Whole30 rocked my world...

Oh yes. I have followed the trend. If you don't even know what Whole30 is, just goes to show how much cooler I am than you ;) 

But seriously, I don't want to be dramatic. However, Whole30 has kind of changed my life. I'll first tell you the Purpose...

It's like the healthiest, most intense detox of your life!!! It's meant to boost your energy levels, give you more regular bowels, up your metabolism, boost your immune system, eliminate certain conditions or aches. The food we eat has more of an effect on us than we know or can to admit. Stripping certain foods from your diet for 30 days can have wonderful health and psychological benefits.

The Rules...

• No sugar of any kind: raw, organic, artificial, etc.
• No dairy: no raw milk, goat milk, soy milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, etc.
• No legumes: no beans of any kind, black, kidney, white, pinto, lima, peanuts, etc.
• No alcohol or tobacco.
• No grains: wheat, barley, oat, corn, rice, etc. This also includes quinoa and couscous, the pseudo-grains.
• No white, red, purple or gold potatoes. In any form.
• No carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. It's really important to check the labels of things you are buying or going to cook with.
• No paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts or snacks. You are trying to break those habits of snacking unnecessarily and eating "junk food." For the next 30 days, don't try to replicate food you miss. Just eat good, real, wholesome food.

My Whole30
I'm going to do my best to put it all into one paragraph. In the beginning, I honestly thought I was going to fall asleep at the wheel. Well, hypothetically. I live in China, so I don't do much driving. Okay, I do NO driving. But if I was behind a wheel, I think I would have fallen asleep during the first week. Depriving my body of sugar was the hardest part. I mean, I didn't gorge myself on it before, but my morning coffee always had sugar and milk. Which leads to my second challenge. COFFEE. I thought I wasn't going to make it! I was sure I was going to give up coffee altogether before the 30 days was up. But other than that I had fun cooking and trying to create new dishes with what seemed limited ingredients and spices.

Okay, I can't do one paragraph. It's going to be more like four. Week Two. I was feeling it!!! They call it Tiger Blood. I was SO energized. I was sleeping better, more fully and deeper. I was guzzling black coffee. My bowels were better than they have ever been. If you know me, I've never had good bowels. I'm almost always constipated and I usually have to drink a special tea to get things going. TMI? Get over it. I was even feeling lighter. And I was past the icky bloated stage, so that was nice too.

Week Three. Not much to say. Things were still going well. I was getting a little frustrating/bored with food. I was having a hard time feeling like I wasn't eating the same thing over and over again. And I was craving sweets and breads more than ever. But I didn't give in!

Week Four Plus 2 days. At first half of the last week, I had this anxious, can't wait to be done feeling. All I wanted to do is eat chocolate and pumpkin bread and banana bread, ANY bread! But I didn't give in or entertain those thoughts too much because I knew I was almost done. The second half was full of ideas and thoughts. How was I going to go on after Whole30? What habits did I want to continue? Was I going to allow sugar again? How can I be healthy about the amount of breads and grains I eat? Why did I EVER taint my coffee with sugar and milk before?! I'm trying to figure it all out.

Cons/Hard Stuff

1. Don't let my optimism fool you. It was tough to stick to. And I did mess up a couple times because I was a little absent-minded. But I'm not a die-hard Whole30ist, so I didn't start over at day 1 when I did.
2. I was super tired the first week-ish.
3. There was one day around day 9 or 10 that I had really bad stomach cramps. Like fetal position style.
4. After a while, it got hard to be creative with food.
5. Living in China, it was tough not having some things that could be easily purchased in America. Like seasonings or sauces other Whole30ists used.
6. At first, cooking/prepping/planning was a hassle!! What a time consumer.
7. I had trouble with breakfast. I'm not a breakfast eater. So, that was tough to do.
8. I also had trouble with the portion sizes. It felt like SOOO MUCH food sometimes.
9. Always having to cook at home. China is a social-eating society.
10. Having to go to the grocery store more often.
11. I missed yogurt a lot!

Pros/Things I've learned

1. I feel like my tastebuds have been enhanced.
2. I have more energy.
3. Better bowels and movements.
4. Sleep has improved. I fall asleep faster and longer and deeper.
5. I lost about 12 lbs/5.5 kg. Arms, legs, tummy overall skinner.
6. For the most part, I've broken my nasty snacking habit. AND if I ABSOLUTELY have to have a snack, I make it a healthy one; fruits, nuts, etc.
7. My close fit better.
8. I feel healthier and lighter.
9. I know I can live without sweets, sugar, breads and other things I thought I couldn't do with out.
10. I LOVE BLACK COFFEE.
11. My mouth salivates when I think about wholesome, all natural, unprocessed food.
12. I don't crave bad foods or junk food.
13. Having a healthier relationship with carbs. And food in general.
14. Enjoying cooking again and getting better at it. Or at least I think so.
15. Connecting with my body. That sounds so "spiritual" and "hippie." But I mean, I know when I'm truly hungry and when I'm not. And making a wise decision accordingly.
16. I have a good sense of how different foods effect my mood, body and energy levels.
17. Starbucks will be a special treat. I won't over do it.

