Taste Buds In Training

OK ... so the book Quantum Wellness has me thinking. It mentions in the book that your taste buds can change in 21 days ... so I looked into that more - my concern is my addiction to salt. So here goes, this is part of an article I read ....

21 Days to Crack the Code by author Sam Graci

Your 10,000 taste buds are replaced every 21 days, but after the age of 40 they are not replaced as efficiently, leaving a person with only about 5,000 taste buds and, unfortunately, a narrower preference for food choices.

Because those aged 40 or older can lose 70 percent of olfaction (smell of food) and 50 percent of taste buds, flavour enhancers in processed foods are not perceived as easily and we need to be extra vigilant.

Issue 25 of the research journal Chemical Senses (2000) published research that demonstrated perceptions of taste as “good” or “bad” are a learned behaviour. In some cultures, grilled meat is considered to be delectable, but in others, nauseating. Others may enjoy ice cream more but prefer to eat organic yogurt for the health of it. Taste is “culturally determined, not scientifically based,” states Nancy Butte, MD, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

So ... maybe it is possible that if I avoid salt for 21 days I won't love it as much - and actually think food with salt on is too salty ... could it be? I tell you, some days I think I would be happy with a salt lick .... I love salty food ... and adding salt to salty food. OK ... so for the next 21 days starting today ... no salt ... let's see if I can put a grind to the salt habit:)

Well .. while I am on the subject I do have something positive to say about salt. The only salt I have been allowing myself recently is Himalayan Salt .. I have purchased it coarse and use it in our salt grinder. This can still maybe be an occasional treat once my 21 days are up. Himalayan salt contains all the minerals and trace elements of which our bodies are made. Natural salt is crucial for maintaining vital functions in the body. Himalayan salt has no preservatives or additives. Doctors and alternative therapists agree that Himalayan salt is the cleanest salt available on the planet to deliver remarkable health benefits. Himalayan crystal salt is pristine and natural. It consists of the most perfect geometric structure possible in rock crystals, the result of millions of years of compression under the Earth’s surface. Its has precise mesh with our body's inner workings because Himalayan crystal salt contains an almost identical set of elements to those found inside the human body, 84 of the possible 92 trace minerals, in the same proportion as naturally exists in our blood.

We also have a Himalayan Crystal Salt lamp by our front door ... pictures to come.

Mare

Another Book Added

It seems I just needed another book to add to my list of "three" ... I am just about finished reading this book, and the message is right in line with the path that we are wanting to follow.


"The ultimate guide to complete well-being, Quantum Wellness is an instructive book on how to reach the highest level of health and contentment through small, focused changes."

The is an excerpt from the book:

"One step at a time, one choice upgraded after another, until we find ourselves moving jauntily along our path of all-around wellness. And then, as with all things quantum, suddenly you find yourself living at a new level with hardly a disruption at all".

This is about progress, not perfection! It is all so much easier when making changes to think this way, it is just small little steps going towards something ... wellness ... that makes it attainable.

"As you increase your knowledge of what it is to be well, everything that is not well will reveal itself. You will be more readily able to identify that which needs your attention".

Schwen and I will try out a 3 day cleanse next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. For these days we will avoid the following:

• sugar
• alcohol
• caffeine
• gluten
• animal products

This seems reasonable to do for the 3 days. The sugar is likely the easiest of this list to give up, followed by caffeine .. since at least for me, I have very little of these things.

Mare

Food For Thought

Organic!! These are our wonderful organic lemons. We have for about one month now been getting an "organic basket" delivered to us on Wednesday mornings. It is like Christmas every Wed. I love the idea of not knowing specifically what will be in the basket, it is what they have available and the freshest for that day.
The store is Pfenning's Organic & More, they are located in a small village close to us, and deliver free to Kitchener/Waterloo and surrounding area.
This is their Philosophy:
" We emphasize affordable real food — fresh, certified organic fruits, vegetables & groceries rather than supplements and processed “health foods”. For convenience, we carry some of these & other miscellany. Through our on-line Food Baskets, we strive to deliver our Philosophy to your door."

They have a family farm, organic, so as much of their produce as possible comes from their farm, along with other farms in Southern Ontario, and then of course, there is produce that is not local, but all is organic.

