Operation Zen

I have what you might call a strained relationship with my boyfriend’s brother. To say we’ve ever truly gotten along, famously or otherwise, is a stretch. We have talked. We have shared some laughs, and a handful of good times, but we’ve also shared considerably more arguments, harsh words, and differences in the 10 years we’ve known each other. More than I can count, really. Truth be told, he and I are about as glaringly different as two human beings could be. Him, being a right-wing conservative, suit-and-tie-and-expensive-watch-wearing, male-grooming-products-using, meat-and-potatoes sports fanatic who sees disaster and poverty in the world as indication that “we’re winning”, and me, the probably-too-outspoken, real foodist, pot-smoking, secondary-education-snubbing pseudo-hippie who believes money is the devil and that the world would be a better place if we abandoned the society we’ve built and lived in straw huts with chickens and pigs as pets. Yeah. As you can probably guess, we haven’t seen eye-to-eye on many things. Ever. In fact, the only opinions we’ve ever shared are those on religion, and a love of salmon.

Over the years, our relationship has gone from light-hearted debate, to full-on heated arguments complete with threats and insults, to our current state of arctic deep freeze. It seems we’ve both reached a place where we have no urge to argue with one another… but it’s not as if a fresh, new “clean slate” kind of attitude has come in to replace the old. We just ignore each other for the most part, exchanging occasional nods and barely-audible “hey”s and “sup”s in passing. Add to this the fact that his girlfriend for the past 3 years, who shares all his viewpoints, and who I made the mistake of horribly offending by sharing an innocent link about the dangers of the Atkins diet (a diet her mother is/was on. Big mistake.), seems to absolutely despise me and rarely acknowledges my presence, and the lines of communication and therefore any opportunity to repair things are basically welded shut. To be fair, the girlfriend’s not a very outgoing, talkative person in general (sober, at least), that I’ve noticed, so it’s possible I’m reading too far into her behaviour… but honestly, I doubt it. I’ve certainly shown some not-so-friendly sides of myself in front of her that I greatly regret -- sides of myself that I don’t even like -- so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she just genuinely dislikes me. The worst part about this is that the brother (we’ll call him “R”)’s behaviour towards me is very much affected when she’s around (when she’s not, I seem to actually exist and we even occasionally share WORDS. Even SMILES. Crazy. When she is, though… ice age.), which is one of the reasons I’m convinced she’s really not my biggest fan.

All this being true, however, still did not prepare me for what occurred last night…

The guy deleted me from his facebook.

HOLY SMOKES. I couldn’t freaking believe it.

I know, I know, it’s “juuust facebook!”, but fuck that. Don’t give me that bullshit. We allllll know what message he’s trying to send: “GTFOO my life! I don’t want to see you, I don’t care about you. I don’t want to look at your pictures or read your statuses or know anything about you.” …And I’m readin’ ya loud and clear, bud.

    Part of me really wants to believe that my exile from his “friends” is due to my constant posting of videos, links, notes and statuses of a subject and nature that he undoubtedly finds ridiculous. Take this post, which was made yesterday, THE DAY he deleted me (or at least the day I noticed), titled: Scientific Proof that Galactic Energies have Triggered Worldwide Consciousness Expansion. 

    Just picturing his reaction to the title of this article/video (he’d never read/watch it) makes me giggle :P But that’s all it is to me: Funny. I find our differences amusing, even fascinating, albeit frustrating at times. I disagree with almost every piece of his core belief system, yet I can’t bring myself to entirely dislike him. I wouldn't tolerate anyone like him under normal circumstances, but, call me crazy, I assumed we were operating under a mutual understanding that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we’d likely be somewhere in each other’s lives for a long time to come. It’s not as if I pictured the four of us going on couples’ cruises together or anything, but I’d hoped we could at least be civil, for Dan’s sake, and the sake of the rest of the family and our future children.

