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Cohabitating with friend – Is the saving worth the headache
HousingYour Relationship

Cohabitating with friend – Is the saving worth the headache

by Helen

As cost of housing rockets in densely packed metropolitan, more people are looking to cohabiting with family or friends.  In North American society, it has been a trend for children to leave the nest,  but in the recent year, the trend has been on a reserved as more and more young people move back home with their parents because they can’t find work, get laid off or just go thru life event. I also made the same decision. Yep! I move in with my family.

I am still reeling from the shock of my decision. I made the decision to move in with my family based on pure economic motive. Coincidentally, after I made this decision I went through one of the harder experiences in my life and is now without a job. Though I was very reluctant at first, I soon realize that there are a lot of benefits of living with my family. Honestly, I didn’t come to this decision easily. It took a look of thinking, debating, dreading and quite frankly kicking myself in the back side before I gave into logic and took the plunge.

Dream to reality

I brought a new built 2 bedrooms condo and I moved into my condo almost a year ago. Check out my post on how I brought this townhouse. After waiting for 3 years, my condo was built. I was ecstatic when I got the key from my builder. I couldn’t wait to deck out my cozy home with my hobo gypsy decor. The plan was for my mom and me to live in this condo.  But on the date of moving,  her highness informed me that she wanted to move in with Karen because she wanted to spend more time with her precious and only grandchild. WHAT? I immediately talked to Karen and then it was Karen’s turn to collapse and threaten to move in with me. Well, she didn’t see that one coming.

After much discussion, we couldn’t change our mother’s mind. Swallowing our frustration, we decided that I would continue to live in the townhouse while my mother moved in with Karen. My brother in law (Karen’s hubby) was happy about his because he has great relationship with my mom. Seriously, I sometime think that he is her child, not us.

This arrangement worked out well for me initially. I was living on my own and totally loving my space. But I also realize that the 1,000 square feet townhouse was too big for me to take care off. The mortgage payment was sizable and swallowed up 1/3 of my net income which meant I had to reduce a lot of variable expenses to balance my budget. One of my biggest sacrifice was cutting down on vacation expense. This was a stab to my heart because I LOVE travels. Is this 1,000 square foot home a worthwhile trade-off for my love of travel?  I wrestled with the decision.

Questions and Answers

One faithful Saturday morning, I looked at my messy townhouse, mentally made notes of what I had to clean, started to dread spending my precious weekend time cleaning the space that I didn’t even use (literally I was only using half of the property), and dreamed about the Japan-Korea vacation that I couldn’t afford this year. I was also going thru a rough time at work. The toxic corporate environment was getting to me and impacted my mental and physical health in a big way.  But I just couldn’t quit my job because I had a mortgage to pay. Unhappy at my job, yet couldn’t walk away because I needed the income to pay for a house that was too big for me.

That was when I had my DOH moment. I realized I didn’t need to have 1,000 square feet with 2 bedrooms when I worked long hours and wanted to travel more. Right there and then, I made the decision to downside and made drastic changes to get my life back on the happy and blissful track. There were couple of options that available to me:

  • Rent out my townhouse and then rent a small bachelor for myself.
  • Rent out my townhouse then move into Karen’s basement
  • Rent out my townhouse then move into with a friend

I didn’t want to sell my house because I knew that property in my area would continue to increase. If I have a tenant to pay the mortgage for me, I could gain more in equity when I decide to sell eventually.  Time to sharpen my pencil and do the math! All 3 options would reduce my monthly housing cost substantially because I could easily rent my townhouse for ~$2000 per month which would give a $500 surplus ($2000 rent income – $1200 mortgage payment – $300 maintenance fee = $500 surplus). It is a new build townhouse and the property tax paid 2 years in advance, thus I won’t have to pay property tax in the next 2 years. Nice investment! Out of all three options, moving in with Karen was the most logical choice because:

  • Free rent which will reduce financial burden for me. To many of you, this may sound strange but, in my family, (yes, Karen’s hubby included) we willing to pool resource and share our spaces with each other. This option will allow me to take a lesser paid but also less demanding job while getting start on my dream of building this blog to provide knowledge supporting and empowering women.  And I can travel again. Japan and Korea, here I come. My sashimi, budae jjigae, bibimbap food fantasy excursion will soon be a reality!
  • Living in same house will make it easier for Karen and I to collaborate on this blog

Decisions and Actions

It was then my turn to sit Karen down and told her my decision. She didn’t collapse to my surprise, instead she came to the same conclusion on her own and was afraid to bring it up to me. She knew that I needed to make a change in my life direction because I wasn’t happy with the ways things were. My brother in law was also supportive of my decision much to my surprise. It is very comforting and encouraging to have family who will support you when you are going thru a tough time.

I love my family and you can probably tell that we are a very close knit one. But even as close and caring as we are to each other, there need to be rules and boundaries to help the entire family function effectively, and reduce stress for everyone. So, we had a frank and honest discussion as a family about this new living arrangement. 4 big rules that we agreed on were:

  • Set up basic ground rule such as babysitting availability. As much as I love my little monster, I need my space from time to time and they can’t just dump her on me. Love you, baby!
  • Everyone understood that the basement is my space. That means, they will have to knock and ask for my permission before enter. I keep my private spaces like bedrooms and apartments off-limits to them but I make the exception for my niece. The little monster has my permission to come and go as she pleases
  • Openly discuss who would take care of chores, cooking, and shopping. We all agreed that we would function as separate household meaning they will do their cooking and I do my. I make one exception for Karen’s lunch. I make her lunch because we both eat the same type of food
  • Discuss rent payment. For now, I won’t have to pay rent until I can find a new job

