Macrobiotics and Me

Good evening!

It seems that every day brings something new to consider: what foods do I feel are good for me right now, how much should I eat of that? What grain should I have today? Should I have a dessert?  Tuning into what the body wants and likes is tricky but I am sure it gets easier the more we pay attention and listen out. Intention is always a great starting place and somewhere to go back to if ever you find yourself a bit lost (don’t worry when you do…I think it’s very normal!!)

I’ve had another day of eating fairly simply. I am really enjoying this. I’m also beginning to realise that my body responds better to a lighter lunch and then a more substantial dinner. I’m going to play around with this a bit.

Breakfast

Barley miso soup made with onion, mushroom & wakame with parsley & lemon

Millet porridge with amazake, spring greens and sunflower seeds

Lunch

Brown rice with onions and shoyu

Blanched steam greens with ume su

Kinpira of sweet potato and carrot

Pressed cucumber

Bancha tea

Roasted apple with raisins

Dinner

Aduki bean stew from yesterday (or day before)

Blanched brocolli

Pressed cucumber

Bancha tea

Hot water

Yum! Delicious food.

I would like to say thank you for the wisdom that macrobiotics has shown me and is continuing to show me. I’m sure we never stop learning, gorwing and changing. Long may it continue.

Macro love & light

Sharlene

Greetings!

I went for a lovely long run (well more of a very gentle jog!) today which was so refreshing. I had a week off last week so it’s nice to be getting back into it. I always feel so much better after exercise.

Breakfast

Brown rice, aduki bean stew (made with leeks, daikon & onion) and pressed carrot

Lunch

Soup from yesterday with toasted sunflower seeds and parsley

Brown rice and amazake (yum!)

Bancha tea

Dinner

Millet, aduki bean stew, quick boiled brocolli with ume su, stir fried spring greens

Bancha tea

Hot water

Roasted sunflower seeds

I am loving the spring time!

I am not loving how dreadful my skin is looking at the moment though…but this is a good sign as it means my body is healing. I know that with a good amount of cardio exercise and continuing to eat simply with less sweets will do the trick. It is so interesting to see how the body changes and responds.

I feel that macrobiotics has many different stages. I think I am at the stage where I am really learning to feel the effects of foods and their impact on me, my energy and my body. It’s so fascinating.

Sweet macro dreams!

Sharlene

Good evening!

Today has been wonderful. I am with my family at the moment and it is the first time that I feel as though eating the way I do etc is so normal and accepted by my family. It feels so wonderful! I also had the pleasure of sharing my lunch with my Mum and my sister today and that was amazing :O). Sharing food with others is very special but even more so when it’s with the people who you love so dearly.

Breakfast

Oat porridge with toasted sunflower seeds and raisins

Lunch

Soup made with leek, spring greens, watercress, kombu, red lentils & parsley

Dinner

Aduki bean stew made with carrots, daikon, leeks & brown rice with pressed carrot

Green tea

Amazake drink (amazake and hot water)

Snacks/other

Aduki beans with date syrup

Kettle chips

A few home made chips (my family were having chips for dinner and I decided to have a few  just for good measure ;o)

Peace & love

Sharlene

Hello!

How’s it going?

Breakfast

I didn’t have breakfast today as I wasn’t feeling hungry

Lunch

Tofu & mushroom quiche, hijiki and carrots, quinoa & pressed radish

Earl grey & rooibos tea

Dinner

An avacado & salad (pine nuts, tomato, cucumber, spinach) tortilla wrap

A can of drink (I haven’t had a can of drink for such a long time. This one was sugar free and sweetened with grape juice)

Snacks/other

Halva

I am visiting my family at the moment and they think all this macro stuff is very strange and not in the least bit appealing!

Thankfully I have brought my own food with me and I have a cupboard with some staples (beans, brown rice, seasoning) in which I find really useful and essential. I think planning ahead is a must.

I think the next few days will be interesting as I have a few family gatherings going on. No doubt there will be a vast array of different drinks and foods. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Good night!

Sharlene

Good evening!

My day started off so well but I seemed to fall completely off the macro wagon…

Breakfast

Miso soup from yesterday with ginger

Oat porridge with spring greens, raisins and roasted sunflower seeds

Lunch

Tofu quiche, carrots, pressed radishes, hijiki and carrots, quinoa

Snacks/other (of which I ate so many that this was kind of dinner too…)

Halva

4 (yes 4…) nut bars

Rooibos tea

Parsnip crisps

Tofu quiche

I feel as though I’ve had a tough day emotionally, especially in the latter part of the day. This has definitely effected the food I have chosen or not chosen to eat. I hope next time when things are difficult I will not eat so many snacks and have a proper dinner instead. So, although I did not resort to sugar or dairy, I feel that I over ate snacks and could have had a more balanced dinner. Live & learn eh! ;o)

Maybe I will fast tomorrow…

Good night!

Sharlene

Hello fellow seekers of health :O)

Today I suddenly remembered sea vegetables. I haven’t had many (or any!) sea veg dishes for a while and was thinking it would be good to try to have at least one sea veg dish a week aswell as trying to use them regularly in other dishes. It’s easy to let things slip out of your vision unless you are constantly reminding yourself of them until they become habit.

