My body tells me...

I'm knocked out by my menstrual cycle this time. Fortunately, it's weekend, so it doesn't really matter if my body aches and I get cranky. I've been sleeping, waking up, sleeping again, waking up and not feeling hungry. My morning routine includes coffee and Internet surfing; but since I found out that I ran out of gas for my stove, I skipped the coffee this morning. I needed to go out to buy gas, and I had been craving for something sweet. But 90% of what I read on the Internet told me to avoid sweet stuff for reasons such as gaining weight and upset stomach. Only two articles suggested to follow my craving because it was the way my body told me of what it needed to keep my system back in balance. I did not follow the majority.

I walked to the nearest convenience store to get what I needed: oatmeal cookies, white chocolate sandwich biscuits, 1 slice of brownies, and 1 chocolate chip muffin. They didn't have stove gas (boooo, Circle K!), so I also got myself two cold Nescafe's. On my way back, I saw a couple of warungs displaying selections of dishes on their windows, but they didn't appeal to me at all.

A Blackberry message came from my neighbor Sherly: drop by at my place, I got some wedding cake from last night (Sherly works as a WO). I think my body just made successful communication with the universe!

What's on your plate, and what's not? I wanna know!

If what you eat defines who you are, what you don't eat completes the picture. My neighbor Sherly eats a lot of vegetables and avoids McD, KFC, and the likes at all costs, even though they are the closest to your door after your empty fridge. Sherly doesn't use tap water for brushing her teeth and washing her hair, let alone drinking. She buys water in gallons from a supplier. Thanks to her, I also subscribe to water gallons for drinking. Tap water is fine with me for washing hair and brushing teeth, and once in a while, I still eat junk.

So, those are the rough pictures of Sherly and me seen from some of what we decide to do and not do. Can you read our personalities? Roughly and partially, yes. It is easier to read someone from what they consume, because they are usually tangible. If you're interested in trying to get into someone's personality, I would suggest that you also try to find out about what they do NOT consume. What can you see in someone who only drinks sweetened drinks (and tends to avoid plain water), smokes two packs of cigarettes (sometimes more but never less), and indulges himself in fatty and fried food (and skips vegetables) beyond physical consequences, such as possible bloated stomach and high cholesterol? Could we at least say something about his low level of self discipline? Can't jump into a decision too quickly, but details like those are also hard to ignore, are they not?

Some people change their diets along the way, so this is also interesting to study. The 'why's' behind the decisions to consume things and not consume other things can say something about someone's character, or a change in character, in the case of a changed diet. Given that people have the choices, of course. Let me tell you of what I have quit consuming: cigarettes (since 3 years ago). I used to have two or three glasses of coffee a day; now the number is reduced to one (since one month ago). I used to be matter of fact about drinking water; now I spend IDR3,500 (45 cents) every day for a bottle of 1.5 liter water to be consumed at work. What can you tell about me, apart from the slight financial change in my wallet? Skip that. Now, what can you tell about you from what's NOT on your plate?

Optional Rice-not Dinner

Maia Estianty, the Indonesian singer, song writer and producer, said that she doesn't eat rice to keep in shape. I took pride in people saying I look like her, but I wasn't proud of my tummy at all, so quite foolishly, I followed what she said.

I've been hearing about this carbo diet thing, but I never really made time to research on it. I just jumped into some key points I read on an online woman's magazine: 1. eating all but rice will make your tummy flat; 2. It's not torturing at all, because it allows you to eat whenever you want. Then, I bumped into this lady, a middle-aged human resources director of a hotel I worked for. We shared a table in a lunch time when I saw that her plate was filled in quite abundance: chicken satays, beef curry, steamed vegetables, tofu, and not a single rice. And this lady looked elegantly slim. She went like that day by day: eat generously and stay slim.

This note is not meant to encourage women to do a certain type of diet. I was a scholar before, but I keep the ethics of not perceiving anything as truth without proper research and literature. Let's not go into that for now. I'm just going to say that I have formulated my own diet. I need to feel good for myself, and I guess I love myself too much to torture my body and risk ruining my mood even in the name of 'ideal shape'. I eat rice for lunch and anything but rice for dinner. I nearly got the tummy I've desired, and most importantly, I eat all I put on my plate. No leftover.