…And that’s precisely the stance I plan to maintain. I don’t have any foolish hopes for our future relationship. I understand that we will never be friends, and that’s fine. They’re not our type of people, nor are we theirs. I also understand that I’ve more than done my part in tearing down any relationship that may have existed up until this point. I do. I will not, however, continue to contribute to a spiteful, distant and cold future. I won’t do that to Dan, or to his parents, or to our kids, or to myself. I’m going to try to make things right, and salvage whatever level of civility is possible here, even if I have to drag them both (or all three) kicking and screaming. Basically, my plan is this:

1. Keep my opinions to myself. Do not rock the boat or say anything that may cause them to dislike me any more.

2. Maintain a state of unshakeable zen-ness in their presence. If something is said under the breath, or rude or challenging comments are made, I will not respond in kind.

3. Continue to be friendly and make an effort to engage each of them in conversation. Joke. Compliment. Be a pleasure.

4. Also practice this with Dan’s parents, because even though they will likely not delete me from their facebooks, the potential for relationship sabotage is still very real if I can’t muzzle myself from time to time, and because of their non-confrontational nature, they may never make their true feelings known, which is even scarier to me. And obviously the relationship with Dan’s parents is more important than his brother.  

Anyways, I just realized the staggering magnitude of this post, so I’m deeefinitely gonna wrap this up now. Haha. I don’t really expect anyone to read this. I just decided to use the blog as a journal of sorts to get all my thoughts and plans out in a tangible, re-readable way. Thank you, internets! J Let operation zen… begin!

Minimalism; 50 things.

     I was doing some reading here when I came across an idea that I'd heard of before, and have been recently feeling inspired to put into practice. Minimalism and simplicity have always held a very inviting quality for me. As the names would suggest, the ideas behind these two concepts are quite simple, indeed: simplify your life, minimize your possessions and the general "clutter" in your life. One of the biggest draws for me, undoubtedly, is the freedom that comes with breaking free from both the temptation to consume (the need to have more), and the feelings of monotony and lack of personal impact, contribution and control that occur when you consume mass-produced junk, made who-knows-where out of who-knows-what, and sold by corporations. Personally, I like to know where my clothing and other belongings come from. I like to know that the person who made these things was treated kindly and paid fairly, that it doesn't contain toxic and/or unsustainable materials, and that it is of good quality and worth what I'm paying for it.

     But I digress... the things I've just discussed are not necessarily definitive of minimalism. One could spend hours (possibly weeks or years!) debating and discussing the intricacies of a minimalist mindset and what true simplicity entails. However, feelings of frustration surrounding consumerism and our society's preoccupation with "things", with little to no regard for where their things came from or how they're produced, are very often instrumental emotions in triggering a shift towards a simpler and less consumption-driven life. This is mostly where my motivation lies, though the thought of having a tidier and less-cluttered living space is also temping! :P My goal is mainly to basically eliminate unnecessary purchases, especially from "big box" corporations and anywhere that does not have actively and openly ethical production standards, and to generally have less stuff! I hope to center most if not all of my future purchases around thrift, cosignment and antique stores, along with locally made items in order to support my community, while also donating anything I don't need. Which leads me to the reason for this post (finally!). The post on mnmlist that once again sparked my interest in simplification, is this one: The 50 Things Challenge.

     The challenge I plan to undertake is a little less hardcore than the author of this blog's. His (or her) goal is to pare down all of their belongings until they only own 50 things!!! This is a very impressive feat for anyone, even a seasoned minimalist, I would think. Therefore, I will be taking a modified route, and simply giving away 50 things. Maybe one day I'll be able to whittle my staggering collection of nick-nacks and unessentials  down to 50 absolute necessity items, but to be honest, probably not. That's not really my style. I do like to have SOME things that are just quirky or neat that don't serve a specific purpose, but I definitely feel an intense pull to simplify. So I will be using a couple of days this week to meticulously select 50 (or more!) of my possessions, be they articles of clothings, books I won't likely read, etc.

     I'll share the results, and possibly some pics from my next trip to Value Village where I'll be unloading my 50 burdensome items and very possibly picking up at least 10 replacement items... *sigh* the road to simplicity is difficult and paved with impulse [thrift store!] buys...

Peace! :)

Crampage Control: The trouble with Midol.

I honestly think that Midol, along with all other forms of menstrual cramp pain medication (Aleve, etc) might be some of the dumbest inventions ever to grace drug store shelves.


