a diet...

Welcome back! I'm quickly completing week three of my macrobiotic "diet" and, I must say, I love it more and more... seriously! I feel lighter, healthier, and happier. I haven't had a single headache, stomach ache, or any other ache since I started which for me, Queen of taking at least one aspirin/ advil per day, is big! Wonderfully big!

Tonight I thought I would give you a little context for why I'm on this loopy journey. There are two primary reasons. First, ever since I was a wee one, I have been a magnet for sickness. Name a respiratory issue and I've had it or at least been tested for it. In 2008 and 2009, I had pneumonia + bronchitis twice, strep at least once, bronchitis a few times on its own, nasty coughs, etc. Winter always brought the worst. Inevitably I would be on some sort of puffer, pill, antibiotic or spray before the season was out. Since leaving this city for warmer lands wasn't an option (I love TO too much), I decided it was finally time to do something about it. Reason one for the macro: an attempt to rebuild and strengthen my immune system.

Reason two is a little more personal. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, 2009 was an unexpectedly bad year. Though nothing truly terrible happened, by its end I felt completely dull, like I was just going through the motions. I knew this wasn't right all along but the urge to do something about it didn't really come until I saw this photo.

My pseudo sister-in-law snapped this pic of me in Nicaragua in January. We were getting ready to go out for dinner and I was looking off into the sunset thinking about something or other. That was the honest expression on my face when I thought no one was looking. Now, I do not want to go through life with a permanent, unintended scowl on my face - life's too short to feel like that face suggests! So when I came home, I decided to take a few months to work on myself, inside and out.

Fast forward a few weeks and we arrive at a happier, healthier Maya with a new zest for life. Nothing has changed except my diet, and so I'm really starting to believe Ms. Silverstone when she says this diet will make you feel "magical". Bring it on!

I leave you with the 16th century definition of "diet", before it transformed into its current icky state.

diet: (noun) a way of living, or thinking, a day's journey

An intro...

Good morning! First, I am happy to report that it is an absolutely splendid morning outside. It is warm, sunny, and the birds are chirping just enough to make you believe spring might actually be around the corner. :)

I promised word of what my "lent" plans are and I hate to break promises. So here goes...

For the last two weeks, and for the next six (and beyond, I hope!), I have been following a relaxed macrobiotic diet. Marco (long) biotic (life) is a dietary regime that focuses on lots of whole grains, local and organic vegetables, and beans, nuts, sea vegetables, etc, while strictly avoiding processed or refined foods. It is loosely based on Hippocrates axiom of,

Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.

Followers believe, as I do, that food is more than just core nutrients, that food has the power to destroy your health and more importantly, to restore it. There are thousands of macrobiotic hippie-dippie types out there like me, including the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, and Alicia Silverstone.

It is because of Ms. Silverstone that I decided to give this diet a try. I usually partake in a gruelling spring time cleanse which requires me to drink strange potions and eat only rabbit foods, and has the unpleasant side effect of conjuring up intensely violent thoughts towards anyone eating a bagel or drinking a latte. This year I stumbled upon Alicia's new book, "The Kind Diet", and decided on a different approach: leaning into these changes in order to make them a true lifestyle change... and to prevent unnecessary violent episodes. After two weeks, I am proud to say that it is working! I feel fabulous! For the next few weeks, I want to share that fabulousness with you... so once again, please stay tuned! :)

mxo

Everything changes...

It's almost cliché to even say, but it's true, everything changes. Winter inevitably gives way to spring. Love fades and blooms. Friends come and go. Just when you think you've comfortably settled into a nice, stable routine, life hits you over the head and not-so-subtly reminds you that nothing can ever, in its entirety, stay exactly the same.

This cliché axiom has defined the last year of my life... and thank goodness! 2009 was hard, there's no denying it. What was supposed to be a magical turning point in my life instead became my first true look at sadness, longing, regret, and all of their lovely relatives. I stumbled. I erred. I honestly thought I had lost my way.... and just like that, with nothing monumental having to occur, everything changed. Life is the same, yet I am completely different. Everything changes; bank on it.

Tomorrow is lent and while I debate its history and merit, I do like the regime, the sacrifice, the chance to reexamine and live more consciously if even just for a few weeks. So, on this Fat Tuesday, I sit here happily enjoying my luke-warm tea, excited about my lent plans. Stay tuned!

mxo