Macros living in Sydney

[Ciara]

Hi there,
I'm pretty new to macrobiotics and am wondering if there are many other people who live macrobiotically in Sydney, Australia. I'd be interested in a forming a bit of a macro-group for support and swapping recipes and stuff. Or else it would just benice to know I'm not the only one!!

[Miacorr]

Hi,
I have been looking for somebody around my area, wich is Melbourne to start having macro chats with or meeting up exchanging experience and questions.
I have been macro for about a year and feel the need to speak to other people in the same situation.
I don't live in Sydney though.
Do you have any Macro resturants there?
Would be nice to hear from you, Mia

[Ciara]

I thought I'd never get a response to that post! Really glad you did respond as I thought I must be the only aussie macro and destined to live a lonely solo-macro existence! It would be really cool to be in touch with you. Any kind of support and affirmation is such a help. I imagine Melboure is quite good for macro restaurants? Or maybe not? I've been to the Veggie Bar there and have heard of Vegie Orgasm. Up here we have this great chain of places called Iku. They aren't strict macro, more wholefoods, but the woman who started them, Holly Davis, came from a background of macrobiotics, so they are pretty good. There is also a place in Bondi called the Bamboo cafe. I haven't been there yet but it is apparently awesome.

I've only been macro for about three months and I'm still pretty liberal with my diet at this point as I'm still learning. Do you live/cook by yourself or do you have a cooking buddy? Tell me some more stuff.

Thanks for replying!

Peace, Ciara

[Miacorr]

Hi Chiara,I am Mia, It was really nice to get a response from you. Even though you live in Sydeny it is certainly a lot closer than somebody in US or in Europe.

How come you got involved with Macrobiotic Food?
I have realized that quite a few people that have an interest in MB are people that have been sick (Cancer) or knows somebody close that has got it.
My partner and I changed our way of eating about 3 years ago, when he got a bit sick. We didn't know much about MB, until a Japanes friend gave us an old copy of "The Macrobiotic Way' by M.Kushi. I started reading it and found it so true and made sense. So we slowly started to change a few things here and there and now I guess I/we try to stay as much as we can on MB food. It really makes a difference.
It can be a bit of a challenge sometimes, I have got 2 kids 11 and 9 and they certainly don't prefer azuki beans stew to Spag Bog, but I guess there are always ways around everything.
Who do you cook together with or for?
What do you do for work?
Lots of questions, looking forward to speak to you soon,
Take Care, Mia

[Ilanit]

hi guys!Nice to see you here Mia!
I am in melbourne!
I always thought Sydney was the place to be in Oz for mb with macrowholefoods in bondi. But that is now going aust wide soon with a 70 seat cafe in richmond.
there are lots of macro people in sydney.
My friend organized a few retreats with a japanese teacher - chuya and there were a few sydney people and they also had mb retreats in NSW.
maybe check a noticeboard at MAcro wholefoods for events.
there is also a centre - a dojo with a teacher - Ken advertised in macrobiotics today.
my friend Sahaja in perth is doign great classes.
I organize events once in a while too....

ilanit

[Ciara]

Hi Ilanit, Hi Mia,

Thanks to you both for your responses.

Good to know there really are aussie macros! I forgot about macro wholefoods, that is a great place. It is a bit far for me to travel as I don't have car, but i go when I can.

In response to your question Mia, I started being macro just because I liked the sound of it. I have been vegetarian for 7 years and vegan in an on again, off again sort of way for the last 2 years. I started reading 'The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics' by Jessica Porter, and I was instantly attracted to the concepts, the diet, everything about it. I live with three others, all boys who don't really care about what they eat much. So I cook pretty much always by myself and for myself. I try to feed people whenever I can though - I'm a bit of a Mum like that!

I'd be really interested to go on a macro retreat or go to classes, I'll have to look at the noticeboards as you say Ilanit. I looked up 'macrobiotics today' on the net and couldn't find a site.

I am thinking about moving to Melbourne next year so I'm glad to hear that macro wholefoods is expanding to down there!

Ciara

[Emily P]

Hello from another Sydneysider! This is my first post so I may as well introduce myself.

I, too, am a refugee from bad health, which can all be traced back to a very nasty case of glandular fever at the beginning of 1997. My GP at the time diagnosed a throat infection and gave me antibiotics, which made the problem even worse. Ever since then, I've had a screwed up immune system which has led to ongoing chronic health problems, including very regular recurrent respiratory illness, and a wicked 3-year case of cystitis where there was no actual infection present, meaning it was all but untreatable. (Surgery in late '99 found my bladder wall was badly scarred - no apparent cause! - but cauterising the scarring seemed to fix the problem.) I was also chronically depressed for some time, due in no small part to my health situation.

