Too Yin?

[steph]

Good morning,
Recently i have been excessively cold. I realize it is winter, but i have difficulty keeping my body temperature constant. The house is generally heated to 65-68 degrees F, although some spots are drafty. At any rate, i often resort to taking hot baths just to warm up. In addition, i have been needing to sleep more. i have felt the need to nap more frequently despite getting 8 hours of sleep a night.
I am a college student and suffer very poor nutrition while i am away at school. I find it difficult to acquire appropriate vegan food items, let alone anything macro! It is very lonely because i do not know anyone else in my area who is striving for a macrobiotic lifestyle. Nonetheless, when i am away at school, i am not capable of preparing my own food, thus i do not follow a well-rounded diet. As i am sure you can imagine, it is a source of endless frustration for me. I thought i would include this background in case it might be needed.
i have been on vacation now for two weeks which means i have the opportunity to cook my own foods. Lately i have been craving sweets and have given in to having jam on peanut butter! Currently, i have a stock of:
spring water
brown rice
pearled barley
lentils
soba
wakame
miso (aged 1-2 years)
turnip
red onion
carrots
broccoli
udon penne noodles
tamari/sea salt
oatmeal
Any suggestions for preparing food with these items that might help me shake this excessive cold i'm experiencing? I'm also curious if it is a discharge from my months of malnutrition at school? i have expereinced a pressure sort of headache behind my eyeballs as of late as well. I have a weakness for nightshades, though and am probably not as disciplined as i need to be. (i had pasta with tomato sauce the other evening which might explain the headache) Any thoughts? Sorry for the length of this post.
Thank you for your time
-steph

[Bruce Paine]

steph,

Now I realize that you are not Stephanie K. from Texas, so what region are you living and what season and current temperatures are outside?

Style of cooking can heat up your body but it must be done in a balanced way.

So, eating both savory (like miso) and sweet vegetable soups could be useful.

What do you have for macrobiotic books and cookbooks?

Nishime vegetables and kinpira are especially warming.

If you are living in a place where it gets below freezing in the wintertime, then you might consider wearing more layers of clothing such as longjohns, double-layered clothes, and either woolen, silk or down-filled coats.

I work outside in New England, so I wear cotton undear layered with long johns (when daytime temperatures approach freezing) under my flannel-lined jeans.

Don't spend more than ten minutes soaking or showering with hot water, and get involved in a regular excercise program such as Do-In, Tai Chi, or Yoga to increase your circulation.

I work standing for hours at a time moving my arms up and down and back and forth, plus I ride a bicycle often between my many clients so I keep my circulation .

If you consume too much salt, then you get too yang and have to binge to maintain your balance.

Sea Salt, Shoyu or Tamari are seasonings to be used in cooking, while Sea Salt wen toasted and ground with seeds can be used as a condiment to be added to foods at the table.

If you are using too much salty seasonings and miso in cooking (and too large of pieces of sea vegetables, then you could find yourself attracted to sweets.

At least use unsweetened jams anmd jellies and also try unsweetened applesauce.

If they don't serve good or any kind of vegetarian entrees at your school, then you are either going to have to forgo macrobiotics or become very creative.

Imagine if you were locked up in prison and only having access to that which the guardv allow you.

You have more freedom than that, so instead, consider that you are a traveller who is visiting one location for a long time and do what it takes to get what you need while you are there.

When I was hitchhiking and staying places for a week or more, I carried a portable kitchen in my backpack and made myself simple two or three course meals on my outdoor camping stove and stainless steel cookware.

Walk around the community on or off the campus and find an isolated spot off the beaten path where you can set up your kitchen, or see if you can find a person who is living off campus that would love to let you use their kitchen if you would cook for them and you too.

During the cold season, youth hostels will let you stay longer than the 3 day maximum and you could maybe make arrangements with them to use their kitchen.

Buy an old broken down van and park it somewhere safe and go there and do your cooking.

Take a semester off and get a job and a place where you can cook and then go back to school but live off campus.

Organize a cook-in at the dean's office and refuse to leave until macro-veggie menus are included at the school.

The point is that if you are flexible you can create solutions to your problems and then have a healthier and happier existence.

Set up a portable kitchen in your dorm's bathroom and cook there when everyone is at dinner or asleep.


Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[steph]

Bruce,
I cannot wait to order Kristina Turners book. Thank you for all your insight and suggestions. To answers a few of your questions:
-No, i am not Stephanie K as you noted.
-I live in the US, Chicagoland region. Winter time temps recently have been fluctuating in the mid 30s.
I generally wear warmer clothing and socks and whatnot to help retain heat, but i know you are right about the exercise. That should definitely help. I will also look into those warming vegetables you recommended.
I definitely must think over my college eating habits and find some sort of solid ground. It seems my best bet is to get to know individuals who live off campus and hijack their kitchen, eh? Perhaps next year i will simply live off campus myself, problem ultimately solved. Only time will tell. Thanks again
Steph