WHOLLY MACRO SERVICES

Natural Lifestyle Health Consultations

ABOUT THIS WEEKS MENU

We have two more weeks of wonderful menus planned for you before we close for a few weeks per above, with lots of dishes that are very conducive to freezing. We suggest that you order a few extra dishes each of these remaining two weeks, and freeze them as outlined below, to hold you over until we re-open. This will give you nice variety of healthy foods to select from while we are away.

We encourage you to always do the very best that you can for yourselves each and every precious day of your lives. Your best may not be perfect. But, if you have been putting forth your best effort, and if you have been ordering from us fairly consistently for the past several months, you should be in very good shape, having been eating the best possible food, as fresh as possible, delivered to your front door every single week, and just full of energy, vitality, and nutrients. Eating our fresh food frozen, for a few weeks, is the next best thing in our opinion. It far surpasses eating canned or packaged food. And also far surpasses eating lesser quality frozen food from the grocery store that has been frozen for many months before you ever purchase it. And yes, we think it surpasses eating the prepared "health food" from the health food store deli counters too, because first of all, that food is not fresh. It is all pre-assembled in a central facility, and then shipped to each store where it is re-heated or reconstituted. The ingredients used are far from pure, and many items are loaded with bad quality salt, oils, simple sugars, and other undesirable ingredients. We do not mean to sound like we are criticizing, or competing, because we are not, we just want you to be aware of the truth of what you are really getting.

This weeks Wholly Macro Menu has some great items for freezing.

The Azuki Bean Vitality Chowder will freeze very well. It can be used as a soup, or as a bean / protein dish. You can build an entire meal around it by serving yourself a nice bowlful as the main course, and adding a simple grain such as steamed brown rice, a hearty piece of whole grain  sourdough bread (condition permitting), or some pan fried mochi dropped right into it like a dumpling / crouton. A side of a freshly  steamed green vegetable such as broccoli or brussel sprouts would finish the meal off nicely!

The Mushroom Smothered Tempeh and Rutabaga would freeze well too, and go well with the Penne Pasta dish as a side (which incidentally, would also freeze quite well), perhaps with some steamed kale on the side??

And we would definitely put a few containers of Lemon Poppy Seed Cake in the freezer to curb the inevitable sweet tooth in a healthy way. We made a birthday cake for a friend last week, and found ourselves with half a cake leftover. (It was a huge cake). We put the entire half cake in the freezer, pan and all, and took it out this  weekend to use for another get together. It was fabulous!! It froze beautifully, thawed nicely, tasted delicious, and saved us some much needed time as well.

A word about thawing: We like to move the frozen item of food from the freezer, directly to the refrigerator, a day before we plan to use it. It will thaw gently and evenly this way, with no watery mess in or outside of the container. When you are ready to eat it, simply warm it up and serve it via your method of choice. It will be happily and surprisingly similar to its original fresh state.

WEEKLY ARTICLE

Talk Therapy 

The percentage of Americans who see a therapist / counselor has declined over the past decade according to the Archives of General Psychiatry. Most likely they found, because insurance companies don't want to pay for counseling, but they are all too willing to pay for the less expensive (and perhaps more profitable) over - subscribing of antidepressants and other purported mood elevating drugs.

Yet, a Canadian study in the Archives of General Psychiatry reported that as few as eight sessions of therapy were as effective as antidepressants at preventing recurrent episodes of depression. Participants in the study were taught to practice meditation techniques to alter bad thoughts, and to pursue other activities designed to focus attention ON THE PRESENT. The study concluded that elements of meditation, combined with behavioral therapy, and what we here at Wholly Macro like to refer to as "Talk Therapy": otherwise known as "counseling": the warmth, compassion, and guidance of another human being, can be as effective as antidepressant medication, with no side effects, and the prospect of a permanent solution via the incorporation of long - term coping and behavioral strategies.

It is not always easy to be honest with ourselves, let alone others, but if we can't, we can never break free from the prisons of our minds.

Some of our patterns of behavior and thinking are so deeply ingrained that we need the help of others to show us the way and set ourselves free from our minds limitations. Many of us need the help and guidance of a friend, family member, trained counselor, or guru to help us break through the barriers of negativity, ego, and small mindedness that block our souls from shining brightly. And we all deserve to shine brightly.

Some of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are actually related to, and the result of, the type of food that we eat. And yes, many of us need guidance in our food choices as well.

Did you know that if you are overly fearful and timid it could indicate that your kidneys are weak?

Or maybe you are one of those people who just cannot make a decision. If so, it could indicate that your pancreas is not fully up to speed. Too much sugar perhaps?

 
Do you find that your predominant emotion is an overwhelming feeling of sadness? Your lungs could be struggling under the burden of too many white flour and refined dairy products.

Take a deep breath, and know that macrobiotic counselors, who are trained in oriental medicine, can help. We know which of your organs are weak by the emotions you portray, and more importantly, we are just full of suggestions on how to make appropriate and effective changes not only to your behavior and lifestyle, but to your diet as well, in order to cleanse, revive, and strengthen the organs related to the emotions that are impairing your mental health.

It is fascinating the way our bodies and minds impact each other. Continuous negative thoughts can weaken our bodies, and continuous weakening of our bodies (through improper diet and lifestyle) can damage the mind. It could easily become a vicious cycle if one dwells in unawareness.

Talk Therapy happens to be our specialty here at Wholly Macro! Any of you who know us personally can attest to that!! We devote large amounts of time to talking, writing, explaining, coaching, supporting, encouraging and otherwise teaching our clientele about both mental and physical health. We categorize this under our offerings of Natural Lifestyle Nutritional Health Consultations, and / or Therapeutic Listening Consultations.  And then we cook the appropriate foods for you as well via our Weekly Delivery Service, and / or teach you to cook it yourselves in our fun and educational Private Cooking Classes. What could be better?

We think that talk is cheap, and exhausting too, UNLESS it leads to concrete steps in taking real and positive action to improve reciprocal and corresponding emotions and organs via a combination of behavioral therapy and dietary therapy. Yammering on and on about the same thing over and over again: not productive. Being guided by an expert who can cut through the mental and physical blockages: very effective.   

We invite you to evolve with us here at Wholly Macro rather than remain imprisoned in the unhealthy mind / body syndrome that is so much a product of the current harmful dietary products, practices, and lifestyles of modern society.

Poor health, both mental and physical, is not life, it is a jail sentence.

Good health is our natural state, rightfully ours, and with the proper knowledge and guidance, entirely possible.

Let's move forward together, towards health. Let's evolve, rather than be imprisoned.

In Health As Always.

Gayle and Jaime / Wholly Macro