Connected by one way of living, three women from across North America have united with one goal in mind: to eat their way to better health.

Using the macrobiotic approach to life, the three women will use this blog to: document change; share recipes; and reflect on the effects of incorporating a new way of life into their homes.

The hope is that this "balanced" macrobiotic diet will allow the bodies of all three women to focus more on healing and health, and less on hunger and digestion- freeing them to do whatever their hearts desire!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Jace's First Week Living a Whole Life

So, it's been one full week; Exactly seven days living a macrobiotic life. Lots of chewing; lots of experimenting; lots of explaining my new ways to friends and family; and lots of shopping in different aisles.

So, what does it all mean?  All I can think to do, is provide you with a list of what I have not been doing, and then give you a good idea of what I have been shopping for. I had a lot of ingredients to hunt for. Luckily, living on Vancouver Island means that there is a lot of local produce, asian influence, and lots of health food stores near by. Thus, searching for macrobiotic ingredients hasn't been much of a search at all. Alternatively, it has been a wonderful opportunity to discover things I hadn't noticed before right in our local grocery store.

Needless to say, it's been fun. And, my husband has been unbelievably supportive of the whole process. Thank you, babe.

Since I'm still building my macrobiotic-recipe box, the cooking has been quite limited this week. (It might also be because this is also my first week back at school, so life has been a bit chaotic.) So, I've been eating a lot of raw foods, or quickly wok-ed vegetables with grains.

Shortly, Dawn is going to formally introduce us to the philosophy and principles of macrobiotics, so bare with me as I give you a mere glimpse of what macrobiotics has meant for me this past week.

 Here we go!


This is what I have not been eating:


  1.  Red Meat
  2.  Dairy
  3.  Eggs
  4. Any processed food: that means no added artificial colours, preservatives, or sweeteners to basic foods, and no artificial foods in genearl, i.e candy. 
  5.  No Alcohol, pop, or caffeine.


Has it been hard? Not really, but that might have a lot to do with the fact that before I began this new way of life, I did a big clear out of all the stuff that would not be making it into my mouth. It was surprising just how little of the obvious junk food we had in the house, and just how much "hidden crap" we did have. I've become a hard-core label reader, and the reading I've gone though this week has been an eye-opener!

Anyways...

This is what Made it in my Cart on my  first Macrobiotic Grocery Shop:

  1. Ground Flax Seeds
  2. Short Grain Brown Rice
  3. Cous Cous
  4. Quinoa
  5. Kashi, 7 Whole Grain Honey Puffed Cereal
  6. Amano, Organic Tamari Soy Sauce
  7. Organic Hummous made by our local grocery store
  8. Mishima, All Natural Instant Miso Soup
  9. Traditional Medicinals, Organic Bancha Tea
  10. Twinings, China Oolong Tea
  11. 1 head of Kale
  12. Bok Choy
  13. Granny Smith Apples
  14. Japanese Giant Carrots
  15. Canned in water, organic Bean Medley
  16. Chick Peas
  17. Baby Spinnach
  18. Green Beans
  19. Celery
  20. Frozen Peas
  21. Frozen Corn
  22. Frozen Edamame
  23. Amys, Organic Tofu Brown Rice and Vegetables Ready-Made Bowls
  24. Organic Balsamic Vinegar
  25. Almond Oil
  26. Rice Wine Vinegar
  27. Sesame Seeds
  28. Sunflower Seeds
  29. Adams, 100% Natural Peanut Butter
  30. Food For Life, 100% Organic, Flourless Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain English Muffins
  31. Food For LIfe, 1000% Organic, Flourless Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Tortillas
  32. Barley
  33. Rice Noodles
  34. Soba Noodles
  35. Organic Pesto
  36. Cauliflower
  37. Broccoli 
  38. 1 Avocado (which was hard not to buy more of, but you need to eat limited amounts of this).
  39. Japanese Seaweed Rice Crackers
  40. Sea Salt and Sesame Rice Sticks (from the organic bulk section)
  41. Free range, chicken breasts
Well, that's about all I can remember. I'm still trying to stock my cupboards, and each time I go shopping is another time to add to our supplies. I'd definitely recommend starting out with lots to choose from, as I've found it much easier to throw a meal together with this much on hand.

Hang in there, as Dawn prepares a Macrobiotics for Dummies post. 

Happy and whole eating,

Jace


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