The Read C

DAND 2: College Be Healthy

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 20:35:19 -0800

Having sent you back to college with a stash of food, I’m hoping that this will last you at least 48 days because that’s how much V8 you have that you’ll drink every single morning. You can dilute the V8 with water since its got a lot of sodium, but if you work out after drinking it, the sodium will be good for you and you’ll sweat it off anyway.

Your first class is not until 1pm so get yourself out of bed no later than 9, prep your food for the day, work out and get to class packed with food.

Avoid vending machines.
Avoid processed preservative infested food from the cafeteria.
No soda.
No caffeine.
And as hard as this will be, no beer or alcohol. This is basically a plant that has fermented into sugar, sugar creates yeast in your stomach, yeast creates cravings and lines your intestines which does not maximize absorption of nutrients in your body. Just think of beer as mucus building up like milky slime in the walls of your gut. Bacteria grows there, possibly growing parasites (worms) if you’re not washing your hands. It’s a vicious cycle. Limit sugar.

When someone says, you want some? Say NO. When someone is looking at your food, share.

Eat as organic as possible. I know it’s more expensive but you don’t have to eat so much!
Your stomach is as big as a quart, that’s as much as you should eat!!

Bring a water bottle everywhere you go, if you think you’re hungry you’re probably just thirsty, drink 8 oz. from 10am - 6pm. One cup per hour.

And brush your teeth every morning and night to kill the bacteria growing between your teeth.

Eat lightest to heaviest and crap like a champ in the morning!

Give your body some time to digest and do its work and you will be amazed how strong and clean your body will work from detoxing all the bad stuff.

Once you start cleaning all your stuff up you’ll be amazed with all the positive things that will come to your life, including a clear mind, spirit and of course a strong healthy body!!

You will lose 10 pounds in two weeks just by following the above.

WIth all of these meals, including snack, drink water, water, water!!

Don’t let this overwhelm you. They are actually simple meals that will take you less than 15 min. to prepare. I would recommend since you have time in the morning to prep your dinner so you don’t go home tired and pissed off that there’s nothing to eat then you end up eating some crap from McDonald’s.

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Day 1
AM: V8
Lunch: Bean salad I made you with an orange.
Mid snack: Apple
Dinner: Boil whole wheat pasta, add tablespoon of pesto I made for you. This meal will be called PESTO.

Day 2
AM: V8
Lunch: Organic peanut butter with jelly on whole wheat toast. With an apple.
Mid snack: Kashi Protein Bar
Dinner: Whole wheat tortilla with half chicken breast. You can microwave chicken breast with 1C of stir fry veggies, then open up a can of black beans, mash stick it in the microwave to warm also. Roll it all up in one tortilla and then add some Tia Alicia’s sauce. Make an extra one and pack for lunch the next day. This meal will be called BURITTO CHICKEN.

Day 3:
AM: V8
Lunch: Extra burrito from night before. This will be an ongoing theme from now on to make extras from dinner and bring it to lunch the next day. It was so good you can eat it two days in a row, one for dinner, one for lunch. Eat with an orange.
Mid snack: Apple
Dinner: Boil whole wheat pasta enough for two meals. Add spaghetti sauce. Add 8 premade meatballs. Eat half. Save the other half for tomorrow’s lunch. Four meatballs max per meal. Cut them up in half so it feels like you have more! This meal will be called SPAGHETTI.
Eat with 1C veggies

Day 4:
AM: V8
Lunch: SPAGHETTI
Mid Snack: Protein Bar
Dinner: Lazy boy tonight: Eat a chicken pot pie, warm up a cup of stir fry veggies.

Day 5:
AM: V8
Lunch: PBJ with apple.
Mid Snack: Kashi Protein Bar
Dinner: Bean salad, kidney beans, black beans, celery, pine nuts, pepper and Boiuse organic no salt seasoning. Warm up ham, eat two pieces only. Meat should only be about a pack of cards.

Day 6:
AM: V8
Lunch: Bean Salad from the night before w/ham.
Mid Snack: Protein Bar
Dinner: 1C organic vegetable broth, 2 meatballs, 1 C stir fry vegetables, warm in microwave and you’ve got soup. Add pepper and no season salt. Eat with 1 piece of toast.

Day 7:
AM: V8
Lunch: PBJ with orange.
Mid Snack: Kashi Protein Bar
Dinner: Boil two potatoes, mash up, add milk and butter. Warm up half a breast and season w/no salt seasoning and pepper. Cook 2C of veggies. Put half in plastic container and eat for lunch on Day 8.

Day 8:
AM: V8
Lunch: Potatoes, meat and veggies from night before.
Mid Snack: Protein Bar and Apple
Dinner: BURRITO CHICKEN - Repeat from Day 2

Do this cycle 6 more times from above and you will have 48 meals. Don’t be too rigid with this, lunch and dinner can essentially be rotated. The key to all this however is sticking to this and you will eat healthy AND have plenty of food!!

Be creative with your meals and add beans with the veggies, or make a burrito with some of the meat I gave you instead of chicken, or eat a burrito with leftover spaghetti sauce and meatballs. Have at least 1 piece of whole wheat toast during dinner so you’re getting enough fiber!!

Okay, good luck and call if you have any questions! When you get back I hope to have an organic vegetable garden started!

Love,
Mom

Midnight Tradition

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 01:44:44 -0800

As far back as I can remember, Christmas memories were always on the Eve of Christmas Day. Barely three feet tall I recall the deafening whirring sounds of unregulated fireworks outside that rocketed sideways at times when they tipped over. Our tradition which was carried forth to this country was to go to midnight mass then open gifts at midnight and then wait for Santa gifts in the morning.

