On certain days I want to be disgustingly over-fed...those days I seek comfort food and television over salad and walking...you know those days. It pays to have a reminder of how bad it feels to eat dirty. We each suffer differently for our self-abuse. Here is a taste of my dirty-life.
Red Bull and how it makes me feel/behave:
- Moody - I become angry, mean and intolerant especially toward the people I love most.
- Stinky - My body odor becomes tremendous!
- Jittery - I bite my nails to bloody stumps; I find myself sitting around biting nails or picking at things instead of being productive.
- Light-headed - Due to pre-existing medical conditions, I'm already prone to syncope; it is increased with each serving I drink.
- Dehydration - The more I drink, the more orange and dark the urine.
- Diarrhea - The more I drink, the less I eat and the more my poop turns liquid.
- Joints - My back aches on a lumbar level especially in the morning; my elbows, knees and even fingers hurt when I wake up and most of the day.
- Teeth - Man, I thought Coca-Cola could harm pearly whites - red bull causes cavities and turns my teeth yellow-green.
- Guilty - I am ashamed by my addiction. I stash cans in odd places so my husband won't catch me. I know it is wrong. Every can makes me feel more disappointed in myself.
- Broke - It costs a fortune to drink as much as I like to. I might as well be smoking 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day!
Sustaining and foraging.
Growing up, I spent four years living in Central Florida in a yard landscaped with exotic plants; supposedly, the previous owners landscaped for Disneyworld. Looking back, we could have eaten much more from our yard - our internet connection was fairly slow in 1990...we couldn't just Google "edible plants". We ate the young bamboo shoots. We ate the ripe loquats from the tree in the backyard. At one point we even tore apart a fruit from one of our palm trees (Queen Palm perhaps) to get to the seed just to smash it open and eat the edible nut inside.
Now, in my own yard, I eat the hibiscus blooms and leaves. We have a small herb garden on the back porch with rosemary, basil, mint and cilantro. Strawberries come back every year. We grow gardens in the summer. And every other year, our two pecan trees provide a harvest, if you can compete with the critters. Next spring I hope to use our copious amounts of wild onion in place of chives (one less thing to grow). And I look forward to dandelion greens next year - must continue research on dandelion's detoxifying effects on the liver.
My father has a spectacular garden every year. He's been growing these amazing, long "Chinese Beans" since I was in elementary school. Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers (he's been pickling!). His jalapeno peppers are an amazing gift each summer. He can be so generous! I remember, just a few years ago, watching him snack on pine nuts from his yard. I'm glad those tall, scary pine trees have something to offer. There is yucca and wild passion fruit in their yard, which they are less exited about than I am. I'll try anything.