Some tips

I got to say, it is not as bad as I thought. I have been living with my family for couple of months and things are working well. Aside from the fact that we are a close knit and supportive family, open communication really helps to harmonize the family interaction. Couple of thoughts that I want to leave with you if you consider moving in with family or friend:

  • Set up basic ground rule upfront. Be transparent and honest about what you want. Don’t try to sugar coast because you will likely end up in conflict later on
  • Openly discuss who would take care of chores. Proactive discussion will ensure that everyone understand and accept their role and contribution in the living arrangement thus avoid conflict or unexpected issue in the future
  • The big M word, Money. It is important to have honest discussion about rent even with your family. Don’t make assumption. Discuss and confirm that everyone agree on an outcome. You don’t want to lose family relationship over money.
  • Pick your battles. Annoyances can arise when living with family. Someone may have messy habits or pet peeve that annoys you. For me, my dear mother’s habit of chewing with her mouth opens. Seriously, that sound can drive me nut. Karen can’t stand it either. But don’t fight over these small things. Pick the battles worth fighting for. Learn patience and swallow the petty stuff; invest in the battles that really matter. Like my mother’s constant nagging about me having a kid and get married. I took my stance on this battle. As of now, mom is zero and I am up 1. HAH!
  • Have on going dialogs to make sure everyone is still happy with the living arrangement and make adjustment as needed.

Initially, I found it challenging to live under the same roof with my family, but this experience seems to strengthen my family bond even more. It is a nice feeling to know that I have people whom I can count on to help me thru life’s rough patches. How about you? Are you consider moving in with family and friend? Write to me about your experience.

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GMO vs. Non-GMO foods – To eat or not to eat!
Food & Recipe

GMO vs. Non-GMO foods – To eat or not to eat!

by Helen

I hope you have a chance to read my nutty 10 years foods journey – from rice to paleo and anything else in between post. I love food and all kids of foods. Though I am not the world greatest cook, but I can make a decent meal.  No one who ate my foods had to make a dash to an emergency room for stomach pump yet. Well, if they did, they didn’t tell me. I used to eat out quite a bit, but I also have a budget hawk maniac as a sister, and she made me do a personal budget and commit to balance it. The cruelty of that woman! In order to balance my budget, I had to cut down on my restaurant spending quite aggressively. Did I mention, she is mean and discipline about budget? And I now live in her basement, so she has a good idea of what I spend on. Dictatorship and big sister watching is the system that I now live under.

But getting back to the foods, I have been cooking a lot more and paying more attention to the type of produces that I eat because my body is very fickle about what it has to digest. Having to spend a lot more time at the grocery stores, I have come to notice that more and more produce (especially process foods) have non-GMO label. Couple weeks ago, I found myself staring at four different brands of non GMO soya source on a Korean grocery store. What? When did my people care about non-GMO food?  It got me curios and thinking about GMO and non-GMO. So, I started browsing the internet and talking to couple of nutritionists whom I know. I am a bit neurotic. When an idea got into my head, I have to get to the bottom of it. And this GMO and non-GMO thing really bothers me because my rocky relationship with foods.

So, what does GMO stand for?

It is called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). In a nutshell, the DNA of the plants has been modified to introduce new features. What? The food scientists modified the DNA of my foods? Eh…How? Well, they can change the plant’s DNA by:

  • Traditional crossbreeding techniques
  • Using chemicals or radiation to change the plant gene
  • Cut and paste a gene from an organism (plant or animal) with the desired characteristics and insert it into the genome of the plant or animal that needs to be “improved”

Say what? Inserting, replacing gene? They made my foods into Frankenstein? I dug deeper and it turned out crossbreeding is common in agriculture. Phew! Most of apples are hybrids. There were no Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala before, but thanks to the crossbreeding, we now have a lot more apple varieties to enjoy.  So how do food scientists genetically modify the DNA of a plant? First, they identify a characteristic or gene in a plant that they want to improve, then they look for the “enhancer” gene or characteristic in another plant that they can cross breed with. Then, they complete the process of crossbreed in a lab. Now, some GMO foods have great results. Look at the amount of apple varieties that we now have as a result of crossbreeding, a great story of GMO.

But when crossbreeding goes bad, it is really bad. A 2012 study identified cross breeding as a main cause for the tasteless tomatoes that we all consumer today. The scientist started to mess around with tomato’s DNA because they wanted to improve the tomatoes appearances by making it looked more round, firm, plum and red. Seriously? I personally prefer odd looking heirloom tomatoes over the perfect looking ones any day. I am all for individualism. A little character goes a long way for me. Evidently, that was not the food scientist’s preference. Their actions have unintended consequence. Good intention (I assume) doesn’t always equal to good outcome. When they modified the tomatoes’ DNA, they inactivated the gene that producing sugar and flavour of the tomato. The result is perfectly gorgeous looking tomatoes without taste.

Darnation! What right do these guys have to destroy the nature’s taste?  Have you ever bitten into a non-GMO tomato or commonly refer to as heirloom? I did. First, an aromatic and floral scent invades your senses, and then follows by a juicy, sweet and slight tang explosion in your mouth. Oh man! Heirloom tomato’s taste is divine. It is a beautiful fruit. But that isn’t the taste you get from a non-GMO tomato isn’t it? That’s the cost of having gorgeous looking tomatoes: No taste, no scent. That’s a case of GMO went bad!

