Yammy Meets Her Healer.

November 24, 2008Leave a comment

Today we went to a spiritual healer. It was one of the most amazing things I have experienced in my healing journey. My mom has been talking about Nicole and Mel for months now. And since we were coming for a visit, she was eager for us to experience their gifts.

I started the morning with my first ionic foot detox, and it was brilliant. The specific machine that Nicole was using needed to tap into my energy in order for it to work. She put the band on my wrist, and right away I felt the energy. In fact, I have a little mark where the energetic contact was made…it looks like a little red rash. My feet tingled from start to finish. When it was done, she washed my feet of the sewage water and gave me a little massage using clay and oils that left my feet feeling so soft! She told Mel to look out for the lymphatic and digestive systems when he did energy work on me.

This is where things got really interesting. Mel, who I think may have been put on earth simply to save my life, is a spiritual healer who has the most incredible gift that I have ever personally experienced. He started the session by explaining that each human being has a physical body and an etheric body, which is like a mirror image of the physical body, only made of energy. From what I understand – all our life experiences occur in the physical and etheric bodies and are manifested in the physical body as uncomfort and disease when there is a blockage. Healing must occur at the etheric level of energy to restore physical health and balance.

Now, I knew I was not in balance, but I had no idea what was “off”. When Mel started working on me, I felt an immediate sense of relief. The connection between him and my right hand was stronger than the left, and when he placed his hands over my ovaries, the feeling on the right was strong, while the left was weak. He asked me why I thought the left was stronger, and I replied – “because it’s the male side”. I didn’t even know I knew that, but it made sense to me…guess I have a big ego that needs to be put in place? Mel told me he had a feeling that the energy in my left side had been blocked for a long time – even since puberty. Makes sense – I’ve been feeling off for a long time.

He spinned my left ovary to be in tune with the right, and I immediately felt a familiar pain in my left side. I always thought it was my hip joint, but now I know it was imbalance in my etheric body manifesting in my physical body. Then the pain gave way. That was such an amazing moment. All of a sudden I felt open and warm on the left side. It was like a balloon inflated inside my left ovary!

Then he moved onto my digestive system, removing blockages, and opening up the energy field so much that my digestive system feels like it’s working properly for the first time in 13 years.

Next he built a bridge from my solar plexus to a place where creativity lives (often omitted from the 7 chakra system, but is between the solar plexus and the heart….I am not entirely clear on this) I felt the bridge very stong on my left side. This is also when we said that there is a lot more Amy trying to get out of me. Yay! I can’t wait to meet her.

Mel briefly went to the throat chakra where I nearly started to cry. But he felt I wasn’t ready for that and left that can of worms inside for the time being. I was relieved but highly intrigued by my emotional response.

I am so happy that Mel and Nicole came into my life. I am really excited about seeing them again and I want to thank them for their brilliant energy work!

Durian – Best Fruit Ever.

August 12, 2008August 25, 20142 Comments

Durian Pudding

I fell in love with the durian about a year ago. You never forget your first. I brought it home from china town and plopped it on the kitchen table. The next day, our whole house smelled literally like crap, and I hadn’t even opened it yet! I’m pretty sure our house smelled bad for an entire week. Lesson learned. Now when we bring home durians – they sleep outside!

I just made what I call Durian Pudding – quite possibly my favourite food in the entire world. And all it simply is, is durian fruit mixed with a spoonful of raw almond butter!

Durian Pudding

1 cup durian fruit
2 tbsp raw almond butter

Just throw the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up with a fork! Instant custardy goodness.

Since some people find the smell so offensive, durian isn’t allowed on public transportation in some areas! Hilarious and weird, because I don’t mind the smell anymore – I guess it’s because I know how yummy it is!

It may take you a few tries at eating it before you like it, and no two durian fruit taste the same, so I suggest you give it a few tries. I never knew when I first tried it that I would ever declare it my favourite food ever, so you just never know how you’ll react!

Fighting the Dairy Advocates.

August 6, 2008August 25, 2014Leave a comment

Being one who tries desperately to avoid dairy products, it is unfathomable that others would even consider drinking a glass of milk. There are so many reasons to avoid it that there isn’t a chance I can share all of my reasons why right now…you’re going to have to wait for the book to hit store shelves!

I am currently doing research for the aformentioned book and I stumbled across a study done at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, which is just an example of all the ridiculous studies out there that are so horribly designed that they’re just wasting time and money that could be put to much better use!