I understand that many girls and women out there suffer from agonizing, debilitating cramps and that they simply cannot function in their day-to-day lives without some form of relief. I feel for you ladies, I really do.


However, for the majority of women out there, let's face it, cramps are really not that bad. And while popping a couple Midol may seem like an easy solution to the nagging pain of menstrual cramps, they are really more of a hindrance than a help in the long run.


It's quite simple.


What these drugs do is numb the muscles that contract and push the (guys, feel free to stop reading now. you were warned.) blood, uterine lining, etc, out of your body, which gets rid of the pain.

This presents a few problems: 

1) It makes your period last longer. The reason being that instead of contracting normally and pushing everything out in an efficient manner, the muscles, being numbed, fail to contract and all the blood and stuff just basically sloshes out of you (delightful) over time. It eventually does, since humans are typically upright most of the time, but it takes way longer than letting your body push everything out normally. 

2) If you continuously take these drugs every time you feel cramps (as I know many women and girls do), you never get used to them. So if you get into the habit of taking it, unless you one day decide to kick the habit (do it!), you will suffer the same painful cramps for many years to come. I have never taken Midol, save one or two times in my early teens, and honestly, when I do get cramps, they're just background noise. I can easily think/breathe my way through them while going about my daily tasks. And I do so willingly and with pleasure, as I have reason #3 to use as motivation to learn how to deal with cramps naturally... 

3) Menstrual cramps are your body's preparation for LABOUR! They are UTERINE CONTRACTIONS. The exact same muscles are being used during menstruation as during labour (just much less intense, obviously, since they're just pushing out a bloody sack and not a baby). Cramps are extremely useful. We're lucky to have them, really (don't laugh! lol). So basically, if you want any chance of having a natural labour in the future (or if you plan to birth in hospital where they'll just be DYING to break your waters and/or give you pitocin, both of which make labour pains more intense) it's really a great idea to kick the habit of taking pain killers for cramps years in advance. That way, you'll be giving yourself some time to understand and experience what uterine contractions feel like and develop your own methods for easing the pain so that you're not completely blindsided by labour and begging for an epidural. 

So there you have it. CRAMPS ARE YOUR FRIEND! They have a purpose. And honestly, for most women, they're not even that bad. So man up.

And for you ladies for whom mind-over-matter is not necessarily always a viable option, here are 3 more natural tips and tricks for relief of menstrual pain: 
1) RASPBERRY TEA. It increases blood flow to the area, and actually TONES your ladypart muscles so that not only are your cramps not as painful, labour will be quicker and less painful as well (double score!). Plus, it has been used for centuries by women all over the world :) 
2) The classic HOT WATER BOTTLE. Can be used either while relaxing at home or even at the office. 
3) Gentle YOGA. You can find lots of poses out there that are great for relieving menstrual discomfort, both in the form of written instruction accompanied by diagrams, and/or videos on YouTube (my personal preference) :)

And on that note, HAPPY BLOODY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE! hahaha <3 

Spring Greening 2011

Wow. That was lame. Never been much for titles :P heh.

Anyway.

I'm finally taking the leap. Or, I should say, I'm finally planning to, if everything goes exactly as planned and I don't flake out at the last minute as usual, take the leap. 

I will be experiencing April 2011 on a completely RAW, VEGAN diet. 

What this means is, I will be consuming only ingredients which have not been heated over 115 (118 depending what crew you roll with) degrees farenheit, and no animal products. I have chosen to fore go the animal products, not because I'm completely opposed to their consumption (I eat eggs quite regularly), but because I am only doing this diet/cleanse/whateveryouwannacallit for a month, so I'm aiming for MAXIMUM results. I wanna FEEEEEEL the raw power!!! I want to go the puritan route. This time. Who knows what route I'll take next time or the time after that, but this time, it's raw vegan all the way baby :) I've been interested in this lifestyle for quite some time, collecting books and knowledge on the topic for around a year now, and I finally have the motivation and the extra cash (sort of) needed to take the plunge! 

