When a Simple Dinner changes your Life!

You know when you think you know everyone? I don’t mean you know every single person in the world, but you think you know all the types of people in the world. You put people into categories as they share this trait, or that characteristic. It allows you to make quick judgements based on a few observations whether it be from their walk, their mannerisms, their beliefs and so on. But every once in a while there those who you meet that surprise you. They make you question your knowledge of others. They make you add a new category into your category system. Sometimes for the worse, but sometimes for the better.

From my trip last week I was lucky enough to have experienced the company of two lovely people, who I have had to create a new category for. Currently this category is unnamed and it shall remain that way as I feel it would be an injustice to how amazing they are. If you must, find your thesaurus and look up the word “amazing.” I feel this is an accurate word to describe these two.

Now, I am not one for fancy, expensive, gourmet dinners produced by the most renowned chefs who are so fancy in the pantsy they name their restaurants after their first name. Give me a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and I’m good to go. Hell, forget the spoon, I have hands. But during my trip to Melbourne, I was lucky enough to be involved in a dinner that I will not soon forget.

Cutlery? You mean hands?

These two people only know me via friend association, that is, they were friends of friends. However, I was treated as if I was a very close friend, even a best friend. At least that is I how I felt. My friends and I were there for dinner and we were treated to refreshing water, and delicious corn chips (including gluten free chips) with salsa as a starter. Pizza would be headlining tonight, and I’m not talking about your store bought, frozen, cheap imitation of what a pizza should be. This was to be a real pizza. Made from scratch. Even the dough bases (some regular and some gluten and starch free) were built from the ground up. Never did I realise how many extra ingredients were needed to construct a gluten free dough. But this humble abode catered for both. While the man of the house battled the dough, fist to dough face style, the lady of the house was making the dessert; ice-cream. Armed with cream, sugar and a whisk (among other things) this lady was creating this cream of ice from scratch as well. In the midst of all this, my friends and I were welcomed and humbly encouraged  to taste some house apple cider, made from the apples from the tree in the backyard. Never before had I experienced so many homemade food items.

Next, we had the difficult task of choosing, from a buffet of ingredients, the toppings which to grace our own dough slabs with. All your typical toppings where there for the taking including mushrooms, onions, mozzarella cheese (and gluten free cheese), ham, and gourmet salami. There were even some choices I had never thought of decorating a pizza with such as pumpkin, spinach and anchovies.

While decoration time is happening the room is filled with storytelling, laughter and conversations. I’m talking real conversations and not your extended and polite head nodding of acknowledgement small talk. Real conversations. It was such a refreshing breath of fresh air. I know it might seem strange to think so highly of this, but I have to say I appreciated it so much. Such a contrast it is to the kinds of “conversations” I have at home.

In between stories, the man of the house is darting back and forth between the outside barbecue and the indoor oven. Never have I seen someone care so much for the status of my food. Each pizza was to be cooked just right, and that’s exactly how they were done, and they were absolutely delicious. I was even offered a couple of beers courtesy of the house to drink with the man. I felt more than welcome. I am lost for words with how good it felt to have been accepted into such a lovely home the way that I was. Already in food heaven, bowls of ice-cream graced the table, and our lips. Never before had I tried a “Blue Magic” topping before, but combined with this homemade ice-cream all I can say is Peters or Bulla or Ben and Jerry’s had better watch their backs.

Don’t you just want to roll around in it? Trick question! Of course you do!

After dinner I was offered the sofa bed for peaceful night slumber. I was even given the opportunity to switch off the resident fish’s water filter for the night so that it would not disturb me. I’m sure that fish was not overly fond with sharing the living area with me. Upon awakening the next morning, a note alerted us that we were welcome to anything in the house for breakfast, including a freshly cut pineapple, grape, apple and watermelon fruit salad prepared by the lady herself. In addition, as I returned from my morning run, in unfortunately freezing typhonic weather, I was offered to use the house’s hot water shower and towels. To witness and be a apart of such hospitality, generosity and company I feel truly lucky and blessed. I have never meet the kind of people that I did  on that Melbourne trip and before then never thought these kinds of people existed.

On my trip I met many people, and learned many things, about others and about myself, especially from these two individuals. The experience made me realise that in the grand scheme of things, I know very little about people. It made me realise that some people are inherently good and are willing to help even when it might be inconvenient for them. It made me realise that generosity is out there, and that I myself wish to be more generous in the future, whether it be in giving my resources, knowledge or time to others. It made me realise that I wish to aspire to be as good an individual as these two people. They make me want to be more like them and aspire to treat others the same way.

If they happen to read this I would like to take the opportunity to thank them again. Thank you for taking me into your home and treating me the way you did. It was not unappreciated. Thank you for the great memories, experiences and stories which you have shared with me. My life is now richer from it. I can honestly say if there were more people in the world like you two, the world would be a better place.

I hope this story finds you well. Keep being amazing.

– Sash

Eat this, no this, no this!

Diets!

I hate diets. Yeah, I said it!

The Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, If It Fits Your Macros diet, low carbohydrate diet, low fat diet, high protein diet, Paleo Diet and the ever rampant See-food Diet. How the on Earth are you supposed choose, right? Which one is the best for me to achieve my goals? I would say the “best” one if the one that you feel comfortable staying on and sticking to. But that is the exact reason why I hate diets. Diet implies it is only temporary, and if it is only temporary then so will be the results you gained on that diet. You can go on and off a diet. It seems like a bandaid approach in order to quick fix a problem. It seems like a cure, when ultimately we should be striving for prevention.

He sees food, and eats it. He also apologises for nothing!

Diets, in one way or another restrict a certain thing. In a low fat diet, fat is restricted. In a low carbohydrate diet, carbohydrates are restricted. The problem here is that the body is built to work optimally by using all three of these macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) together. When you take one away, the body begins to cease functioning the way it should. For example with low carbohydrate you will start to feel tired, lethargic and you will have trouble concentrating. Why? Because the body’s primary energy source comes from carbohydrates. The brain itself is fuelled by glucose, a sugar that has been broken down from carbohydrates. Let’s take fat as another example because low fat diets are a very popular topic. There is even a whole market dedicated to selling “low fat” foods. Amongst other things, fat carries certain vitamins that can only be absorbed by the body via fat. Fat also affects your hormone levels. I have been through a low fat diet stage and I can tell you when your hormones are out of whack, and your libido is affected in a negative way, it isn’t the most pleasant way to go through the day (although some guys would benefit from a reduced libido). So as a rule of thumb, if a diet restricts one of these macronutrients to a very low level, approach with caution.

MOVING ON!

Another reason why I hate diets is because people are expected to fit the mould of the diet. Therefore some people are going to struggle more than others to stay on the diet. And remember a diet is only as effective as the length of time you commit to it. You may see progress at the start, but you will find when you “go off” the diet, you end up going back to square one, and sometimes end up in a worse place than you started. Everyone is different and have different tastes. Some foods that a diet requires you to eat might not sit well in your belly. I for one cannot devour too many navy beans or lentils. This is because my body has a difficult time digesting them. Therefore going on a high bean/lentil diet (I’m sure there is one of those out there too) would not make much sense for me. That is not a “diet” I could stick to.

A peanut butter diet however…..

So what the hell do I do now? If all diets are ultimately ineffective then where do I go now? How about creating your own? And how about not labelling it a diet? How about calling it your eating habit? A habit is a hard thing to break once you have established some ground rules. That’s all diets are. Diets are just plans, with rules that you stick to. So why not create your own rules? Why not structure it in a way that you find easy to do, and that can accomplish your goals at the same time? When you are eating the foods you like, abiding by your own rules and structure you won’t even be on a diet. You will just be living your own food lifestyle.

So create some rules for yourself that you can abide to today, and everyday here on after. It’s all well and good to lose the weight, but then keeping it off is the next thing. For me some basic rules that I follow everyday are: Drink two to three litres of water a day, minimum. Eat some kind of vegetable in three of my five meals a day. Eat like a king during the day and a peasant at night. In otherwords eat most of my food during the day, and reduce it the closer to bed time it is. Eat protein in every meal. Allow myself a “bad meal” once a week, or a one small treat each day.

Those are my personal basic rules that I follow every day. Those are my absolute minimums. I don’t feel like I’m on a diet, because I’m not on one. I don’t just go on and off these eating habits. I will adjust some things if my goals change, but the basic structure remains the same.  If I want to gain weight, I will eat  a little more at each meal. If I want to lose weight, I will eat a little less at each meal. It’s not rocket surgery and I think these diets over complicate things, even when they are attempting to do the opposite. I won’t neglect the foods I like to eat. I really like peanut butter (if you had not noticed), so I will eat it, whether I’m gaining weight or losing weight. I drink alcohol at celebrations. I will eat dessert. I will not deny myself these luxuries of life and I won’t feel guilty eating them. If my goal is to lose weight I will just reduce the portion sizes or when I choose to eat them. But I won’t deny myself what I like completely. The food will fit my mold, not the other way round.

I think people like being told what to do, especially when it comes to this whole diet craze. If someone tells you about this diet, and you do it, and you fail, you can easily shift your blame to the other person. “It wasn’t my fault, the diet didn’t work.” It is so easy to blame someone else. We often don’t take accountability for our own actions. It’s not the diet’s fault that it didn’t work because you didn’t stick to it. You controlled what you threw into your mouth, not the person writing the diet. Take some responsibility for your actions and take some responsibility for what you throw into your mouth. We are all adults and if we can’t even control what we throw into our mouths we have a dire future ahead.

“THE CLAW MADE ME EAT IT. I SWEAR IT!”

So create your own eating lifestyle, filled with the foods that you like to eat. Give yourself some structure, and make your own rules. Adjust accordingly depending on your goals. And the most important thing is to be consistent. Don’t chop and change everything at once. Change one thing at a time and see how it affects you. If it works, keep it. If it doesn’t, get rid of it.  See what works for you and find what helps you remain consistent because remember we want to keep those delicious results.

