I Digress. A lot.

I attended a really, really good workshop last night.

It was a free seminar at my local holistic clinic, and I signed my Better Half and myself up a couple of weeks ago. When it was almost time to leave the house, I went to get my BH, who had fallen asleep upstairs. I asked him if he still wanted to come, and he made a muffled sound. I asked him if he wanted some dinner, and he opened his eyes a bit, and very sweetly asked, "What's that about?"

Then his head dropped back down, and he began snoring instantly. I made a mental note to store that away with all the other awesome things he has said to me while being fast asleep.*

I digress. I walked down to the clinic, not really knowing what to expect. The workshop was called something like, "Detoxifying, toxicity and managing your body fat." I wasn't as interested in the body fat part, especially since I have been bitter about buying new, expensive pants since I dropped weight on the cleanse. And now the new expensive pants are getting loose. Good, but bad. I digress again.

I was most interested in the toxicity part, since I just finished a detox and sometimes wonder what it actually did for my body. I wasn't disappointed. The doctor who designed the seminar was brilliant. And interestingly, he is a 45 year-old man who has the skin of a 12 year-old boy. That alone made a good case for detoxifying one's body. (As an added, amusing bonus, he talked about bowel movements CONSTANTLY. And it was INTERESTING!)

I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about when it comes to toxins, but I was floored to hear about what goes on in your body when food and environmental toxins get stored in your fat cells. He explained why diets that make you count calories are "useless" for long-term health. He explained why so many people gain back weight after they've lost it.** He explained things about the human liver that I had never understood before. But best of all, he said that it was never too late to deal with these things, and actually gave me some answers about my food sensitivities. I now have hope that I can get rid of the bags under my eyes, improve my body's functionality, and get some energy back.

But I am also a little angry that I have been relying on the Vega test to give me allergy guidance. The doc explained what I had always suspected.... Vega testing can be helpful, but it's generally too non-specific and doesn't help you develop a realistic idea of your sensitivities. He said he did Vega testing for years before discovering more accurate methods. Now he says he can narrow sensitivities down to a few key things, instead of fifty key things. (My last Vega test came back with hundreds of "key things." And I went with it. Fuck. Me.)

Anyways. I am going to start nutritional counselling with him as soon as I can afford it. The whole evening made me feel better about my weird food issues. I walked home afterwards with a huge smile on my face, blasting Hot Chip (hello irony!) all the way back.

Huh.

This was supposed to be a post about vegetarian restaurants. Funny how that happens!


*One of my favourites is still, "These pants are on fire!" even though he wasn't wearing any pants at the time.
**Did you know that your body develops extra fat to store toxins? And if you have a toxic system, even if you lose weight, your body will try to gain it back to protect you from the crap in your system?! Maybe this is old news to some, but I thought that was crazy. Your body will store fat because your fat is protecting you from the toxins in your body. And this is why you need a good, strong liver... So when you lose weight, you can actually get rid of the toxins too.