Sunday update - technology

The days all merge into one by the time Sunday comes around. My weekly trip to New Smithfield Market always seems to feel like it was just yesterday that I had been, but clearly it was a week ago else I wouldn't need more tomatoes!

I try to get some exercise in every other day or so by means of cycling and I really pushed myself too hard the other day. I still need to purchase some pedals and shoes, but I'm delaying it a bit longer to see if they go down in the summer sale. I like being on the bike, it's a great way to cover some distance and get in a workout. Running would make me need to wee and poo so I didn't run far... :-)

I really want to get a group of ladies together to meet once a week for a group exercise class in the park. It would be a good challenge for me and will help my own fitness as well as my creativity.

I've spent some time listening to specific meditation tunes on YouTube over the last couple of days. It's been interesting and I want to focus some time experimenting to see if they work long term or just at all! I mainly want to look into astral travel, healing, positive thinking and working on the chakras. I'll make a post when I've done some experimenting.

It's been a few weeks since I deactivated my Facebook account and I have to say it's liberating. It is easy to be addicted to it and I even question using any technology... I think that's partly why I haven't blogged as much. 

The world is very much technology focused and when I met George in Thailand he got me thinking. George is from Cyprus, said he is sensitive to electromagnetic sources so he doesn't own a phone, laptop, tablet, etc. He's well read (Dad owns a bookshop) and he meditates, that's his claim for knowing about the Thai Fruit Fest, it came to him in his meditation. I'm either naive or he's genuine, but I'm going with him on this one. I doubt I'll give up my phone or tablet (because I like taking photos) but I like the idea of spending less time glued to a computer.

So on that note I am going to go!

Enjoy your Sunday. If you're in Manchester and want to do some weekly exercise send me a message!

Jennifer x

Think Thursday - Fad following

Today I want you to think about following the latest trends that are later termed fads.

Do you get easily excited? Are you the first to jump on the bang wagon? Do you go from one thing to the next as easily and as often as changing your underwear?!

If this sounds like you, then you may have already considered a raw food or even just a high carb vegan diet. When I say the term diet in this sense I mean eating a certain way for a certain amount of time. To me lifestyle means commitment for the long haul.

So if you are one of those people who have gone back and forth between diets then this is what you need to seriously consider.

What are you doing it for?

If you are eating for health then you need to consider your nervous system. What is optimal for your nervous system? Of course I will tell you a raw vegan diet is optimal, that's the whole point of my blog ;) but you need to make sure you feed your body the best sources of vitamins and minerals and where do these come from?? You guessed it, fresh fruits and vegetables. Preferably organic, but if not I at least encourage you to try to grow your own salad.

You should consider swapping your alcoholic beverages for a freshly squeezed juice or smoothie (in fact you should never poison your body with alcohol again!), take a 15 day course of probiotics 2-4 times a year and stop eating white refined carbohydrates to help your nervous system stay in good condition. Probiotics are a great supplement to take throughout the year to get your gut flora back into tip top shape, especially if you experience diarrhoea or illnesses alike.

Why is this diet going to work when the previous ones didn't?

You really need to keep this in your mind. If you do go from one diet to the next after losing weight and then putting it back on you really do need to question the diet. You are damaging your body the more you yo-yo from one to the other, so do you really want to risk causing a serious illness?

Does it really seem like a healthy diet?

We all know that fruit and vegetables are incredibly healthy for us, the government, TV, shops, etc go on about eating 5 a day (and research has suggested that the minimum amount should be increased to 10 a day!), so I think when you include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet you know you're onto a winner.

My concern is that people think that they need protein, especially animal protein. NO! Leave the animal in the field. If you feel like you want to eat protein (bearing in mind we need no more than 10% from our calorie intake) then get it from sources made from plants. Plants are miraculous. They are sun foods. They are living foods (unless you cook them of course). Why would eating anything dead be good for us? (Referring to paleo here)

To me, these are the main points to consider. 

The raw vegan diet may not be easy, it may not be 100% convenient, but if you think about it in terms of what it can do for your HEALTH, your BODY and your LIFE, well maybe you will consider it.

Stuff your face with fruit all day, drink loads of different smoothies, eat so many different fruits, fill up on greens and get that raw vegan glow!

If you want help transitioning to a raw vegan lifestyle or just want some friendly advice about buying fruit or increasing your fruit intake send me a message.