Originally I planned to do this in January, but then December 1st (tomorrow) rolled around (yes, I am speaking to you from the future yet also the past somehow) and I started thinking, “shit.” You see, right now, at this very moment, I am in the process of buying my first CAR. Thank you, thank you. Yes indeed. I am buying a 2000 Honda Accord, which involves repairs, transfers of ownership, registration, license plates, insurance… and probably more crap that I can’t even think of at the moment. It’s not so much the stress of it all that makes me want to postpone this challenge, but the FINANCIAL factor. Now, I know the raw diet has the potential to actually be CHEAPER than a cooked diet. I know this. But since this will be my first attempt at “raw”, I’m thinking there’s a good chance I’ll end up spending a whole lot more money than I need to (I tend to go a lit-tle overboard at the grocery store), and with all this car business I just can’t afford to be overspending on anything.

So, with any luck, by April, I will be financially comfortable (HA!), or at least enough so that I can confidently embark on this very exciting journey.

I think I basically know what to expect. There is no shortage of information and testimonials out there supporting this diet and touting its amazing range of health benefits. If all goes well (or as well as it has for some), I could be a whole new me by May! Wouldn’t that be something? I was considering going gluten-free as well, which would turn this into a full-blown cleanse, but I actually find myself pretty stoked to experiment with raw, soaked and sprouted grains, so I’m gonna roll with that J

So that’s it on the subject for now. I’ve been buzzing about this for a little while but hadn’t been able to put my thoughts into blog-form for some reason. I will be updating now, though. I’ll post my plans for the month, diet plans, exercise plans, etc, and hopefully I’ll get my youtube channel up and running so I can post some recipes and document my progress that way as well. One thing that will hopefully make my videos and posts unique is that I do not have a high-speed blender such as a blendtec or vitamix, nor do I have a dehydrator. One of my goals is to make this lifestyle seem more realistic and approachable for the average person seeking above-average health on a budget. I hope you'll follow along! :) 

Until next time!

Loving waves and hairy buds,

Jess <3 

Kristen's Raw is giving away a free set of E-Books!

http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2010/09/kristens-raw-25th-awesome-giveaway-free.html

AND IMA WIN IT! B-)

Young Blood: My recent, confusing experience with varicose/spider veins.

I started working in an office recently. I worked in my Dad's office before this, but the work day there was always fragmented, peppered with dog-walking and food making and laundry doing... I rarely sat for more than an hour or two, at most. At this job, however, I am sitting for multiple hours a day, arising only to file things and take my lunch.

As a result, over the last month, I've been noticing a weird kind of pain in my calves and sometimes in my back lower thighs. As I'm pretty vigilant (aka a hypochondriac) about noticing any possible or arising health problems, within a few times of noticing this pain I checked out my legs, and lo and behold, exactly where I felt the pain, I noticed some veins. They were bulging but I could definitely see them through my skin and they looked pretty large. I've also noticed small clusters of what appear to be spider veins, also in exact proximity to where I feel the pain. They're not at all what I would classify as full on "varicose" or "spider" veins, but they're definitely visible in a way they were not before.

My first reaction was: "WHAT THE FUCK?!

Varicose veins? SERIOUSLY? I'm 22 years old, for Christ's sake! This cannot be happening!"

For those of you who do not know what varicose veins are, they occur when (from my very recent and limited understanding) the valves that pump the blood through your veins, stop working properly and causes blood to collect in the veins. The veins then expand and the blood in them begins flowing in reverse, causing them to protrude and be painful. Greeeaaaaat.

The most common causes of varicose and spider veins include:

• Going through a pregnancy
• Standing or sitting for long periods of time
• Being overweight
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Age - they appear more often as people grow older
• Sex - they are more common in women
• Heredity
• Diet rich in processed, salty, sugary and otherwise shit foods

And, more rarely, varicose veins can be symptoms of serious health problems, such as tumours in the pelvis.

So far as I know, the only things on that list that apply to me are the fact that I am female, and the fact that I have recently begun sitting for long periods of time. Actually, I should say, I have recently started sitting for long periods of time in one position :P I have always done a lot of sitting. A lot, of sitting. So I guess in a way the "sedentary lifestyle" one could apply to me, too. Some would undoubtedly argue that it does.

