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Today
When I first started working at Sunbeam, I had been on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for five years. When I lost my job after nearly nine years, due to Sunbeam Products moving manufacturing overseas, I set my face to find another job. I began a correspondence course to learn web design, sold my house, lined up a new job, and moved to another city (Gautier, Mississippi). Once I moved, the job fell through so I interviewed for more jobs. I have always gotten jobs for which I interviewed, so not getting them was a new experience.
It should be noted that I put myself at risk by going to work at Sunbeam, as nothing had changed for me physically. I put myself at risk because I did not like being poor. Not getting the jobs for which I interviewed forced me to take stock of my physical situation, and I decided to do the wise thing and stay home, this time getting on Social Security Disability (SSD), but not without a personal fight to keep things the way they were.
I returned to Hattiesburg, using the equity from the sale of my home to help with the cost of adding on living space for me in my parents home. I finished the correspondence course I'd started before I left Sunbeam, learning in the process that there is a wealth of knowledge to be assimulated when it comes to web development. And so now I am a self-taught on-going student of web practices.
I still do not like being poor, and hope to once again find a way to work myself off of subsistence, but this time without risk to my physical well-being.
I would just as soon not have shared the above information with the entire world, but a purpose of this website is to be open and share from where I come and where I am. One thing is sure in my life, everything is subject to change.
My diet today.
My diet lifestyle evolved into that of a cross between alkalarian and vegan. Alkalarian is similar to vegan in some ways, but yet different. In comparison to a vegan diet, I find the Alkalarian diet a bit more restrictive. While fish is allowed occasionally, fermented breads are not. The last couple of years I have eaten fish, usually salmon, anywhere from a couple times a month to once every three months or so.Though I did not eat bread for quite a while, I do now. I buy sprouted grain breads, yeast free. My favorite is French Meadow Bakery’s Hemp Sprouted Bread... it is yeast free and rather addicting (just kidding). I use it and Sprouted Barley bread for my veggie dagwood-type sandwiches. And I must confess I also whip out the old Hellman’s/Best Foods mayonnaise for thick tomato sandwiches with my Hemp bread. For the rest of the veggie sandwiches, I use squished up avocado (God’s mayonnaise), sometimes mixed with extra virgin olive oil. And I occasionally make homemade French bread out of spelt, whole wheat and/or rye flour... just so I can dip it in extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated garlic. I figure if folks can invade my space with smokers breath, coffee breath, and a combination of the two, I can invade their space with garlic breath. No apologies. Don’t mess with my garlic, please.
I aim for 75% or higher raw vegetables and one or two pieces of fruit each day. I eat some whole grains, but not every day because too much will cause a negative reaction in my body. If I succumb to white rice or white bread, I spend five minutes blowing my nose afterwards and often will then have problems sleeping. If I succumb to my dad’s potato chips, immediately I feel a heaviness in my body. I really need to keep out of the potato chip bag. The bread from my tomato and veggie sandwiches do not cause me problems unless I eat TWO of them.
Dried beans with brown rice or on toasted whole grain bread, I can eat in moderation. And this is the key on all cooked foods... moderation. Raw vegetables can be eaten all day long. But easy on grains and beans. Fruit, I eat in moderation. A piece of fruit mid-morning, and some evenings.
In the past, I would eat 90–100% cooked food, predominantly meat, and MIGHT have a small ice-berg lettuce salad. This is an inverted way of eating. We need to have 75–90% raw salad to 10–25% cooked. Lots of green, a little cooked. The big bowl of salad you prepare for four people—THAT bowl needs to be the main meal with a small side of cooked food. Hey—don’t freak out—one step at a time. I recommend the recipe books by Shelley Young as she opens up the world of beautiful alkalarian dishes.