Eating Explorations - Let the Journey Begin...

 

 

 

Hello everyone! Thank you for joining me here through this incredible journey which we're about to go on together. Well, I shouldn't phrase it quite that way. After all, I've already begun the first month of this grand feat that will last me at least another 7 months.

Where do I begin? I love food. I have always loved food. Some years I've loved food more than myself. Other times I can't stand to look at it, and even still there are other times when I have no appetite for it. I have always had a passion for cooking, and am told by everyone that I've ever had the pleasure to cook for, that I have a natural talent. That and writing. So I've decided - why not combine the two? 

3 months ago, I went through the worst break-up of my life, and for about 3 weeks I had to force myself to eat just once a day. I had no stomach - i.e. no appetite. I started to lose a little weight, and my pants were starting to feel loose - which had been needed for quite some time. But then, after that initial mourning period, I began to get hungry again and scarfing down all the things (and only the things) that made my brain feel happy. Most specifically chocolate. With a few cheeseburgers thrown into the mix as well.

Needless to say, my pants began to not fit as well anymore, and it was time to leave my self-pity party, and start taking care of myself. 

Let me start this next part off with: I hate exercising. So much. So very, very much. I have never been athletic. I cannot do a push up to save my life, and if the world depended on me jogging for more than 1 minute straight, our entire planet would perish. Having said that, I know exercise is good for me, and that is why if I have the right person helping me, I can be disciplined and I do do it. But only when someone is forcing me. Otherwise, I'm all about watching "My 600 lb. Life" and feeling like a super model on my sofa.

In the past, I've always enjoyed experimenting with different diets. Keto, Vegan, high protein/low-carb - you name it, I've more than likely tried it. But this time I wanted to do something myself. Create my own diet. Something that would be fun, interesting, different and creative.

I decided to go on a 30-day diet called "The Jesus Diet" which I "invented" myself. Yes, yes. There are others who have written books with the same title, people who have experimented with the recipes that were common back in the day during Jesus' time, or simply from Biblical days. But, this was different because I used modern-day recipes and altered them to fit with the ingredients which would only have been available during Jesus' time. And, I also came up with my own recipes from scratch.

The diet, I must say, has been a success. Some of my clothes are actually fitting now, as opposed to when I started 4 and a half weeks ago. And the food? Delicious, if I may say so myself.

But who can eat chickpeas, lentils, lamb and basil long term? I mean, I guess you could... but why would you want to, when there's so much more out there to be explored and played with?

I had committed myself to a minimum of 30 days on this diet, and as of today we are at 34. I am planning to stop this diet in about a week and a half and go on to something else...

I have decided to try an experiment. Perhaps it's crazy, perhaps it's genius. Or maybe it's something in between the two. I will be creating a different diet every 30 days for the next 7 months. December 31st will be the completion of the diet - unless I love doing it, and continue on in the new year.

I have selected 7 completely different places in the world to base the respective diets, and only eat the foods which were naturally indigenous to those particular lands 2,000 years ago or longer.

Just like with "The Jesus Diet" there are no processed foods, no granulated sugars, no sweeteners and *gulp* some of these selected spots had no wine, either.

I will be posting photos of my recipes each day, and I would love to hear feedback from you all (nothing too nasty please, no need to be unkind on this forum)!

So let's get started, traveling our way around the world...one natural bite at a time...