– Sash

P.S. If anyone has any further questions, needs me to elaborate, or anything else regarding the information here, please feel free to ask.

You know that thing you think you want? You don’t need it!

“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed” –  Mahatama Ghandi

Read that piece of wisdom by Ghandi again and let it sink into the confines of your cortex. Really think about it. Now look around you. If you are sitting in the comfort of your abode glance around the room. 180 degree head spin that neck. If you’re outside in the park, focus your eye balls on people walking by. Notice the things they wear and carry with them. If you’re chucking a dump in a public toilet………..ok you get the drift. Just look around the damn place and do some observing.

What do you see? If you’re the house dweller, do you see that decoration? Do you see that lovely silver framed picture on the wall? Do you see that jewellery or bling (whatever kids are calling it these days) on your dresser? If you’re in the park, do you see what people are wearing? Do you see the mp3 players, the iPods, the laptops, the suits, the Nike Frees, the time pieces, the fashion? If you’re on the toilet………no need to look around and especially not down. You know what’s there. You created it you wonderful artist you.

You see all that stuff? You don’t need it. I mean, you don’t REALLY need it. In fact, it probably causes you more trouble than what you paid for it.

Let’s go back to Ghandi, that wise and sexy man. The world has enough for everyone’s need. So what are everyone’s needs? I would say we strip down to the bare minimum basics that would allow us to survive. So what does that leave us with? If you are thinking about your car, your jewellery or your iPhone, you my friend have a long way to go. In fact, get over here so I can give you a paddling, with this paddle, that I don’t even need.

Sex and wisdom personified. What a man!

 I myself would say the three things that we, as humans, NEED to survive are food (including water), shelter, and clothing. That’s it. That is all we need to survive.

Let’s go over these things in case they are not convincing enough.

1) Food (and water): Really? I need to explain this one? Oh, and pro tip for anyone who is has the choice between choosing food or water to survive a drought, or a deserted island, choose the water. You’ll live longer.

2) Shelter: This one too is obvious however may need further clarification. We need shelter to protect ourselves from predators, mother nature and the elements, consumerism, One Direction (jokes, but seriously I dig one of their songs at the moment. But if you tell anyone, I will have to maim you) etc. Without this protection, we perish.

3) Clothing: Clothing is necessary, also for protection from the elements, and keeping warm when need be. And when I talk clothing, I’m not talking about your designer label handbag and other over the top crap (YEAH I SAID IT) that serves no other purpose than to hold other crap you don’t need.

As far as I’m concerned if you have anything that does not fall into these three categories, you do not need them to survive. Anything else is just pure luxury, that probably only serves the purpose of entertaining you as you waddle through the week, thinking about how you will be spending your most precious commodity (which is time, not money. If you thought money, get over here. My paddle is getting cold) on more stuff you don’t need.

Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just need these three things. Sure those three things still apply, but depending on where you live I would say there are certain things that you probably need to survive in your environment. Off the top of my head I would say perhaps a phone, purely for communication purposes. Not a bloody smartphone that has the internet, and games, and applications that tell you what your star sign is, or when it’s time for you to go to the bathroom, or if that guy/girl likes you, or your estimated date that you will die on and all that other bullshit. Just a phone that allows you to talk with another person. That’s it. That is probably the only thing that I could add to the list, although you don’t REALLY need it. I’m sure Ghandi, in all he’s enlightened and meditative thinking doesn’t consider the phone as a NEED and I will now need to prepare for the onslaught of paddling that is to follow. Be gentle sweet Ghandi.

Your punishment? The paddling of the swollen ass. With paddles!

Now I’m guilty myself of owning things that I don’t need to just survive, for example this computer I’m on, and this keyboard I am using to rant about this subject, and this printer, and this desk, and this calendar. This is all luxury stuff. This is all for entertainment, although the purpose of this piece of writing is to open some eyes and invite you to think about these sorts of things in a different light.

We live in such a consumerist society that is advertising all this crap we don’t need as a necessity of life. Do you really need those designer jeans with the cuts and bleach marks and the designers name printed on your ass? Do you really need that luxury car with bluetooth, and DVD player, and TV screens popping out the back off the seats, and a rear parking video camera? JUST TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD AROUND YOU LAZY GIT! Do you really need that piece of jewellery to make yourself feel beautiful? You already are. Wearing a piece of overpriced sparkle isn’t going to make you comfortable in your own skin. Self confidence will. No piece of an element from the earth is going to.

This car is oozing so much luxury it f*cking flies!

Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just survive on the basics. But I invite you to think about what and where you are spending your money (but more importantly, your time to earn that money) on. Instead of that luxury car, down grade. Do you really need four bedrooms? Do you really need five hundred thousand carat diamonds? Do you really need that smartphone? Do you really need that watch that could pay for a person’s education, or better yet, help someone who is struggling to even get the three basics?

So the next time you want to buy something, or think that you need to, really ask yourself this:

“Do I REALLY need that?”

I think you may be surprised.

– Sash