JLoeats.com

“Work Work Work! Play Play Play! Eat Eat Eat!”

aghh the art and beauty of doing nothing — like the italians
a throwback to my “il bel far niente” post -

and i guess my idea of doing nothing is this -
i sit in bed after i wake up, laptop on my, well, lap,
pjs, glasses, bottle of water on my night stand,
and i read, and i write.
aghhh how nice it is to catch up with my thoughts once in a while,
with my head,
with my heart,
and have time to call my friends
people i not necessarily get to see all the time who are in different countries living their life – “just liv ya life!! eh-eh-eh-eh-ehhh!!”
whom i am so dear with because we can share a harty laugh as thick as soup when we do catch up and an open heart to each other’s growth and stories. mmmm, as yummy as a sunday breakfast in bed. :)

i am on extended work leave now because of my busted right arm, and have had all this time to just slow down this week,
to enjoy my time again, and to eat till my heart’s content as many times as i want in a day sitting down – hahaa
i’m moseying along nicely, given i did feel the pang of guilt when i spoke to my chef about taking a leave of absence,
and have been going through withdrawl from my intense work life in the last few days, (well really i miss my peeps, but i’ve been going out to meet them after work and playing till the wee early morn, so i am getting the best of the deal here i think ;) haha)
well, either way,
my body is thanking me in every way possible now,
(or at least will later, because now it’s still hurting and swimming in it’s own feelings)

doing the right thing is hard, and i am the first to admit that always.
call me sympathetic.

and because of all this time i have now,
and the emotional eating,
i’ve been bloated.
:P
bleh…
and the boredom from me not constantly having to focus my energy on one thing now – which was work, prep, production, and feeding other people in the last two months, is kind of driving my type A personality a lil insane.
hahaha.
BUT i will admit,
i love that i have been able to feed myself again!
and eat whatever the crap i want.
wahoooooooo!
oh the gluttony.

and by that i mean COOK FOR MYSELF.
well i try, with my gimpy arm.
i am getting good at this living with one arm deal. (last year was the left, this year is the right, le sighh)

but that doesn’t stop me!
hoo!!!
give me the big bold flavours,
give me the big fat leafy, moist salads,
give me the slow cooked love that you taste in every spoonful of saucy, naughty, happy making,
give me the BAMMMM SHAZZZYAOOOOS!
and the “OMGFREAKING GOD I can die now” orgasmic kind of decadence.
give me the MMM face.
and the food-gasms.
and give me the eye candy.
in every possible way, angle, and lighting style.

mmm, and the best part about spending most of my day in bed, writing,
thinking,
and chillin,
is that i actually don’t eat, ironically.
it gives my body time to catch up to my cravings
and figure out what it actually neeeds, instead of what i want.

jlo plots,
what should i have for brunner?! :)

yes yes, this is when my mother comes into the picture and scolds me about having a regular sleep schedule with 2 – 3 square meals a day, preferably organic, and all that don’t eat after 9pm, get into bed before 1am, and breakfast should be the largest meal of the day ya dee dahh kind of stuff… to which i say
“Fff… that. and all those rules. i live by mine, which can be true to most of what those rules are actually saying, and thanks for caring! i love u too!”
but living all straight edged and lacy doesn’t necessarily make you healthier or happier than not living by those rules.
listen to what your body needs, what you should eat, and do, and how you react to certain things.
rules are great guidelines,
and i’m all for making your own guidelines, and then colouring outside of them every so often.

