Thursday, May 10, 2012

1st Red-Meat-Free Birthday!

So I'm the last extra seksi woman in this planet to hear about the recently celebrated International No Diet Day. Shame on me! I didn't get a chance to take photos of what I stuffed myself last Sunday. But that's to my relief. According to my food journal, I had chicken fillets from fastfood chains that day. And we all know I could do better than that. Since I have no pretty photo/s to post to commemorate that day, let me take you to my past life, back in the days when I took delight in self-loathing for breakfast, diet pills for lunch, insecutiries for merienda and imaginary grapes for dinner. And there were times I skipped dinner. Remember the 18:00 diet? How about this diet myth below?


Found via Google search yesterday. Can't find my source anymore today.

Just like most women, I had a hard time accepting myself. Like I detailed here, I was this instant standout among my skinny, prim & proper classmates and playmates as a kid. Everybody had this compulsion to pinch my cheeks and arms then give me a bear hug. In any order. However, when one reaches puberty, it's not cute anymore. This went on until college. Eventually, I found myself getting addicted to aerobics as response to the unpleasant turnout of a romantic relationship.

Speaking of, my best friend Atong recounted how last night's rerun of the Koreanovela Ugly Young Ae (season 4) went. She passed by a quarreling couple outside a motel. The girl was unwilling to go that  far but the guy was insistent to enter the gateway to heaven. Young Ae intervened, speaking up for the poor girl. The guy remarked she should mind her own business as their concern is something she never experienced and probably never will. He went on to say the F word.

Since that incident, Young Ae was consumed with inadequacy and ate nothing but cherry tomatoes. As we all ladies with dieting past would know, she spewed fire to everyone who approaches her. That includes her secret boyfriend, Wong Jun. There was this one scene when he reminded her that he NEVER asked her to go on diet. That he adores her just the way she is. Awwwwww.

Thanks to some spoiler (read: Atong), I found out that they parted ways in the latter season.

Ugly Young Ae via Fox Filipino and tvN


Just the same, any self-respecting ladies should break up with whatever fad diet she's on. Particularly if it poses a great damage to one's health. I've had my share of sad tales that I brought upon myself and there's no way I'll take a return flight to that depressing stage in my life. It's not true that we won't attract any guys if we carry excess fats and other so-called undesirable physical attributes that media continue to force-feed us everyday. As an African saying goes: beware the naked man who offers you his shirt. We can't be ready to love a man, his family and his mission if we can't even begin to love our beautiful selves - great features and flaws alike. Besides, what's not to love about ourselves? Don't be the last to realize what's lovable and irreplacable about you, girl!

Break-up message from HotChick.BookSeries's fanpage

***

Have I told you that today marks the first year since my liberating break-up with red meat? The fuel behind this plunge to vibrant, plant-based diet was for mostly for wellness reasons; I dream to regulate my energy level to juggle all the visions I've gathered into my plate, to address and prevent health issues to cripple me from living a full life, to help our local farmers prosper and others. My chosen vehicle: commitment to at least 80% raw food diet. This journey so far can be described by on-and-off struggles to fight the cravings for dairy products, white meat and junk food. Should I allow the 1-year-mark to pressure me to take this aim to the next stage? My mind screams a resounding yes. If I managed to abstain myself from red meat, how hard can it get to say goodbye to my next targets?

How did I do it? Whoever said the body follows whatever the mind instructs was right. I saturated myself with  news about meat shop malpractices (selling double dead meat, etc) and dreaded diseases and its prevention. This paranoia worked for me; I started looking for organic produce and healthier, affordable options. Perhaps it's time to re-read those literature so I can motivate myself to eat healthier. Looking back, I find it funny how I went cold turkey on red meat and, inspired by Pi Villaraza's almost 2-year coconut diet as he detailed on his book "Conscious Trance, the Journey to the Dancer Within", decided to do the same for a week. I lasted for 1.5 days. I managed to go on high raw food diet for the next 3 weeks, then slowly re-introduced fish. Then chicken. Up to now, I still find it hard to quit on growth hormones chicken. But, hey, February 2012 witnessed me go growth-hormone-free! There's hope!

Anyway, before I prepare for the mounting pressure that lies ahead, let me show you how I celebrated my first red-meat-free birthday so far. I had my make-up done (yes, it deserves a separate blog entry!) and had cucumber + carrot + mung bean sprouts (togue) + cilantro salad for lunch. Photos or it didn't happen, yes?

Nama Nama's basic salad with crabstick. Birthday candle NOT included.

The celebrant!

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