Mixed Messages

The last post that I made and the resulting conversation got me thinking: Am I getting mixed messages? The goal of any new macrobiotic is to understand your body through experimentation with foods and lifestyle until you've done enough trial and error to gain a basic understanding of what your body needs at any particular time to feel "in balance." And sometimes, macrobiotics is frustrating because it is hard to really pin down these yin and yang, acidic and alkaline, contractive and expansive, energies in the foods that we are putting into our bodies, and thus the energies and feelings that those foods are affecting on our bodies. I'm saying I'm still not there. And I would like to be.

I am getting better - I'm becoming more in tune to what my body needs, definitely. But some things still don't make sense: Why, if my body is in an extreme yin state just before my period, do I crave sugar, chocolate, and baked flour, if those are just the things that are going to make my period the miserable experience that it has always been? (Actually, I think that my period is a beautiful cycle and I become more and more grateful for it as I study the moon cycles and the feminine experience, but the headaches, cramps, and nausea, I could do without.) and why, when I haven't eaten for about 5 hours or so, does my body go nuts telling me I need that muffin/yellow cake from the store around the corner from my office, when what I really should have is some brown rice & steamed vegetables?

I believe the sugar cravings are my body's effort to increase my blood sugar - and because sugary things are what I have always used to get that increase, that extra boost of energy, that is what I crave. I have found that I can combat these cravings by planning ahead - by making sure that I have good quality carbohydrates providing my body with a constant flow of energy. I also keep some dried fruit in my desk drawer, and some rice crackers, which I can go to in a moment of panic. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm also quite certain that my sugar dependency was leading to my chronic headaches and common stomachaches. Without exaggeration, I have had a headache 1-2 times per week for the past ten years or so (and these headaches are lay down in a dark room with no noise for hours kinds of headaches), and since going macro, when I am being very careful about what I am eating, I have had none at all. It's about extremes - and keeping the body in balance. If your body is in balance, it will tell you what it needs - but if your body isn't in balance, it doesn't even know what it needs - so how can it send the right messages to your brain for how to get into balance?

AH-HA! After re-reading the last paragraph, I think I know the secret after all: continuing to hone my intuition requires continuing to maintain balance. It doesn't mean I can't give in to those cravings once in a while - but it does mean that if I am having those cravings, I'm probably not in balance -- so a little more thought is required as to my next nutritional choice.

**image courtesy of jdthinker on flickr**