Oh, the vanity.

Last night, I saw a colleague who I hadn’t seen for a couple of weeks. And she said, ”Marissa, you look amazing! Have you been doing tons of yoga or something?” It made me deliriously happy, because I know that it’s this detox and my 100% raw intake. I’d heard about the amazing physical effects, and seen it happen with other people, and though I hoped that it would happen to me, I didn’t necessarily believe it. So, yay.

Also last night, I went out with some friends. To a bar. And while I don’t think that I’m addicted to alcohol, it ALWAYS triggers me to be messy with my food. I don’t know if it’s a physical trigger that makes me crave salty fatty greasy food, or if it’s just a lowering of my inhibitions that makes me eat salty fatty greasy food. Even with one drink. Either way, right now in my life, it’s trouble for me. So, what to do? I had sparkling water. It took a lot of deep breathing and praying and focusing on the amazing things about being raw before I was willing to order it. And yeah, I had to answer some questions – mostly with just, Oh, I’m detoxing. This morning when I woke up, I was proud of myself all over again, especially when I thought about how I would I have felt with a food hangover.

Aside from the emotional cravings and a few pimples, this detox has not been particularly hard. And every day that I’m 100% raw, the next day is easier. Like, this is what I do now.

Still in Berlin, and looking forward to the next 5 days of holiday. An addition to an earlier post about which restaurants I like here for their salads – Borschart. There is a really lovely, simple, huge arugula and pine nut salad with a light vinagrette. It’s the only raw vegan thing on the menu, but I’ve been there several times with cooked-food eating companions, and they love it too.

Honestly, though I’m looking forward to the free days, I do sometimes have a hard time with unstructured time. I’ve been known to lie in bed all day watching bad TV and eating crap. My plan? To make a plan. Though I love the idea of free-wheeling and taking the day as it comes, I have to take steps to protect myself from old habits. A lightly structured, social week with time to go to my favorite raw places in Berlin and hopefully find some new ones before I leave.

On this detox, I’m avoiding all overt fats like olives, avocado, nuts and seeds, and just been fruit/veggie/sprouting it. And I love it, love the way I feel, love that I can eat without overt fats for a period of time (makes 80/10/10 seem doable). When I miss savory stuff, I’ve been having sundried tomatoes. They are sooooo good, I’ve always liked them but find them slimy when they’re reconstituted in oil. Doing it myself, in water, is easy, cheap and very tasty. I bought a giant box of them at the supermarket in the Friedrichstrasse UBahn station, and have been grooving on them for days. (side note - I find it so interesting the amount of shops and stores in Berlin’s train stations. They’re like malls, it’s amazing).

Love and all,
Marissa