Breakfast

Brown rice miso soup with wakame, carrot, watercress and spring onion & chives

Millet porridge with oat milk and some strawberry spread

Lunch

Brown rice, steamed leeks, spring greens and sauerkraut, homemade hummous with gomasio, pressed grated squash

Dinner

Steamed brocolli, tofu quiche, pressed radish, hijiki and carrot with roasted almonds

Cup of hot apple juice

Ahhhh!!

Note or should that be NOTE: the lack of dessert from my diet today…wow, I can survive without something sweet (I know you were beginning to wonder!). I do have a lemon pudding waiting for me tomorrow though so I better warn you now! ;o)

Sweet macro love

Sharlene

Hello!

I have been thinking alot about macrobiotics and about how incredible it is :O), everyday I feel blessed that I have found something that is so enriching and something which helps me to nurture my soul.

To me, macrobiotics is about transforming oneself in a way that allows life to be lived to the full and we can do this by taking responsibility for ourselves, for our health, for our thoughts, our emotions and our destiny. This isn’t an easy thing to do in today’s society, since most people don’t realise this. I am sure the day is coming when people will see that they are responsible for their health and well being and that it isn’t some kind of random selection process. We get ill because our bodies, our beings are telling us that we must address something, we need to listen and investigate further to get to the cause. It’s fine to treat the symptoms of an illness but they will reappear if the cause is not treated.

Why do we have to wait until we are seriously ill before we realise this? What if we realised this before we got ill?… 

Choices, choices, choices. What will you choose? 

Breakfast

I felt absolutely blessed having breakfast made for me this morning…ahh THANK YOU! ) What a pleasure. Sharing it with lovely people is also such a treat and feels so nourishing.

Miso soup made with onion, carrot and wakame

Oat and brown rice porridge with almonds

Bancha tea

Lunch

Barley soup from yesterday

Spring greens, home made hummus

Dinner

Sweet millet soup made with onion, pumpkin, parsnip & carrot

 Black eyed bean burgers with a barley malt and mustard sauce, sauerkraut rolls and polenta with olives, sundried tomatoes and mochi

Lemon pudding

Rooibos tea

I also had the pleasure of sharing dinner this evening with a fellow macrotarian. Ahh how wonderful! I cannot say enough how important I feel it is to share this way of eating and living with other like minded souls. :O)

Peace & love

Sharlene

Hello!

Breakfast

Barley and brown rice congee with brocolli, daikon, onion and gomasio

Carrot cake with oat cream (ok not a typical breakfast but delicious none the less!! This cake is now finished but I must admit it tasted better and better each time I ate it!!)

Bancha tea

Lunch

Barley soup with steamed spring greens

Lemon pudding

Dinner

Butter bean dip, chesnut and pepper dip with pitta, olives

Salmon with dill and lemon, white rice (ahh my heart bleeds eating white rice…why, why, why??? white rice is basically murdered brown rice and has all the lovely nutrients taken out of it just to make it easier to cook) and mixed salad leaves

Carob chocolate pudding with an oat base, a couple of strawberry slices and oat cream

Water

Snacks/other

Rice crackers with hazelnut carobella and peanut butter

Salted crisps

Macro love

Sharlene

Evening!

I’ve had a really chilled out day at home today…ahhh!

Breakfast

Miso soup from yesterday with watercress

Barley and brown rice with a drizzle of oat cream and roasted walnuts

Lunch

Barley soup made with onion, carrot, brocolli, spring onion with white and brown miso and tempura seitan

I’ve never cooked with seitan before so this was exciting! I really loved it.

Pressed cucumber and seitan with a super yum sauce made with mustard, white miso, apple juice, rice vinegar and tahini

A beautiful lemon pudding :O)

Dinner

I wasn’t terribly hungry by dinner time so I just had a small amount of seitan with the sauce

Snacks/other

Popcorn

Carrot cake with oat cream  

Grain coffee

Macro love

Sharlene

Hey!

I realised today how the further along this path you go, the more you tune in and become more and more sensitive to the needs of one’s body and soul. It’s not called soul food for nothing! ;o)

I ate smaller portions than usual today and I must admit that I felt a little more grounded as a result. I also felt this great sense of satisfaction aswell that I was able to resit eating more just for the sake of eating more.

Breakfast

Fresh ginger and lemon tea

Brown rice miso soup with wakame, celery, brocolli, tofu and spring onion

Daikon pickle

Lunch

I ate out for lunch today and had a tasty broth with udon noodles and vegetable dumplings

Dinner

Barley with aduki bean stew from yesterday, fresh chives, furikake (a black and white sesame seed mixture with seaweed and shiso leaves, sauerkraut and stir fried kale

Snacks/other

Carrot cake with oat cream

Aduki beans with rasins and sunflower seeds

Red bush tea

Spring is here and that means that it is a good time for the Liver and Gall bladder (hence why so many people do detoxes in the spring time). The Liver and Gall Bladder are nourished by particular foods and particular cooking styles so it is good to consider this and to make changes that support the functioning of these organs. So, it is good to use lighter cooking styles such as steaming or very quick blanching, pressed salads are also very good.

Good ingredients to use for the spring time are vegetables that grow upwards very quickly like spring onions, greens/spring greens, brocolli, mushrooms, celery, leeks. The sour taste is also very good so it’s good to use things which give this taste such as lemon or sauerkraut. Barley, wakame, tempeh/soya beans are also particularly nourishing for the Liver and Gall Bladder.  

Lots of soul nourishing love

Sharlene