The kind of place I want to shop is somewhere where everything is really fresh, organic, really cheap, everyone there smiles the best smiles and hugs the best hugs, they are your friends, if you don't have cash to pay that day... don't worry! You pay next time, they cook you lunch if you are there on time and they sell your things there if there is something you love to make, they are enthusiastic about the produce and you get a little story behind everything you buy... this is the place I want to shop all the time. I found it around a year ago and every week since we do our best to get here to take what we need. Compare this to your local supermarket! ;)
If you live in Portugal, please check it out... It's worth the trip to Sintra. Quinta dos 7 nomes, is a permaculture project and ecological co-operative. What they have created and continue to create is very inspiring. If you don't know much about permaculture, check it out... I was glad I did, it's a very logical science and means we usually get fruit and vegetables of much higher quality and also protect and nurture the land we plant on.
Paying attention to where I get my shopping from feels good to me. Being able to touch the soil where the plant has grown makes me feel so connected to life, so grateful! Knowing the people who take care of the land live from values that resonate with mine also gives me a bit of a buzz... The vegetables taste so good from here and the fresh air breathes me. It's a win win situation really! Especially since most of the things are about 3 times cheaper than any local organic shop :) LOVE this place!
http://www.quinta7nomes.com/
The first question everyone asks when I mention some interest in raw food is "Do you eat all raw food?", I often see people feeling intimidated at the mere thought... of a person being able to eat ONLY RAW FOOD AND NOTHING ELSE! I'm not going to tell you the answer to that question just yet.....
I have started to share some pictures and recipes of the food I like to eat and some part of me hesitates every time I do because I am concerned that instead of being an inspiration to people, that many will feel disempowered and perhaps abuse themselves for not having a diet like I do. I feel this because I have felt this myself in the past. I'd look at these kind of posts and think, "I'd never be able to do that", "Oh, they must be so 'thin' and happy, I wish I was them", "I just can't eat that way" and so on... I never could have imagined even up to a few years ago that I would be in the comfortable position I am with food now and sitting here sharing things with you like I do. I was as deep in an addiction as I can imagine, food and psychological self abuse were my every waking thought for a long time. It took facing the truth of the situation and a big commitment to change and it took time, but it worked and it was so worth it. It is possible to change things. No matter who you are and how bad you might think things are, it is possible to change that. I am living proof.
So, what do I eat? Is it all raw food? The answer to that is, no... absolutely not. I love raw food. I love the creativity of it, it excites me, it inspires me, but I do not eat it all the time. For some people sticking to one plan, one way of eating works for them. The most important thing to remember as far as I am concerned is that everybody is different. There is no 'one diet fits all' that will suit everyone and give them perfect heath all the time. We all have completely different body chemistry which means that our digestive processes are different, we have different sensitivities, different palates, different emotional conditions, different everything! And though this may leave you feeling even more confused as to what the best thing to eat is, I hope instead that it shows you how much of a waste of time it is to compare yourself to others. You are unique and perfect as you are and the realisation of this for me brought one of the biggest diet changes of my life so far.
So, if now you are asking me, "So, how exactly do I know what to eat?!". Good question! For me, my healing journey's first step began with letting go of control. For so many years I told myself "No!" , that I shouldn't be eating this or that and when I gave into these cravings, I'd feel completely useless and pathetic and terrified of being fat. 'What you resist persists' so I stopped resisting and told myself I was free to eat whatever I wanted. Just that thought alone helped me lose so much stress and tension around food. Gradually, I found that my fear of being fat was not being realised, even though I was eating freely whatever I wanted. However, I was with low energy and some skin conditions and so I started my research on nutrition. Long story short, I found that by listening to my wants and then adding more good stuff on top, I began to find peace and a genuine interest in the health of my body and change came naturally. And change continues to come naturally, I remain open about the things I eat, what works today may not work for me tomorrow. So, while my answer to the raw question right now is No, maybe sometime it will be, yes. I remain open, flexible and curious. My research has led me to combine elements of many different approaches. 'The blood group diet', 'raw food', 'body ecology diet', 'the paleo diet'. It's become easy for me to eat well because I love the feeling I get from healthy food, I choose mainly organic food because it tastes better to me and I know it's often more nutrient dense and less likely to cause toxicity in my body from the chemicals. I also love to eat organic as it's really important for the planet, we are doing our bit by buying organic and locally sourced wherever possible!
All this said, however healthy my diet is, I always make sure I leave space for the odd bag of potato crisps or a coffee and when i do choose these things I am in heaven, just as much as with an amazing salad... I enjoy every last delicious, indulgent, perfect bit! mmmmmmmmm
Love your food. Whatever it is. There's the best diet in the world.