This year has been the most difficult financially with a son in college and two others that enjoy sports and extracurricular activities. Just when I think I’ve got it all planned out a tire gets blown out, my kid has a hole in his shoe, you name it, it happens. It’s fine. I’m not alone in this journey. However, tonight, as difficult as it was to not being able to get ‘things’ for my kids that they don’t really need we did something that was memorable.

We scouted the house for nonessential items and whimsical favorites that we knew the recipient would appreciate. After cooking them a bountiful meal, we watched Four Christmases, Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer and The Count of Monte Cristo as midnight approached. When midnight hit, the movie was set to pause and we began our tradition.

Each one of my kids got their favorite fruit. Alex a mango, Eduardo an orange, and Pedro a banana. Mind you, they were all organic and not to mention perfectly ripe for consumption. They go to war for these fruits so this was a big deal!

I gave my eldest who turned 21 a picture of him in his Power Ranger skin tight outfit when he was a little chubster at 9 and a little bottle of scotch that we’ll both have a shot of this weekend. Alex got a 5x8 Picasso piece that I purchased from the Chicago Art museum and a picture of him I remember taking when he was four after just waking up with his Asian textured hair in full anime form and instead of smiling he holds up a peace sign with his two tiny fingers. Priceless. Pedro got a plate of four huge chocolate chip cookies that stuck together while baking and looked like a person with a head dress so I decorated it with more chocolate chips to make a face. He also got a pair of matching socks since they rarely do match and his long lost book light miraculously still working after I found it in the dryer today. They all gave each other some entertaining items like Pedro giving Eduardo a roll of toilet paper since it always seems to run out on him, and Alex giving Pedro an empty ice cream carton to give him a bad time about eating all of it without him getting a bite of it. But Pedro got back his brother when he got him a stack of multiplication flash cards that I’ve had to shred his brother that he’s so much faster at it than Alex. Good laughs.

The tree also finally got decorated which made me smile and in this small space and time I felt blessed to be surrounded by these three great kids. And as my son’s best friend Eddie witnessed all this while he was hanging out with us, he said, “This is coowl. You guys really know the meaning of Christmas.”

Somebody

Sun, 6 Dec 2009 14:35:35 -0800

I want somebody to share,
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
know my intimate details
Someone who’ll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return he’ll get my support

He will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
He’ll hear me out
And won’t easily be converted
To my way of thinking
That he’ll often disagree
But at the end of it all
He will understand me.

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought
And with every breath
Someone who’ll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like

I don’t want to be tied
To anyone’s strings
I carefully try to stay clear of those things

But when I’m asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
Kiss me tenderly

Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I’ll get away with it...

-Depeche Mode

Julee

Sun, 6 Dec 2009 13:37:07 -0800

Julee mahal,

On this day, Sunday, December 6, 2009, a gathering of your ‘Beloved Ones’ are here to celebrate the beginning of your journey into becoming a woman. Never mind, let’s call it the “Beloved Women” since I don’t want you to call us the B.O. gang…

Julee, call on the Beloved Women.

On your special day, you are surrounded, embraced and blessed by Beloved Women. As I am writing this in the still winter evening, your grandmother, my Ninang Fely is in my thoughts and knowing at this very moment, her presence is within you, in our hearts and surging in your blood. She is amongst the Beloved Women. You must know how much your grandmother loves you and is always with you. Call on her.

And call on the wisdom of all of these women here today because they have all walked paths filled with joy, tears, laughter, sorrow and love.

Julee, honor your mother.

The Beloved Women amongst you today carry a collective wisdom that you must use throughout your journey. It is difficult to see sometimes that your own mother could have the wisdom to know how to advise you of your deepest secrets when she can’t even find the spatula in the kitchen or know how to text you on your phone. But she does. And she understands you more than you will know until you become a mother yourself.

Julee, nurture yourself.

When we were your age and all of these incredible changes were happening in our bodies, in our minds and in our soul, it was such a mystery! Always love the gifts you were given; your beautiful brown Filipina face, your amazing smile and your strong healthy body. Take care of these gifts that you were given but above all, as you walk through your journey, love all those that you meet along your path. This will be the biggest gift that you can give yourself, to love every human being selflessly. This is part of your ability to create love and life into people. This is sharing you Julee into this world. Part of becoming a woman is the ability to nurture others. However, first and foremost you must nurture yourself. It is in loving yourself that you will be able to love others.

Julee, Create….

Women are such powerful creatures and we have the ability to create life! And I don’t just mean the ability to create another human life (because you won’t be doing that until you are 30) but to “CREATE LIFE”. You have the creative life force in you that will allow you to become whatever your heart desires. How do you do this?

Julee, Be Fearless and Live

When nobody is dancing on the dance floor, be the first one out there…

When you are too nervous to wear an outfit because it’s different, do it because YOU like it…

When nobody wants to be friends with someone because they’re different, be the different one and reach out to a new friend that will never forget you…

And last but not least, when you are afraid, just afraid of the world, jump anyway and do it…

In the end, the Beloved Women will always be here for you.

Have a blessed day and enjoy your ceremony!

Tita Menchu

Blade

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:37:53 -0800

Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it
and whispers, “Grow, grow.”

The Talmud

And so ask yourself that it is the unknown, the things we fear the most which allows us to transform, to grow, to be at our highest potential when we challenge those realms. The most painful sorrow, loss and longing makes every joy, discovery and completion more sweet, more delicious and worth living for. That is life.