Saturday, May 29, 2010

May fair

It was the May fair at our local Waldorf school today. It was such a beautiful celebration!
C'était la Fête de mai à l'école Waldorf près de chez nous aujourd'hui. Ce fut une très belle célébration.













Thursday, May 27, 2010

A week of this...

We have had unusually warm weather for this time of year this week. It was so hot and sunny, it felt like it was July already!

Nous avons eu des températures exceptionnellement chaudes pour ce temps-ci de l'année cette semaine. Il faisait incroyablement chaud et ensoleillé. On aurait dit qu'on était déjà au mois de juillet!






:: Can you see the butterfly? ::
:: Vous voyez le papillon? ::



Monday, May 24, 2010

A rawvelation

It's rhubard season around here and the smell of it cooking with maple syrup on the stove is amazing (and no, I didn't have any! But it's all very worth it!).

C'est le temps de la rhubarbe par ici et l'arôme de la rhubarbe qui cuit sur le four avec du sirop d'érable est incroyable (et non, je n'en ai pas mangé! Mais ça vaut tellement le coup!).



Through my readings on raw food, I discovered that there are two movements: the high-fat one and the low-fat one. The high-fat raw food is what I was experimenting with, the replica of cooked food, with lots of nuts, seeds, oil, avocados and veggies and some fruits. The low fat raw food is also the frutarian diet (or frugivorous diet) or the 80/10/10 diet described by Dr Douglas Graham in his book, and practiced by many athletes, and by Frederic Patenaude, our Quebec raw food figure.

Au fil de mes lectures sur l'alimentation vivante, j'ai découvert qu'il existe deux mouvements distincts : celui à haute teneur en gras et celui à faible teneur en gras. Celui à haute teneur en gras est celui plus connu, celui avec lequel j'expérimentais, dont les recettes répliquent les aliments cuits que nous connaissons, avec beaucoup de noix, de graines, d'huile, d'avocats, de légumes et d'un peu de fruits. L'alimentation vivante à faible teneur en gras s'appelle aussi le régime fruitarien (ou frugivore) ou le régime 80/10/10 décrite par le Dr Douglas Graham dans son livre, et pratiqué par plusieurs athlètes et par Frédéric Patenaude, un des visages les plus connus de l'alimentation crue au Québec.



There are two ways the body can get the energy it needs : through fat or through sugar. If you eat a low fat diet, the only way to feel real satiation is through eating LOTS of sweet fruits. Here's a great article about this.

Il existe deux façons pour le corps de tirer de l'énergie par l'alimentation : par le gras ou par le sucre. Si vous consommez un régime faible en gras, la seule façon de vous sentir vraiment satisfait est de manger BEAUCOUP de fruits sucrés. Here's a great article about this.

Here's a great article on the subject if you want to read more. And here's one that adresses the question of proteins. This is one of the things that questionned me the most about this diet. The answer is quite simple and quite interesting. The proteins are actually the middle men. What the body needs are amino acids (so it needs to break down the proteins to get amino acids). Raw food (especially raw fruits and veggies) ARE amino acids! So it requires even less work from the body to get what it needs.

Pour ce qui est des protéines, c'est fort simple et très intéressant. En fait, c'est ce qui m'interrogeait le plus dans une telle alimentation. Les protéines sont en fait les intermédiaires. Le corps a besoin d'acides aminés (et doit briser les protéines pour ce faire). Les aliments crus (notamment les fruits et légumes) REGORGENT d'acides aminés! Le corps a donc besoin de travailler moins fort pour obtenir ce qu'il a besoin. Pour en savoir plus sur les histoires de protéines complètes et les besoins en grammes, veuillez lire cet article : the question of proteins.

My migraines did not disappear on the high-fat raw vegan diet (but my energy level was much improved) and I kept looking for recipes without so much nuts and seeds (for the budget, but also because I know how nuts are hard on the digestive tract, even if soaked and sprouted) and tamari, and simpler recipes to cut down on the preparation time. I had a really hard time with all the veggies that were eaten raw that I knew had to be cooked to be assimilated and unharmful to the body (read more about this here). I listened to some of Patenaude's youtube video's and then to many of Graham's 80/10/10 videos and it made so much sense! And it is so simple! And I feel like a million bucks! And I did not have one migraine since I switched to the 80/10/10 diet!