The most common GMO method is gene alteration. Scientists do this by changing the DNA sequence of a living thing. The top GMO crop is corn. FYI! 85% of corn crop grown in US are GMO. There goes my sweet corn obsession and the sad story of corn begins. Non-GMO corn attracts lot of insects. Insects love corn, and farmers have lost many corn crops due to insect’s damage.  The scientists were quite clever in solving this problem but they weren’t clever enough. They took the insect resistant gene from other crops and literally injected the gene into corn’s DNA.  More seriously, they also altered corn’s genetic to be resistant to herbicides. Herbicide is a chemical that Roundup uses to make weed spray for your lawn.  Now, I want you to picture this: you are eating corn that that has been sprayed with 5, 10 or maybe 15 rounds of weed spays Roundup.

How does the weed spray taste?

Yuck! Disgusting? Yes, and not that tasty. Not to mention the potential damage to your organs that can be caused by a chemical that potent and strong enough to kill weeds. Can your liver, lung, stomach handle it? Depend on how much, how long and how frequent you eat corn, the amount of herbicide (weed killer spray) accumulated in your body can be very substantial. Eating weed killer spray is bad enough, but the worst new is the potential risk of eating a crop which gene sequence has been altered.

To this day, there has been very little research on what has done to other food/plant gene within that sequence.  No scientist seems to want answering the question: what are the side effects of GMO foods? Allergy? Cancer? Must we wait another 50 years for scientist to figure it out? I don’t know about you, but I want the answer now.

Growing up, it was rare for me to know someone who had nut allergy. Well, I am a Vietnamese born and peanut is used in 80% of our cooking. Now most of my acquaintances and friends have some sort of allergy. I know someone who is allergic to cilantro. Herb? What has this world come to? Karen couldn’t bring a cake to the little monster (my niece) birthday at her kindergarten because her classmates have nut, egg, and dairy allergy and gluten intolerance. These are 5 year old kids and the adults around them are constantly on the lookout for allergic reactions. When did our kids have this much allergy? Don’t get me start on the rise of cancer.

Let change the topic before my blood pressure starts to rise. How can you tell which produces are GMO and which are not?

Currently, US and EU require food producers to have appropriate non-GMO label which is really good news for consumer. The label below is a common one that you will see on US non-GMO products.  All organic produces are non-GMO because they require having organic certification. So if you are unsure, stick to organic foods. We Canadians are not so fortune because Canadian government doesn’t require non-MGO foods to label but I see a lot of Canadian producers adopt the US and EU non-GMO labeling which is really good news for me and my fellow citizens.

The crazy thing I found is: even organic and non-GMO foods are not 100% safe due to pollination. Yep, this is sad news. How you ask? Images this, two corn farms situate next to each other.  One has only non-GMO crop and the other grows GMO corns. There is no Chinese wall between these two farms, so when the wind starts blowing (which is a regular occurrence in nature), the wind will carry the pollen from one field to another. It is not like the non-GMO farmer can stop the GMO pollen to enter his non-GMO field. Even if he has a giant net between the two fields, Mother Nature will work her magic and pollination will occur. In addition, the GMO farmer will likely uses spray and or other pesticide which will eventually sip into the water stream in the ground. The odd of this contaminated water getting into the field next door is very high. Now, you can see why it is not 100% guarantee. It is a known issue that farmers can’t solve for.

So, which crops are most likely GMO? Well, here are the top seven GMO crops in US:

  1. Corn – 85% of corn grown in US are GMO
  2. Soy
  3. Yellow Crookneck Squash and Zucchini
  4. Alfalfa
  5. Canola
  6. Sugar Beats
  7. Yep, cows are often given rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) to increase milk production

Nothing is sacred anymore. Even the poor cows are not safe! The Canadians have less GMO offenders. We have the Fab 5:

  1. Canola
  2. Corn
  3. Soy
  4. Sugarbeet
  5. Alfalfa

If you are interested, below are the top imported GMO foods that sold widely in Canadian supermarkets:

  1. Papaya – produce in Hawaii
  2. Squash/Zucchini – produce in US
  3. Cottonseed Oil – produce I US, India and China
  4. Atlantic Salmon – in 2014 the world’s first GM food animal was sold in Canada from Panama
  5. Milk – produce in US

Its not all bad.

Now that I sufficiently scare you of GMO foods, it is only fair that I also point out that there are advantages to genetically modify the crops. Honestly, it was started with good intention and the scientists were not mad or cruel. But, we human just can’t seem to help ourselves in pushing boundaries with Mother Nature. No wonder she is pissed at us. I would too. Still think that climate change is not real? I digress. So here are some good things about GMO foods:

  • Increase crop yield so less people will go hungry
  • Lower food price so more people can afford to eat
  • Increase shell life so produces can last longer
  • Could potentially increase the amount of nutrients as additional genes can be injected into the DNA

Like I said, this whole GMO madness stared with good intentions to reduce human hunger and save lives. The tragic occurred when we didn’t do our due diligent and understood the consequences of our actions before embracing GMO foods. So, I would like to encourage you to do some research, look at your personal budget and decide carefully what produces to buy the next time you shop for foods. You are the boss of your gorgeous body and you should take care of it.

Before I end this post, I want to post a thought provoking question to you. When I discovered these facts about GMO foods I was adamant that we should advocate ending GMO food production.  Karen and I debated about this (which we often do). Karen said that we shouldn’t. She agreed that GMO foods can be potentially harmful for human consumption because there are just too many unanswered questions but GMO food is cheaper and can last longer compared to non-GMO ones. In certain part of the world where the choice is between having GMO foods and go hungry, GMO food can be the answer.

Wealth and affordability allow us to make the choice between GMO and non-GMO foods, but for many this is not a choice they can afford. And this is a sad reality in this world. I hate to admit this, but the budget hawk had a point. I hate her logic reasoning sometime. Anyway, I really don’t know the right answer on this and I am very interested to hear your thoughts. I think this is one of those no right or wrong answer. Let me know.