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday - an abundance of fruit

Today I am back with another wish. 

As you may or may not know, I have just come back from a trip to Thailand. Due to unforeseen circumstances the trip wasn't as long as I anticipated. I thought I had left England for quite a long time but the universe obviously decided otherwise.

I remember that leading up to my departure I didn't actually know what I wanted to get out of the trip. I had told myself that I would "find myself" and grow, I suppose in a way I learnt a heck of a lot about myself, albeit rather unpleasant realities.

Since coming back to the UK I have had some time to process the reality of staying here, at first I couldn't even fathom the idea of staying, my mind was set on returning (given the fact that I had a return ticket!), but I have decided to let go.

Letting go is one of the hardest things I have had to do.

This is my wallpaper. I look at it everytime I use my tablet because it really is hard for me to do.

I have to trust in my higher self. I have to trust in God. 

Just a bit of background information about myself right now, I lost faith in God when my parents divorced and as a teen, young adult and until this year I didn't believe in God. I've always been a "I want proof" type of person, but so much has happened to me over the last year there has to be a higher power. Coincidences don't exist. 

Let go and let God.

So getting back to my wish. After letting go of going back to Thailand, I have slowly been able to assess what I want and how I would focus when I travel. I have decided this.

I wish to travel to the tropics in order to live an abundant life, eat the freshest and ripest fruits, go to the source and not just the markets. I want to taste different varieties of fruits, to focus my day around eating the best produce and to nourish my cells with quality.

It is from having the time to reflect on my experience that I am now able to decide what it is I want from travelling. I now have a focus.

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday - beet greens

Good day to you all, I hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday. I know for some this is the worst day of the week but if you think that way it will always be that!! :-)

Today I want to rave about the greens you get at the top of beetroot. I remember when I was first introduced to the large savoy spinach leaves, they tasted so salty and so juicy I was happy too because it was a leafy green that tasted good (unlike normal lettuce, which sometimes I find bland and often bitter). However, the spinach was sprayed with pesticides and I got a slight odor from eating them so that love affair was short lived. I definitely still recommend trying them though, just not eating it every day.

The beet greens are even better than spinach because first of all it has a pink stem (yay for pink food) and secondly because it is practically free with your purchase of beetroot!!

Packed with calcium, iron, sodium and vitamin A this green is great for your salads. It adds colour and flavour so it is win win all round. Eat it whole, chop it up or blend into a soup, you have options for days!

Unfortunately I don't have anymore now, so it's back to bland lettuce for now! 

If you would like help transitioning to a raw food lifestyle I am happy to help, send me a message or comment below. 

Jennifer x

Think Thursday - Mirrors

What I am becoming aware of is that I am faced with a mirror everyday. Everybody is faced with a mirror everyday. The mirror is there as a reflection to show us what we need to learn about ourselves.

I've lived in denial for a very long time. So long that it is habit and I've allowed myself to do it because I didn't learn any different, but the important thing to note is I did it, no one else, me.

I believe in these mirrors and what they show me. However, I was blind to it until recently, but it's good that I am now aware and I can see these mirrors (most of the time - I'm still learning). I can analyse past situations, relationships, behaviours, etc with a new understanding and I can use this information to help in the present. I admit it's a very slow process right now and I still get it wrong.

It's important to be open to self development, willing to learn and as I'm finding out best to be honest with yourself, as is letting go.

Here is a video I watched recently about mirrors. It's long but in depth and worth a watch. May this help you on your journey to your awakening.

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday: The Secret

I've just watched The Secret, which is basically describing The Law of Attraction. If you're unfamiliar then in a nutshell "if you visualise you materialise", so technically if you think about one thing every day and really imagine it coming into your life then technically it should.

According to this documentary the original genie offers unlimited wishes, not just 3. And there is enough good for everyone. We can all live abundant lives, if we stop focusing on the negative and bad things (wars, etc) then we can manifest a good life.

So without further do let me get onto what I wish for...

I wish that one day we all live in abundance. Lots of joy, fruit, peace, calm and love for each other.

I see it now. A beautiful blue sky (obviously I'm not in the UK!) in a luscious park with green grass and fruit trees everywhere. Children are playing, adults are foraging and everyone is helping each other. There's nothing but sunshine and big smiles. Then a bit of wind picks up and everyone grabs a kite and moves to the open field.