Mes migraines ne sont pas disparues avec un régime végétalien cru à haute teneur en gras (mais mon énergie s'est beaucoup améliorée) et je cherchais continuellement des recettes sans noix et peu de graines (pour le budget, mais aussi car je sais que les noix sont difficiles à digérer, même germées) et moins de tamari, et des recettes plus simples pour réduire le temps de préparation. J'avais beaucoup de difficulté avec tous les légumes qui étaient inclus dans les recettes crues et qui devaient être consommés cuits pour être bien assimilés et non néfastes pour la santé (pour en savoir davantage, lisez ceci (en anglais). J'ai écouté des vidéo de Patenaude sur youtube et plusieurs de Graham sur le 80/10/10 et c'était plein de bon sens! Et c'était si simple! Et je me sens tellement bien! Et je n'ai pas eu une migraine depuis que je me suis mise au 80/10/10!

Voici un bon article en français par Frédéric Patenaude.


:: A very simple raw cake the girls and I made ::
:: Un gâteau cru très simple que les filles et moi avons fait ::



:: A baby spinach, strawberry, sesame and chia salad with mango dressing ::
:: Une salade de bébés épinards, fraises, graines de sésame et de chia avec vinaigrette à la mangue ::





:: The girls have discovered a very old toy that my Grandma had kept ::
:: Les filles ont découvert un très vieux jouet que ma grand-maman avait conservé ::


So, what do you eat on the 80/10/10 diet? Well, breakfast is usually juicy fruits. Yesterday, it was a whole cantalup (at 7:30 and I swear I was not hungry before 11:30, and I am usually ravenous every 3 hours!), this morning it was 3 mangoes, tomorrow, it will be a pineapple, mango, banana and strawberry smoothie (hello local food!! I know...). Lunch is usually more fruits (usually some bananas, dates, a smoothie) and dinner starts with an acid fruit (oranges, apricot, apples, etc.) and a soup or salad with some avocado and/or nuts/seeds (tonight was a gaspacho topped with corn and avocado with homemade almond vanilla milk with chia seeds, yesterday was a salad of romaine, avocado, tomatoes, red bell pepper and cilantro). And you would think that I feel hungry, right? Well, I was convinced I would feel hypoglycemic, hungry, weak, unwell... but I feel awesome! I feel fully satisfied!

Why do we always feel like eating something sweet after a meal, even after a big meal? Because the only real satiation feeling the brain registers comes from sugar! The trick is to eat enough fruits (what many people do not do at first).

Alors qu'est-ce qu'on mange avec le 80/10/10? Et bien le déjeuner est habituellement des fruits juteux. Hier, c'était un cantaloup entier (à 7 h 30 et je vous jure que je n'ai pas eu faim avant 11 h 30, moi qui suis affamée toutes les 3 heures habituellement!!), ce matin, c'était 3 mangues, demain, ça sera un smoothie à l'ananas, mangues, bananes et fraises (très local, je sais!). Le dîner est habituellement encore des fruits (des bananes, des dates, un smoothie) et le souper commence par des fruits acides (oranges, abricots, pommes, etc.) et une soupe et une salade avec de l'avocat et/ou des noix/graines (ce soir c'était une gaspacho avec des grains de maïs et des cubes d'avocats dedans, puis un lait d'amandes maison aux dates, vanille et chia), hier c'était une salade de romaine, d'avocats, de tomates, de poivrons rouges et de coriandre). Et vous pensez que j'avais faim, hein? Et bien, j'étais convaincue que je me sentirais hypoglycémique, affamée, faible, pas bien... mais je me sens tellement bien! Je me sens totalement satisfaite! Le truc est de manger suffisamment de fruits (ce que plusieurs personnes ne font pas).

Pourquoi avons-nous toujours envie de manger quelque chose de sucré après un repas, même un gros repas? Parce que le seul vrai sentiment de satiété provient du sucre!