This particular study looked at the effects of drinking milk on exercise, which could have yielded some terrific results had it been designed correctly. The researchers had its participants drink either water, a sports drink, 1% milk, or 1% milk with added sugar before and every 10 minutes during exercise. They concluded, and I quote “exercise time to exhaustion was not significantly influenced by the drink ingested but there was a tendency for subjects to exercise longer when the carbohydrate-electrolyte, milk, or milk plus glucose was ingested compared with water.” No kidding geniuses!

Their bodies are already swimming in crap associated with all the milk and ice cream, etc. over the past few days. A better study would have lasted weeks and had the participants eliminate all dairy from their diets, look at exercise with glucose and water, and then introduce dairy over a few days and look at exercise again with dairy and glucose. The re-introduction of dairy would probably make them too ill to exercise!

It’s so frustrating when most studies are designed by people backed by the dairy industry…of course they’re not going to design a study that sheds the light on its horrendous effects on the human body!

So Happy.

July 25, 2008August 25, 2014Leave a comment

yammy1 I am literally smiling all the time. My skin looks better every day. Tell me again why I went off raw?

Yesterday I spent about 4 hours cleaning the kitchen. Now it’s so bright and inviting! Today I cleaned out the pantry and I threw out so much crap – including some white flour we haven’t used in more than 2 years!!! Gross. I also managed to spill the flour all over the floor, and the dog didn’t even move, and if the dog won’t eat it – you know it can’t be categorized as food!

I just got in from a run and whipped up some nori wraps, but this time I made a raw almond dipping sauce that was out of this world!!! I was so eager to eat that I didn’t take any pictures of it. The dipping sauce kicks my lame almond paste’s butt!

Raw Almond Dipping Sauce

4 tbsp raw almond butter
2 tbsp water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp tamari or Braggs
1 tbsp lime juice

I also picked up some E3Live at the health food store since we’re in-between wheat grass harvesting “seasons” (which last 10 days). E3Live is a highly concentrated shot of greens. It’s even darker than wheatgrass juice – and more bitter. When you take greens as green and as bitter as E3Live (or spirulina, kale, collards, etc.) it means your liver is getting detoxified hard-core. This also explains why I have had a pretty intense breakout of eczema on my right middle finger. It’s so swollen that I can barely bend it! I really hope the swelling goes down through the night because it is so uncomfortable.

If you’re going raw for the first time or starting to take concentrated greens like this, keep in mind that you could go into a healing crisis and feel a lot worse before you feel better. This is because the liver has the tools it needs to release toxins into the bloodstream for elimination…and this can be extremely intense if you are higly toxic. I have done my fair share of cleanses, and usually the nausea/sickness goes away 4-5 days after starting/modifying a cleansing program -for me, but all experiences are unique. So hang in there if you find yourself in a healing crisis!

Spirulina: Why I Eat It Every Day.

July 23, 2008August 25, 20143 Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The question I get asked most often when I tell people that I eat raw, vegan food is: Where do you get your protein? The simplest answer: spirulina. “Spir-what?” They ask. So rather than explain myself over and over again, I thought I’d just write about it and refer people to this website.Spirulina is an amazing superfood.

I guess you could say that spirulina is my preferred source of protein, although that isn’t my main objective in eating it. To be honest, I am a firm believer that all foods in nature have the perfect amout of fats, carbohydrates, and protein, so I never strive to get any single macro-nutrient. I just eat a wide variety of foods and listen to my body. Society, on the other hand, seems to be obsessed with the protein question, and if you’re one who is protein obsessed, this may be your reason to include spirulina in your diet!

Spirulina is a complete protein, which means that is contains all of the essential amino acids. It’s also rich in EFAs: GLA, ALA, LA, EPA, DHA, and AA. If you don’t understand what those mean, don’t sweat it. Just think Omega 3s!

Spirulina is also loaded with vitamins and minerals – just look at its colour. Anything THAT green is golden for the body. Everyone could use more greens in their diet, that’s for sure. What I can say for certain is that spirulina gives me loads of energy every time I eat it. And at the moment, my favourite way to eat spirulina is in a smoothie loaded with local, fresh berries!

Tennis, anyone?

July 22, 2008Leave a comment

Today we were at the Rogers Cup, and although we brought some raw chocolate and some cashews, we were starving for something different. Amongst all the crap that other people were eating, I found a yummy fruit salad, but I needed to buy about 10 of them to be fully satisfied! Which would have cost about $50… Just a reminder that if you’re out of the house all day, you had better be prepared!

Raw Food Praise – I WANT to exercise!

