Raw parsnip, red cabbage, date & orange salad – Yum!
About 9 months ago I did an optional 30 day “fruit, nut, veg” diet as part of my yoga training. And the diet was just fruit, vegetables and nuts and seeds. Yogi Tea for drinks or water. And no salt. Some people on my course asked if himalayan salt counted as it was healthy, or was quinoa ok as that’s really a seed? The mind trying it’s best to get around the rules of the diet, looking for possible exceptions to add some flavour or variety to the menu.
The first few days I could hardly touch my toes and felt generally like rubbish as my body adjusted to no caffeine or sugar. The cravings for salt came – images of slabs of bread with slabs of butter on top filled my mind. But the food became tastier as my taste buds adjusted, and I felt so healthy just looking at my plate, covered in super salads, and maybe a baked potatoe. At one point I remember my friend commenting on how radiant I looked, and I remember feeling so peaceful. I knew it was because there was peace in my body. No blood sugar spikes. And no judgements about the food I was eating – because it was all healthy for once. I realised how harsh I was toward myself if I ate the “wrong” food (ie anything with sugar, too much bread, eating a biscuit instead of fruit). I realised how just about any processed food has either salt or sugar or both in it! I realised I couldn’t comfort eat using salad 😉
I came off the yogic diet gradually adding back items (like quinoa which this time tasted AMAZING) in time to go to a posh restaurant meal for our wedding anniversary. I ended up swinging all the way to the other side of the spectrum of eating (including donuts) and came back somewhere to the “middle” eventually. Maintaining the balance is the ongoing challenge in a world that promotes a diet of processed foods that are about maximising profit rather than our health and wellbeing.
I wonder, what needs to happen for this to change? And how can we find support for the changes we want to make, that will give us peaceful bodies, minds and spirits?
Sat Nam
Natalie