June 2020

My best friend showed me this picture in her phone memories the other day. She started with: “I’m going to show you something, but with a warning, you might not like it.”

It was dated June 20th, 2020. A hike to West Cave Preserve in Austin, Texas. And yes...Austin is that green.

I could not believe my eyes. All my 175 pounds, carrying the pains of motherhood, a tenuous relationship, the responsibilities of entrepreneurship, and the stress of moving to a new city.

And I gave birth to my daughter 2 years prior, so that was no longer a viable excuse. Even though that picture is almost 2 years old, it felt like a lifetime ago.

The moment I saw it, I smiled. I felt pride in what I have accomplished in the last couple years. I made the choice to take care of myself even more than I already was.

Now I am 30 pounds less in weight and energetic density. I have shed shame, betrayals, energetic baggage, expired contracts, a boat, 2 vehicles and an Airstream. I am the cleansing queen!

In fact, when I had this “I’m drawing a line in the sand” moment and radically changed my food, it was the beginning of my marriage unraveling. (By no means am I eluding that this will happen to anyone else, just wanting to share my personal experience with you.)

I finally stopped conceding to what he wanted, and began standing up for myself in a whole new way.

And that was not well received. It’s as if the veil lifted, the cloudiness, and I was able to see clearly what was in front of me. I could see the truth. It wasn’t covered up with a sugar high or numbed by a carb overload. It was staring straight at me in the face. My standards elevated because I chose to respect myself.

Long story short, I got back in the kitchen, hands in the food, and playing with plants. I have a connection with my food, and stopped outsourcing this practice.

Cooking is a habit. It’s a practice, like doing yoga. And believe me, it isn’t something that came naturally.

The kitchen always intimidated me. I didn’t start cooking until my 20’s because my family wanted me to focus on school studies, get straight A’s to have a successful career.

And most of my motherhood has been dreading what to make for dinner, and appealing to 5 different cuisine preferences. After a consistent practice of cooking, it became easier, and fun!

I live to eat well. Cause when it tastes good, the body digests and absorbs the food better.

A pillar of Chinese Medicine is Nutrition. It helps me to craft my recipes to support my constitution. We all need to know the fundamentals of how to select foods for our Constitution.

This is something embedded into many Asian cultures. I am grateful to have learned the basics from my mother, and expanded my understanding through Chinese Medical school.

Learn to eat properly, just like the animals naturally do. This is one of the most important human skills to acquire. It’s a journey, it’s a practice.

And the great thing is....we have many opportunities to practice with every single meal we consume.