Hello Everyone! I've decided to start a food blog as a way to encourage myself to really understand and enjoy what I eat; and to also really take part in that process by cooking a lot more from scratch with healthy and wholesome ingredients.
I've always really enjoyed food, it's a huge part of my life, meaning it's more than just fuel for my body to me. It's pretty much in my DNA being half Belgian and half Indo-Guyanese. I can't even begin to tell you all the incredibly fantastic food that I've grown up with and have learned from my loving family. It's really funny, but we love food so much, that even while eating we will talk at length about food too. But I also care about my health and being in shape, and sometimes that can be really difficult with all sorts of delectable dishes available to savour, especially living in Montreal! However, with some persistance, careful attention to ingredients, exploring healthy alternatives, and drastically reducing the amount of processed food in my life, I know I can still enjoy food with the same gusto and remain in shape. Not that I won't indulge myself, but I have to keep in mind moderation and remember that indulgences are a treat!
Over the past few months I've been feeling especially sluggish and not in the best shape I've been, which has left me feeling a bit down. After speaking with a couple of knowledgable friends, they recommended I do a cleanse and rethink the way I eat. The cleanse recommended to me was the Master Cleanse, and at first I had HUGE doubts, it definitely seemed pretty fad-like and unrealistic to do. But after doing a lot of research and seeing how my friends had managed to do it, and in fact felt great after, I decided to give it a go. I told myself that I will listen to my body and if this didn't feel right that I would stop. And by all means, I am not here trying to preach this cleanse to anyone, this was my personal decision to do, it's not for everyone. Basically, it's a digestive system cleanse, for 10 days you flush out your body and consume nothing but fresh lemon juice, water, dark maple syrup and cayenne pepper mixed together as means to maintain your minimum energy and vitamin/mineral requirements. You drink as much as you want whenever you feel hungry, and then once the 10 days are done you start slowly back onto solids. Now, if you just go back to the way you ate before (that's if you had a poor diet), this cleanse doesn't do much, I mean the point is to restart and relook at the way you eat. And yes, it does lower your metabolism, however, if you ease yourself back into solids properly and have better eating habits and exercise adequately you will maintain your post-cleanse weight relatively. But like I said, I know it's controversial to some, and therefore I feel this is a personal choice and only recommend that other people do what is best for themselves and to always listen to their body.
So, I've just completed the 10 days today, and tomorrow I start back into slowly consuming solids again. And I must say, I am indeed feeling pretty good. It was a bit tough at first, by day 2 I didn't know if I could do it. I didn't realize that the lack of caffein was going to have a big effect on me, I mean, I never thought myself as caffein dependant, because I'm not a coffee fan and I don't ever feel the "need" for caffein to get going in the morning. But I do consume quite a lot of tea, and I really like milky tea, aka black tea, which has just as much caffein as a cup of joe (sidenote: where did that saying come from?). Needless to say, day 2 was not pleasant, I was fighting a nagging headache, and had to deal with it sans painkillers. But I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do this, so I persevered. By day 4 I was feeling pretty good, I wasn't as lethargic, my tummy was feeling a lot better and I felt clear-headed. In short, I'm glad I did this.
So wish me luck on my new culinary adventure and I hope you will enjoy the ride along with me via this blog. I will post pictures and recipes of all the great dishes I will create and/or encounter from this day forward. Thank you in advance for anyone who chooses to follow and support me and I hope that maybe this will inspire you.
