Sunday, September 12, 2010

Week 1

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I am currently on a 21 day detox by Dr. Joshi, health guru to celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow.

The gist of it is that our current food system, our demand and our attitude of putting food on a pedestal has taken it's toll on our health. We want the food that we enjoy to be available all the time even if it means that it has to be harvested while still unripe and flown 10000km to reach our supermarkets. Or our consumption and demand for sugar which has gone up has pushed industries to create artificial and cheaper forms of sugar ie. high fructose corn syrup. I understand that the usage is banned in commercial products in Australia but very commonly used in confectionary production in the US. Our bodies were never meant to process all these 'chemicals'.

So, the plan is-
  • No wheat or gluten products
  • No red meat
  • No fruits except organic bananas. Reason being sugars even natural sugars do not allow our body to break down our fat stores as the body will prefer sugar as a source of energy
  • No junk food, chocolate, char siu pau etc
  • No vinegar, ketchup and sauces
  • No yeast products
  • No coffee or black tea
  • Eat lots of fresh produce

It may sound like a no brainer but having a plan and alternatives helps.

I remember during the end of the 1st week of the detox last year, I was feeling fantastic. This time, not as much. I'm a bit disappointed but there may be a few things that could be the reason. I need to wake up at 4am for work. I had a few naughty moments. A few of them justifiable.

Highlights
Learning how to use fennel, parsnip and kale.
Decrease in sugar cravings.
Making my own vegetable stock for the first time.
Rediscovering my love for cooking. I lost interest in cooking for most of winter. I got so desperate that I resorted to an Indian catering service for meals. I had Indian food for a good 2 weeks!

Not so fun times
Preparing beetroot. Geez, it should come with a warning sign. Amateurs/ clumsy folks stay away! I used a hand held mixer to pulverize the boiled beetroot into soup and I ended up with a crime scene.
I’m wishing so badly for a plate of combination broken rice.

Onto week 2....

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Spring!

Dear all,

Winter has officially left us but it almost seems like he (I'll use he as I dont agree with how all the natural disasters are given lady names) is being a big bully and is refusing to let the other kids like Spring have fair play time in the playground.

So, what have I been doing over this winter?



The only thing that makes up for the crazy amount of driving I do with work is the chance to explore suburbs I would otherwise not got to. This is from a shop in Dandenong, home to many Indians and Afghan. The first picture is from a lil restaurant that does lunch, buffet style for $9.50. When I first saw the sign, I was stoked. What a bargain! Then I realised that I only had 5 dishes to choose from. Yet, being the Asian I am, I had 3 servings.! Score!!!

Lovely bento set I had at Yamato, CBD

This is the epitome of great things in small packages. At first glance, you sort of go yea, cute but really, how awesome can it be until you take a bite into one of these babies. The luscious semi-sweet bun encapsulates a liquid gold made of savoury, rich salty egg yolk. At Crystal Jade, CBD

Now, this is amazing home cooked goodness. Cheers to the Seow household.

A Vietnamese entree dish. It comes with different hams, a fresh salad, rice paper rolls and my favourite of the lot, mung bean muffins at Richmond

Pan fried barramundi on a bed of couscous and grilled vegetables at Mocha Joes, Glen Waverly


Now, this sums up winter beautifully. Fresh almond croissant with a cuppa at Sugardough Patisserie, Brunswick. Im not sure why my almond croissant got stabbed. Im quite sure the French wont do that.Where is the élégance ?

Forgot I had a work site assessment the other day. I ran out of clean black socks so I thought I'd pay tribute to the King of Pop.

My palate has obviously enjoyed all the rich and yummy food but my digestive system hasnt. I'm having every foodies nightmare....a sensitivity towards wheat, lactose and other good stuff. So, I'm having a springcleaning of my digestive system so that I can eat all the good stuff when I head back home end of this year. Haha, a bit ironic I know, it's like let's clean the house so that we can mess it up real good later. So, I am currently on a 21 day detox by Dr. Joshi. I did this once last year and felt amazing. It is a detox system based on ayurvedic principles and plain getting back to simple, fresh food. I will be writing about my progress to keep me on track and hopefully inspire some people to have a go at it.

Much love,
Michelle, 11 degrees