hitting the trails – the real deal!

I started running again for the first time in four or so years, and for the first time ever, the desire to run was not motivated by the urgent need to burn off X number of calories or because I though my butt looked too big. My ears had started perking to various mentions of “running”, and a friend had recently mentioned how good it made her feel. My body started craving that exhilaration, the fresh air, the pumping of my heart, and the flowing of my blood. So a few weeks ago, I got out my runners, donned the running attire, and headed out with the pooch.

At first, it was really hard to approach running from a neutral place. As I got dressed with the intention to run, I noticed some of the old familiar ways of thinking about exercise in ED terms starting to surface and I had to resist the urge to size up my body in the mirror and think about what I could eat as a result of the calories I’d be burning! And the fearful part of me, the part that thinks that any day now all the hard work I’ve done on recovery will slip out from under me and I’ll be right back where I was, was telling me not to run. It was telling me I was re-entering the downward spiral into the vicious binge/purge cycle.

I decided to run anyway, on my own terms. I put zero expectations on myself: I dropped the idea that I had to run for X number of kilometres or minutes and decided I would run until I didn’t feel like running, and if I felt like walking, I would walk. There was no judgement, no right or wrong. The fact that I was running at all was a victory.

I’m really about trusting the body’s organic process. Just as my craving and tolerance for sweets has naturally lessened, I knew that when the time was right, my body would crave cardio again. If we listen and are receptive, we can trust that things just happen on their own time, without us trying to force them. So if it’s there for you, and it feels organic, why not explore a different way of being in your body? And, if it’s not, then don’t! While you’re at it, why not drop all the expectations and “shoulds” around it (I, in principle, tend not to do things with a “should” attached). Just as we can develop a healthy relationship with food, we can develop a healthy relationship with our body by simply listening to it.

Sometimes the simplest combinations can take us over the roof, of our palate, that is. This is so easy, but will take your bread eating experience to the next level. Roasting garlic is something you can do while you have the oven on cooking other things, if you think to do it. This spread is always nice to have on hand, so don’t feel like you have to plan ahead to make this. Just make it when it’s convenient. You won’t regret it!

Roasted Garlic Spread

1 bulb of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Earth Balance spread

salt to taste

Pre-head oven to 375. Cut top off garlic head and drizzle some olive oil inside. Wrap in tin foil and bake for 45 min or until soft. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out roasted garlic into Earth Balance and mash in with a fork. Then, slather on your favourite sourdough loaf and consume in large quantities.