Ayurvedic Scolding!

[Robert V]

Ayurvedic practitioner Vaidya Mishra was a guess at the home of one of my friends and one of my chiroprators. I scheduled a private session with him. He just feels your pulse and gives you advice.

He gave me a mild scolding for my diet. He said I'm eating too much read meat and too many processed foods. (True) My PH was not good. He said as a "intellectual" I should me eating as such. But I'm eating as if I was a "worker" or "in the lowest in the cast system". Also, he said he expected more of me as a yoga and martial arts instructor.

He gave me some advice on spices and said I had to cook "find time" to cook more.

I really didn't think he was that negative to me, but my friend said he was harder on me than anyone he had met with that day.

My problem is that I "hate" the kitchen and "hate" cooking and with my schedule it makes it even more less attractive.

I live off of can tuna and occasionally tuna or salmon steak. And at least 3 servings of red meat a week. The veggies I eat are not fresh, but processed. I eat potatoes, but he says that's not good. He also said no bananas.

I didn't agree with everything he said, but generally he was right on target. I couldn't believe he knew about my congestion from simply taking my pulse.

He said my food allergies were not allergies, but a reaction from improper digestion.

I'm starting a private cooking classes tomorrow. This will be a challenge for me.

You can read one of his articles here:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid

[Connie Brown]

My sympathies, Robert. It's been a bear for me to add fresh vegetables to my routine. I don't like them to begin with, don't like cooking, don't like the pressure to use them before they turn to slime, pretty much don't like anything about it. But that whole pH thing can only be solved with lots of vegetables - they're the only things that offset the acidic protein and starches.

I finally settled on a rule of thumb. For every meal, for every volume of protein and carb combined, twice the volume of vegetables. Have you seen Berardi's nice article on acid-base and food?

Covering Nutritional Bases (http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/bases.htm) by John Berardi

And I had to laboriously figure out recipes that I could stand, to shop for and make fresh. I say laboriously because there was a lot of trial-and-error and falling down and getting up again.

my staples are:

ready-to-eat carrots.
Roast a giant pan of veggies that will last for 3 days.
Broccoli-grape-sunflower seed salad.
Avocados.
Bagged salads and spinach.
Chop stir-fry veggies and keep them in a Tupperware container for a week. Honestly I have this one container from the 70s (blush) that really does keep them nice that long. So I can take a handful and stir-fry them in minutes when it's meal time. They also have fancy produce-saving bags now that you could use the same way.

[Chuck Kechter]

What is it you guys don't like about cooking?

I cooked in restaurants for years, and picked up a lot of info, I also enjoy it, so if there is anything I can do. . . Please let me know. . .

[Connie Brown]

Well let's see. I've been cooking for 45 years now. My best boyfriend ever was a chef and taught me a lot, and he never stopped being appalled that I was happier to just have carrots and cold chicken. (that someone else made)

don't like to sound like a whiner but to be truthful, here's what I don't like.

messy
full of boring waiting interspersed with split-second right-now timing
way too high ratio of work to gratification
sometimes too wet, cold, slippery, hot, greasy
generates kitchen cleaning
requires going to a market and bringing home and putting away

[Robert V]

Thanks, Connie. Great article.

He told me to never eat "leftovers" also.

Chuck, I see why you like cooking, but I just don't. I use to have to cook for myself and my handicap mother when I was a kid. I did more cooking before I was 16 than I do know. I even worked for about 10 years in the food service industry.

The bottomline is that I have to do this and make a total commitment. Red meat is easy to avoid, potatoes too(if I wish to go that route), but not doing the frozen veggies thing and cooking them all fresh....we'll see!

[Chuck Kechter]

messy
full of boring waiting interspersed with split-second right-now timing
way too high ratio of work to gratification
sometimes too wet, cold, slippery, hot, greasy
generates kitchen cleaning
requires going to a market and bringing home and putting away

Aha! :D

Well, you're right, there's not much can be done with this motley lot. . . :lol:

If you decide that a reframe can be done, there are some excellent sources out there that might be of use. . .

15 minute cooking series
Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (sometimes needs to be tweaked, but WELL worth it). . .

Both of these give examples on how to "cut" corners on all but one of those items on your list Connie (the last one, unfortunately you have to have food to make food :shock: :wink: 8) :D)


The bottomline is that I have to do this and make a total commitment.

I hear you my friend. . . Good luck!

[Connie Brown]

Robert, I also don't like leftovers, the 3-day solution kind of creeps me out.

One thing I do rely on is Chinese cooking techniques and good knives. If you cut things up right first it can all be quickly steamed or roasted or stir-fried.


If you decide that a reframe can be done, there are some excellent sources out there that might be of use. . .
Well, I can reframe not to be resentful. It is a necessary thing and can be done with gratitude. But liking it is another story - like tooth flossing.


15 minute cooking series
Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (sometimes needs to be tweaked, but WELL worth it). . .
thanks for the tips. I know it sounds like BS but, I am so motivated, and have been looking for shortcuts for so long, I already had em in my toolbox. I don't mind cutting the unpleasant parts down to a minimum. I mind that they're still there at all.


The bottomline is that I have to do this and make a total commitment.

yes, me too, that's why I do it still. I will say that what I can do at home beats what I can get outside, except for true art from real chefs of course. fresh quality food, carefully prepared and not screwed up in cooking, is as far as I go. But true artistes are something else! I know that.

[Coach Tran]

Robert,

Thanks for sharing. It gave me something to think about. It is quite similar my experience last week. I share my own experience latter on.

[Robert V]

I took my second Ayuerveda cooking class today with my girlfriend. We made stewed apples, whole grain oatmeal, Mung Dal, Zucchini, Khir and Basmati rice. All was simple and something I could do. I also got a lesson on spices, which I knew nothing about.

I think I can do this!!!

[Tim Haws]

Many of Whole Foods' type markets have great prepared food delis that at the very least offer cut up veggies(as well as grilled, marinated,etc.) on their veggies bars. Stirfrying is great and I don't limit it to just asian foods either, one pot clean up is so fine. I am a professional chef, but and wouldn't cook at home except that I have two daughters, and it has now become a family activity. If you have a Whole Foods, or a Trader Joes, or Wild Oats near you, take time and walk thru the prepared food section and check them out, I've found them to be great timesavers as well as offering occasional inspiration in the event I have neither.

[Coach Gostnell]

We made stewed apples, whole grain oatmeal, Mung Dal, Zucchini, Khir and Basmati rice.

I'll be right over!! :wink:

Cooking, like flossing (per Connie), is something that can be done well, if not artfully, but it's shopping that I hate! Cooking got better/easier once I got the shopping under control, mostly by buying the same 10 things over & over (you may notice that my food log - although I'm happy enough with what I eat - might be considered a tad repetitious & boring by some folks. Go figure.)

But canned & frozen vegies, oh my! As Chuck suggested,
If you have a Whole Foods, or a Trader Joes, or Wild Oats near you,

I'd also suggest a trip to a Farmers' or Growers' Market if such a thing happens near you. Try some of the fresh produce. One thing that makes cooking more interesting is if there's a flavor payoff at the end of it, & supermarket produce is pretty much flavor-free. Try eating a local, organically grown, freshly picked bell pepper or melon! (I once left the Farmers' Market w/ 7 huge bell peppers, only one of which made it as far as the car - my two, then-teen-aged, boys noshed down three apiece as we walked.)

[Robert V]

You are so right!

I went to the grocery store the other day and left feeling angry. I felt there was little there for me.

I went to the health food store this morning and left with a :) !