I also stacked on about 15-20kg because I had zero energy. I thought this overweight might be making the problem worse, so I made major sacrifices in the rest of my life so I could exercise and managed to lose the weight (and more!) a couple of years ago. Despite getting to a healthy weight, eating "well" and exercising, though, I was constantly exhausted (literally sleeping and working was all I did) and I still kept getting sick. Last year I developed flu 6 times and was off work for a week or more each time.

This year, when I was verging on quitting my job (which I love) because I couldn't keep taking so much sick leave, I decided I'd had enough and went to a naturopath who happened to specialise in traditional Chinese medicine and is very interested in macrobiotics. First she gave me some TCM remedies and got me to have brown rice and veges for brekkie and, when I reported back on how much better I felt, she introduced me to macrobiotic eating.

The combination of the remedies and the macro way has literally turned my life around. I now have a million times more energy and have had only 1 sick day since March. Usually by now I would have been off work for an accumulated 3 weeks or more.

I'm still getting into the macro way and practise a very relaxed version of it (it's proving extremely difficult to wean my husband off animal products, but at least I can insist on organic only) but I'm already feeling the benefits - particularly from cutting out white sugar and flour.

My emotional state has also benefited greatly. Without wanting to sound all Tom Cruise-y, I strongly believe there are links between nutrition and mental health. My new, more balanced way of living has left me more balanced mentally, and I feel like I can take on much more.

I've always been interested in nutrition and eating in tune with our world (in an immediate AND a global sense), and the macro way just makes sense to me!

On a practical bent, I'm an enormous fan of Macro Wholefoods at Crows Nest and regularly pick up food from Iku when I haven't had time to cook.

I'd be keen to hear of other Sydneysiders' experiences and "compare notes" from time to time. It's nice to be somewhere where people don't say "macrobi-what?"

[Miacorr]

Hi Ciara,

I am not very familiar with this site and not sure if I have responded correctly.
Anyway, So you might be moving to Melbourne! Is that with work?

I would love to have a circle of people to meet up with and cook together and compare notes with. Like yourself, I would love to do classes and even go to festivals, camps, seminars all that...
When I log on to the American sites it all seems to be happening over there. But I might be wrong!!
Iilanit that replyed to us is right into it and has done a MB consulting course with David Briscoe online form US. She is very experienced, and if you go to her website you can order pressure cookers, pickle makers plus lots lots more. She also organizes some seminars every so often, last one (wich I couldn't make) was in Feb I think. I have never met her, but mailing her sometimes, she seems amazing!!!!!
I also did a sour bread course with a lovely MB women "Sahaja" in Freemantle, Perth. I was over there with work and had some extra time to kill and she had time for an afternoon with me. Now I make lovely sour dough bread as much as I can. It was just amazing though speaking to somebody so experienced as she is, 20 or so years into it.

What sort of favorite meals do you make?
Do you eat much miso?
Love to speak to you soon ,Mia

[Miacorr]

Hi Emily,

It was good to read you story.
You have done so well getting through your sickness and have turned it all around to a something positive.
I know what you are saying about eating good MB food to just normal white flour, sugar diet. The feeling after a balanced meal is so satisfying and does effect me menatlly as well. I feel also a lot more together and "happy" when eating properly.
I have been changing the way I eat more so in the last year, but have slowly intoduced Macro Food inthe last 3 years, ever since my partner got sick.
I tell you what is quite hard, cooking for 2 kids as well as the sort of food I want to be eating.
They are great, love brown rice and wholemeal pasta, but wouldn't touch adzuki beans, miso soups, temphe or any sort of seaweed. So, it gets to a point where I either have to cook 2 similar meals or I have to compromise and have some ingridients that I don't really want to eat.
Kids are just so use to eating fast food today, it is just crazy what sort of food other parents put in their kid's lunch boxes. My kids get influenced by that as well. I don't think my 11 year old daughter wants me to make her friends at her birthdays party a sourkraut/buckweat dish with umeb.dressing..
I would kill for it!!!
Anyway, I see it as a challenge and they do eat alot of good food. I am very lucky!
I guess this is one of the reasons why I would love to get together with a group of MB enthusiasts.....sss and bounce of eath others experiences.