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Organic vs Non-Organic foods – To eat or not to eat Again!
Food & Recipe

Organic vs Non-Organic foods – To eat or not to eat Again!

by Helen

Probably by now, you can guess that I am a bit neurotic. Ever since I discovered all these facts about GMO foods, I went on this journey of discovering what the heck is in my food research.  Naturally, I ended up diving into the topic of organic vs non-organic foods. Yes, I must get this learning out of my system because I am neurotic but also because I think it is very important to know what has been going on in our food chain and how those changes are impacting our body and health.

Let’s start with the first question that got me (the healthy foods newbie) curios: aren’t all foods organic?

After reading many blogs, Wikipedia pages and books after books, I am now more informed about the topic of organic foods.  Just as when I thought I am quite informed about organic foods, I came across an article talking about the concept of irradiated foods and the impact to human body. Let just say that it scared me and I promptly dumped all my non-organic spies in the garbage bag and replace them with organic spices.

Never stop learning! Organic, GMO, irradiated food! These terms can be confusing for anyone. I was clueless when I first came across these terms, but with lot of patience and research, I am now more informed and I can make better choice for my health in regard to food consumption. So let’s talk about organic food.  What is organic food? Well, organic farming refers to how the foods are grew and processed.  Organic farming eliminates:

  • The use of man-made fertilisers (aka: chemical fertilisers)
  • Pesticides
  • Hormones and livestock feed additives
  • Irradiation – this is a serious and very scary thing for your body and health
  • Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) products

Some of the farming techniques that an average organic farmer may use to differentiate from modern farming techniques are:

  • Rotating the crops to balance nutrients in the soil, as well as discourage pests
  • Composting and using “green” manures to add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil, keep weeds down and prevent drought and soil erosion
  • Using beneficial insects or mechanical and manual methods to control pests and weeds
  • Ensuring their animals has access to the outdoors: fresh air, sun and access to pasture are essential for animals’ health, and it’s the right thing to do!”

Each country has their certification process and requirements.  In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA, a government agency) administers the organic certification system by setting standard and regulations that applied to both domestic and imported food. In order to be certified organic farmers or food producers, one must list of requirements. I read the list. I did and it did not make my must reading list because it is downright boring. It is an important document which I believe everyone should be aware of but why do they have to make important information so boring and difficult to read. Do they purposely don’t want us to read the important finding/information. Yes, I digress again.

So, why does this matter?

Well, conventional produces are generally sprayed with pesticides. It is important to make note that the same pesticide also use to kill pests. Now, do you see why I freaked out a little? These foods were sprayed with the same chemical used to kill animals? If these chemicals can kill living animals, what will they do to my body?  Wait a minute! Don’t CFIA inspect this? Won’t government food watch dog stop food producers selling harmful food on the markets? Isn’t that their jobs?  It turned out, CFIA will allow some level of chemical in foods if they deem it is at ‘safe” level. Ah huh!

What is the safe level and who decide what is safe and unsafe?

Even it is at the “safe” level, what are the consequences to human body of eating the “safe” level of pesticide for 10, 20 or even 30 years? Would it still be safe level then? Just because it is safe for 1 time consumption, it doesn’t mean that it will still be safe for 100 consumption’s and for many years. And that is the information that CFIA and no other food watch dog agencies talk about.

I confess, I am nut about strawberries. There is something about the sweet and slightly tang juicy strawberry that always got me every time. Well, until I learn that non-organic strawberries are sprayed with as much as 20 pesticides because insects love strawberry. The insect are not dumb and have great taste bud.  Say what? 20 pesticides. So I am putting 20 different insect killing chemicals into my body every time I bit into a strawberry.  Well, this thought stopped me from reaching for the tempting box of strawberry.

Should I only eat organic foods?

Well, there is no right or wrong answer. It is an individual choice and it depends largely on the personal’s affordability and believes. Let’s face it! Organic foods are more expensive compared to non-organic foods because the organic produces cost more to produce due to the exclusion of chemical spray. Chemical spray is harmful but it kills insects that destroy the crops. Secondly, organic farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature. If she feels generous and gives us good weather, the farmers will have good organic harvest. If Mother Nature is pissed off (well, we are destroying her with pollution) and has bad weather, the farmers will not make much. Lastly, the cost of turning a piece of land into organic land is very expensive.

It takes years to clean the soil of the chemical and the process is intensive.  During this time, the organic farmer’s crops cannot be labeled as organic (which can be sold at higher price) but they can’t spray the crops to produce higher yield to make up for the loss of their margin, so they typically have to absorb the loss of revenue for those years in waiting. So, I have a lot of respect for organic farmers because they truly believe and love what they do.

After learning these facts about organic and non-organic as well the GMO foods, I have made drastic changes in my food choices and so have Karen. She was in panic for weeks after learning the facts about non-organic strawberry. The little monster (my niece) is crazy about the berries and Karen used to feed her a lot non-organic strawberry. Karen is an obsessive and overbearing mother who insists in having a balance diet for the love of her life, my little monster. So, she meticulously ensures the little monster has 3 servings of fruit per day not knowing that the berries could be harmful if consume too much.

Now, about 75% of our family foods are non-GMO and organics. We do cut corner with foods that are not on the “Dirty Dozen” list and on “Clean 15”.  Dirty Dozen is a list of produces that have the highest amount of pesticides and other chemicals residuals. Conversely, there is a list of Clean 15, which is a list of least sprayed foods. So, we buy all foods on “Dirty Dozen” in organics and buy non-organics “Clean 15” foods. Get it? Below is the 2018 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15.