I also, up until recently when I realized this, sit with my legs crossed a lot, in various different positions, but crossed nonetheless. This, I have learned, is a very bad idea, so I stopped.

But anyway, like I said I'm 22 years old, so the age thing definitely doesn't apply (most women who develop this problem develop it after 35 years of age). I'm 5'10" and between 125 and 130 lbs, so it's pretty safe to say I'm not overweight. And while my diet isn't perfect and may never be (does that even exist? ask anyone and you'll get a different answer), I eat a pretty large amount of raw, unprocessed food and steer pretty clear of fast food and junk food, with the exception of subs, pitas and pizza, the latter of which I don't even eat often. I haven't had any kids, and to my knowledge neither my Mother nor my Grandmother suffer from it.

Soooo I'm in a pretty weird spot mentally right now. I'm in the process of finding a new doctor in my area (STILL, after over a year living here), and when I find one I'll definitely ask about it. But since I have a pretty good idea what they'll suggest (nothing/drugs/surgery), and I have no intention of going down any of those paths, I've decided to start naturally remedying (?) myself until I can get some professional insight on the matter.

Some natural remedies I've come across are:

-Collinsonia Root
-Horse Chestnut Extract
-Bilberry Extract
-Grapeseed Extract
-Gingko Biloba
-Pine Bark Extract
-Raw Garlic
-Butcher's Broom
-Apple Cider Vinegar
-Vitamin E
-Vitamin K (topically)
-Vitamin C with Bioflavanoids
-EXERCISE. Even if it means pumping and bopping your legs under your desk, it's better than nothing!

Foods that are good for preventing and maintaining are:
-Oranges
-Blueberries
-Cranberries
-Cherries
-Tangerines
-Plums
-Grapes
-Onions
-Garlic
-Rosemary
-Greens!
-Broccoli
-Cucumber
-And others that currently escape me.

Foods to avoid:
-Foods with added salt
-White flour products
-Limit starch intake

So I'm going to try a bunch of these things and see if I get any results. I've also taken to massaging my legs in an heartward motion and keeping them raised whenever I can. I'll keep you posted :) I sure hope I can improve or reverse this, because I love to be active and the prospect of living the rest of my life with pain in my legs is completely heartbreaking...

Hoping for the best :) If anyone has other suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Summer without ice cream.

I just did it. No joke. Well as of tomorrow I will have done it. And I must say I am rather proud of myself :)


It was one of my 5 new years resolutions this year, and since I broke the other four by February, as per usual, I decided that this resolve needed to stick. Reason number one being that I have never once in my life made good on a new years resolution. Not one. Reason number two being that I kind of really want to kick dairy anyway so I figured this would be a nice, gentle transition :) Never the less, come May 31st, I was terrified. Why? Because I *love* ice cream (obviously! hello!). I could eat a gallon right to my face. Or at least prior to June 1st I would have jumped at the chance :P Though I must admit my pension for dairy-based treats began waning long before then. Let's say a pint. Couple pints :P

I was sure I would fail, as was everyone I shared my plan with. Actually that's not fair. People were very supportive, albeit doubtful, in my resolve to abstain from my favourite frozen treat from June 1st to August 31st. No doubt, temptation would be EVERYWHERE, in the form of gas station freezers, ice cream trucks, the tiny, amazing ice cream shoppe which is a summer staple in my town, friends' houses, grocery stores and restaurants rife with giant posters of happy children licking away at sweet, creamy cones of delight.........*ahem*, etc, etc...

Yet I remained determined! And I'm so glad that I did :) With the exception of a secret "Dibs" bite from a friend's freezer while "slightly" intoxicated on my birthday (OOPS!) and a single serving of frozen yogurt, I stayed pure ALL SUMMER! YEAH! :D And honestly, it wasn't even hard. There were temptations, of course, as I mentioned, but it was something I really wanted to do.

So that's my "I'm proud of meeeeeee!!!" post for the summer :)

Winter is on the horizon now, as is a glowing, yellow (or marble, mmm) vision of my next masochistic bout of epicurian celibacy: CHEESE!!! hold me :(

Until then, enjoy this glorious christmas cheese cow. I won't be :(