In between….

When I began this adventure I described it as sharing my ups, downs and everything in between. I’ve shared stories of my past and there are a lot more to come, but I wanted to pause from that and share my in between stuff. Where I am now in my life, via my online diary, what my passion is.

Last year I had my palm read. He looked at my life path and exposed a lot of interesting things to me. I was told my karma was to work on social change and to educate the public. My passion lies in water, land and the upkeep/beauty of our planet. Simply said, my mission is the planet.

All this made sense to me. I didn’t grow up eating healthy. My meals consisted of chicken or meat. The only time I was exposed to anything different was when I accompanied my Mom to work. She was a housekeeper and worked for wealthy, healthy people. My habit was to stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open to examine what they ate versus what we did. I noticed their milk was in a glass bottle and not in a plastic container. Their eggs were brown. Ours were white. They had Paul Newman products. We had Minute Maid orange juice. Their cleaning products were Seventh Generation. Ours were Tilex and Palmolive.

Fast forward to when I lived alone and no longer had my Mom or Stepdad around to do the cooking. As a matter of fact, I never had to cook until now and since I lived alone, I still didn’t really have to cook so I ate out a lot. My choices were relatively healthy ones. I rarely indulged in a hamburger or pizza. I had grown up in a household were prescription bottles decorated the dining table and subconsciously knew that was not the road I was going to go down. One year after Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom’s house I came home, snuggled into bed, turned on the television and watched the movie Food Inc. I became very sad. I learned the way our animals are being treated and what they are being fed. I cried when I saw how frightened they were right before they were about to be killed. After that my life changed. I didn’t want to continue ingesting their frightened and sad energy, so the next day I announced to my family that I was now a vegetarian.

Then I became a bit lost. I didn’t know what to eat. Actually, I didn’t know how to eat without meat on my plate. There was an Indian restaurant by my house and I decided to walk into it and try their food. I explained to the nice lady at the counter that I had never eaten Indian food and didn’t know what to order. She nodded, walked away then came back with jackfruit (a tropical vegetable that resembles pulled pork and is used as a meat substitute), dal (lentil beans), saag (spinach and mustard greens), chana masala (garbanzo beans with masala spices) and a samosa (fried pastry with spiced potato and green peas). I ate it ALL. It was so delicious. I felt as though my palette had been in a deep sleep and only now was it waking up due to different savory flavors I was now placing in my mouth. I don’t recall ever tasting so many spices!

I told anyone and everyone that I was now a vegetarian, until one day while getting my hair trimmed my hair stylist mentioned what I should be doing is eating for my blood type. WHAT was that? I asked. She told me about a book breaking down each of the four blood types and suggested I get it to learn what my body actually needs. After my appointment I drove to the bookstore and bought the book, Eat Right For Your Type written by Peter J. D’Adamo. The next day I called my doctor’s office and learned my blood type. Luckily I was type A, making my transition was smooth since type A should be eating a vegetarian diet. After that I never looked back and my exploration of food deepened. I became more open to trying food I hadn’t before. Along with that I had to teach myself how to eat right so I could continue to get the vitamins and minerals my body needed. It was a little overwhelming at the beginning however, I do enjoy challenging myself. I read a lot and broadened my knowledge of the food industry and the serious state we are in right now with all the antibiotics, pesticides and chemicals being sprayed and used on our cattle, fruits and vegetables. Then I looked at the products I was using in my home, on my clothes on my body and realized I did not understand the list of ingredients on any of the packaging. I walked into Barnes and Noble and searched for a book that would hold me by the hand and teach me. I found Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano and it became my bible. She gently unmasks the truth step by step. She taught me how to read labels and what to look out for (never accept Sodium Lauryl Sulfates/ Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Parabens and Phthalates in your products). I also learned the importance of dry brushing (one third of your body’s toxins are excreted through the skin and dry brushing helps to unclog pores and excrete toxins that become trapped in the skin). I bought plants to help clean the air in my home and the list goes on and on. I performed a MAJOR shake down in my life and haven’t stopped.

SO, now you see why how the meeting with the palm reader made a lot of sense to me. For a long time I didn’t understand why I had chosen to go down a different path than the one my family was on. It was in my subconscious all along. Social media is fantastic for connecting with like-minded people and I have discovered several that I learn from A LOT on a daily basis. Last week I attended a discussion about sustainable agriculture. The panelists do wonderful work on not only spreading the word but, educating the public as well. Among a lot of things, I learned Roundup is in the soil where fruits and vegetables are being grown and ONLY 5% of farmers are organic. I left needing to know more. I left feeling inspired. I didn’t sleep that night or the next. The panelist I admire so much are regular people like me. They had questions and decided to speak up about it and I decided I wanted to be a part of the revolution.

I spend a lot of my time on reading and researching about the food industry and the horrific effects our bodies are having due to the heavily toxic chemicals and pesticides on all our food, so it’s only natural I take this step forward. I already ask questions when I dine out about the food and vegetables. I shop at the farmer’s market and I am especially particular where I purchase the food I cook with (yes, I learned to cook!). I share with my husband, friends and family whenever I learn anything new and I realized this is something I want to share more of on this platform. If you dig it, cool.

I truly feel there is a revolution about to happen in regards to our food. People are waking up to the fact that it is our human right to have our food free of antibiotics, chemicals and pesticides. In the meantime please shop/cook organic whenever possible.

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