Dirt dozen (2018) Clean 15 (2018)
Strawberry Avocado
Spinach Sweet Corn*
Nectarine Pineapple
Apple Cabbage
Grape Onion
Peaches Sweet peas frozen
Cherry Papaya*
Pear Asparagus
Tomato Mangoes
Celery Eggplant
Pear Honeydew melon
Sweet Bell Pepper Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Broccoli

Just a side note, a small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States is produced from genetically modified seeds. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid genetically modified produce. Now, I will shamelessly promote organic foods because I love the organic food’s taste. Yes, once you go organic, you won’t go back. I was converted to organic food by a peach. Yes, it is a true story and yes, I am not ashamed to admit it.

A while back, Karen dragged me to this farmer market in the heart of Toronto because she heard that it was a great place to kids to play. It is called Evergreen Brick farmer market, a former a brick factory that later converted into a farmer market and event venue. A gorgeous and fun place for people to enjoy nature and foods with your family.  We stopped by this farmer stall and she offered me a piece of peach. She told me it was a golden peach. I took a bite and I was a goner. Man! I never tasted something so juicy, plum, sweet, soft, insanely aromatic and just plain delicious and ended up buying a whole tray of peaches and ate them as desert of the week. This  was in peach heaven, I tell ya. They got me at peach!

Now, I don’t buy into this concept that all organic foods are healthy. I believe that there are same amount of nutrients and minerals in both organic and non-organic, but I do believe there are negative impact to human body when one consistently consumer foods that have high level of chemical residual over a long period of time.  There is research to show how much and what type of damage to human body after consuming non-organic foods with high content of chemical sprays after a long period of time. There is a really graphic video on YouTube showing the effect of non-organic foods do to lab rats after long exposure. I can’t bring myself to include the video link because it is really gross and graphic.

How can you tell organic vs non organic foods? Easy, there are labels to let you know:

 

 

 

 

 

Does this mean I should eat only organic foods because they will have no pesticides? Sadly, the answer is no. Similar to the issue that non GMO farmers face, the organic farmers have no way to control and purified the water seeping into their farms or stop the process of pollination when their next door neighbors grow non-organic produces. Thus, there is no food is 100% organic in North America, unless all farmers become organic farmers and decide not to use chemical pesticides. But I do believe that by eating more organic foods I effectively reduce the amount of potentially harmful that body consumer. This will in turn lowering my risk of having health issues.

Just to be fair, non-organic foods are not always bad. There are reasons for farmers to use spray:

  • Increase crop yield
  • Increase shell life so produces can last longer

All these help to lower the cost of food and ensure that less people will go hungry to affordability. Sadly, we live in a world that trade-off is a constant and sometime the cost of trade can be high.  Recently there is a trend to labeled foods as “natural”.  I have found no conclusive research to indicate that there is no such thing can be called “natural” foods.  There is no regulation on what is natural and what is not, it is just marketing.

So, my final word on this subject is: do your research.  It is your body so you should invest time and effort into research and make the right choice for you and your family.  If you want to avoid or limit potentially dangerous chemicals, non-GMO, irradiated foods from going into your body, then you have some tough choices to make. Can’t wait to hear about your food choice, please write to me.

 

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6 Month Cleanse
Physical Health

6 Month Cleanse

by Helen

My relationship with food has always been one of love and hate.  For me, nothing is more blissful than biting into a piece of Uncle Tetsu’s cheesecake or chowing down a scoop of mint chocolate ice-cream.   When that creamy, sweet and heavenly goodness hit my tongue, everything is bliss and perfect. But the bliss never last that long for me because my belly will act up or my skin will flare up with acne after I digest these sinfully delicious deserts. So, I have come to accept that for every blissful heavenly desert bite, I will go experience hellish discomforts. Love and hate, bliss and pain. That was my relationship with foods. Sick and tired of dealing with acne and digestion problem, I stopped eating deserts and sweets. I was committed to eating healthy. Well, that lasted a while until I experienced stress. I am one of those stress eaters. When I am stress out, I will always crave sweet and desert. My will power could only last for so long, I would give in. It was a vicious cycle for me.

By chance, I was introduced to Ariell Graff by my fitness trainer. My trainer also experienced similar stomach and digestion issues that I had and Ariell was able to help her control these issues. She told me that the program was very strict in dietary and she lost a bunch of weight. Oh yes, her stomach pain and digestion issue were much more under control in just 1 month. I was intrigued. Weight loss and pain elimination, count me in!

It turned out, Ariell is a holistic nutritionist, naturopath and herbalist who specialized in gut bacteria, among many other things. I got to admit, I didn’t think that she could help me with my health issues but I gave it a shot because I was desperate. My body health started to affect my mental health. I became grumpy and stand offish when I experienced pain and digestion issue. To cover up my acne, I spent a big chunk of cosmetic to cover up and I was not confident about my look. Something must be done.

So off I went to an almost 3 hours consultation/introduction meeting with Ariell. We spoke in length of my health issues and dietary habits.  The first thing Ariell said to me was: “This is not a diet, I don’t care how much you eat.  You can eat 10 chicken thighs for dinner. I don’t care as long as you only eat food from the list.” What? Recite it again? I can eat as much as I want. Well, this was unexpected.  Her statement went against all healthy eating researches that I came across. Seeing the “are you crazy look” on my face, Ariell patiently explained to me that her objective was to help me get healthier not weight loss. She believed that I would lose a lot of weight but it would be a by-product of program, not its objective.

