On sleep

Went to bed late last night... by late meaning at ten pm. That is late for me. I really need to be in bed at EIGHT pm - or, at the latest, between eight and nine pm. That is, I would need to be in bed at eight when I choose to work the way I do right now - having to be at work at eight in the morning and having at least a thirty minutes drive to work. That means I would want to get up at five in the morning - or between five and six. Often I wake up at four though - being light as it is now during the summer.

Point is - I truly belive people are not getting enough sleep, and what people acctually view as "normal" amounts of sleep, or "normal" bed time, does not work for me. If I can fall a sleep at eight pm, I feel rested if I get up at five. So that would make up a total of nine hours of sleep. If I fall a sleep at nine and get up at five, I would also feel quite good, or, I would feel ok, but would rather stay in bed for another hour. So, for me to feel good throughout the day, I would definitely need between eight to nine hours of sleep. To feel super though, I think I would need up to ten hours of sleep every night. Or, is there a limit? But as it is, I am having trouble fitting in more sleep then about nine hours every night.

Last night - I think I slept about seven hours. And - I did not feel rested in the morning. Now in the afternoon - I feel like having a nap.... which I normally do not feel like. And I´m day dreaming about getting back into bed this evening... which I also almost never dream about... so, I really notice the one hour shortage of sleep.

Now, if I would say to people that I´d rather go to bed at eight pm, that would not be considered... hm, should I say, "normal". People don´t seem to be prioritizing getting enough sleep. Or even knowing that they would need more sleep every night to feel the best. And I am still learning how much sleep I would need each night to function optimal each day!

Anyways... just wanted to say that getting enough sleep is really important for me...
Don´t you agree?

All the best :) /Alex

So many mangos...

How many mangos can a gal eat in one day? How many can one eat for lunch? And how many Pakistanian mangos can you eat for dessert, after having mangos as main course??
Those are the questions I was tryin to find answers for yesterday... when the shop next door to work had stacked up a huge pile of mangos for a real good price :)
I had mangos all day - and today, I can still have more. I miss them already. Had one for breakfast, along with my watermelon, just because I could. And now - I can only think about the three remainders waitin for me at home... I might make some nice pasta sauce tonight... maybe mango-tomato sauce? Mango-basil? I know mango-garlic might be nice...

My foods yesterday:
Breakfast: Watermelon. Snack before lunch: Bananas. Lunch: Cherries and mangos. And later: mangos. And in the evening: watermelon and mangos... or did I have some tomatoes?... I do remember savin the nectarines for today.

Will try my new runners tonight - that means more bananas before leavin work, and then I think I´ll finish off the mangos from yesterday :) -oh what a bliss!

Have the best Monday! /Alex

Cherries for lunch..

Best ever summer lunch - cherries... mmmm. Found some mangos in the shop as well!! Real ripe ones, will be good for dinner tonight... melon soup for starter and then throw some in the pasta sauce :) - will post some phots later.

I´m happy - hope ya´ll have a beautiful weekend /Alex

Some dinner phots

Just sharing some phots from past dinners. Last night I made a delicious salad with a ton of ingredients! A bit unusual... but I felt like mixing it all up and go bananas for a change. Talkin about bananas, lunch box today was filled to the brim with THE BEST COMBO EVER, or at least right now, that is: chopped tomatoes and chopped bananas.... just delicious.... with some cucumber thrown in. What a bliss.

My dinner salad:

Strawberry corn salad

Had some watermelon lime soup to start off with. Just mix upp some melon and some lime juice - makes a wonderful fresh drink. Or go crazy and use a few sweet mangoes and throw in there!

And if you feel like making some fancy schmancy dinner, why not pasta marinara? Just mix up a tomato dressing with sun dried tomatoes (just gotta watch out for that crazy salt thing, I actually found some without!), fresh tomatoes and something sweet and some left over zucchini (from the pasta)...

