So I'm getting a bit of body work done the other day and I query my RMT Kevin about what I might do to achieve some lasting healing for this ol' bod' o' mine. I have had challenges with stiffness, lack of flexibility, constantly tight sore muscles, and creaky crunchy joints. Once Kevin works out the kinks I want to know what I can do to stay lithe and limber. Obviously if I do nothing to change my ways I shall no doubt return to being a tin man in need of oil.
Kevin tells me that physiotherapy is a good way to get your body assessed to find out what challenges lay with you in terms of how your body operates when it is in motion. RMTs, he explains, assess the body at rest.
His chief recommendation to me, however, was an assessment of my diet. He recommended I try a selective cleanse/detox of what I take into my body to establish a baseline for what I might need/not need to keep systems operating optimally. Now there's quite a bit of hullabaloo about this sort of thing these days.
Kevin and I are in agreement that over-the-counter cleanse/detox products are unnecessary and, I might add, potentially harmful. What we're talking about here is trying for a month or so to progressively take the 'bad' stuff out of your intake, and include more 'good' stuff so you can see how your body reacts. This means a curtailing and then removal of smoking, drinking, caffeine, sugar, gluten, processed foods, meat, and dairy from your diet/intake. You can proceed in about that order, but do whatever works for you. You may wish to change things over a longer period of time too. Once you've managed to get yourself to the level of eating like a gluten-intolerant vegan non-smoking teatotaler (herbal tea at that) for a week or more, then gradually add things back to your intake taking note of how your body responds.
That is, if you want to. If you feel great and you're not missing anything then go forth triumphantly with your new healthy lifestyle. If, however, you find yourself having fantasies of being a Mohican warrior drinking the blood of your fresh kill and carrying it home to roast it sumptuously over an open fire, then perhaps a visit to your local Farmer's market or a good butcher for a tasty steak is perfectly in order. If you are a supermarket purveyor then this might be the perfect time to take the Pepsi Challenge in that regard. Go ahead, buy that feedlot-reared, hormone-laden, hunk of cow wrapped in plastic laying upon a blood-soaked serviette in a polystyrene tray. See how you feel afterwards. Or opt for your favourite local restaurant who, unless they have an ethos to do otherwise, probably got their meat from a similar source. When the toxic trauma subsides and you find yourself able to contemplate eating meat again, try getting a locally-sourced free-range slab of succulent heifer and see how your response varies. I may have something of a bias about this particular issue. ;)
Which is not to say I am remotely pristine in my practices. Although I, for the most part, never buy meat at a supermarket anymore. I do, however, often break down and go out to eat. Oftentimes there are few establishments where one can get well-sourced food, particularly if one doesn't want to spend half a day's wages on a meal. I have even been know to break down occasionally, during bouts of personal loathing I might add, and eat at that place signified by the large glowing yellow M. So please, dear readers, do not think I am preaching from the mount. Nor am I some kind of super willpower enabled mega human like those you've seen in magazines that you could never hope to emulate. I too am a mere mortal. We can do this.
Currently I'm celebrating of something of a Fat Tuesday type of period in preparatory purge of those things I will not be putting in my body for the next little while. I still had some excellent locally sourced ground beef in my fridge from my excellent local butcher. So, I sallied over to my friend Jason's last night to make us Rigatoni with meat sauce. Jason also happened to have a growler of beer in his fridge from the local brewery. Meat, beer, and pasta are all on the chopping block of course.
Today I had lunch at my favourite local cafe BlackHoney which was good in some respects (no meat, healthy locally sourced food) and bad in others (coffee, coffee, coffee).
More about the pasta meal I prepared and BlackHoney soon.
We all have our challenges with living and eating better. Tonight I joined my folks for dinner so Oktoberfest sausages weren't really in keeping with the new resolutions either. I brought along fresh organic local potatoes to make smashed potatoes with veggie gravy (again, for those of you familiar with my fb posts) and we rounded things out with shredded green beans (from a can unfortunately, but a veggie nonetheless). There was also sugar pie with whip cream for dessert, and tea. I did, not, however drink any pop while over at my parents place which is something I usually do as I do not stock it at home. Baby steps my friends.
Occasionally one can develop the sort of desperation and violent will to change everything in one fell swing, but most often I've seen that doomed to failure. Let's be good to ourselves. The only life you have is lived right now. Be unconcerned with what you've done or haven't done. If we all pay greater attention to what it is that we are doing we cannot fail. Let's take it all one day at a time. :)
Oh, and drink plenty of water...and remember to breathe.