We spent three hours to go over all my medical conditions and then she explained the program to me.  In nutshell, the program’s objective was to clean my gut of all bacteria. Ariell hypothesized that most of our medical condition could trace back to the gut bacteria. Not all gut bacteria are bad, there are good ones too. The key is to retain the good and kick the bad ones out. In parallel with eating a strict diet to cleanse the gut of the bacteria, Ariell also recommended herbs and supplements to heal and resolve health issues that I experienced. Now, once my gut cleansed and my body rebalanced, the plan would be slowly re-introduce other foods back to the body and observed how the body reacted to each food group. This would isolate and identify the food group that that body couldn’t digest and helped to build a permanent diet for me.

When Ariell handed me the list of approved foods and forbidden foods, I almost cried. Seriously, you would to. Here was the approved list: Green vegetable, meat, apple, berries, egg, fish, legume, and quinoa. Now the forbidden foods: A big NO to dairy of any kind, sugar in any form, coffee, fermented food, even root vegetable was not spared.  Say good bye to halo-halo, uncle Tetsu cheesecake and mouth-watering tiramisu. The last straw was kimchi. No more kimchi stew. My life was officially not worth living anymore. To top it off, I must drink 6-8 glass of water per day.  Green tea or herbal tea could be substituted for water but not black fee. Darn, how I am going to survive month and quarter end reporting rush without the caffeine kick. Desperate, I tried negotiation and bargaining: can I have just 1 cup of bubble tea per week? How about half cup of coffee? Just a taste…. How about a graduate building up approach? Do I have to follow this to the T on the first day? You got the picture. I tried to talk myself into eating these forbidden foods with all sort of reasons. But Ariell was firm on this. Do it right or don’t do it at all. Darn, she was tough cookie.

The worst was the carb, because my favourite cuisine is Korean and Thai.  Typically, I eat 2 Korean meals per week. I am a Korean by food not by birth.  But I was out of option because I tried many programs and none worked out so far. Ariell’s logic made sense and so I gave it my best shot.

In

Out

Week 1 – Getting over the sugar and caffeine withdraw

Day 1

Breakfast – It was easy. No, I lied. It was hellish. I purged the pantry and fridge removing all temptations. This day was the toughest because my normal Starbuck Venti Americano and a multi grain toast was replaced with scramble egg and green tea. Well, at least it was food.

Lunch – I packed a leafy green salad

Snack – veggie sticks with no dip or nut? Nut sounds more promising. I was about to pay for the bag of nut when my eyes glazed over the list of ingredients:  sugar. It was cane sugar but still sugar. Darn it! IT turned out most roasted nuts have some sugar or natural flavours.  My stomach chose that moment to make a loud and angry noise to protest my cruel treatment. Desperate, I start to drink lot of water. I must be really desperate because the water started to taste sweet. Could I be hallucinating? It was possible.

Dinner – 5 chicken thighs with stir fry veggie. Yes, I turned into a little piggy. For desert, I drank a cup of green tea and ate carrot sticks with no dip. Life was so cruel. Why I am doing this to myself again? Remind me again? Ah yes, health reason. Darn it.

After the brutal Day 1, I realized that I need to be more prepared as I can no longer make a dash to the store fore “healthy snacks”. I made a quick dash to Costco and got bags of almond, pumpkin seed and sunflower seed.  30 mins later, I got a bag of home-made Cajun mixed nut. I topped it off with 6 boiled eggs for snacks.

All the chicken I can eat

Day 2

On day 2, I chowed down an omelet and a cup of green tea. Armed with nut, 6 boiled eggs and salad for lunch, I was readier than day 1. For my dinner, Karen cooked slow roasted duck for me because she was alarmed by my pitiful face and also, I babysat quite a bit. Even my niece felt bad for me because she saw me chewing on carrot sticks for desert.

The rest of the week went just like that.  I was a little more tire than usual and I was desperate for some caffeine. Did I mention I use to drink 3 Americano per day?  Coffee was my water, so my caffeine withdrawal was worse than PMS. The surprising thing was I did not experience any acid reflux or stomach pain immediately.  For once, I didn’t feel the hot air rising up my throat or the numbing pain in my stomach. Well, well, well, this may worth the withdraw after all.

Week 2 -4– Getting into the rhythm of things

Week 2 was much more manageable because I learn my lesson well and I was prepared. By the end of the week, I found that I wasn’t thinking or craving sweet. I am not into sugar-soaked deserts, but I am totally an Asian desert junkie. Uncle Tetsu cheesecakes, halo-halo, Korean shaved ice, mochi, bubble tea, you name it, I eat it!  Typically, I have 1-2 deserts per week, but by week 2 was no longer craving Asian desert. The weirdest thing was coffee, I no longer needed coffee to feel alert and energize. Once the sugar was removed from my body and taste bud, I found that all foods have natural sweetness. The foods I cooked tasted better and sweeter and I only used salted and lemon to season my foods.  So,  Ariel knew what she was talking about. She told me that once my palette was cleansed I would taste the actual food and not the seasoning of the foods. Seriously, green bean became super sweet and tasted amazing with just salt and pepper. Even meat and fish tasted better once my palate was cleansed.

The bonus benefit, I lost 12 lbs in first month. Seriously, I ate more foods than ever before, yet I was losing weight rapidly.  I never lost that much weight, so I texted Ariell almost every day asking her if the weight lost was normal.  Every time I got on the scale my weight would be lower and lower and her reply was always the same: “this is expected as your body is finding it normal weight.  Once you reach your pre-defined weight according to your body type and genetics the weight loss will stop”. Well, I could live with weight loss if it was normal.

Month 2 – Getting into the zone

I learned to be much more prepared compared to month 1.  I set aside 2-3 hours to Sunday to prepare weekly meals. Did I mention, my bloated stomach deflated and no more acid reflux or stomach aches? Life was much better.   The cherry on top was: sleep.  I was able to sleep 7-8 hours every night without waking-up in the middle of the night.  I could actually fall asleep without having to tire my eyes out first.  My brain was telling my eye to sleep for the first time in a long time. I felt more energize and refresh than I ever had been. My mind was not so hazy from lack of sleep as I was before.

