No More Latkes...Please!

It's cold outside today. The days are darker and the wind has been whipping. You may notice unusual or "old" emotions and physical feelings surfacing or resurfacing. Plus, it's the proverbial holiday time; time for feeling oh so joyful. What if you're not???
More on this in a minute...

Today's Food:
No Breakfast - detox
Lunch: 2 tangelos
small bowl of raw almonds
fork-ful of raw nutella cashew cream pie (!)

Dinner:
Large salad with radicchio, red leaf lettuce, carrot, avocado and mushrooms, with garlic stuffed olives, nutritional yeast, olive oil, Bragg's Amino Acids, sea salt

20 oz. water

Dessert
Piece of raw nutella cashew cream pie
YUM!!! This pie was made by my friend and raw chef Joy Perlow, inspired by Ani Phyo's cake recipe

Today's RawReformBlog, from Angela Stokes-Monarch, includes a brand new song by Angela, part of which came to her in a dream.
Being that this has been a week of deep emotions for me, I so loved listening to her sing this song and wanted to share the link with my readers. Here it is; enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfsHG5RyU5g
Thank you, Angela!

There's a talk I give this time of year entitled, "10 Tools to Take You Through the Holidays." I've taught it since 2003. It's all about how to keep in balance this time of year and many have found it valuable in navigating their own jouneys through the holidays; Thanksgiving through New Year's.
There is an expectation of how we should feel during this season of joy. It does not take into account that holiday time is also a time we might remember those we have lost and often find ourselves missing them. Additionally, it is a time when our food and our schedules are turned upside down and issues of body image, "willpower" and stress can come into play.
I found this happening to me. I have not felt this way in many, many years.
But i did not heed my own advice of balance.
I am in a glorious new relationship, which of course means later nights, less sleep, shifts in some daily routines and days without working out! or does it.....
It did for me, and I understood that new love, as my colleague and partner in crime and couseling Joanna Bronfman said to me, releases new chemicals in our bodies, makes us feel like space cadets and often throws us off our game completely. But, she said, just let go and enjoy it! And I did.....and when my head was spinning, I ran to a yoga class, took a run and got my food back on track.
Then came Hanukah and latke time. For those who don't know, latkes are the potato pancakes we eat once a year at Hanukah, and they are delicious.
As a raw foodist, I choose to enjoy these yummy morsels of my heritage.
This year, I had the pleasure of walking into my aunt and uncle's beautiful home in Brooklyn, and seeing my aunt kitchen-deep in latkes; making about a hundred of them for the gathering. The kitchen was filled with the smell of warm oil and cooking potatoes, and I bathed in it. Then I ate a whole bunch.
Cut to the next day. My friend Liz and I engaged in our holiday tradition of making latkes; we made sweet potato latkes and wasabi latkes; and I ate some more. We drank Soy Nog, laughed and shared conversation as only two women can.
That night, we got together with a group of women to celebrate, and Laurel made zucchini latkes, leek latkes and sweet potato latkes; and I ate many more.
Cut to Tuesday morning; I felt lousy! I was foggy, low mood akin to depression, off balance and my whole immune system felt low. This raw foodist was hurting! I couldn't even distinguish which was real and which biochemical.
OK, I decided, I am so done with latkes this year.
Back to running, raw food, more sleep and juicy conversations with my girlfriends to share what I was experiencing, I soon felt much better.
All the beauty of a wonderful relationship and holiday tradition knocked me on my butt.
I needed to honor my personal needs. My body and psyche thrive on these four things:
Proper sleep, raw food, consistent exercise and time for me to connect with my spirit.
I will be writing more about this subject through the New Year.
Meanwhile, get clear in what you need to keep thriving and stay in balance through the holidays. Write in and share it with others....
And if you're eating latkes, they're great with apple sauce and sour cream!