Plenty of Fish

Give a [gal] a fish and you feed [her] for a day. Teach a [gal] to fish and you feed [her] for a lifetime. 
Chinese Proverb

Today I was given an amazing gift.  My friend Robert, a macrobiotic counselor, made a house call this morning to go over my diet and make some revisions.  Currently my doctor has me on a fairly strict diet to starve a slight overgrowth in my GI tract.  This meant going off of all sugar and most starches and taking a hiatus from my vegan diet.  It also meant eliminating any foods that might be triggering a leaky guy - soy, corn, caffeine, alcohol, fermented foods, and gluten (dairy was already out of my diet).  Daily meals have consisted of small amounts of non-gluten grains (like brown rice and quinoa), lots of green vegetables and salads, select nuts and seeds (sesame and almond for the most part) and some organic chicken, turkey and wild fish.

Despite eating foods with higher amounts of protein and eating more greens than I had been as a vegan, I was low on energy and not meeting caloric intake requirements for my half-marathon training.  So I eased up and was only running once a week.  Robert, being an avid runner, wanted to get me back on the running trail, on track with health and with just simply feeling vibrant again.  And what an inspiration he was.

He rolled up to my street with three bags of goodies: a tailor-made list of 7 different breakfast recipes, generous samples of various grains to try, supplements to consider, samples of protein powders, and a couple new brand products to add to my diet.  We went over all the recipes and samples and then started to cook.  He made 5 recipes in less than an hour:

Pressed Salad
Millet Porridge
Veggie Stew
Blanched Greens
Mochi Melt

The foods were delicious and the lessons were invaluable.  There's something so special about a person sharing his time, knowledge, and experiences to help improve someone's quality of life.  And it came at a much needed time.  I felt like one lucky duck today.  Thanks Robert!

One Enchanted (Macro) Evening

I recently got to visit with two of my favorite people over dinner and get a glimpse of the benefits of what is their day-to-day diet. Christina and Robert Pirello have been living the macrobiotic lifestyle for over 26 years. Christina was introduced after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Robert was her macro counselor. She adopted this diet under his supervision and guidance to heal but got more than she probably expected. She not only got better; she acquired a super cool man friend and husband.

Together, Christina and Robert have brought their love of this healing diet and way of life to hundreds of thousands of people. They take travel enthusiasts with them on trips to Italy and Israel and soak in the sun with fellow cruisers in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Christina hosts cooking classes in Philadelphia and shows viewers, through her PBS show Christina Cooks, how good the macro life can be.

I had attended some of her classes and read her books. But it's a truly awesome experience to share a meal with this power couple, who are two of the most genuine and giving people you could ever meet.

And I have to say that this meal, prepared by the pros, couldn't have come at a better time. I eat a plant-based diet and try to prepare as many meals as possible. But my work schedule had become more hectic in recent months, I was down on my number of daily veggies, and training for a half marathon had consumed what little free time I had left. Hence, no cooking. Hence, I desperately wanted a home-cooked meal. And presto! Here it was...

I would imagine that when people hear the word "macrobiotic" the following associations might come to mind:

*Hippie
*Radical
*Expensive
*Is that, like, Biology?
*Nutritionist Science Jargon

A macrobiotic diet focuses on the energetics and quality of food...avoiding or reducing the amount of foods that have an overly yin (expansive) or yang (contractive) quality to them. Extreme foods on the body include caffeine, sugar, animal products and alcohol. But every food has an energy. Balance is key...eat a proportion of foods that are yin and yang without going to one extreme or the other (coffee, sugar, etc...will get you there quickly).

While I took a stab at some Macro Monday recipes in the past (and found them to be very soothing and balancing) - Miso Soup, Blanched Vegetables, Burdock for Breakfast, and Parsley Tea, I must say Christina and Robert's dinner menu was much yummier in general and would appeal to a wide variety of palates.

Menu

Pickled Eggplant Crostini
Creamy Parsnip Bisque
Farro Salad
Raddichio, Grapefruit and Arugula Salad
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you get your macro on? What are your favorite recipes or sites?

For more great recipes, visit www.christinacooks.com.

Aside from Christina's books (my favorite is Glow), I recommend Jessica Porter's The Hip Chick Guide to Macrobiotics, and Simon Brown's Modern-Day Macrobiotics.