10 Coconuts a day

Move over 30 bananas a day, I have something better! I had 10 coconuts yesterday, liquid and meat and I was quite satiated all day. In fact when I woke up this morning I didn't feel the urge to eat and that's good because today I drank coconut milk, which is leading me into a water fast. 

I never realised how satisfying 10 coconuts could be. The water in my opinion tastes incredible, I would rather drink that than water! The meat, especially when it's slightly thick and very white, is very tasty too and I love eating it. 

I'm in the perfect location for getting coconuts and I am so happy I finally had a coconut day. Recently I've come to realise just how important and amazing coconuts are. I use coconut oil, which is perfect for oil pulling, moisturising, conditioning the hair and eating! So far the only thing I use the liquid for is to drink, but I've read that using the liquid on your face is a great way to moisturise too. 

I plan on doing a 7 day water fast starting tomorrow and this time I'll take it slow. I am hoping my body is able to clean itself and remove some toxins that remain in my fat cells. As long as I remind myself of the reasons and benefits for fasting then I can remain on track and hopefully carry on beyond my set time. 

Borneo Blog :: durian addict

If you've been watching my YouTube channel and my Instagram feed you may have thought "wow, she really likes eating durian". Yes, I have enjoyed every moment of eating it, but recently I've not been enjoying the after effects, which include increased temperatures, sweating, burping, generally feeling too full because I over ate and then there's durian breath, which if I eat a durian that was too ripe can be awful!

I wanted to leave Ranau, but I decided not to because I hadn't told Sherry so I'm leaving tomorrow instead. I also decided to be more conscious of eating, so I finished the bunch of red bananas I had after waiting a few hours after getting up. The feeling of emptiness was pleasant. I headed to the market at 10 and got a yellow coconut. I think it was my first one ever and it was definitely sweeter. I enjoyed it so much I decided that I would drink 2 more for lunch and buy a small tarap. 

Normally I'd eat durian around 2 or 3pm, so when the clock struck 2 I automatically knew because I had a surge in craving durian. Yesterday I decided I was giving it up, but today because I was staying in Ranau I knew I could get it easily and cheap. So I cycled back to the market and bought 4 small wild durian for 5 ringgit and then a tray of ripe durian for 5 ringgit. 

I made sure I was fully aware of my actions and how I felt whilst eating these durian. I honestly believe I am addicted to it and I hope that I can just got cold turkey! Needless to say I over ate and felt sick. 

I have thought recently how food is a major part of my life and it's ridiculous that I am centering my entire existence upon it. I've been given an interesting book to read and it's the first educational book I've ever been excited to read! I'll tell you more about it when I finish it... Just know that it's changing my whole perspective of food. 

My aim is to stop consuming durian for the next few weeks, reduce the amount of fruit I eat and focus more on drinking liquid, listening to my body and allowing healing time. I do believe in the cycle of consumption, which goes for food as much as material consumption. So I eat when I get up, then I feel hungry again so I eat more, which causes more hunger so I eat again and again and again, etc. It's one big viscous cycle. When I eat more I want more. Same for buying things. When I shop I just want to buy more and more and more. But it's not good!

My eyes are opening further and my ideologies are changing. I think it became more apparent to me when I noticed food wasn't actually energising me anymore. This started happening before the excessive durian consumption, but it definitely played a role.

Borneo Blog :: coconut sprout!

Wahoo today I finally had a coconut sprout. I heard about this when I left Thailand in July 2014, I had watched a video by Sweet Natural Living on YouTube and was so amazed that you could eat a sprouted coconut (truthfully I had never even pondered the idea that coconuts sprout, but obviously they do so new trees can grow!) 

I took some video footage but that won't be up on YouTube for a few days. For now check out the pictures. Oh and I didn't take one before the guy smashed into it! 

So the story of where I got the coconut from is like this, I cycled to the wetlands centre about 5km away (up some hills and then down again with some AMAZING scenery) but it was shut. I didn't realise it's closed on Mondays. I decided instead of going back and sitting in the hostel I would stay out in the bike and try to find fruit to forage. Desperate to fulfil this goal and being surrounded by lots of different trees I thought there must be something to pick. 

I cycled around another 2km and found this large lot with coconut palms and banana plants. I looked on the ground and there they were, many coconuts. Some had massive holes in them and the land didn't look like it belonged to anyone in particular so I walked over to the sprouted coconuts, picked 2 up and took them back to my bike. I decided to only take 1 in case they were no good and I had stuff in my basket already. 

When I had finished cycling and taking in the scenery I went to the coconut stand and asked them to cut it open for me. They're so friendly and kind and did it without hesitation. At this point there's a large group of people drinking coconuts and they're pretty much intrigued to see what's happening so there's a lot of attention on my coconut! 

I was sooooo happy when he revealed the spongy interior, the locals here think I'm crazy for asking if I can eat coconuts that have sprouted. If they can understand me they laugh and say "no, no, no its for planting". Well actually it's very common for raw foodists to eat coconut sprouts so I'm right and you're wrong on this one! 

Well this is how it tasted, the outer part was crispy and the inner part was very moist. It was slightly sweet and had a very subtle flavour. I was following the directions as suggested on YouTube to wipe the spongy bit on the oily meat and wow it was incredible. 

Honestly it's flavour was very subtle unlike a durian, but I'm actually appreciating that more than durian. I think I may have lost my appetite for durian because of all of the better tasting fruits like tarap, rollinia, etc and because it can be quite potent and unsettling in my stomach. I tried to Google the nutrition of coconut sprout but I've not found anything yet.  I'm mainly interested in the fat intake. I think I'd rather eat a coconut sprout than durian but I should be careful about the fat intake! 

