So Fast!

Okay..first of all..where did July go?  Is it just me or did that month totally fly by?  So now it’s August and I have to say, I am looking forward to that fabul0us aroma, that subtle smell that wafts on a breeze somewhere around the middle of this month-the first essence of fall.  It has been a blistering summer here on Hilton Head, and although I have spent most of it with my head down, dicing fruit and swirling yogurt, and now, making gazpacho during this peek season for tomatoes, I will be glad for a little cooling.  But back to the Gazpacho-a dazzling soup of raw veggies, so healthy and so delicious you will want to eat it everyday.  And you could, and you should, eating in season, taking advantage of the best of the best and eating as much of it raw as you can is an awesome way to super nourish and hydrate your body when it needs it the most.   Go to recipes for my Desert Willow Gazpacho recipe.  Stay cool, and if you make it to Hilton Head stop by “delisheeeYo” for more cold treats.  The gazpacho is flying out the super food snack shop door!  www.delisheeeYo.blogspot.com

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Chef C’s Extreme Brain Make Over

In this age of extremes; the hottest June on record, the biggest oil-spill in history, the worst economy since the Great Depression, the most horrible television programing ever, and the point of this missive-an abundance of brutal body work-outs dominating the “health’ scene, it seems a good time to chime in with a little cheffy commentary.

Why can’t we embrace soft, thoughtful, small changes over time to achieve a sustainable positive new relationship? Why does beating ourselves up; shredding our muscles with Jillian, Cross-Fitting until we can’t walk, pulling semi-trucks by a rope in our teeth, or drinking a case of kale juice every week have so much appeal?  What goes on in our brains before we launch into an extreme behavior?  Is there art in it?  Is there love in it?

I understand the personal challenge of it. Taking something on just to see if you can do it?  The first time I crawled out of the Grand Canyon after a harrowing 4 day marathon near death trek experience I felt a sense of elation deep in my soul.  Felt that I had really DONE something powerful.  But honestly, all I really did was save my butt from combusting in the middle of no where. And that was pretty exhilarating.  Survival stories are cool. I did feel more powerful because I could have died. Is tempting death what extreme fitness is about? Would I have had a wonderful time otherwise?  I have been in and out of the canyon a half dozen times since, without the fear of death, and can sincerely say YES!

Story: A young women recently came into my new frozen yogurt/smootheee/juice bar (www.delisheeeyo.blogspot.com) and while I was pressing a celery, romaine, cucumber juice for her she began telling me why she was on Hilton Head.  She had gotten sick over the course of a couple of years, potentially from mold exposure and had come to the island to heal.  We started chatting and she told me that she had been juicing a bushel of kale a week!  After I recovered from my shock I asked her if she had been steaming it first because Kale is a member of the Cruciferous family of vegetables and they contain trace amounts of naturally occurring carcinogens and should be lightly cooked before eating.  Occasional ingestion isn’t a problem, a little coleslaw now and then, but eating extreme amounts of these plants can actually do the opposite of what we want them to do; rather than inhibit cancer cell growth they can actually exacerbate the process.   In the same way that lifting extreme amounts of weight doesn’t make you more fit, it makes you bigger, less flexible and when you give up the lifting, flabbier.

She hadn’t been par cooking the greens and didn’t know about the chemistry of the plant.  She has been coming in every afternoon for her daily dose of green juice (only 12 ounces) and while chatting I learned that she had done the same behavior with tofu; eaten too much thinking that more was better and had thrown her body off balance and can no longer digest it. She had been vegan for a while and also played with eating only raw food, she also asked about local macrobiotics (another horribly distorted program) and revealed a long history of extreme eating.  I am not surprised she is so sick.  I am happy she’s here and seeing a terrific healer and I hope she finds some moderation and balance. We all have to walk our paths, make our pain and hopefully, learn from it.

I only know that over my 2 decades of cooking for people that have crashed under the weight of extreme lifestyles, whether it be work, drugs, alcohol, food or exercise abuse, the end result of extreme behavior-despite it’s promises-is never better health.

So here is Chef C’s Ultimate Happiness, Perfect Body, Lovely Life Program:

Question # 1. Is this about love?

# 2: Is what I am about to do motivated by love?

#3: Is this about self hatred, disappointment, fear, boredom, fantasy?

#4: Do I believe that I have to beat myself into health?

#5: Can I believe there is a softer, sweeter, friendlier, self-loving way to reinvent myself?

If you have answered yes to all of the above questions you can begin right now!  No special equipment, no clothing requirement, no travel, no cost!

Some of you may be familiar with a study that was conducted by a Japanese scientist about the effects of language, emotion and sound on the chemistry of water.  Dr. Emoto’s photographs of water crystals exposed to the word “hate” and the word “love” revealed the power of the energy behind our language and how that energy can enliven or kill, literally reshape life on a quantum level. Dr. Emoto’s water prayer for the Gulf is circulating the web now.  It is powerful stuff but hard for us to grasp because it can’t be immediately seen.  No bulging bicep to flex.

The idea that we make our lives with our thoughts isn’t new.  It’s biblical and more ancient than that.  All the holy people, all the yogis, all the enlightened beings spend their time working out their brains and maybe doing a little walking or yoga in between.  You never hear about the Dahli Lama doing chin-ups.It’s all about the brain people.

If you want to do something really extreme, try thinking only loving thoughts for 10 minutes, or even 3 minutes. Try recognizing every dark image you dream up, every judgment, every self-deprecating comment, every projection of anger, disapproval, preference, disappointment, every criticism your mind/ego conjures up, and then exercise softening it by saying  “I love you”.   Sound easy?  Shifting your thinking is a work out like nothing you have ever done before.  No triathalon can touch the energy and discipline that it takes to master your thoughts.

What happens when you think loving thoughts?  Nothing less than a total life transformation. Life will change for you in every way imaginable;  emotionally, physically, financially, everything gets healthier.  You will start eating better because your emotions are no longer extreme.  You will start moving your body more, naturally using the calories you are eating because now you have more energy because you aren’t wasting it all thinking exhausting thoughts all day.  You will be more open now to opportunities to express your creativity and earn more money; opportunities that have always been there but you haven’t been able to take advantage because your critical mind talked you out of it.  You will start to look younger and feel sexier, you will begin to radiate and connect with other people on a deeper level because you aren’t weighing yourself down with self hating thinking that keeps you separate. You will see yourself as the beautiful being that you are and others will respond to your glowing, loving energy.  It all gets good.  And you don’t have to put up with some sweaty snarling fitness guru in your face!

Sign on today for an Extreme Brain Make Over and witness yourself becoming powerful!

PS.  I love you!

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