What is your cheating food ; )~

[andybuildz]

Denise had answered a post I wrote a ways back about raw veggies and I answered her a few minutes ago and within my answer/post I said (see below) I thought the question, "what is your cheating food" would make a good topic for discussion. So here it is and her is my post form a ways back..
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Originally Posted by Denise said:

you may want to do a little research there on the cooked veggies. I may be going against the macro beliefs here, but as long as you chew very well, raw veggies are great for you and retain 100% of the nutrients your body needs where cooking, even a little kills the live enzymes your body needs to do it's work. I don't mean to be confusing but I think raw is great but you just can't do it all the time, it gets boring.

Andy said:Yeh, I agree and I eat a little raw and chew so much it may cause my divorce...lol. Spose' thats one way to loose some extra weight......kidding.
I also noticed recently that salmon is OK to eat once in a while which is pretty nice cause it can as you say get a bit boring. Its one thing if you have time to do a lot of cooking but after a hard days work (I'm a builder on LI in NY) I reallyyyyy don't feel like cooking much.
My default dinner usually is B.R with collards, carrots, daikon,beets, broc, and once in a while some white fish with tahini on top sprinkled w/ sesame seeds and a cup O' tea to drink. I do love it but it does get boring.

I think my biggest cheating food is bread w/ yeast in it.
Wonder what anyone elses cheating food is. Good topic of converstaion.

[lysia jones]

Mine is chocolate, isnt that bad! I am wondering if it is a nutrient I crave...what else is bitter and sweet in that uplifting way? bread is easy to eat too much of for me too....Lysia

[andybuildz]

<<<<<<>>>>>>>>
Me! LOL...anddddddddd I'm macrobiotic : )))

[Denise]

Hi Andy~ I have way too many cheating foods right now. I am also very new at this macrobiotics... so new that I maybe should not be using this website/forum because although I agree with the concepts, I also believe very firmly in a raw food diet. Our food supply is so toxic anymore, I try to stay away from anything I cannot pronounce!! But one of my top cheating foods is COOKIES!! BUT, I must say, I am going to purchase some rice syrup and start grinding my own wheat so I can make healthier cookies! I imagine there is always a replacement for something bad that will be even more satisfying if we experiment enough. It is hard though to make the time. See ya!

[andybuildz]

Hi Denise
Seems to me that an important step in anything is honesty to your self. Knowing what you're after and living accordingly. With that said I would think if you're mindful you will adjust your cooking as well as your lifestyle to attain the goals that you're after.
If macrobiotics makes you think.......then to me we've taken yet another step in achieving a macro life style. To me its about putting one step in front of the other with your eyes and heart wide open. One thing will lead to another.
I also believe....for me...that making things too complicated along the journey can only sour your experiances so to speak and thats not a positive thing in getting to where you need to go.
You seem open and aware so keep the dialogue flowing. Thanks
Be well
Namaste'
andy

[WonderlandAlli]

Crunchie bars... I'm in Canada. It's sponge toffee covered in Cadbury chocolate... nummy...

[furrbrain]

Pizza!!

[Bruce Paine]

Cheating food?

What, is your diet, a marriage, a game, a test, something that has rules that you're supposed to obey but for some reason you can't?

Let's say you are lactose intolerant, or are recovering from a very serious sickness, are you going to cheat?

I don't think so!

If you can eat something outside of your own self-imposed rules, without serious repercussions then the truth is that those foods are also part of your diet!!!

Maybe you follow a diet composed by someone else!

If so, why are you doing that?

If a counselor has given you a diet that you agree to follow to achieve a result that will benefit you, then cheating is just cheating yourself and making it harder for you to reach that desired result!

So I am imagining that all of you who are bragging about what cheating you are doing, are following your own devised diets, so instead of calling it cheating, if you are eating something that you had not included in your diet, you are just expanding your diet!

I love all the foods that most people in the greater society normally eats!

I also love watching people who are saying that they hate their previously beloved food because for some reason that is the only way that they can convince themselves to not eat it because it is no longer part of their current diet!

Just because I love all those foods that doesn't mean I'm going to eat all those foods.

I know my limitations and I generally try to stay within them though sometimes I expand into certain areas sometimes without negative consequences and sometimes with.

Know your limitations and if you are well and you wish to learn more about yourself, go ahead and experiment!

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Klara]

Hi Bruce and everyone,

How we see mb is often a factor of how long we've been on it. Bruce, you're one of the long timers, so for the others, you may expect one day you may also see things as Bruce does.

There were a couple chats hosted by Ginat Rice on these kinds of topics
CyberMacro's Macrobiotic Chats

One was called Difficulties you encounter along the macrobiotic path on Feb 26, and the other was on May 28, Why don't people do what they say they want to

It's kind of a chicken/egg controversy - I'm sure food has the effects of changing you, but how do you stick to eating the foods that you want to create those changes??? I believe humans are very much attached to their habits, and changing habits which are so ingrained is a slow and arduous path. But definitely doable!!!!!

Of course, if you have high motivations, a good support system, or it's your character to take on things full swing ahead, then it may be easier. But if you're not fortunate in those ways, you only need patience and perseverance - and then you can always call out for help here on the forum!!!!! (btw, I feel badly as sometimes people do post and there aren't replies - just know by writing out your situation, sometimes an answer can come to you from within - and other times, some posts are answered much later, hopefully still being useful to the first poster. Also as some people have already found out, certain topics have been covered either by articles or other posts or by chats as well as on other macrobiotic sites and discussion groups - so take some time and read as much as you can)

I love the mb food and generally speaking I am NOT attracted as strongly to SAD food as I have been in the past - but my own personal challenge is I cannot abide waste and have a very hard time throwing out food, even though it's not food I wish to eat. I do have two wonderful Dalmations who are more than happy to eat anything (please no comments here from dog lovers how I shouldn't be feeding them this or that - I'm not asking!!!!!!!!!) - but just so you should know, I've been "practicing" mb for almost 13 years, but the other day we cooked up a huge pot roast that the kids didn't want - so guess who finally had some. So far I'm not feeling any affects and I certainly wouldn't have gone out of the way to cook it for myself, but it was an expensive cut of meat and I just couldn't see giving it to the dogs - but that's the condition I was in that day. Maybe I too will change. Give me another 13 years.

Klara

[WonderlandAlli]

I have one of those eats-anything dogs too, if I didn't give it to her, she found it somewhere. :/ I've taken dead fish away from her before, but also have given her a silk tofu dessert I didn't like but she gobbled it up. (It was one of those mango tofu-2-go things). Dogs... They're scavengers, they're built to eat whatever they find. Don't feel bad.

[Bruce Paine]

I agree, Allison, that dogs can be scavengers and eat almost anything (but so are many human beings, especially the really hungry ones )!

But at the same time, we try to feed them the best as we do for ourselves!

Doctor Norman Ralston, DVM, a macrobiotic veterinarian had some very interesting things to say about feeding pets, both dogs and cats!

An additional place that people can discuss their pets from a macrobiotic perspective is macroPETS, if you're interested.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine