Wow, all these months have gone by very quickly since I stopped owning my own car.  I thought I might miss it.  I haven't.  There are the rare occasions when I ask myself, "wouldn't this be easier if I had a car?"  and maybe it would, like going to Home Depot yesterday.  I also might have bought more things that I probably do not need to buy if I had had a trunk or back seat instead of carrying things by bus.  It was quite a journey compared to my biking about.  All in all though, it really didn't take that much more time than driving myself.  All in all, I'm finding that everything has worked out just fine and in many instances even better. 

I'm much less stressed.  I used to worry about the car and spend time getting it washed or filled with gas or moving it from one side of the street to the other.  I worried about its safety.  I worried if I had enough gas.  I worried about parking.  I worry far less now.  I also find that there is usually some form of transport that works out pretty well.  Getting to the valley is the only real difficulty and I have less need to be there anyway. 

Renting a car when I need one has also been a great experience because the cars are new, clean and I get my pick so I take the one that is best on gas.  It's almost like having my personal staff at the stable.  I took a cab to the airport that was the same price as other cabs but Euro cab treated me like they were a limo service and the cab was even cleaner than limousines I've been in. 

I've enjoyed the eclecticness of my transportation.  One day I'm a starlet with staff and the next I might be on my bike or taking a bus.  I've found it to be a liberating experience.  It's freed me from my ideas of what I thought was true.  I've discovered I probably need less than I think I do and that spills over into every area of life.  Where might you hold ideas of how you live that you could challenge?  Could you eat a little less and still be satisfied?  Could you own less clothes and still look as good?  Does your opinion about yourself stem from what you own or what you do or something deeper?  This living car less in L.A. is a good experiment, I'd love to hear your results if you ever give it a go!

My dinner tonight was magical and it was not lucky charms. I would have never thought this up in my mind, I don't think, nor will it ever wind up in one of my cookbooks. It's too weird, but oddly delicious. The weird part starts with a piece of jinenjo. A Japanese mountain potato. I like the hit of energy I get when I eat it, so if I'm gathering goods from an Asian shop, I'll usually pick up a little jinenjo to add to soups. I've had it in restaurants where they serve it peeled and grated to use as a condiment with soy sauce and ginger or placed in the bottom of a soup bowl. That is how I use it the most. When it is grated it turns into something like sticky sea foam. I like it best when dispersed in a watery soup. Once in a while I will peel it and use as a potato but it's sticky nature doesn't entice me to use it that way often.

Tonight I was in a bit of a rush to make dinner as I was later than usual getting in the kitchen and I was pretty hungry. Pasta is simple and I have some rice noodles so I was boiling up some with a thick broccoli soup and that was the quick and easy plan for tonight. Then I saw the lonely left over piece of jinenjo in my fridge. If I didn't eat it soon, it was going to turn pink and need to be tossed out. I decided to fry it up with some onions. I knew it wouldn't be like hash browns but maybe with some arrowroot added I might get a little jinenjo pancake? No such luck. I got a sticky mass with a mild flavor from the onions and a little soy sauce. Being hungry I decided to just put my cooked noodles in a bowl and toss the jinenjo on top. It needed some more flavor so a sprinkled in some ume vinegar and a little flax oil and it became magically delicious. Mixed with the noodles it gave me the impression I was eating macaroni and cheese - a very healthy version. I was amazed at what these simple ingredients became actually. I will eat this again - by myself. Not sure I want to ever serve it to anyone else really. But maybe. Then when I tell them what it's made of and the great energy they will have from eating it - they might love it too? Food really can be magical.

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What are those things that you think that you can not live without? I'm pretty happy for some things we have in our modern life, like toilet paper or my contact lenses.

With food, our bodies are adaptable beyond what our minds might conceive. We really can live without many of the foods we are attached to and some would improve the quality of our life to live without them, even though it's hard to see that when we are addicted.

I once didn't eat anything sweet for an entire year. Not even fruit. I was clearing Candida overgrowth and I was determined to finally be free of it. I love sweets and now that I eat them again, I still think they are enchanting, but they do not hold the same power over me they once did. I realize they are pleasurable, just not really any more than broccoli cooked nicely (and preferably in my favorite elegant sweet and salty creamy sauce...) or that bowl of millet hot cereal that is waiting for me to have for my breakfast when I'm finished writing this. It's just wired up differently in my mind because from the time I was very small, I was taught that the dessert was the part of the meal we were waiting for. That going to get an ice cream cone was special. Candies and cookies were wonderful gifts that came in fancy boxes and homemade ones were the best. After a year of not one bit of anything I used to consider a treat, other foods took on a new delight all their own. Cooling, detoxifying turnips became new friends. The nuances in greens became more charming than just eating them for the minerals I would absorb. I learned to love what I had instead of hurrying up to get to the "good" part.

