Alexis Lyon Prefers Boardsports and Raw Kale

More bananagrams formations

2012-01-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

Bananagrams starting formations for psychoanalysis

2012-01-07T21:31:00.001-05:00

Ski/board 2012

2012-01-03T10:56:00.001-05:00

STILL have fresh kale on New Year's Day!!!

2012-01-01T11:03:00.001-05:00

Cousin, coffee, purple beard

2011-12-27T17:50:00.001-05:00

Sunglasses at California Christmas #family

2011-12-25T19:13:00.001-05:00

Untitled

2011-12-24T16:14:00.001-05:00

Untitled

2011-12-24T16:13:00.001-05:00

Still harvesting outdoor kale :)

2011-12-20T06:33:00.001-05:00

So happy to be in the mountains :)

2011-12-17T11:54:00.001-05:00

Still have a mini 3 kale bouquet for today's smoothie!

2011-12-15T08:41:00.001-05:00

2nd grade science that used all 5 senses

2011-12-08T19:00:00.001-05:00

Still have a little kale bouquet from outside for my smoothie!

2011-12-06T06:29:00.001-05:00

For day 2 of teaching 2nd graders how seeds grow into the food that we eat

2011-12-05T23:05:00.001-05:00

Ok lentils, let's go teach germination!

2011-12-05T06:23:00.001-05:00

What teaching has done to my dining room

2011-12-04T22:10:00.001-05:00

Support the bottom

2011-11-24T21:52:00.001-05:00

Grateful for kale :)

2011-11-24T09:58:00.001-05:00

Thankful to wake up with Coops :)

2011-11-24T08:13:00.001-05:00

Sea of green tea brain jello on homemade plate

2011-11-23T16:38:00.001-05:00

Mushrooms..."vegetarian snack"

2011-11-23T15:13:00.001-05:00

Flashback to 1989!

2011-11-22T07:54:00.001-05:00

Brown Rice Fast

2011-11-17T00:09:00.005-05:00

My favorite thing about the brown rice fast is that you get to eat. I've had a history of IBS and have tried various cleanses, usually the 2 week sort that involve fiber, milk thistle, and cascara sagrada. Those are usually helpful, and I've noticed subtle results, with a bit of exhaustion and moodiness during the process.

The brown rice fast is simpler, shorter, and cheaper. Various websites have directions for what kind of brown rice, how to wash it, what sort of water to use, how much to eat and when, etc. I haven't been too fussy about all of these specifics when I've done it. I think the simpler it is, the more likely I am to incorporate it into my life. What I have learned from reading instructions on other blogs has aligned quite nicely with my intuition about the process.

I have learned from my own experience that:

brown rice is gentle on my stomach
brown rice is filling
brown rice is a great starter food after an upset stomach or flu
even a one day brown rice fast can be helpful for recovering from an upset stomach or flu
a 3 day brown rice fast can be a simple, pleasant, helpful, and even spiritual experience

The longest brown rice fast I've been able to keep was about 4 days long. My bowel movements completely changed color and I realized that it was probably the first time in my life since infancy that I have ever had the same thing in my bowel from beginning to end. I was working in a preschool at the time and had come down with a different virus, cold, or flu just about every other week. I was getting over a terrible stomach flu in the spring, and I was thinking about the BRAT diet often suggested for recovering from stomach sicknesses. (BRAT: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). The only thing I felt like eating was brown rice. So I started eating brown rice. I decided to see how long I could take the fast. I had done a more imperfect 3 day version of the fast a few times years before. By imperfect I mean that I drank a few soy lattes, and ate a banana at the beginning or the end of the 3 days. This time I did drink green tea the first day. I actually think I drank nothing but green tea the first day. I switched to mostly water the 2nd day, and drank only water or green tea for the next 3 days.

I cooked a large amount of brown rice nightly with tap water on the stove. I brought a large amount to work every day, and either heated it in the microwave or ate it cold. I broke many of the taboos of some of the stricter instructions you might find (I used tap water, I occasionally microwaved it). I also ate however much I felt like eating.

The part of the fast that I refer to as spiritual is that it made me extremely contemplative of my relationship with food. My relationship with food became so simple. I cooked food. I brought some with me places. I ate some when I was hungry. I enjoy the flavor of plain brown rice. In fact I find it delicious. I noticed all of the time I was not spending thinking about and deciding what to eat. I love food, and I think about it much of my life. I think about what I am going to eat next, whether I have enough food with me, when my next meal, bite, or snack will be. During this fast, all that planning and combining, flavoring and choosing, was gone. It was simple. I don't think portioning was necessary for me because I didn't appear to overeat. Eating became such a simple (yet still pleasant) function.

