Simple Simple

A simple but delicious lunch of juicy persimmons

I got really sick last week! I came home from my Wednesday night shift, got into bed and started shivering. It wasn't even a cold night. I couldn't stop shaking for over an hour, even after covering myself with layers of clothing and blankets. I spent the next 2 days in bed with a fever.

I had been working without a single full day off for about a month, not getting regular exercise and my diet was kind of erratic. For several days leading up to my illness I was eating calorie dense foods - a lot of nuts and raw desserts, as well as some cooked food. My stress levels were high and I wasn't allowing for any release through relaxation or exercise. Is it any wonder that my body reacted by overheating and then shutting down?

The cure was SIMPLE, however. I just stopped eating and rested! I drank water at first, adding in juice as my appetite began to return. Then I moved on to some simple vegetable soup. I slept a lot, and went for some short walks as my strength returned. Within two days I was feeling pretty great.

The lesson I learned, which I'd like to share with you, is this: keep your raw food simple! Raw desserts are great, but they should be treats for special occasions. I am now focusing on designing a daily way of eating that incorporates fresh juice, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, greens, and lots of water and herbal tea. I personally have a tendency to forget that the above is the basis of a happy, healthy diet and go overboard with the raw sweets and gourmet recipes. Yes, these are raw, but they are really dense and hard to digest and shouldn't be eaten every day.

The other lesson is to give myself time off to play and relax! So I have now adjusted my work schedule so that I have one full day off every week. And that day happens to be Sunday, which is a day off for Jayson as well, so we can spend the day together having fun. This past Sunday we went bushwalking in a kind of eerie feeling gorge near Bacchus Marsh.

My question today is, what do you do to remind yourself to "keep it simple?" And what do you do to relax?