Just some quick phots! Now - off to bed :)

Have a beautiful week ya´ll! /Alex

On Protein

Now, lately, people have been asking me about protein. What about protein? Well, "where do you get your protein from"? I think this must be the number one question of all questions you get from people, when they find out you´re a vegetarian/vegan/raw foodist/LFRV... Basically, when people find out you are one of those people that are choosing not to eat other animals. When people find out, first reaction tend to be: so, how do you get your protein?

Well, how DO I get my protein? To be honest with you: I DON`T FRICKIN KNOW!! Seriously - I don´t! I eat FOOD. I don´t eat protein! I eat WHOLE, FRESH, RIPE, PLANT FOODS. I don´t count my proteins! How could I possibly do that!? How does a protein look like?? My FOODS look like melon, banana, mango and lettuce.

But, seriously, how do YOU know how much protein you eat? Or how much protein you need? How do you know the things you know about protein? Well, the answer would probably be one of these: “because the food label says this food contains such and such much protein” or “because I am taught that we need X amounts of protein per kilo body weight” or “because everyone else says that we need protein!”. Well, to start off with, MY FOODS DOESN´T EVEN HAVE FOOD LABLES ON THEM! And - if they did - would I be interested in even reading the label??

Now, let me drift off for a few paragraphs and talk about ideas and assumptions.

We are all taught different ideas and assumptions about the world we live in. Parents, people around us, media etc educates us how to think and what idea to implement in our lives. Some of these ideas and thoughts, after being accepted by a vast majority of people, becomes accepted as being “the truth”, or guide lines by which you have to live your life. Now, sometimes these ideas are real good and valuable for us. They help us connect, survive and thrive as an animal species. Like, for instance the idea of being good to others. That is a brilliant idea that I would want to support – because it makes sense to me, and when practicing this idea it feels real good, to me and others around me. So the idea of being good to others would be an idea that I would try to live my life according to.

Now, other ideas might not serve us as well and we might look at them as something not acceptable, like being violent to others. Obviously, the idea of being violent is not something that would serve us in a positive way in day-to-day life. It would probably cause a lot of suffering and it just does not makes sense to be violent to any other being. So the idea of violence would be an idea I would choose not to put in practice in to my life.

Other ideas and “facts” though, might not seem to obvious, or clear as the example above what to think about or whether it would be good or bad to implement in your life. Now bare in mind though, that all assumptions, “facts” and ideas about this world we live in, come from somewhere or someone, articulating these thoughts. They don´t just EXISTS. Now, it is up to YOU to either incorporate these ideas and thoughts into your life, or discard them as ideas by which you do NOT want or have to live your life. Or, as most often, you might want to try them out, see if they make sense in your life and then after that, either live by them, discard them completely, or take pieces of the idea that makes sense to you and incorporate those pieces into your life.

Now, back to the protein issue. What would be the ideas, assumptions and generally “accepted” facts about protein? Well, if you ask me, most people think that we always have to be concerned about getting “enough” protein into our bodies – to be able to... well, either to build muscles, or to avoid some kind of deficiency. Now, I will not get into any “facts” here about how much or when to eat your protein or what studies says... others have explained this in such a brilliant way. Make an effort and read “The China Study” - Dr T. Colin Campbell or “The 80/10/10 Diet” - Dr Douglas Graham.

I would ask you one thing though: HAVE YOU EVER, EVER, EVER MET ANYONE - ANYONE - WITH A PROTEIN DEFICIENCY???? And, no, you health care providers out there working with starving children in Africa or North Korea, you are not allowed to answer yes to this question...

Honestly, have you? The answer would of course be: no. If anyone is suffering from not getting enough protein – they are just not getting enough FOOD, that is, they are starving.

Now, you might think, why would anyone put ideas, thought and “facts” out there – that one might think are not the most “truthful” or simply just not real? And about protein?? Why would anyone possibly want me to think that I need a massive amount of protein to be able to sustain myself? Who would benefit from having me in a constant fear of not getting enough protein to be able to be active, live my life, build muscles or do just about anything else I want to do? WHO WOULD WANT YOU TO LIVE IN FEAR OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN? ….

