I often tell my clients that sleep is the best drug ever invented. Bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day, for sure -- to think that as a child I rebelled against going to bed! No wonder they say youth is wasted on the young!
One of the reputed benefits of a high-raw diet is to need less sleep. Yet, in these first few days of heady exuberance, I have been sleeping more. The first morning or two I assumed it was just leftover from staying up to midnight on New Year's Eve -- I am definitely an early-to-bed kind of girl, and feel it when I break my schedule. But these mornings I haven't completed the cycle of early-to-rise; in addition to readjusting from my maenadic revelries and more enthusiastic exercising, I feel as if my body wants to sleep more as I start to create a more conducive climate to healing. After all, it requires more energy to start pushing out all the old toxic crap -- what a great excuse to linger in bed, yaaay!
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that last year when I got serious about upping raw foods and eliminating the worst of the cooked ones, Mother Nature helpfully decided to increase my cleansing efforts by upping my Moontimes (periods), grrrrrrr! Last year I wound up with four periods in less than three months, and to be honest I'd rather just keep the toxins, thank you.
As I was so blessed yesterday earlier than expected, I suppose I should prepare for a similar pattern again this year. Lucky clean me.
I had my first true disappointment in the food-prep department, too. I blended soaked buckwheat into a "dough" and dehydrated it with herbs, filling the house with a lovely imitation-aroma of baking bread. Reader, I was salivating! I had soaked sundried tomatoes, and whipped them up with spinach, spices, and a spoonful of vegan sour cream, and layered the buckwheat and tomato mixture a few times. Oh, it looked like a magazine photo! I also blanched a heap of savoy cabbage and tossed it with olive oil, dill, and ginger, and was sure I was in for a high time as I settled in with a video of Les Ballets Trokadero (an incredible all-male ballet troupe who dance as women; Holy Pavlova, Batman, they're more graceful than I am!!).
First bite, and ... YUK!! Oh no, how could this possibly have gone wrong? Oh, yeah ... salt. I have found that I truly feel better when I lower my salt intake, but I went too far this time and didn't add enough to enjoy my creation. And the texture was somehow hurting my molars as I chewed, which I don't understand. What a bummer.
Of course I ate it anyway, and later busted out the olives-and-cashews in consolation. I'm hoping that after a night in the fridge, the flavors will blend more, and the leftovers will taste better today. I'll let you know ...