It has been interesting to me to see that as I let go of the need for any particular food, the more possibilities I see instead. A paradox of the limiting diet was that I now feel much more free in that I know it's all temporary. Enjoying what I have has made me feel less desire for more more more. That endless struggle to attain and feel satiated. It goes beyond food as the addictive patterns fall away. I still enjoy shopping but I am also happy with what I do have and grateful to have it. Before I was a lot more apt to find fault with the old and looking at how the new and improved would be so much better. Once you find that point of balance inside, it seems to shine out in all directions. Do you feel like you are more by having more or would you feel the same to own less? How does this play out on your plate?

Let me know at www.SusanMarque.com

Questions are important.  They offer us a chance to think about things and perhaps in a new way.  A question can set off a domino reaction in us to be more than what we were before the question.  Searching for the answer can sometimes be as much fun as the final outcome and hopefully uplifts the writer along the way.  The reader gets the gift of that persons effort as well. 

I woke up this morning contemplating my life and the obstacles to having what I desire.  I mean, I'm great at seeing other peoples but it's so easy to gloss over my own and continue on as I do.  I have loads of projects I want to be working on and yet, where to focus my attention can sometimes be a dilemma.  I get things moving and yet not at the level I would like.  So I sat down with myself and thought a few things through.  Guess what?  I decided it was just another game of procrastination.  The Scarlett O'Hara "I'll think about that tomorrow" kind of action that isn't going to shift things at all.  Have you ever said I want to lose weight and yet do what you do, day after day, that isn't going to create new habits.  You say things like oh, I'll start later.  I'll skip X later and just do this now.  I'll exercise tomorrow when it isn't raining.  Anything to justify staying the same.  If you are lucky enough to have something to push you, you can finally create those new habits or push your business, your ideas or what ever you would like see come to fruition past the point of not enough.  Coaches are great at cheering things on and eliminating the blocks and I know you can do it for yourself too!  Just getting a guide makes it easier.  We're trained in the go to the doctor and get a prescription and do what he tells you because he knows more than you do, kind of mentality.  We can bust ourselves though if we really want to.  We can look at the game we are playing and play another game.  I'm excited by my own self coaching because the energy that was stuck feels somewhat released and I have a whole lot of juice for creating more of what I want and not letting my old thinking get in the way.  See what new game you can play today.  Care to share? 
www.SusanMarque.com

Guilt and fear.  Not the most pretty of emotions that we carry in us and often they come up around food.  Okay, especially around me since I teach about food.  I notice it in the way someone might act as they eat when I’m present.  Feelings of the eater become apparent in the angry tension that is visible beneath the surface. The glance my way, and an almost hiding of the food, or the drop of the eyes, as I stand unaware.  I become aware though, as the feeling of something wrong wafts my way.  I’m usually curiously eyeing the buffet or what is on people’s plates simply assessing if there is something that I might like to eat for myself.  I really am not thinking thoughts of shame or blame or anything about what others choose to consume.  If they ask my opinion though, a switch will click in my thinking, so watch out.  Then all bets are off and I will have some strong ideas about benefits or destructiveness of so called foods.  Thankfully there are friends or acquaintances who do not have noise in their minds about what they eat.  They eat what they like and enjoy it guilt free.  That’s the healthy way to be.  They don’t feel judged because I’m there.  They don’t feel any sense of shame.  They know I do what I do because I need to for my own health and that doesn’t predicate anyone else choosing the path that I am weaving.  I love those people.  They also can go to any restaurant with me and not ask me to order for them.  Those that are constantly guilty or feeling shame for their food choices are getting more harm in my opinion from the shame and the guilt than the actual food itself.  We all need to take personal responsibility and give ourselves what serves us best.  My choices usually stem from what would I like coupled with what would be the most supportive for me right now.  I have my never’s, as in, I never eat cane sugar and my friends know that if they do it doesn’t make them bad in my eyes.  I usually tell clients, if you do, make some kudzu tea sometime after that like the next morning to bring you back and forget about it.  Yet, still there are those who feel badly or try to hide the cupcake from site, I’ve even had one girl invite me to a party and ask me to bring cake.  I declined as I barely know her and I don’t do cooking for hire.  So drop the guilt, the fear, the shame and let’s eat well together!

There is this little thing called the order of the Universe. Books have been written on it and people attempt to explain it with religion or "the Secret", etc. Getting how stuff works is essential for living a free life, and yet there seems to be more to know than we can possibly assimilate. What are the rules to live by to be healthy, slender and happy?

Michael Pollen attempts to give us some tools as he opens his latest book with a simple formula. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Good formula. This doesn't account though for how someone is holding ones energy, thoughts and emotions. Or how an internal disturbance might be effecting it all. Food can correct quite a bit but our minds are much more powerful and yet this seems to be one of the biggest challenges for us all. Okay, mostly all. I'm sure there are some who don't find harnessing thoughts to be a challenge but I have not met one of those people yet personally who could tell me how to get into the flow more efficiently.

For now, it seems to me that what we get to do is practice. Practice doesn't mean perfect it means to keep doing things that give us more. I practice eating a predominately whole foods diet. Sometimes I experiment with what that entails. I practice meditation and sometimes I don't. I find that it's all a great experiment and I do feel better when I'm practicing the meditation than when I don't. I practice being happier.

When I practice, I do not need to think about my weight. It naturally takes care of itself and I stay slender. The more I practice the less I need to try and make things happen that I desire. They just happen. But I have been very practiced in trying to control my world. I want to control the outcomes to be what I want instead of allowing it to occur. Not always though and each day I practice a little more to trust. Do what I know works and see the order of it all.

It's early on a Sunday morning and I'm venturing out to the farmers market again today in search of a ripe avocado for my Candida Free Cooking Class this afternoon. 3 hours of laughs, learning and tastes. There were no ripe avocados yesterday and even though the translucent quinoa wraps would be just as tasty with a little dressing instead of a green slice or two of California's good fat fruit, I would rather have them then not...

I will also get to see what other fun things I might bring home for my own week of experimental cooking. I go through phases of doing what I know I like and then I flip into all experiments all the time for a few days. I'm still searching for what might be the ideal diet as well.

Currently reading more and more science to see if any of the extreme diets have the scientific backing they claim that they do. Unfortunately even the scientists seem to find conflicting evidence as it can be difficult to measure exactly what people eat. What they say they eat might be only partially of what they really eat. Then there are heredity factors, amounts of exercise and the least control of all is what the people are thinking about their life, their weight, foods, etc. The thought factor plays another enormous role as all of this is influenced by all different energies. How we hold our own energy daily makes a difference in how the foods land.

Luckily though, there are some common grounds and so far; the macrobiotic way of eating whole foods predominately, and finding balance seems the most supportive. Raw being a cooking style and meats being a small portion of the diet, I'm finding thriving to happen more frequently as long as it doesn't become a healing diet for a person who doesn't need a healing diet. Rigidity in any one of the systems out there seems to be a big pitfall. I notice people cling to their diet of choice like a religion that must be protected. Somehow I think as long as it's actually food and not man made reconstructed food stuff, it's most likely better than not. Each of our bodies will also need different things at different times so knowing how it all works should be basic stuff we learn in grade school. Only since the foodstuff business is big money, there is more weight on you not knowing how to feed yourself well and create balance, slenderness, vitality and aliveness. I can only wonder though that if we all got more well and happy what we might create then?

Well, first the lucky cooking class participants for today, I'm going in search of those avocados.
visit www.SusanMarque.com where I've posted a couple new recipes.

I used to bike or walk to do my errands so that I would get some exercise in the day.  Now after a month of being without a car in L.A. it's my only way to get around and I've found it's surprisingly easy and easier on my being!  One thing I've always told clients, especially when they want to lose weight is that everything counts.  The little extras that they might consume like a candy here or a coffee drink with sugar and cream there or the little bag of chips in the afternoon that was soooo small, it all adds up to extra calories that will show up on ones body eventually.  I've had clients convinced they only ate "treats" once in a while so it didn't matter, that when the truth came out, those "treats" were just about a daily occurance and the once in a while was really when they didn't have them.  Oh the beauty of the human mind.....

Luckily the everything counts idea works in other ways too.  Like the extra steps I'm taking or weight I'm lifting carrying my bike up my stairs more often or bags I'm carrying is adding up in extra calories burned and stronger muscles without ever having to go to a gym.  I'm saving money and the biggest surprise of all is that things are not really taking all that much more time.  I can walk and bike in more direct routes sometimes and I find that life without the car, at least right now, is better than ever.  I don't worry about parking except on the days I have a rental.  I don't worry about gas, insurance or if anything bad might happen to the car.  And almost magically I've become a tad more social and have gone out more with friends in the last four weeks than maybe the last four months....

All in all this little experiment has me shaping up great!

Being a Food & Life Coach, I get to help people lose the weight they would like to shed for good and stay that way.  One size of clothes in the closet and a refreshing knowing that it will be that way for as long as they desire.  As I'm working on this article geared for the popular women's magazine stand, I love how it is spilling out onto the paper.  One of the biggest Myths I'm dispelling is the idea that we need snacks.  Maybe your kids need an afternoon snack because they are kids, but when was the last time you had a growth spurt that was vertical and not horizontal?  While Starbuck may be fun for some, do you think maybe America has consumed so much cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup that they can't keep their blood sugar levels from crashing dangerously low for a mere few hours between meals?  Unfortunately it seems not.  The key is to get back on track and not be on the high road to diabetes and heart disease by shedding the Myths about food that have you grabbing that cereal box like a hamster on a wheel.  Shed the Wheaties and try some whole grains on for a change.  Or a morning scramble wrap or maybe some flax seed waffles. (in my Candida Free cookbook)  Quinoa or blanched salads are excellent for lunch and Maybe a little pick - me - up fruit snack to keep things flowing 'til dinner time.  Anyway, it's time for me to start winding down for the night so we'll see if the article makes it out into the world's glossy view.  For now, begin to take the steps towards a fresher you and check the free stuff at www.susanmarque.com for some articles and recipes...