I've gone through more lifestyle changes in the past decade than most people have in a lifetime. And yet the changes keep coming. This year has been very eye-opening and I am still reeling from the experience.
This was brought home to me today as I washed up after dinner. My housemate came home early and asked if I was cooking something with vinegar since it was redolent in the air. I was startled as I have gotten so used to the smell of apple cider vinegar that I do not notice it anymore and forgot that, to others, the smell may be a bit over-powering.
You see, I use it in everything. Ever since I have gotten so easily ill, I have used it in lieu of harsh chemicals and to "disinfect" everything. After I wash my plates and cutlery, I give them a rinse in vinegar solution before a final rinse.
I use it to rinse out my hair after conditioning. I have found less hair fall than before since I started using it.
I make a vinegar solution spray to wipe down my countertops after I clean them with soap just to make sure they are really, really clean. I add it to the final rinse of floors.
Strangely enough, I seldom use it for cooking. I tend to use balsamic vinegar instead.
The smell of apple cider vinegar has started to smell good to me. I like it but it may be a psychological effect. I feel secure when I smell it, knowing (truthfully or delusionally is yet to be determined) I have made things as clean as possible so I do not get sick.
I never used to be so obsessive. In fact, I am quite a lazy person. I avoid cleaning if I can. I hate housework but I have had to be careful because of my health. Just the slightest thing and I end up suffering for days and weeks. It's made a Lysol convert out of me.
As I cleaned up after dinner, on the sink counter was my dishwashing liquid detergent, my spray bottle of vinegar solution, and my medicated liquid hand soap. My housemate took one look and giggled that I was really clean. I was startled as I did not think of myself as particularly anal.
OK, so I'm anal. I rather be that than sick.
I also noticed my liquid handsoap container. I just refilled it last week, using one of my favourite, used Urban Decay bottles to hold some medicated liquid handsoap I'd bought from Daiso. The slightly iridescent, white fluid is rather pretty through the clear plastic bottle. But what was surprisingly that nearly 1/5 of it was gone. The soap, that is. In just one week? I'd used up 1/5 of the soap in a week? Sure, Id been in the loo more times in a day than I have in a week but even then ... 1/5 in a week?
Wow.
I am going to give myself a think here. Am I becoming too neurotic? Is this affecting my life to the extent I will be one of those people who spray Lysol in your path before you speak to them? Don't scoff, I had a colleague like that. She sprayed all door knobs and handles with Lysol before she touched them and used wet wipes every time after she touched something. I used to think she was insane. Now I wonder if I am turning into her!
I want to be well but I also want to be normal! Or as normal as I can be with this damn illness. I have recently been looking into clean eating as a concept. I find it both logical and redundant. Logical because the preparation of food should focus on letting the food ingredients shine in their own merit but redundant because ... I've been doing that for years and now they splash a fancy concept name on it???
Pfffttt.
Still, it's better than the raw food concept which I think is a little extreme and sometimes unwise. But that's just my opinion since it does not and cannot work for me. My stomach and health is too nebulous to survive the raw food indulgence. And it is indulgent as it costs 200x as much to indulge in a raw food lifestyle. I know because a friend's girlfriend is a practitioner and started a business from it. I was astounded when I realised the prices and scornful when I connected the dots. Principles in this case = marketing opportunity in the FMCG mould.
The raw food and clean eating concepts obviously originated from the West although many of the concepts can also be derived from Asian food principles. So trying to sell that to Asians is a hard sell, I think. Only the least practical and grounded Asian would go for it, I think.
Still, I liked the Clean Eating magazine I came across. Unlike many of its new food concept brethren, it was not preachy or pretentious, had great tips and was practical. It also seem targeted at the normal home-maker rather than Cosmopolitan sipping IT-girl wannabe. However, it was no Woman' Weekly such that you feel like you pilfered your mum's subscriptions. I liked it enough to look up their website and bookmark it.
I am still not sure of the whole concept as it seems like it's trying to sell coals to Newscastle where I am concerned, and also because I do like the slow-cook concept too. In fact, I like any culinary concept as long as it makes sense and tastes good.
I might try out some of the recipes even though (as with most Western-based, new age food concept) there is an over-reliance on bean-based products. Firstly, I am not overly fond of beans except for cassoulet and the occasional Irish brekkie (but then, it's more the black pudding I crave). Secondly, I cannot eat legumes because of my lupus. Although the studies suggest but cannot conclude concisely, I can tell you for certain, where I am concerned, that legumes make me hurt. If I eat too many beans-based products, I ache and hurt so badly, it can literally lay me low for days. I have learnt to eat them with much caution and moderation. I've developed such a phobia of them that I have even avoided drinking my beloved soy milk and eating soya bean curd which used to make my daily staples. My eyes tear even now at the loss.
Sigh.
When I was looking through the Clean Eating website I noticed they have a call for recipe testers. Normally I would love to volunteer for something like that but now, with my limited financial resources and my problems with so many food ingredients, I would make a poor tester indeed. Still, I wonder why a magazine like that would not have specialist recipes that cater to the single person with medical limitations. Surely if your mandate is to promote better health and natural remedies, such a section would make sense?
Oh well.
Maybe I am just a small clog in nobody's wheel. Not everyone would be interested in the same things as I am since they live normal lives. I just have weird problems, I guess. Still, I am gonna start trying to see if clean eating has any effect on me. And how different it has been from what I have been doing so far.
So ... another lifestyle decision? We shall see ...
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