Month 3 to 6 – Cruising to the finish line

When I made it to month 3, I got a reward. I could add berries and green apple to my approved food list. Yes, a small mercy, I can have fruit again.  So, I went a little berry crazy. I put blue berry in pretty much everything. Along with my health improvement, I also learned to bake and cook foods that were good for my digestion and tasty. I learned to bake cookie with almond flour, 100% dark chocolate, and berries to feed my munchie crave. No Uncle Tetsu cheesecake, but almond flour, almond milks, egg and berries could make darn good desert too. I went a bit wild with my desert imagination and this experience taught me a lot about thinking outside of the box too. Where there is will, there will be a way. I continued to lose weight. No matter how much I eat I did not gain any weight. Gradually, my weight loss started to normalize to 1-2 lbs per week.  Ariell was right, the weight loss stopped when I reached my ideal weight.

All my health symptoms like acid reflex, acne, digestion and stomach pain were gone.

I forgot to mention, I did a numbers of blood tests at Ariell’s direction at month 1. From the blood tests result, I had a few surprise bad news. But by month 5, my blood test results showed a huge improvement on my overall health and my issues were under control.

Alas, I arrived at month 6 and I was DONE!

Slowly, I started to re-introduce the forbidden foods back to my body and my body was very quick to point out which foods were not good for me. Number one rejected food was white rice.  I am an Asian woman and I can’t digest white rice? WHAT? Darn, say so long to Thai mango sticky t rice desert. But, my body was good with the big grains. It was down with wild rice too.  I also found out that I had no tolerance for dairy. I didn’t surprise me that much because most Asian has this problem. Lastly, my beloved bean turned out to be my body enemy also. I could have 2 cups of coffee per week at most. More than that, I will experience stomach pain. Finally, I got the answer of what cause me the pain all this year. My enemy, thy name is coffee! Oh, I also dragged Karen into this madness because we do that to each other.  Karen saw the improvements on my health and she jumped on the Ariell’s train.

So, I now make double weekly lunch packages because Karen shamelessly begged me.

Well, full disclosure!  I did cheat a little. Technically I should only eat green apple and berries. But by late June and early July the peaches that the local farmers sold at the market was too tempting so I ate some. Well, some in my definition.

My little cheat

So, what did I really learn from this 6 months of hell and heave program? I learned of the foods that my body can’t tolerate and will damage my body in the long run as well as giving pain frequently. I also learn that I can be creative with my foods. FYI, desert can be made with almond flour, almond milk and fruit too. And the taste is still heavenly delicious. I now know that avocado ice-cream made with avocado, coconut milk and honey tastes just creamy and yummy as any other sorbet or ice-cream. It takes time and effort, but my body thanks me every day for my effort.  As my little niece wisely said once: “you are the boss of your body. Eat healthy!” Who knew that the little monster actually knew what she was talking about. As my body refreshed itself and I got more sleep, my moods and mental health also rebounded. I feel more energize, happier and more confident in my own skin. How about you? Share with me your journey to a happy and healthy body?

DISCLOSURE: This is not a paid article. I wrote this article from my own experience. The program that I described was designed specifically to treat my health issues, so I ask that you speak to your doctor or health professional to find a program that will work for you and your health issues. Everyone body is different; thus, you should speak to a healthcare professional to consult before jumping in.

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A 10 years foods journey – from rice to paleo and anything else in between
Physical Health

A 10 years foods journey – from rice to paleo and anything else in between

by Helen

Growing up in Canada, I had a typical diet of a North American teenager. If I was happy or sad, I would want ice cream. Ice cream was the magic food that took away my pain, stress and injected happiness into my body. Coffee, yes…coffee was a must. After all, it was the best part of waking up. Coffee much like water, is a need for me. Then there were chips, desert, hotdog and burger…. yum. But my relationship with food has always been rocky much like a bad boyfriend. I have loved food knowing it brings me many pains and yet I couldn’t just walk away.

My teenager years were fine, but my body was resilient then. The stamina of youth was a marvellous thing. When I turned 25, it all went downhill. I started to have really bad acid reflux. You may know it. It is the burning sensation risen up in your throat that makes you want to rip your throat out. I also had a lot of digestion problems like constant bowel pain, indigestion issues and bloated belly.

Then there was acne skin. I had break out that covered most of my face  and used to have to put tons of foundation to cover them up. I still have nightmares about acne. Karen wasn’t spared from this. She and I had the same eating habit and tastes, and so we both suffered the same fate. The last straw for Karen was the muffin top. I wasn’t so obsessed over it, she was. She tried many insane ideas, and she dragged me along. Seriously, the woman was crazy. Cucumber salad, cabbage soup, juice cleanse. You named it. She probably did it. Well, nothing worked out permanently. We lose a few pounds and then we put the same or more weight back once we went back to our routine foods. The one flaw of any of these diets was: it couldn’t be a permanent solution. I couldn’t imagine eating cucumber salad, drinking cayenne honey drink or eating cabbage soup only for the rest of my life? Just end my life now. I don’t want to live in a world with such terrible foods.

Frustrated with these short-term diet fixes, I went on a healthy eating craze. I read a bunch of books on food, different diets and followed health-food bloggers online. Soon, words like whole food, processed food and organic entered my vocabulary. Like a portal was opened, I learned that how you cook matters, majority of canned foods are bad and yes, freshness is great for your body.