July 21, 2008Leave a comment

It’s amazing the effect that eating raw has on my desire to exercise. Last night I took the dog for a 5 k run. Today after work I went to a hot yoga class, and after I biked home I went for another run with a friend. It’s really nice to have a running partner because you have that little bit of added motivation. When you have someone calling you and asking if you want to go running, it’s like an alarm going off and motivation calling you! If you get several running partners, there’s a guarantee you’ll be running a few times a week!

I haven’t had much to eat today, which is kinda weird considering the amount of exercise I’ve had, but I don’t feel much like eating anything right now. When you eat raw, natural, good quality foods, you are more in touch with your nutritional needs, wheras when I eat cooked foods, I think I need food all the time! I’d eat late at night all the time when I was on cooked food.

When I eat raw, I only go into the kitchen when I am truly hungry…or if I can’t wait to try a new raw recipe! Also, on cooked I always cleaned my plate, but on a raw food diet, I just stop eating when I’ve had enough. I eat raw dessert for breakfast if I feel the desire! And when I have dishes that are rich in nuts or other heavy raw ingredients, my body steers me clear of them for a few days. Never, ever on a cooked diet did my body tell me anything! I remember years ago when I didn’t have any idea the effects that food had on my mood or energy level. Now, I know the second I have eaten something that doesn’t agree with me. I can just feel it.

And since you only eat when you’re hungry on raw, there is no breakfast, lunch, dinner schedule…you eat on your own hunger schedule…that being said, I think my hunger level just rose…so apparently “dinner” tonight is going to be around 11pm!

Marinara Salad

Dinner: Marinara Salad

Time To Make: About 3 minutes

Would I Make It Again: Yes!

Ingredients: 1 cup leftover Marinara Sauce, (recipe in Eating for Energy) an avocado, 6 stalks asparagus, 1 yellow pepper, 3 green onions, and 1/2 a cucumber. Variations: Whatever you have in the fridge!

Ignorance is not Bliss

July 18, 2008August 25, 2014Leave a comment

I had a little bit of a challenge tonight. I opened up the pantry door and a jar of Nutella called me on…but I won the mental battle. I just thought about what Nutella had done for me lately. It gave me a stomach ache the last time we had crepes, and it gave me a killer sugar buzz that left me in a coma. No thank you Nutella. I don’t like you anymore!

I started thinking about how addicted we are to the foods we eat. Heavily processed foods with loads of sugar and salt and chemicals we can’t even pronounce! I remember when I thought milk did the body good – now milk isn’t allowed in the house. I remember when I used to drink 4 diet cokes a day….or more! I haven’t had a diet coke in 2 years. Once you learn that aspartame causes brain tumors, you don’t feel like quenching your thirst with a can of nail-dissolving formaldehyde!

I got into a conversation with a guy a few months ago who stated proudly that he would continue to drink aspartame until they found evidence it harms humans…I was absolutely speechless. There are hundreds of studies, and thousands of people that have nerve damage, migraines, vision problems, and 89 other side effects caused by aspartame! I just left him there floating in his fantasy bubble. I am continually amazed at the ignorance in our society! I used to think the government wouldn’t pass a drug that would hurt us, but that was when I was a little naive girl from Rodney, Ontario, before I realized that obscene amounts of money can blind anyone to anything.

IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS. IGNORANCE CAN KILL YOU. The take-home message in my little rant is that it’s important to know what’s in your food! One of my friends recently said to me “ignorance is bliss” while she was eating a sandwich stuffed with bacon and cheese. I got an uneasy feeling right away and thought “ignorance is NOT bliss! It’s going to make you fat!” Worse yet, it’s going to make you sick and diseased over time.

My Return to Raw: Day Two

July 17, 2008August 25, 2014Leave a comment

Today started with a:

Green Super Smoothie

1 tbsp spirulina
1 mango
1 tbsp bee polin
1 cup strawberries
few cubes ice
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 dates
1 tbsp sesame seeds
water to desired consistency

Then it was off to pick berries at Whittamores Farm on Steeles Ave. So many delicious berries! I think we picked for a couple of hours, and I got sunburnt 😦 but it was worth it.

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Trans-formed Fats, Trans-formed Body!

May 5, 2008August 25, 2014Leave a comment

Margarine

The term trans-fat might as well be short for transformed fat. And transformed fats have no place in your body. While the term “trans” refers to the specific bond of carbon atoms, it is all too coincidental that this bond is often artificially created by scientists in laboratories when they partially hydrogenate liquid oils to make them solid so they can withstand longer shelf lives.