:: This morning's breakfast ::
:: Mon déjeuner de ce matin ::



:: Mara's breakfast: mango topped with raw cashew and berry cream with raw honey ::
:: Le déjeuner de Mara: une mangue couverte de crème de noix de cajou aux petits fruits avec du miel cru ::


And I know, you probably think: but what about candida and diabetes, etc.? Well, read some of those articles that I link to and you will see that these problems are related to too much fat in the diet, not too much sugar (because the fat coats the cells, the insulin production has to increase to reach the pancreas... or something like that... you better read the articles!!).

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Honoring ourselves (a repost)

Here's a repost of January 23rd 2009. Just because I had a rough day and needed this tonight...



I used to write. When I was a teenager and a young adult, in the dark years of my life, when anxiety and depression got the best of me, I used to write beautiful poetry. I have many books filled with the words that were pouring out of me, as if I was too full to contain them. Words helped me heal. It might be why I decided to become a translator... But translating medical advertising and scientific studies is quite far from poetry writing... Today, I have a hard time finding the words to write a birthday card... My creation has moved to something more tangible, like knitting, sewing and felting...

Those were the thoughts that were going on in my mind while I was reading some of the wonderful blogs that I visit regularly. Then, I came across this beautiful post from Kate and it felt really good, really right. And I started looking through the photos from the last 5 years and I decided that it was about time that I took some time to honor myself for all I did during the last 5 years! No wonder the words are not coming, as Kate says, it's not that kind of life right now...

So here's a little story of the last 5 years of my life!

It all started with a WV van, of course! We left Toronto in May 2003 for Whitehorse, Yukon.



6 000 km later, we called it home right away.





And a month or so after our arrival in the land of the Klondike Gold Rush, I became pregnant! At 18 weeks, we found out that there were 2 buns in the oven! What a surprise!



That's 4 days before giving birth... at 39 weeks! Impressive, eh?



And after a very crazy birth, our two little salmons came to the world!



And at 26, 6 000 km away from our families, with a bunch of new friends without kids around us, we became parents!



And tried to stay a strong couple and to keep doing what we loved in the midst of it all...
Quite a challenge, I must say!






We kept on camping...



We lived in a tiny little house in downtown Whitehorse, on the same street as the French association, so there was always people coming and going. We had so much support from the community when the girls were born. My eyes still fill with water when I think about it. For a month after the birth, we had people coming at our house EVERY DAY to bring us a meal, people that we didn't even knew at times! It was just unbelievable!



And I kept gardening...



And I massage them...



And we carried them in slings all the time...



And they had tummy tub baths in the sun !



And we co-slept...



And we co-bathed...



And we hiked and walked a lot to soothe them and to stay sane... And to feel like we were enjoying the amazing landscapes of the Yukon...





God, we did a great job!!





And soon enough, they discovered complicity!
And it was beautiful to hear them laugh together!





And when they were 10 months old, I found out that I was pregnant again! Natural family planning sure makes for big families! I was terrified, but the support we had around us was so incredible that we felt we were in the best place to welcome Mathilde.



And Mathilde was born... and the girls were... well, I can't say that they were very excited, they were mostly indifferent and then, the adventure began... 2 weeks after Mathilde's arrival, Mara and Aïsha turned into very insecure, clingy and whiny little girls. It was HARD!



Mathilde was a happy and easy little girl, at least!



God I look tired... and I was!



There was a lot of that...



And of that too...



And then, they discovered the pleasure of being twins!







And yes, we used that device. Our friend calls it The Circle of Neglect!
For me, it was the Circle of Sanity!



And we kept traveling around, as hard as it was, we needed to get out a bit!



And they all got chickenpox. And Mathilde got complications and scared us all...



And I turned 30, and my amazing girlfriends invited me to a wonderful Inn for 2 days.
It was so great!



And last summer, we left the Yukon to begin a new adventure.




We sure miss the Yukon and our friends, but we are all ready for some new projects here in our new house with my Grandma and our family nearby.