Food, food, and more food

Sunday breakfast at the McMasters household today is...grrrrr. Bacon, hash browns (my own potatoes), fresh pressed apple juice and coffee. This'll put some hair on your chest! The rest of the day is going to have to be lumberjacking, digging, or just push-ups for hours. The great thing about eating like this occasionally, is that it actually does make you feel like doing those things.

Being a vegan for 3 months was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone. The new foods and ways of cooking that I discovered are fantastic. I hate scalloped potatoes. Mushy, stomach ache, casserole, bleh. I should say I hateD scalloped potatoes. I have a recipe now that I love and it doesn't have a bit of cream in it. Cashews, people, are amazing, magical little tree nuts. And potatoes are full of vitamins.

In my quest to figure out food, I continued to do research on food and health and read a lot about veganism. Some of the ideas that helped me to try veganism were perhaps not totally true. Then I read about the health benefits of some animal products (bacon, unexpectedly, has several). Then I read about the negative health effects of eating too much unfermented soy (soy milk, tofu, gross soy food additive products.)

So here we are, back to the basics. It is clear that eating unprocessed food in a great variety seems to be the way forward. Whole grains in the morning, vegetables the rest of the day, meat and dairy sprinkled in. This resonates with my soul, so it must be true. It may be a couple months before I make bacon and hash browns again. But perhaps a steak or pork tenderloin will fall into the mix before then. Good quality meat and fish is really the only kind of meat to eat, and at $15 a pound, my purchasing at the local meat producer down the road from my office is going to be limited. Vegetables are cheaper and so that's what we eat a lot of. But when bacon day comes back around again, I'll be pleased as punch and make sure I get out and lumberjack the rest of the day.

wideo

The world is all about video these days. Quitting work videos, cat videos, and people getting run over on video during dinner on the news (horrible). I don't know much about video making, but I guess it's time to start learning so I don't get so behind (e.g. smartphones, RSS feeds, iAnything, DVR, #hashtags). Here is my first, uncut video. It's going to be a big hit. That is until someone adds a bad soundtrack to it, edits it, and makes a fool out of me and I have to take it off-line and deny all involvement.

In other news, I now take 6 different vitamins/supplements. My new naturopath tested my blood and for the first time I feel motivated to take my pills. Next time I travel someplace, I'm going to have to take an extra suitcase for all my bottles. I never thought I would be that person, but they are working and I'm a convert. Sometimes, the things your mom has been telling you for years are actually true and great ideas.

yame

I've traded my mawashi geri for some church ladies and a treadmill. At least for the moment, which is all any of us can really plan for anyway. I have a lot on my mental plate right now. Money, real estate, commitment, family, vocation, education, relocation, and recreation. A whole lot of adult responsibility, when my inner kid is SO very tired of waiting for recess.

Karate has gone from fitness and community to fear and guilt. It no longer fills me up, it brings me down. I'm scared the guy who is high and drunk isn't going to be able to control those very large fists and feet of his. I'm tired of a dojo filled with garbage and mold and skunky smoke. The guys I have trusted have been coming less and less, and now I just feel like I don't fit in. So enough! I took a long break this summer, and starting back up again has been miserable, so I just stopped going in. I'm getting calls and messages about my attendance, but I can't be responsible for keeping that place warm.

Instead, I've joined a bible study. Church ladies in the most traditional sense. I am going into it half cocked, not really wanting to get my religion on, but wanting to learn and know God, and have some conversations with adults that I don't live or work with. Religion often comes with Christianity, so I'm just going with it. I am enjoying the earnest and kind nature of all these dear ladies. I think it's going to be good. I already have so much to talk and think about, and it isn't related to a home loan, an asking price, or my savings account. Maybe it'll fill my gas tank a little for dealing with the rest, or help me get some perspective on how well cared for I am, no matter where I live or what I do.