OMG I did it!

I created a freaken Vegan Masterpiece from scratch in Kazakhstan (home of meat based Nomadic tribes of meat, potatoes, meat, rice, meat, bread, and did I say meat?)

It took me a night of preparing and then the whole morning until we ate at 1:30pm.

My god!

It was really lovely to show my appreciation to the family that generously invited me to stay in their home, share their life with me, show me around their city, cook for me and kept my bike as I went exploring, hiking in the Mountains; but, it also made me feel annoyed and frustrated.

All this work for 15 mins of eating pleasure?!

It saddens me that as a culture we place so much emphasis on eating and cooking (destroying our live, nutritious food and then poor food combining to make a digestive shit storm.)

I’m sorry I know some of you might find this confusing, (if you’ve done periods of fasting you may not as you are forced to acknowledge, face and then come to terms with the control food and eating may have on your life.)

But we are so conditioned to eat!

To stuff ourselves full of food is considered normal!

We use food as a crutch to numb us, give us pleasure, stop us dealing with our emotions, give us meaning or purpose and take us away from who we really are.

We live to eat rather than eat to live, and breaking free from the all encompassing grasp of food can be such a mind fuck – especially when most people around you have no idea and are indoctrinated to believe we need to eat 3 times a day.

And eating copious amounts of cooked food now affects me so much emotionally (haha can you tell?! 😆) and I get into a negative funk.

Give me fresh, ripe, in season fruit and I feel I can take on the World (and even forget to eat it whilst I am successfully achieving my goals!)

In the past few years I’ve really tried to break free from this food shit storm and now don’t usually meet people for dinner or lunch, for a coffee, go for a drink or make food a part of what I do with others.

I prefer to simply connect with people.

How ever when people are on different wave lengths and or cultures this can be a struggle….

Also the conditioning is deep and it is hard to break free from it. Saying no to a coffee (when good god I love the smell and taste of it!) when someone wants to go to a coffee shop, is still so freaken hard for me.

How about going for a walk, having a picnic, going to the beach, sitting in the sun – all without eating it or drinking?

Gasp!

How about going to a Market, food stalls, Resturants, a BBQ and NOT eating but instead taking in the smells, sights, feelings, and eating with your eyes?

If this sounds mental to you (just like it used to be for me) then maybe it suggests food having a tighter hold on your life that you want to believe?

Can you sit around a fire in the evening with a good friend without wanting a wine?

How about a Summer BBQ without a sausage in bread?

Deal with a break up or tough time at work without chocolate, a tub of ice cream or a binge drinking session with a friend?

Could you have Christmas dinner without the dinner and simply sit and connect with your loved ones?

Do you feel you need (or want) to treat your children with food for being good or celebrating with your favourite ‘cheat’ meal after a week or two of clean eating or achieving your fitness goals?

And yes I know most of us do need to eat and drink, and combining it with an activity is just what we do!

But does it need to be this way?

Do we really need to live to eat?!

But god dam it can be hard to break free from this always eating, this consuming and buying strong holding mindset.

We really are the perfect consumers – we have been perfectly conditioned that way!

But it doesn’t need to be this way.

How much control do you really have over your World and your life? Your emotions, your thoughts and your actions?

So Perhaps, some food for thought?

😜

So here is my (mixed emotion 😆) Masterpiece I whipped up…….

(I am quite impressed with my non cooking skilled self regardless! 😆)

Potato salad with chickpeas, onions, zucchini, parsley, dill, garlic, chilli and sunflower seeds

Roasted potato and beetroot wedges

Tomato and cucumber raw salad with red pepper, red onion, dill, lemon, garlic, parsley and coriander

Corn and veggies fritters

Basil hummus

Raw Tomato salsa with basil, garlic, stinging nettle, lemon, ginger, parsley and coriander

Garlic and rosemary hummus

Roasted zucchini, potato and eggplant

Baked apples with sultana and dates

Banana, apple, sultana and cinnamon pancakes

(And some banana ice cream that I forgot in the freezer! 😬)