Urban Fiber Studio

Portland. Food. Food. Portland. The two are intimately entwined, as anyone on the food scene will tell you. Both near and far.

2012 is a momentous year in that I’m treating it as the actual year I’ve arrived in Portland. Don’t get me wrong, I have a wonderful relationship with T and small handful of friends. Yet in a strange way I haven’t been as fully present as I could be. Most of my career I’ve been on the road for clients and loving every minute of it. Having a ball actually. If you’d asked me when I went into surgery February of 2008 I’d have told you I’d be back on top in six months. Cough, cough. Laugh, laugh. I now know better. I’m stronger and wiser for it.

Sooo… I repeat. 2012 is the year I’ve arrived in Portland. It means re-engaging with community. Reconnecting with creativity and discovering new outlets of creativity. Continuing to build on the rich and joyful relationships that I have. Creating new ones. And having fun while doing.

This includes food. Since I rarely do anything halfway I started a cleanse January 1. I signed up for the full throttle Clean Program. No coffee, no wine. I liked that it was not a diet. I didn’t need a diet, just a reboot. Protein Clean shakes in the AM and PM, supplements and a full lunch each day for three weeks. Did I mention the 7-day food pre cleanse? They suggested 5-days, but given my schedule 7 worked best.

I’m three days from the end of a four-week haul! Can I tell you? I’m not sure I’ll ever do it again! At least the full throttle one, maybe just the food one. For the record, I don’t care how healthy almond or coconut milk are for you. After one week. Never again. EVER.

Out of 87 meals, I only slipped 5 times. Wahooo! Two of the three were pretty decent nose dives to the deep end – with decent moderation, the other three consisted of small bites of something I shouldn’t have had in the evening. Can I say. Not bad. I got back on the wagon and kept going. But here’s the thing I learned. I love food and the act of creating meals. Oh, and I love my morning cup of coffee.

You’d think one meal a day was a bit limiting, but surprisingly not. I reconnected with thinking about what that meal consists of and creating healthy meals for my lunch and T’s dinner. For the record, I don’t cook every night. I’m the queen of making one meal last several. I focused on the moods that result in cravings and why. And what to do about them. We’ve tried new recipes, some with overwhelming success and others not so much. And we continue to buy as much locally as we can. It’s been a good experience and great new way to look at food. So ….

To new relationships. I feel like food and 2012 is going to be a good year.

PS: Yes, I’m still on the creative path with the knitting and patterns. More on that later.