[Klara]

Breath Kitty, breath!!!!!

now that you've calmed down a eensy bit, I've said this a zillion times, you've got a whole life time to get this - it's called a macrobiotic PRACTICE!!!!

meaning you just keep on practicing - no one really ever gets it perfectly!!!

The biggest difficulty with mb is that you DON'T just get it from the reading - it really does start to change you as you eat differently. so relax, chew as much as you can when you eat - don't do anything else like read, just focus all your attention on what you're eating, how you're eating.

The basics are to have a balanced meal of at least a grain (preferably whole, it will advance you further, but if difficult, go ahead and have not whole once in a while (pasta, cracked grains, polenta, etc), half your plate vegetables (at the beginning maybe have them simple, as you get more into it, have more vairety, a long cooked, a short cooked, different textures, different colors - but that's later, now just concentrate that there are plenty of appealing cooked vegetables) - and then there are other items needed for different things, they constitute a smaller amount, so if you don't have them at EVERY meal it won't be tragic - but as you get better, you'll want them more often: beans, pickles, desserts, teas, etc

As you get into it, there'll be more and more you can understand and accept - as I mentioned, I got shocked with each cooking class of all what she told me mb don't usually accept - but you can take that slowly, so as not to get overwhelmed and not to give up.

The whole business of balancing according to yin and yang you can surely put off for a while until you get down cooking, chewing, shopping - you got plenty of new things on your plate for now!!!!!

What appeals about Jessica's book is that both newbies and seasoned mb can gain from it - so honestly, don't worry if you don't get it all in one sitting!!!! and it's definitely a book you can reread and gain even more from.

As you add more mb foods and let go of old SAD foods, it will become more enjoyable and hopefully not as overwhelming - but do remember the spiral, it's not going to be without some pitfalls (unless you're one amazing person!!!) but personally I don't know anybody who's done it without falling back every now and then - it's all part of the process (you'll see how Jessica even admits to it).

One other bit of advice - as you go out and search more info, realize that all that is written is written by human beings with their own condition - so at first some of the stuff may seem contradictory and again confusing - that's where you need to go back to just eating simply as well as you can, and with further experience, you might be able to then realize that people are giving advice from their own experience, and it might not always be the right one for you.

sure hope I haven't discouraged you. for me it's the best way of eating that I can possibly imagine!!!!

Enjoy

Klara