and who’s medical advice you subscribe to is your subscription to a theory, to a model, to a standard set by other people.
to each his own i say!
(you know me, i love to question it ALL! HAHAHAHa rebellious at heart, but genuine at that ;) i know ;) <3)

but to my mother’s credit, what an incredible woman she is,
i listen to her because i am like a mini version of her, whether i like to admit it or not.
even my doctor says the same thing,
not in mind and soul, but my body — genetically, whatever you want to call it,
i have the same sensitivities, skeletal structure, predispositions, and historical make up as she does
and because she’s hitting all these intense waves of pain and uncomforts during menopauuuuuuusssssssssseeeee! (it should be a musical!, wait it is! haha!)
i listen to my mother, pick my battles, and pick and choose what i’m hearing out of her motherly concern for my health.
because she has lived double the amount of time on this earth, and she has been conditioned to take care of me, her entire life. what a concept! what an honour! :)

anyway, so i have been so out of whack lately, with all the body stresses and strains, over working, partying, and drinking
now that my body has had a chance to catch up to my mind, passion, and incredible drive to want more in life, at work, and in my relationships with people that
i live to make experiences happen,
and i live to see them through.
so my committment to become healthy and to “do the right thing” for me stems from all of that.
and it’s made me feel incredible
and thus i want to share it with you, my dear dear reader.

i am now on a partial detox diet once again. HAHAHAHA
and by that i mean – EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES JLO! you can NEVER GO WRONG WITH EATING MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES. WHOLE, crunchy, and UN-processed!
if you ask ANYONE, Foodies, Dieticians, Nutritionists, Doctors; western or eastern and all that’s in between kind of philosophy, they can actually all agree on this.
and it’s actually that simple.
simple foods like a potato will give u more bang for your buck than say that four dollar garden veggie soup that’s labelled organic coming out of a can.
problem is – a potato grown from the ground now a days isn’t the same as a potato grown ten years ago, let along twenty years ago. what’s in the soil? what’s in the fertilizer? what’s in your water? hmmm.
and “if you go to europe and ask for organic, they’ll laugh a u”
we joke. “go to the back and pick it yourself from the ground!”
dahhhh…
how nice.
and what a dream to have my own backyard full of food from the ground up. :)
one day…
mmm so where do i go to get a big fat salad today?

which is another factor, how available is my food when i crave the things i know i SHOULD be eating?
HAHAHAHA! this is the fun part, no? :)

see, my body is just as sensitive to everyday foods and factors as yours, – sleeping patterns, sex, drugs, & alcohol included here – let’s look at lifestyle as a whole,
i, jlo who preaches to people about what to eat, (actually i like to think of it as inspiring other people as self righteous as that may seem to some hahaha) about how to make food choices apart of daily awareness, constantly thinks about it too.

for one,
Why do we eat when we’re bored?
I’ve been doing it my whole life!
when i get ansty pants, when i want something to do, when i have a sudden lifestyle shift like now and have a bunch of time on my hands, i look for something to do, and usually, it involves looking for food.
you know that saying “i have a whole closet full of nothing to wear today?”
well that’s how i feel most of the time with food.
so many choices, but sometimes i try it on, and it just doesn’t look, feel, seem, RIGHT, for that moment, for that purpose, for that night out on the town.
hmm, and i have felt the same walking into a supermarket, or opening a fridge full of food.
what do i want,
right. now?
hahaha, and as privileged as a place that is to be in north america, the land of plentiful,
it is learning how to make the right choices for me that is most of my battle.

i crave BIG flavours in my mouth,
most of the time.
and i have an oral fixation
where
i just
want
something
in my mouth.
to suck on,
to bite,
to lick,
to chew.

remember the 90’s trident ads? “chew on this?”
YEA.
those made me salivate everytime. lol.
and that’s exactly it.
when you chew on foods,
you produce saliva that triggers the digestive system that starts the process in your mouth…
mmm…
hot,
wet,
yummy.
haaaaaa,
dirty or not,
and as sexy as that is,
it’s true.
i will not shy away from these innuendoes. ;)
“let’s talk about sex baby…let’s talk about you and me…”
sex is too taboo already not to talk about how it relates to food.

so primal,
so dirty – like earthy dirty.
so good when it’s good.
and contains “all the right stuff” (new kids on the block?!) hahahaha.
maybe that’s why it’s so hot to eat food off of someone
or to eat out once in a while.
take that as you will.
haaaaaaaaa.

*so give me something to chew on today,
cuz i am full from the week already ;)

paix, pace, paz, PEACE! homies,
eat well,
xoxo J xoxo