I dramatically cut down canned foods (like from 30% to 1%), eat more fresh green (frozen peas are my one exception) and cut fried foods down to minimal. The fried foods elimination was painful because I love the crispy and crunchy texture of fried food. You know what I am talking about. Don’t deny it! We all love the crunch. Gradually, I noticed changes with my body. Most noticeably was the acne, it went away.

To be fair, I think it is a combination of eating the right foods and Korean skincare that saved my skin from total destruction. Seriously, the Koreans (Taiwanese and Japanese too) know skincare, and they are not afraid of going all out for sake of beauty and healthy skin. Only the Korean would put snail mucus and fermented herbs in skincare, but they work. And…I digress. For me, I finally free from foundation and make up. My skin can breathe again. But other health issues still persisted. My acid reflex and digestion issues were out of control. I passed out from stomach pain a couple of time, and my family doctor could not identify the causes. My health issues were slowly impacting my moods and other aspects of my life. Who could be happy and blissful when your stomach was constantly in pain?

By chance, I was introduced to Ariell Graff. She is a holistic nutritionist, naturopath and herbalist who specializes in gut bacteria among many other things. I got to admit, I didn’t think that she could help me with my health issues but I gave it a shot because I was desperate. So off I went to an almost 3 hours consultation/introduction meeting with Ariel. We spoke in length of my health issues and dietary habits. I was very intrigued by what Ariell had to share.

In a nutshell, she believed that a lot of health problem a person experience can be a result of an unhealthy gut. If you can clean your body of bad foods and sugar (yes, sugar is your enemy), while taking herbs or supplements to treat your health issues, your body can heal your gut, balance your hormones and get healthy. Ariel’s logics make a lot of sense to me. She designed a 6-months program for me, and it was a painful 6 months. Think of a bad breakup. It was very similar. I went thru all seven stages of desperate, denial, bargaining, relapse, anger, acceptance and then a tiny ray of hope in the first month.

The git of the program is to remove all bad foods from your system. You can only eat vegetables, protein and some nut. That’s all. Say good bye to sugar, dairy, carbohydrate, and any other foods that I loved. The last bullet was coffee. No coffee allows, only green tea. WHAT? Not even matcha latte was spared from this list of diet tragedy because there is sugar mix in the matcha powder. Did I mention I also banned from alcohol? So instead of a deep ruby glass of Merlot with my juicy steak, I would have a glass of water or worst, green tea. Green tea only, what kind of sick joke is this?

Looking at the list of forbidden foods, I felt a sense of desperation. I am an Asian woman and I work in finance; how can you ask me not to eat rice or have coffee? Desperate, I tried negotiation and bargaining: can I have just 1 cup of bubble tea per week? How about half cup of coffee? Just a taste…. How about a graduate building up approach? Do I have to follow this to the T on the first day? You got the picture. I tried to talk myself into eating these forbidden foods with all sort of reasons. But Ariel was firm on this. Do it right or don’t do it at all. Life should end now, because there was no hope for me.

I always seek Karen’s advice when I run into a problem and this time was no different. First, she laughed hysterically because she was picturing me not having coffee at quarter end. By the time I show her the forbidden foods list, she was rolling on the floor laughing. This woman could be so heartless sometime. After she had stopped laughing, she asked me 2 questions: do I believe that Ariell can help me get healthier? And do I want to get healthy? Darn it. Acceptance was near. Almost in tears, but I said yes to both questions. Ariell’s program was very tough but I believed in her ability and her explanations made sense to me. I accepted my fate and followed her program. I will write another post on the program and share more details.

During the 6 months program, I learn that I have bacteria that could potentially cause stomach cancer or ulcer. Coconut juice and few other foods would activate these bacteria and make it worst. Guess what, I used to love coconut juice and drank quite a bit of this delicious juice. Again, I blamed my Asian taste bud. I found out few other health issues on top of existing issues that I was aware of. Using the supplement and herb, I was able to resolve most of my health issues and I no longer have acid reflect. I also learn that I allergic to rice, gluten, coffee and most canned/processed foods. Growing up Asian I never dream that I could be allergic to rice and don’t talk to me about coffee anymore. This knowledge gave me the power to change my diet and my way of cooking. I realized that I needed to make some serious changes to my diet. Trade-off is required if I want to live healthy and happy.

Today, my diet is semi-Paleo. I remove carbohydrate, process foods and sugars, deep fried foods and dairy completely from my normal diet and learn to be very creative with my food, and the best news is: I still love foods and I am living healthier. (I will share with creative recipes to deal with sugar and carb craving in my recipe session). You can still have desert, you just have to cook or bake differently and yes, the foods can still taste great. There is an unexpected gain beside my health: savings. With my diet, I cook more at home and thus end up saving quite a bit. Now, I do have a social life, so I do have the forbidden foods occasionally when I eat out with friends. But the amount of forbidden food that I consume is so small and insignificant to my total diet that it doesn’t do much damage to my body. In my youth, I viewed food as craving and consumption, but now I see foods as nutrients to nurture and heal my body. It is all about perspective. Lastly, I want to leave you with a few thoughts.

  • Do food allergy test to see if what foods will impact your body and health. Don’t assume that your body can digest the food because you always eat the same food. Just remember me; an Asian woman can be allergic to rice
  • Learn to be creative with your food. You can still have fun and enjoy food if you learn to adapt and willing to embrace changes. Check out my zoodle recipe, you may like it
  • Cook at home is good for your wallet and body. Learn to cook your food more often because you will save big time and you can control what goes into your food
  • It is all about perspective. See foods as nutrients to nurture and heal your body. Love your body and it will love you in return.

I hope you find this article useful. Share with me your food journey. I love to know.

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