How wonderful.

What will your try to manifest?

Jennifer x

Thai Flowers

I have always loved flowers and I have always loved photographing flowers. I love the patterns, the colours, the different shapes and sizes. I especially love rain drops on leaves. If there is something that I should do more of, it is taking photographs of flowers.

Here is a quick board I made of some of the flowers I photographed in Thailand. 

One of the regrets I have about my time in Thailand is not stopping to smell the flowers! I was so busy rushing here and there that I forgot to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. I won't make the same mistake twice, I will purposely seek out the flower fields and enjoy both smell and scenery.

Jennifer x

Subliminal Saturday

Now I know I was only away for 2 months, but since I got back to the UK I seriously feel like I am being brainwashed to buy any shit from any where. I am more conscious to it.

Let me tell you something about Thailand. They do it on a BIGGER scale!

I think that because I spent a lot of time in Bangkok (more than the average tourist probably) witnessing first hand the large scale advertising, it is hard to switch off to the fact that we are all being brainwashed to buy, to consume, to want to dedicate our lives to working in a mediocre job just to buy shit that we really deep down don't need or want just because a poster says we should, or an advert on TV says it'll make us feel better.

I was too cautious to take photos or videos in Bangkok to capture this, mainly on the Skytrain (BTS) because there were signs everywhere saying no photos. Well let me tell you. As soon as you walk up the stairs you're greeted with food stands, magazine stands and clothes shops, when you reach the platform there are MASSIVE bill boards plastered with cars, food, computers. Even the barriers that stop you jumping onto the tracks have digital screens that advertise one thing or another. Then once you're on the train there are posters everywhere and the worst thing are the TV advertisements.

What is it about Asian women being airbrushed to look like Western women?

Why do already petite Asian women need to jump around in skimpy bathing suits (looking Western again) chewing weight loss pills?

WHY ARE ASIANS OBSESSED WITH WEIRD SAUSAGE "MEAT"??

Seriously, everywhere I went there were weird sausages, and you know that the "meat" content will be 0.01% and the rest is something unspeakable.

What disheartened me about Bangkok so much was the need to consume. Huge malls everywhere, shops, stands, everything is about spending money. I got so disheartened by it that I fell out of love with Bangkok, we had a very quick love affair and the only reason I returned was for food - but even then I was part of what made me dislike it!

I never want to fall back into a "normal" life. I don't want to get a 9-5 job just to stay alive. I don't want to own a home and I also don't want to be spending money on a car. From now on it is just me and my bike and whatever public transport I decide to use (mainly a plane out of here again - eventually!), but I want to pledge that no matter how magical things appear I will do my best to avoid being sucked back into the consumerists lifestyle.

If you are struggling to quit consumerism then ask yourself this question

Who is benefiting?

I hope that one day soon everyone wakes up and really sees this matrix we are living in.

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

The last fortnight has given me a lot to think about, mainly because I came down with a fever that turned into tonsillitis, which then developed into swollen gums and an infection on my face (herpes simplex aka cold sores).

As you all know I am following a raw vegan lifestyle and I have become one of the "extremists" who has basically decided from the start no prescription/over the counter pills, no tap water, no products, nothing except fruit, veg and air.

Well after coming down with all of these things and going against the advice of every doctor I've seen I have to think about this.

Despite getting over tonsillitis without antibiotics, do I take the antibiotics that have been prescribed to me today for the swollen gums? My mouth is in so much pain that I don't want to eat anymore (and by eat I mean drink a smoothie) and every time I move my jaw I damage the skin on the inside of my mouth even more. I suppose I should mention that I started using Corsodyl mouthwash, a product containing many chemicals that are no doubt bad.

However, I am at breaking point today.

Part of me is saying "take the pills" but another part is saying "you've come this far without pills, don't cave on this one".

Part of me is wondering if I refused pills in the first place because I am stubborn and want to prove that I don't need western medicine to cure these illnesses, or was it because I believe in the raw vegan diet?

I have a lot to think about but I am just so fed up. The questions now aren't "should I take the pills", but rather "why am I doing this?". Am I trying to prove a point? Am I being stubborn? Am I being cautious? 

I think that once I determine my motive, I will be able to decide what the best action is for me and my fucking mouth.

I hope no one ever experiences this.

Jennifer x