If you've ever tried coconut sprout what did you think? Do you know the nutritional components of this tasty meal? Do you want to try one now I've (possibly) introduced you to it? 

Let me know your thoughts. 

Check out my YouTube video I posted today about ciku (so many different spellings, chiku, chikoo) 

Borneo Blog :: locals, coconuts and durian

This morning I went out on my bicycle first thing to buy a coconut. It is my current routine to do 10 minutes of oil pulling, whilst I stretch and brush my teeth, drink about 1 litre of filtered water followed by a coconut water and meat and then a whole 3.5kg watermelon for breakfast. 

This sets me up to cleanse my colon, pee clear and rehydrate after a long sleep. I stopped drinking in the middle of the night because it disturbed my sleep and I was told that our mouths contain so much bacteria in the morning that we should do oil pulling without having a drink. So that's what I do. 

I love getting young coconuts that are slightly maturing inside, so the meat is a bit harder and whiter. I find the slimey meat to be just that, too slimey so I opt for the higher fat option. 

I sat in the place where I bought the coconut and drank it with my reusable glass affirmation straw. I bought this in Bali and I love it. The message says "I love who I am and all that I do". Perfect. After I finished I went to the sea front and sat down to eat my watermelon. 

As I was taking some selfies, a local young man walked past. He saw me taking pictures and decided he would come back to ask if he can have a photo too. "Sure" I said. I thought he would just take one but no he climbed over the ledge where I sat, put his arm around me and took a selfie with me. To him this meant it gave him full access to my personal life and his leading question was "so are you single? What is your name?"

There's something that's been grating on me over the last few weeks and that is that the men here all seem to assume that because I'm alone, beautiful and generally always smiling that it gives them a right to hit on me, that I want a boyfriend and that it's OK to ask really personal questions. Well it's not OK, I don't want a boyfriend and I would prefer my own privacy. 

Fair enough I am travelling in their country and yes I do appreciate friendly conversation, but as I found out in Turkey many years ago Muslim men and women cannot be friends, so if you are talking to a Muslim man they generally want something. I have been patient, I have been friendly, but when it's the first question someone asks I will not stand for it. He interrupted my peace so I told him that I would like to eat my breakfast in peace. Thankfully he respected my wishes and left. 

Now I'm not so vain to think I'm the desire of all men, but it certainly feels like it here. To them I'm classed as exotic! I haven't seen many single Western women walking around, but that doesn't mean that I am here to get a husband. I had exactly the same problem in Turkey. People in Bali left me alone for the most part and in Thailand I don't recall having this problem. That's why I enjoyed being in the cinema yesterday, I blended in because it was pitch black! The attention was no longer on me because I'm white, female, blonde and cute! 

Moving on, I decided that the durian here was actually pants, I haven't really been enjoying it, mainly because it costs more than I want to pay so I've been buying the cheaper packaged fruit. Well after my second Ionic Detox Foot Therapy I went to the guy with the cheap packaged durian. I took about 5-10 minutes just looking at the fruit because he has piles of durian stacked on the road, 3-4 fruit for 10 ringgit. This fruit looks really old so I sniff a few, no smell and decide that I don't want to get them in case they sucked! 

I then started opening his 5 ringgit packaged durian and decide it looks a bit battered, so I just asked if I could buy one from his baskets (where he's replenishing the old ones from). He also sells fresh durian too for 12 ringgit /kg but I don't want that. The one I picked was mediocre, nothing to write home about. Then one of the guys picks out a small one and it is the sweetest and creamiest durian I've had since Bali. Oh sweet heavens you answered my prayers! Then I got the taste for more and so I got another durian and it too was so creamy. I wanted it to last forever... The best thing about eating durian is the leftovers on your fingers. I licked them clean hahaha

So now I'm sat on my bed writing this blog, feeling super full from 3 durian and day dreaming about how good is tasted. So much for giving up durian... I might go back tomorrow. 

*passes out from durian coma*

Tasty Tuesday - Coconut milk

I have previously posted how to make nut milk here and today I just want to tell you that so far the best milk I have made is with a mature coconut.

This is by far the best non-human milk I have ever tasted and that includes cows milk! I recommend trying it for yourself.

My advice is to perhaps find a better way of opening the coconut, I am not too sure if smashing it with a hammer inside a plastic bag is the best way, or safest. It is the way I was taught and probably the most therapeutic, so I'll stick with it!

The main things to be careful of when preparing this milk is to ensure all of the hard shell has been removed from the coconut meat, even tiny pieces, as this can break your blender. When you have filled your blender with the meat, put the water in so it is just above the meat. This will make it a creamy milk. When I first made it I put in almost double the water so it was very weak. It is your choice though so if you prefer to have a creamy higher fat milk use less water, etc.

I stored it in a mason jar in the fridge. It is normal for the liquid to separate, so give it a shake before you use it. Mine formed coconut lumps and I scooped some out to try. Wow...it was like eating coconut butter! Heavenly, but I kept thinking about the fat content. Once in a while won't hurt but every day may not be so good for remaining low fat!

Unfortunately it didn't last long so I don't have any photographs. All I can give you is my word that this is by far the best homemade milk I ever made and tasted! 

I put it in a smoothie with bananas and some vanilla bean. Perfecto!

Get yourself a nut milk bag and you can do so much.

Jennifer x