Well, the answer to that question is in my opinion one of the biggest, most profitable industries around the world: the meat industry. Yes, correctly, the industry of farming animals for our consumption. And, of course, the fitness industry with all their powders and pills. These are HUGE businesses all around the world, keeping people in a constant fear of not getting enough protein, spreading the word that we need such and such amounts of protein every day to sustain ourselves.

Now, I encourage you again to read books like “The China Study” and make an opinion on your own. In my opinion, the idea of not getting enough protein, is an IDEA, a THOUGHT, that most people spend precious time and energy being concerned about. Why not spend time and energy NOT being concerned! Why not spend time LIVING?

I know this would probably not be the answer to the “where do you get your protein from” question that most people would want. In all their honestly, they would want me to say, “well, in lettuce there is such and such amounts of protein that would be enough for X amounts of body weight after working out Y amounts of hours at the gym”. But, I just don´t know! And – I just DON´T CARE! All I know, is that RIGHT NOW, I feel real good. I feel strong, I have endurance, I run, I have all the energy I want throughout the day and I feel like I am THRIVING. And I don´t spend much time worrying about where I get my protein from or if I even need something called protein. Life is too precious worrying about protein. And that would be my take on the "where do you get your protein from" question.

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend

/Alex

Sun and fruits - Bliss in Barcelona!

Just got back from a shorter trip to Barcelona! What a beautiful town, with all the people, architecture, sun, the beach and all the lovely fruits!! What else can a girl possibly ask for?...

Beautiful Barcelona

Some phots from amazing fruit market:

Sweet melons and capsicums

Look! My friends - the watermelons!

Had a kilo of strawberries at the beach...

My sweet cherries :)

It is real easy, simple and perfectly brilliant to be a raw food traveller. Food is abundant everywhere! Even the most boring, not-at-all-like-in-Bangkok, airport, you can find some bananas or a salad. And then, the most important thing to remember, is to always BRING some food, so you have some if you´re caught out arriving at midnight somewhere or travelling vast distances (through airports like the one in Moscow... anyone been there??... just the worst ever...), you are always prepared. And fruits are so easy to bring. You might want to bring some tissues though... especially if you brought some mangoes :) A spoon and a knife should be in your suitcase as well.

Now looking forward to even more Spanish watermelons - in Sweden :)

Have a beautiful day in the lovely sun! /Alex

Fresh Food Festival Bliss

Back from Lolland, Denmark - taking part in Fresh Food Festival!!! What a joy. Such a wonderful event. We were blessed with sun, happy people, inspiring talks and LOADS of fresh, ripe, sweet fruits. And did I mention we had some watermelons? Well, along with the watermelons, I´ve had jackfruit, mangoes, dates, other melons, kiwis, apples, tomatoes (oh, such sweet tomatoes...) and lots of other good stuff.

Petr, one of the organizers.

Sunny, warm days on the beautiful country side in Lolland, Southern Denmark... my heart is happy. So much love to organizers Petr, Laura and Annette!!!

Mr Jack the Fruit

Sharing some phots from the event - and hope to see you all there next year!

My friends... soon to be eaten...

Dr Douglas Graham - sharing so much

stories, inspiration, knowledge and experience.

Lovely lunch table

Jackfruit! Peeled jackfruit! Anyone asking for anything else?????

Don´t really know how the summer could possibly become any better from here :) Life keeps excelling itself all the time. It is so important to be among like ones now and again (or - preferably, ALL the time...). To be able to eat whatever without remarks like "you´re really gonna eat all that??" or "have we got a monkey in here?" or "yeah right, and then you eat some PROPER food in the evening, right?"...

Anyways... life is bliss. Just been munching on some grapes and cherry tomatoes waiting in the airport for a plane to Barcelona. Just perfect.

Lots of love - have a beautiful evening /Alex