I was motivated to complete this fast for many reasons:

I was recovering from a sickness, and this food did not nauseate me.
I like a challenge. I wanted to see how long I could do it.
I enjoy the smell, taste, and texture of brown rice.
I like the simplicity of a fast.
I like doing a fast that involves eating!
I had enough energy to continue to participate in my life's responsibilities (attending work, etc.)
My bowels felt better and better every day.
I was fascinated when I realized I had only one food in my intestines from end to end.
I was comforted and intrigued by my contemplation on my relationship with food.
All I had to buy was rice!
Information I found on the web supported my gut :) sense that this would be a good choice for healing my bowel. In fact, I read that doctors have prescribed brown rice fasts to patients to help them recover from bowel discomforts.

I'm glad to have this experience in my repertoire of bowel healing (or as I like to say, "resetting") techniques. It's inexpensive, simple, pleasant, and delicious!

Finally snuck in a sunset surf...reset my whole reality!

2011-11-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

Higgins post sunset

2011-11-12T17:33:00.001-05:00

Endomondo thinks I walked in the ocean!

2011-11-12T16:53:00.001-05:00

Found a few more veggies in my planters!

2011-11-08T23:15:00.001-05:00

Green tea jasmine pearls on Monday morning are worth fixing the tea ball

2011-10-31T07:50:00.001-04:00

Spotify by laptop eve, cassette by pickup morn

2011-10-25T07:18:00.001-04:00

Kale stems!

2011-10-20T11:19:00.001-04:00

Recently realized kale stems are delicious! Especially in fish less fish sauce!

Self portraits done with oils in the late 90's

2011-10-15T00:28:00.001-04:00

Painted in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts

Nudes I painted with oils in the 90's

2011-10-15T00:22:00.001-04:00

ground up cow

2011-10-14T23:56:00.001-04:00

cow

2011-10-14T23:52:00.001-04:00

chicken

2011-10-14T23:45:00.001-04:00

http://mashable.com//2011/10/05/president-obama-steve-jobs/

Succulent fish parts

2011-10-14T16:17:00.001-04:00

My letters spell the first sound in Janie's Got a Gun

2011-10-08T22:42:00.002-04:00

Green tea brain jello on worm plate

2011-10-06T12:41:00.001-04:00

Barack Obama, on the passing of Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T23:29:00.001-04:00

"...there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

-Barack Obama, on the passing of Steve Jobs

My first big amazing heirloom tomato! Deeeelicious!

2011-09-07T17:11:00.001-04:00

My first romas for breakfast & lunch on the first day of school :)

2011-09-06T07:13:00.001-04:00

Just found a picture my friend's daughter drew many years ago: I think I'm the skateboarder

2011-08-29T20:26:00.003-04:00

Not so calm little Kettle Cove

2011-08-28T18:43:00.001-04:00

My first red pepper

2011-08-28T13:24:00.001-04:00

Thought I should eat it today in case Irene roughs up any of my plants...

My body parts and my roommate's melons

2011-07-30T14:47:00.001-04:00

snail trails

2011-04-24T21:38:00.001-04:00

http://www.alexislyon.com

Fluff Fest dancers

2010-09-25T17:40:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

My favorite carrot I've ever grown

2010-09-18T16:47:00.001-04:00

Amanda Palmer at #140conf

2010-09-14T15:21:00.001-04:00

Discussing connecting directly to her fans in real time with twitter.

Here goes!

2010-09-10T18:19:00.001-04:00

I grew potatoes!!!!

2010-08-31T19:09:00.001-04:00

Balloon animal post-it

2010-08-25T20:27:00.001-04:00

@LannaLee's office

http://www.alexislyon.com

Bug sex

2010-06-12T19:03:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Bug sex

2010-06-12T19:01:00.001-04:00

Untitled

2010-05-16T18:55:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Art Gallery: http://www.alexislyon.com

Bad day

2010-05-10T16:42:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Art Gallery: http://www.alexislyon.com

Dead snake

2010-05-04T12:58:00.001-04:00

God created us naked and he liked it

2010-05-02T14:09:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Art Gallery: http://www.alexislyon.com

The effect of Saturday so far on my passenger side floor

2010-04-24T17:38:00.001-04:00

Recently crushing hard on Joan Jett

2010-04-22T17:17:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Art Gallery: http://www.alexislyon.com

Some of my favorite clothes, sheets, and beings :)

2010-04-20T21:47:00.001-04:00

Alexis Lyon

Art Gallery: http://www.alexislyon.com

See the full gallery on posterous

The beginning of last night's rainbow

2010-04-20T16:04:00.001-04:00

It got bigger as I started paddling out towards it as it was happy to see me =)

See the full gallery on posterous

Welcome to my bowels!

2010-04-19T21:37:00.001-04:00

Very gay toes

2010-04-16T17:49:00.001-04:00