I started a ten-day all-grain fast today, otherwise known as Macrobiotics Diet #7 designed by George Ohsawa. The purpose of my doing this is to clear my head, simplify my food intake, give my body a rest and a chance to heal, give my mind a rest, and give myself a chance to slow down and observe what has been going in and not necessarily coming out of my body.
It has been awhile since I've done this fast, but I still remember some things to expect during the process, including the unexpected! For one thing, I can expect to not feel so good as my body starts to heal and rids itself of toxins and excess waste. But to what degree I may feel ill, I cannot predict. Hopefully not too much, because hopefully I haven't binged too far off the deep end.
Okay. So what does this Diet #7 entail? It's pretty simple, actually. And it's a great relief to do. Soak a pot of rice in water overnight, plus a pot of quinoa. Have a mug of hot water first thing in the morning upon rising. Cook the rice in the rice cooker with a little sea salt (it takes a little more than an hour) and eat it for breakfast with a mug of 2-bag Kukicha (twig) tea. It goes without saying that everything is organic, since the purpose is to eliminate toxins, not add them to my body! Then clean up the kitchen and be amazed how quickly getting out of the kitchen can be done -- lickity-split.
For lunch, I heated up some leftover quinoa and rice together in a covered pan with a little water. I also had a half-cup of 1-bag tea. Cleaned up and was out of there pretty quickly once again.
A couple of hours later, I had a 3-ounce mug of 1-bag tea.
For dinner, I rinsed and cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker. It also took a little more than an hour to cook. I ate a big bowl of it with a little ume plum vinegar sprinkled over it and I had a mug of 3-bag twig tea.
I don't feel hungry at all. We'll see how things go tomorrow...
Diet #7 is listed in George Ohsawa's book, Zen Macrobiotics. There is also a book called #7 Diet, which was written by one of his students, Francoise Riviere. Both books are available to buy from the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation.
Going on this diet is like meditating and praying. The purpose is to clear my mind so that I can make new decisions based from the center of myself. Already I can see the benefits.
I've put more rice (short-grain) and quinoa to soak overnight in the refrigerator. Oh yes! I almost forgot to mention this: I chewed each bite of food at least 100 times and enjoyed the experience entirely. Okay, that's all for now.