Regards Mia

[Emily P]

Your kids sound like my husband! He's pretty adventurous but I do have to "dress things up" for him, otherwise he gets bored and gets takeaway instead. I was brought up eating a lot of wholefoods without realising it (that's what comes of having a penny-pinching mum!) and we never had chips, store-bought biscuits or softdrinks at home, but his family has always been big on purchased nibblies, always had jars of chocolates in the pantry, etc, so he's used to super-yin or super-yang convenience foods.

One of his favourite meals I make is a meatloaf, where I take some kind of organic mince (always FAR smaller quantities than he thinks is in it) and mix it with organic falafel mix, beans or tempeh whipped up in the food processor, a bit of seaweed and various grated vegetables. It isn't super-macro, I know, but it is all natural, all fresh and organic - and he adores it. I'm hoping our future kids will be as easily fooled... or, shock horror, actually enjoy wholefoods.

[Miacorr]

HI,
That meatloaf of yours is a good trick. I certainly have got a few of those tricks up my sleave as well, Brown lentils and mashed up adzuki beans goes well with mince..... Otherwise my partner and I enjoy lovely miso soups for lunches with home made sour dough bread, wich is my pride and joy at the moment. There are some lovely spreads as well to put on.
Have you got a good health food shop in your area?
I live outside of Melbourne 1 1/2hr, but can get most of my stuff from a good spot in Geelong, but there is a bit of running going on trying to find seaweed and umeboshi plums.
Torquay is a good spot to be in though. Some lovley beach walks and fresh air.

[Ciara]

Hi guys,

So great to hear your stories and situations. I guess in a way I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about convincing any one else to eat macro as I don't have a partner or kids, but it would be nice to have someone to share the learning curve with!! I admire you both for managing to be macro and also managing a family, it must be some juggling act!

Mia your sourdough sounds fantastic, I am so jealous, would love to learn how to make it! If I move down to Melbourne next year I will come and have a cooking session with you, that would be so fun. I am thinking about moving down there to study my Diploma of Education at LaTrobe. I currently work for a big corporate events company in Sydney and it is pretty souless, which gets me down a bit. I think I'd get a lot out of teaching.

Mia you asked if i eat much miso, and I do actually. I make a really big pot of it once a week and heat it up on the stove in small portions every morning for brekky. I'm using brown rice miso at the moment, with lots of mushed up cauliflower, carrot and daikon, and wakame of course. And shitake mushrooms. I also usually have a small portion of steamed broccoli or zuchini or something else green. It is a great start to the day. What do you guys do for brekky? Are you natural early risers or sleepy heads?

If anyone wants to email me direct, send it to kittin@cheerful.com, would love to keep in contact.

Ciara

Hi there,

I am from Sydney too (north-west). I have always been interested in the concept of macrobiotic eating, only starting to investigate it in more detail to try it out.

I want to do it more for glowing skin, increased energy and just the overall feeling of great

I just need to know the basics to get me started, only found this website now, so I am researching it to find out more, can anyone else point me in a direction to find out the basics of the macrobiotic diet. I also want to purchase the Hip chicks guide (porter) in the next few weeks. But I need to know the basics to get me started.

Cheers
Michelle

[Cool Dude]

G'day mates!

About Sahaja Coventry in Perth..."Sahaja has been teaching whole foods/macrobiotic cooking for 9 years. She currently runs the Great Life Cooking School and Macrobiotic Center in Perth, West Australia and offers a variety of courses. In April 2005, she began an intensive 12-week course for people who want to make a total transition to the macrobiotic way of life – from SAD (Standard Australian Diet) to GLAD (Great Life Australian Diet). In addition
she runs 6-week courses in basic macrobiotic cooking including whole grains, beans, seaweeds, vegetables, sourdough bread, and naturally sweetened desserts. She also runs an advanced gourmet macrobiotic 6-week course as well as 4-week seasonal cooking courses. Sahaja is also available for macrobiotic consultations and can be reached at Sahaja@iinet.net.au or 08 9414 9992"

You can read her story Living a Great Life in the May/June Macrobiotics Today http://www.simply-natural.biz/MBT-Mag-May-June2005.php


Ya know, someone from this forum created a group Howdy, Sheila! G'day, Bruce! http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...eilagdaybruce/ for macrobiotic Aussies and Yanks to meet and socialize, online.

Give it a fair go.


Hooroo!

and

Be Well

Cool Dude