Hot water and lemon is from what I have read, one of the quickest ways to alkalize your body. I will try to replace this each morning with my coffee. Well, maybe not each morning, but the worst case maybe would be having this after my coffee :)

This is paraphrased from a book I was reading over yesterday: (The pH Miracle for Weight Loss):

"Acids stored in the body over a long period of time show up as congestion, swelling, inflammation and then stiffness and tissue degeneration. Highly acidic foods create a pH imbalance and cause congestion in the colon, the leading cause of disease.

It's not that acid forming foods are bad, they just need to be balanced out with alkalizing foods. We need both because of the nutrients/minerals they provide.

The rule of thumb for acid/alkaline ratio is 70-80% alkaline to 20-30% acidic.

The average North American diet is the reverse. Most North American's are eating 80% acidic foods and only 20% alkaline.

The average American man eats 175% more protein than the recommended daily allowance - this was from a 1988 Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health.

All the aminos you need for your body to make complete proteins are found in plant sources."

Drinking milk (dairy products) does not prevent bone loss. That is because bones loss is caused by too much protein intake. In 1986 Science magazine called dietary protein the most important contributor to osteoporosis. Dietary protein increases the production of acid in the blood which can be neutralized by calcium mobilized from the skeleton". A study in the Journal of Nutrition in 1981 found that doubling your protein intake, doubled your calcium loss".

So much "food for thought" ...... so much to learn and discover. I had tried the Atkin's diet some years ago ... maybe a week - I just couldn't do it, I just craved fruit and something in me thought it wasn't right - a diet that said you can't have fruit (well so little fruit).

This is all part of our Mind, Body and Spirit journey. The best thing I have done this year so far is stop eating meat. It is something that has been in the back of mind for years and years - but I really thought there wasn't a way to do that - that I would miss having meat too much, it is such a big part of the diet in North America. Much to my surprise, it has been no effort at all ... it just clicked, and I have no desire to have it back in my diet again.

Well, we are off to get ready to do our Meals on Wheels deliveries. It is our Sunday ritual, one that brings so much satisfaction :) They always need volunteers .... so, if anyone ever has a few hours to spare, this is a great way to spend it, and do it as a family. Schwen drives and navigates, Thunder comes with us ... and some of the times all three of us take the lunch in and have a short 5 minute visit.

Mare

Tundie's a Star!!

So .... it is official - Thunder will be a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog. We could not be more proud of him!! (follow the link for details about the program ... it is wonderful).
Today was evaluation day. Schwen and I had to be assessed separately with Thunder as handlers - Schwen and Thunder went from 9:45 - 12:00 and I went from 12:45 - 3:00.
The dogs are really put through the paces .... how they react to all kinds of situations: wheelchairs, walkers, a crowded room, people running, things dropping - and how they react to the other dogs in the evaluation as well is taken into account. One growl or any sign of aggression they are out immediately. They are not suppose to lick, jump, bark or growl.
There were 8 dogs being evaluated in the morning and 8 in the afternoon.
In the morning class, I waited outside and thought I would read in the car. Within 5 minutes I saw a dog and his "owner" come out ... then another in the next 5 minutes. OK ... I was nervous now .. 2 were already rejected.
So time passed, 12:00 came .. and out came my boys - yes they passed. Four in the morning class passed, 2 were conditional on how they do with their supervised visits. Tundie and one other dog were without issues ... and as Schwen said when he came out ... "Thunder was perfect!!".
OK - lunch time ... who could eat.
We went to the park, walked Thunder - gave him some water and then time to get back. Even though Thunder passed with Schwen, if in the afternoon session, there were any signs of aggression - then Thunder would be out of the program. Anything else that went wrong ... I would have been turned down as a handler, but Schwen and Tundie would still have been ok.
12:45 .... we head into the room.
To sum it up - one failed on the first test ... then by the 3rd test another dog was asked to leave - another test, another dog gone. Yikes!
At the 3:00 mark ... 4 were gone, 3 passed with a probation as long as they do alright on their supervised visit .... and last .. but certainly not least ... they came to us .. and the evaluators said "try as we might, we can't find any issues with Thunder at all - he was perfect!" Tundie was the only dog in the afternoon session without any issues whatsoever!
So .. the proud little family had a great Saturday ... when we got in the house Schwen said to Thunder "I wish you drank champaign, I am so proud of you". We are both just so proud and excited!
Thunder is sleeping now .. we are going to have a nice BBQ and have a relaxing Saturday night.
Today meant a lot to Brian and I, we have wanted to be in this program since last October (there are only 2 assessments a year ... so that makes today even more special).

