[Bruce Paine]

zstein,

Addressing Roy (Collins), here, may produce no response, as he left some time ago with the stated intent not to return.

If you really want to get his response to your inqiry, I suggest you send him an e-mail which you can do by clicking on a person's name where underlined on the browser.


About smoking, while I am sure that there might still be a few smoking teachers and smoking students of macrobiotics, my guesss is that their numbers are diminishing either by waking up to the need to change or by their demise.

I, for one, quit cold turkey in 1987 and gained around 100 pounds over a 10 year period, almost half of which I have lost since, I've focused my attention on eating more strictly macrobiotically.

I feel and believe that a gradual quitting, though difficult to do, would have been followed by less of a radical weight gain.

I did not come into macrobiotics by switching from the standard American fare but through years of experimenting with different foods and a gradual change of my diet, so why should I have quit "cold turkey"?

I'll tell you why I quit "cold turkey".

I was living in a group situation where 50 or more men were sleepng in one very large room, and many of them were smoking throughout the night on the periphery, and one could see the layers of second hand smoke floating above one's head and it was hard to breathe and therefore sleep and it made me so angry that I could not stop them from exposing me to so much smoke that I determined to stop smoking (since then, a friend of mine went to court and forced that organization to abolish smoking inside that building).

Yes, it is true that eating some kinds of strict macrobiotic diets can be so cleansing that for individuals not needing to heal themselves may be able to do things to themselves not recommended by macrobiotics like smoking, or endulge in extreme foods like meat and sugar, with possibly little immediate ill effect, but it is really not recommended for the rest of us who are just trying to heal ourselves and live a good healthy life.

Good for you, that you are in such good shape that you can run several miles.

I imagine that most longtime macros get their exercise from cooking, organizing and cleaning their living situation.

Maybe some are into additional exercise like yoga or martial arts.


I work outside (and also inside) most non-precipitous weekdays, and recently have carried many large containers of heavy things moving from one location to the next and also helping a friend move tons of stuff.

I don't feel like smoking, nor do I miss it.

My guess is that most macros don't smoke and it is not that big an issue among the movement.

If Michio and otrhers continue to smoke, that is their life, and we can just tell them to take it outside when they visit our places.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine