The banquet night aftermath

I woke up today full of energy even though my DH and I went out last night and came back pretty late. We went to the banquet hall for his work's annual staff appreciation party. Before we left I had a huge smoothie and some nuts because I knew that the food at these events is not going to be fresh. Its funny how since I have been eating raw and live foods anything else just doesn't cut it in terms of freshness, nutrition and energy. With cooked foods you need to eat more since you don't get as much nutrition as in raw, and still end up feel full and sluggish. There were about 3 antipasto tables when we came in so I looked for anything raw and found salsa and bread. I skipped the bread (I'm also a celiac so the only bread I can have is corn bread if anything) and I decided to try some antipasto eggplant and peppers. They both ended up having no taste at all. The salsa was pretty good so I went to get more. Drink wise I asked if I could get some herbal tea but they told me they serve it with dessert and to get juice from the bar. I also had a choice of water that was sitting in big jugs on our table but it tasted funny like it wasn't a very good quality water. The orange juice I got from the bar tasted nothing like pure orange juice would-it was full of sugar and artificial flavour. Shortly after they started to serve dinner starting with pasta. I had none but by the looks of it it was drenched with something that resembled melted cheese paste. Once everyone ate this they served the main course-for me and DH vegetarian dish of Eggplant Parmesan and for others some type of meat with vegetables. We had the veggies too, tasteless cooked baby carrots and the same lacking in taste baby potatoes. I tried one carrot and a piece of potato and couldn't bring myself to eat any more than that. The eggplant permesan was baked in flower so automatically I couldn't eat it and even if I could I would be very weary of the freshness of this dish. Banquet Hall food is obviously frozen entries unfrozen and heated. Very poor quality, and very low on the food chain. Just being in the presence of this dull and lifeless food made me sad. I knew if I would eat any of the cooked dishes I would end up feeling miserable, low on energy, even depressed.

The best part of this meal was the bowl of salad each table got. We all took a portion (really this entire bowl would serve maybe two raw foodies and it was hardly enough for 10 people) Anyway, I took a little more than everyone because it was the only thing I could eat that was acceptable. Nobody seemed to care anyway as they were munching on their meat. By the way the meat smelled terrible and I wouldn't have even dreamed of feeding it to a dog let alone a person. The salad was nice, lots of fresh iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil. I finally got my tea (regular tea) in a tiny, tiny cup after my meal. It was so good.

We stayed for another hour after the meal and I watched most people looking drained and lifeless afterwards. Most of them had to unzip their pants and rubbed their bellies looking bloated and not well. I love people watching, observing their postures, how the energy flows in their body, the shine or lack of shine in their eyes, the tone of their skin, the facial expression, it all gives so much info on how and what they eat and how they live their lives. I love observing raw and living food eaters and seeing how their eyes always sparkle, their skin is smooth and young, they emanate energy from every cell and they just look happy and alive.

My poor DH who ate the pasta, the eggplant, the lifeless veggies and ice cream for dessert couldn't sleep half the night. He felt sick, bloated, heavy to his stomach, and nauseous. He is not used to eating this type of foods. He is good with eating high raw, makes smoothies for breakfast and if he eats cooked food he chooses light and fresh vegetarian dishes that he makes from scratch. I never made any comments on how and what he should have been eating last night not wanting to be a food police. I knew that he was just caught in a moment and not thinking ahead. It amazes me how the cooked food robs the body of vitality, nutrients, and energy. On the other hand its lovely how raw and live food heals adding the strength and vigour. I had no problems with sleeping and woke up energized. I took Ronin for a walk and then cleaned the house, did the laundry, and made a super yummy smoothie.

My foods today:

Smoothie: cranberry juice, almonds, flax meal, mango, raspberries, honey, super greens, ginger
Orange
Apple
Lots of water
Peppermint tea
Mango salad
Ceasar salad (minus croutons, bacon and cheese)
Broccoli salad
Strawberries
Pineapple
Jasmin tea