Here's the site. Check out Whole30 and decide if it's something you want to try.

Hahahaha, and please ignore my face in the photos above.

Faith Like Potatoes

I’m not really a big fan of cheesy Christian movies. I have friends who JUST love Faith Like Potatoes, that marriage movie, Courageous and oh yeah, that football one…Don’t get me wrong, they are good, wholesome movies, but I like to be on the edge of my seat, wondering "What going to happen next!?!?" And those movies are just too predictable. FYI: I also like movies with some kind of sacrificial love. But having seen said movies, I am reminded of them because of the past week.

Several new friends came to visit from Kentucky. It was SOOOO much fun to see them fall in love with a people that are so close to my own heart. They loved the food, which is always a plus and actively pursued students in bringing them closer to the One, True God. Now, stay with me. It might get messy.

Sufi is a sophomore in my Oral English class. I was immediately pulled towards her because of her sweet smile and disposition. Our friendship was effortless and we could talk for hours. We, of course had several conversation about God, the spiritual realm, Buddhism, her family, etc.

Sufi had told me about so much. About how disappointed her father was when her older sister was born. About how he was not interested in her life. About more disappointment when she was born. In Asia, especially China, boys are valued higher than girls. This just broke my heart. Her whole childhood she had tried so hard to gain her father's approval. But had never succeeded. She said her relationship with her father was a cold and very distant. However, it was a contrast with her relationship with her mother. She her and her mother were very close.

Back to KY friends. Savannah and Logan met Sufi their second day here. And they feel in love with her just like I did. They had great conversations. And previous to their meeting, Sufi had told me her one big hang up was believing that there was ONLY ONE God. She wanted to believe everyone was free to believe whatever they wanted. But I told her, they could, but only one thing can be TRUE. She understood, but didn't want to commit. But during the week with Logan and Savannah, her heart changed. And that's only by the power of Father and the Holy Spirit. Savannah told her about having to just take a "leap of faith" sometimes. And so she did!!! It was a great end to a great week.

I meet with her the following week and we talked about navigating through the Good Book, meeting with other believers, prayer, sharing with other people. She seemed just as excited as when Savannah and Logan told me about her commitment to become a Christian.

But as I expected, she seemed most hesitant about meeting with others. Chinese people are all about the groups. People don't share opinions too freely or openly because it might go against the group. As a communication major, I would call this GroupThink. It's not really a good thing. But that's how they do it. ANYWAY, she felt weird going to this group of believers all alone and not knowing anyone there. I told her she had to try it at least three times before she gave up.

Back to cheesy Christian movies. Faith Like Potatoes is about this this farmer who is trying to grow potatoes in Africa. All these people say it can't be done. But he has faith because he has to. There's no way to know it works until it's harvest time. And then you dig and see if you got a potato or not. And of course, he does in the movie.

So, my life here, sharing with people is a lot like that movie. I share about Jesus. I listen to their hearts. I serve the people. I love people. I hug people. But in the end, I can only have faith. I don't know what's happening inside. But God does. And every once in a while, He digs and pulls out a potato :)

Kids say the darnedest things...

As my taxi pulled in to my city, I had a rush of excitement in my heart. Familiar signs, characters, places and people were all around. Ok. In a city of 1.5 million, I wasn't really seeing familiar faces. But the swarm of Asians was comforting. I was anxious to be in my apartment again and unpack.

My super awesome friend, Sarah was waiting for me. She's the sweetest. She had bought me dinner and a drink and anxiously awaited stories and hugs. We chatted and caught up as I scrambled around unpacking.

After she left, I settled into the silence around me. After two months in America, it was soothing to hear...nothing. My apartment felt SO small after living in the giant homes of the USA. I decided to cuddle with my beloved Edith to detox from the stress, anxiety and hours of traveling (33 hours to be exact). I popped in The Avengers and tried my darnedest to pay attention and stay awake. I told myself I would stay up until 9. Half way through the movie I told myself 8:30. By 7:45, I was hoping to make it just 15 more minutes. But at 8:00 pm, I was cozy in my bed and fell asleep before Harry even blow up his aunt Margaret (I fall asleep to Harry Potter movies, among others).

Monday morning was rough. I took an hour nap, even though it went against all my jet-lagging beliefs. I knew I needed some Z's if I was going to make it through afternoon classes. And boy am I glad I did.

Here are gems from Q&A time this week talking about American taboo topics: politics, religion and sex.

Is sex great?
Have you had sex before?
Did your boyfriend pressure you to have sex?
How did you become a Christian?
Are there special requirements to pray?
Do you think anything happened between Obama and Beyoncé?
Are there witches in America?
Have you even been in a demonstration?
Have you been in the White House?
How would you feel if your husband has a lot of sex experience?
Will you have sex before marriage?
Have you ever supported a war?
How do you feel about America monitoring other countries' Internet?

I'm also teaching an English freshman class. Here are some quality comments from them:

You like cooking. I like eating.
I am so lucky to have a beautiful, cute, elegant teacher.
I hope we can be friends.
Modern Family is one of my favorite shows.
Do you have QQ?
Are you married?
What about a boyfriend?
Do you want to find a Chinese husband?