Mare and Schwen

The Three Books

I have three books in particular - sort of 4 - that I intend to use as guides for our road ahead.
The book from Grail Springs is sort of a summary of the three books (that is the 4th I referred to).

The New Detox Diet by Elson M. Haas
Quantum Success by Sandra Anne Taylor
The Best Guide to Meditation by Victor N. Davich

The New Detox Diet Book was purchased at Grail Springs 3 years ago, when Schwen was there for a week on his own.


The Best Guide to Meditation was recommended to us by Madeleine (the owner of Grail Springs).


Quantum Success. This book I purchased last year on Hay House website. This is a book that teaches about energy. It is based on the fact that everything is made up of vibrating strings of energy. Human will and consciousness have influence over these energetic vibrations. The first 7 chapters discuss the seven universal laws of success.

This is a great line from the book:
Let go of things .... negative thinking will never produce positive results. I'm trying, I'm trying.

I don't take the title of Quantum Success as meaning material possessions, although I suppose that is fine too ... but that is not what I view success as.

I will feel successful, if one day I believe I have found my path, followed it and learned my lessons I came here for. Along the way I hope to make positive impacts on those around me. What more could someone want?

As Wayne Dyer would say "how may I serve?".

This life I am living is not about me, I used to think it was ... and if you can really live that - wow - that to me is what it is all about. The ego can be tricky .... so that is the challenge.

So we are working on things in parallel - working on Mind, Body and Spirit.

To sum up the Detox Diet, this is based on keeping a PH Balance in the body - to achieve this, food that you have should be in the ratio of 75% Alkaline, and 25% Acidic. Bacteria & disease love an acidic environment, but can not flourish in an Alkaline environment. I made a start to this Alkaline way of eating March 30th (it was 2 days after seeing Wayne Dyer in Toronto) ... I stopped eating meat, well except I will have fish sometimes ... I have a particular love of smoked salmon. That same day (March 30th) I ordered from Hay House 2 other books, one Vegetarian cookbook and one other book by Doreen Virtue - "Eating In The Light" .. making the switch to vegetarianism on your spiritual path. I love the book and carry it with me all the time.

Within the next week Schwen and I will start small with a 3 day body detox. It is suppose to be done at the start of each season, so I guess we will begin with "Summer". I see a lot of organic fruits and veggies in our future!

Mare

Spiff-A-Roo

Tundie is in on this too ........ June 3rd Thunder went to the groomers. He has a wonderful haircut ... new bandanna - and is all handsome.

Thunder goes for an assessment at St. John Ambulance next Saturday. We have signed him up as a Therapy Dog, and we will go once a week or so to a Nursing Home to visit with the residents.

We are excited about this, it will really be fulfilling to us if we can help in making someone's day a little happier.

So that is the plan. It is a 3 hour assessment, but because we are both going to be assessed with the dog we do 2 separate sessions - one of us in the morning and one of us in the afternoon.

Our interviews are the same day, so we should know June 14th if we will be in the program.

No pressure Thunder ... it is just all up to you now :)

Schwen and Mare

Mare Started

OK .... so as Brian (Schwen) said, this was our start. I went to the gym Tuesday - I joined this gym 2 years ago this coming July, and Tuesday was my 2nd time there. It was just a quick 20 minute cardio session .... but it was a start. I have an appointment next Tuesday for an "assessment/orientation" and then I guess I will actually be going.

Our real start to this "quest" we are on now began 2 years ago this past April.

My mother in law passed away suddenly ... it was such a difficult time. Schwen was super stressed at work as a VP of Sales and Marketing ... things were building up for him at work to an all time high level of stress .. and then him Mom died - suddenly of a heart attack.

Brian went on a stress leave from work ... and just before it was over and time for him to go back to work, I had the idea that we would go to Grail Springs in Bancroft, ON.

It started us on a new path -- actually more of a 2 year journey of reflecting, gathering information, knowing what to do - but not totally putting it all into play.

I needed to mention all of that to have meaning into why we are so attached to Grail Springs. The owner of Grail Springs has just published a book, and we will use this to continue to inspire us .. and guide us. It covers what we want to focus on ... Mind, Body and Spirit.

We first heard of Wayne Dyer at Grail Springs .. and that has lead us to many many wonderful authors at Hay House ... and so it goes and we are equipping ourselves with great things ---- so this blog is really about putting them into action.

That sums up my start ...

Mare