Most Influential reads that got me started in macrobiotics

Yesterday, for the second time in a week, I ran into someone that I hadn’t seen since starting living a macrobiotic lifestyle. For the second time in a week the person I ran into was quite taken aback at how I looked. Both of them said to me.

“I wouldn’t have recognized you if you hadn’t said hello to me. You look so different, is it your hair, your glasses?”

It seems I look quite different after just 8 months of eating a more plant based whole foods diet. Their response makes that very clear. I take it as a sign that I am changing, the food and the lifestyle is changing me-for the better.

I thought it would be useful to identify how I got on the macrobiotic path in the first place. Slowly step by step, I made a change. This is where it started.

The first blog that I came across was Virginia Harper’s Blog. I was doing research on T. Arteritis, the disease that I was diagnosed with and her sidebar talked about how she had used macrobiotics to live a symptom free life for the past 28 years! Well that got my attention as that was of course what I wanted too.

From her blog

The healing experience brought her knowledge about the workings of her body and the understanding between food and health. Her complete recovery not only gave her complete relief from her illness, but also the benefit of a life full of energy and vitality. She noticed that as her health was restored, her body also became flexible and youthful in appearance.

Following 28 years of glowing health, she has shared her knowledge of healing practices that sustain lifelong health. For the last 15 years she has consulted with clients all over the world.

The next article I read was 5 steps for beginners by Jessica Porter. I then went on to read her book, the Hipchicks Guide to Macrobiotics. I have mentioned before in other blog posts that she challenges you to a 30 day “eat whole grains” challenge. I started to eat whole grains every day, mostly 2 or 3 times a day. I just added it to my regular meals and the practice blossomed from there.

I went on to read The Kind Diet and started making a lot of recipes from the vegan and superhero sections. I watched Alicia talk about the diet on Oprah and invested in the book, it is worth it for the photos alone.

To find out information I like to find the leaders in a movement and scour their websites for information. Mina Dobic is a leading macrobiotic educator and counselor and wrote the book “My Beautiful Life, how I conquered cancer naturally” her website has lots of articles (see the sidebar in the above link) about macrobiotics and some recipes.

If you explore these links and have any interest in improving your feeling of well-being, I encourage you to start to cook some whole grains. Eat them along with your regular meals. Then start with a few recipes from the books and websites mentioned. Meals planned around plants and whole grains will start to crowd out other foods. (I plan another blog post about crowding out soon).

This was how I got started. It is not meant to be a complete list of the resources I use now, they are just a taster of what is out there. I am sure you can find some great resources of your own. When you do, please list them in the comments section.

UPDATE: Here is a list of books that can help nourish you on your own healing journey

Just published, an answer to the question what do you eat? A list of 15 superfoods.