Saturated fats are more tolerant to heat treatment than mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, so if you’re thinking of cooking something, it’s best to use butter or coconut oil to avoid minimize the creation of trans-fats. And don’t be fooled by restaurants that boast “trans-fat free” signs. As soon as their “trans-fat free” oil is heated, it has become trans-formed!

Canola Oil – After you read this, you’ll be emptying your cupboards!

How often do you use vegetable oil? When you bake, when you fry…every day? If you frequently use these seemingly “healthy” oils, then you need to read on. Supermarket oils are highly processed. First, they are refined using sodium hydroxide (think Draino) to remove “impurities”. They are then treated with phosphoric acid (think Windex) to de-gum; which removes lecithin, chlorophyll, calcium, magnesium, copper, and iron. To make it look appealing, it is bleached to remove pigments, which turns the oil rancid. Colour is added later because clear oil does not look natural. It is then heated above 220˚F to remove any odour, which creates monster trans-fat molecules that will eventually become part of your body! Then you take it home and heat it again in your frying pan, mutating the molecules even more.

We must start thinking of the quality of every morsel we put into our bodies. There is a huge difference in quality between canola oil and cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is not heat treated, and extra virgin means the oil was obtained from the olives’ first pressing. Cancer is linked to processed vegetable fats. This includes hydrogenated shortening and margarine.

Margarine

Margarine is a synthetic, man-made chemical, alien to our bodies. Hard stick margarine is loaded with trans-fats. Hydrogen is forced into vegetable oil to turn it into a saturated fat, solid at room temperature. Hydrogenation changes the shape of oils at the molecular level, and the shape of a molecule s extremely important. Think of your body like a moving jigsaw puzzle. The billions of processes that occur every second are all little parts and pieces of your body puzzle. If any piece has been altered in any way, it will not be able to fit in where it should…and could even fit in places it shouldn’t! Newer margarine is made from vegetable oil and modified palm and palm kernel oil. It boasts non-hydrogenation, but I’ve never been a fan of the word “modified,” and palm oil is liquid at room temperature. Somebody messed with it, for definite. Would you like your body to be “modified” or all-natural? Remember to read the labels of any food you’re planning to consume.

Did you know? Margarine is one molecule away from being plastic!

Product Dissection: Becel Margarine:

Ingredients: Canola and sunflower oils 74%, water, modified palm and palm kernel oils 6%, salt 1.8%, whey protein concentrate 1.4%, soy lecithin 0.2%, vegetable monoglycerides, potassium sorbate, vegetable colour, artificial flavour, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E).

An Aside: One interesting question on the Becel website made me laugh, and its relevance will be noted in the following section “The Low Down”:

Q: Why is Becel Margarine a different colour in Quebec?
A: In all parts of Canada, except for Quebec, margarine and butter are the same colour. In Quebec, a colour restriction law does not allow for this. In that province, most margarine is an off-white colour.

The Low down:

Remember what happens to canola oil before it hits the shelves? This product is 74% rancid, bleached, artificially coloured vegetable oil.
It contains 6% “modified” oils.
It contains dairy in the form of whey protein. Milk is the #1 allergen. Humans have difficulty digesting cow’s milk, whether they are aware of it or not…and I must say that many of us are painfully aware.
Monoglycerides are a common food additive used to combine two things that wouldn’t normally mix such as water and oil.
Potassium sorbate is a preservative used to discourage the growth of molds and yeasts, thereby increasing shelf life. Apparently since it is used in such small quantities, there are no known adverse health effects. Comforting.
Vegetable colour is a tricky one. My instincts are to say that it likely comes from Yellow dye #5 which is known to create a myriad of problems within the human body, especially known to exacerbate autism and other behavioural problems. But to be fair to Becel, it could be turmeric, which has a vibrant yellow colour, but since I think Quebec would let turmeric into their province since it is a cleansing herb…so it must be something else that Quebec’s government is afraid of, and I think we should be too!
Becel contains artificial flavour. I’m not a big fan of eating anything artificial, especially if it’s there to trick my brain into thinking plastic tastes good.
The next 3 ingredients are added vitamins. Vitamins are best obtained from whole foods as found in nature, and not in a tub of chemically processed margarine…
- Vitamin A palmitate is a common pre-formed Vitamin A supplement. Better sources include apples, apricots, beets, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, collard greens, mango, peas, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.
- Vitamin D3. 15 minutes of sun on your hands and face will get you the same amount of vitamin D, so go for a walk and get some exercise! Go for a longer walk in the wintertime as the sun is not as vibrant then.
- Vitamin E. Better sources include walnut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, (make sure all oils are cold processed) nuts (raw), sunflower seeds (raw), whole grains, and green leafy vegetables.