Sunday, June 2, 2013

putting my money where my mouth is..a follow up

So it has been a week or more since I have decided to put my money where my mouth is. I have had a few conversations with friends since then about the changes I am making to our diet and I feel now that I am in a better place to be able to put into words why I am trying to make these changes.

I have not always had a good relationship with food. 
This is mostly to do with the fact that I have not always had a good relationship with my body. 
In fact from a very young age I would even go so far as to say that I hated my body.
 I didn't like being over weight, I didn't like what that meant for me in terms of how society viewed and talked to me. I felt wrong and ugly.
 So consuming food for me was not about nourishing and cherishing my body. 
At times it was a comfort. It helped me to feel better when I was feeling bad. A packet of biscuits gave me the energy to get through the day when Rebe was a tiny prem baby and wouldn't sleep for longer than 45 mins, night or day. 
At times food was a punishment, it was a way for me to say 'fuck you' to myself or to the world.

But I am in a different place now, I love who I am and I love my body. So I am experimenting with also loving food. Not just loving the taste of food, or the making of food, but also loving the buying of food and the growing or gathering of food. 
I want to eat consciously, in way that expresses love for myself, the planet and all people. So for me this means being conscious of where my food comes from, what impact it has on the planet, animals and people. I want to feel good about eating so I need to feel good about the food I eat. I am experimenting with trying to eat a mainly plant based whole food diet, that also takes into account fair trade, carbon foot print, waste production and the impact on the environment.

Of course making this sort of change means lots of research and re-thinking menus and planning and seeking out the best resources.
I think I have found a pretty awesome resource. I heard about the Irish Health Food warehouse about a year ago. It is about an hour's drive from where I live and they sell whole and health foods to health food shops and other businesses and lucky me, they open the doors to the public on Saturdays.
So with a list of the foods I wanted to buy in bulk and my hard saved cash the kids and I piled into the car for the beautiful drive over there. We arrived just before 10am and there was already a queue of people there. 'A queue?' you say. Well yes because they also sell off all of their short dated refrigerated and frozen items and anything that is being discontinued at a crazily cheap price.
we picked up all of this for a mere 17 euro!

It was really funny actually watching all these earth loving hippy types elbowing each other out of the way to grab all the organic butter and tofu they could. I tell you there is no peace, love and harmony when it comes to who is getting all of the vegan cheese!

The kids and I mooched around picking up the things we thought we'd like. Rebe got into the spirit of it and kept coming back with more goodies (that I think she had taken out of other people's bags).
I got some superfoods that normally would be soooo out of my budget,
and I got yoghurts to last (even Joa) a week or 2, and lots of other tasty goodies including some mineral sunscreen that would have cost me 14 euro  in the shops!

 After the free-for-all the kids and I wandered around the warehouse trying to locate all of the other bulk items that we had come to get.

 Being really honest, it was super hard work with the kids, they were bored and had been cooped up in the car for too long, so they sort of ran riot while I tried my best to steer the big trolley thing and hulk 25kg sacks of flour around.
 But it was worth it we stocked up on essentials like cordial for Benny's hot squash
 and organic spelt flour
 and fair trade coffee, organic honey and apple cider vinegar
 The whole lot cost me 170 euro (plus about 5 euro petrol) but it should last a good few months. I will definitely be going back there again regularly, (without the kids) and I am hoping I might be able to set up something with friends to take it in turns going up there.
On the way back we stopped at the farmer's market to get the fresh fruit and veggies we'd need for the week,


 Infinitely nicer than shopping at a supermarket

 the goats cheese and wild garlic flat bread was to die for!
 So, over all our change in eating is going well, I am excited to have found some great resources and the kids and I are feeling light and healthy and full of energy.

Oh and the other exciting thing that happened yesterday...
tooth number 5 :-)

15 comments:

  1. Wow. What an amazing place to have near you! We don't eat as well as I'd like. I want to say that my kids are picky (they are) but.. so am I.

    I'm so proud of you for finding a way to love yourself and your body. Thirty-two years and I'm still not there. I wonder if I'll ever be. Sigh. But that's a depressing thing to think about. So I'm not going to. (:

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    1. dear sweet you, if you want to love yourself, you will. it takes time and effort, but you are so worth it. I will hold your hand every step of the way if you want to. We are lucky to have this crazy place near enough to us to be useful, sending you big hugs x x

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  2. Hi, Yes, agree with the last comment, and I am 45! I still hate my body. You are so lucky to have somewhere where you can get these yummy foods. I can get dried products, but not chilled or frozen, so frustrating! Could you write some recipes please for your weekly plan, it would be really helpful, thanks. Enjoy your week xx

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    1. hi Julie, i will certainly put some thought into it if it will be helpful :-) you are beautiful and you deserve to love yourself. If you want to bad enough you can make it happen. sending you and your lovely body big hugs x x

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    2. That's beautiful, thanks Laura xx

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  3. So true Laura! It is important to eat consciously and out of love for oneself, the planet and all who live. Lucky you to have such great shopping options! Things are somewhat limited on our little island, but we still manage to eat mostly plant based and organic foods. Cooking from scratch is key for us. Any effort we put into selecting and preparing the food we eat is definitely worth it for our health, the heath of others and the planet.

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    1. hi Sarah, again I feel the universe has my back and is supporting me in the right moves for my life. opening up my heart and listening to the messages I am being given is really helpful. we are really lucky to have this sort of crazy option on our doorstep (sort of) x x

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  5. Hi Laura. I happened upon your blog over a year ago (having stumbled across it via my friendship with your brother Greg)and have read it ever since. Your journey is a source of inspiration and this blog in particular struck such a cord with me that I felt inspired to officially 'follow' and say hello (that and the fact that reading without 'following' feels uncomfortably like spying). x

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    1. HI Jo :-) I am so glad to finally 'meet' you. You have been a great source of strength and support for Greg. I feel very honored that you have been reading my blog and I am so glad to know that you are there :-)Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment x x

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    2. I think we have met once before, in Gregs' flat the first time he went to Stirling Uni. I remember because you'd just had your tongue pierced and couldn't talk :D

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    3. he he he, that was my whirlwind tour of scottish uni's visiting all my friends before heading off to africa. oh yes I remember that well, greg had made such an effort and bought apples for me, but I couldn't eat anything but soup lol!

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  6. Yum! It is so important to be able to source good food, isn't it? I feel like our connection to our local farmers and the market and to friends who we order bulk items with has been so important to our lives over the past few years. Yay for real food!

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    1. yes, it is all pretty new to me, but I am really feeling so converted to this better way of eating and shopping :-)

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  7. You are heading in the most beautiful direction looking after your health and your children's future. This is a wonderful journey, enjoy x

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