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This is a bit different kind of ‘food’ post because it actually has to do with not eating food. At this point hopefully I didnt lose you already! I just wanted to share a pretty amazing personal experience I have had with NOT eating…and before I go any farther I just want to say that I think it is very important that before anyone experiments with not eating for any length of time more than a few waking hours it is very important that you seek the guidance of a health professional.

Just a quick note on my history of eating, I LOVE food. I love the the look, the taste, the aromas, the textures, I love food shopping, cooking and eating out. I love thinking about the energy and health of the food as I am chewing it and visualizing the vitamins and all around good things it is bringing to my body.

So, please know that not eating, and doing a cleanse of any kind feels like a tremendous sacrifice before I start it, which I think it would be to most people. However, I have done it not to punish myself or try to hinder one of life’s greatest pleasures but just the opposite. I have found that this type of conscious effort actually increases my enjoyment, appreciation and love of food. A quick note on my cleansing history: I have done several cleanses, from herbal teas, juice and just overall not eating anything but I have always had WATER and lots of it, and think that is a very integral piece to having a successful cleanse experience.

After the holidays I had felt very ‘over-full’ of rich, heavy, sweet, spicy meaty foods. I decided I was going to do a cleanse and as I started my research I kept coming across the ‘Master Cleanse’, which in all honesty I first heard about over 10 years ago while going to holistic college in San Diego. I thought it was pretty ridiculous back then even though people I knew and respected thought well of it. I’d like to think I have matured quite a bit and I have a much more open mind since those days! As I took a closer look at it, and I read the testimonials that are all over the web (btw, just google ‘master cleanse’) I was impressed with how many people talked about the amazing results that they had experienced, such as increased energy, feeling lighter, more alive, healthier and not hungry believe or not!

Well I must admit after following it for 4 days, I have had a very similar experience. However I had some other experiences that I am going to share, but before I get ahead of myself I want to share what I drank each day. I started the day off with 25 oz of salt water, and then throughout the day I drank the concoction of maple syrup, lemon and cayenne pepper (if you try this go light on the cayenne until you get used to it, its HOT!) I had about 60-80 oz of this per day along with my weight in oz’s of water and without going details was about 200 ounces per day! At night I also had some smooth move tea and that was what I consumed everyday for over 80+ hours. On the 4th day I had some vegetable broth and an orange at night and then came back the 5th day with some organic multi grain bread to warm my belly up and lots more fruit and broth.

I had not gone on any sort of real cleanse or fast in about 6 years, the experience for me is always one of trepidation and at times actual fear. The food addictions in me are so strong to meat, eggs, cheese and of course my cookies and milk at night! (No wonder I am 200+ lbs on a 5′ 10″ frame!) However, that is just the experience leading up to the cleanse, not the actual doing of it. During the actual doing of this cleanse I was happy as a clam(pun intended)! I was shocked by how much TIME I had, not thinking, planning meals, shopping, making lists of food, spending time at restaurants, eating at a family member or friends house……There was an absolute abundance of TIME, and that is a very precious commodity as I think we can probably all agree on. With that time I also was able to add in things that I love to do such as being grateful, writing, meditating, yoga, chi kung, reading Rumi, Hafiz, Eckhart Tolle, Emmet Fox, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and watching great movies such as Ben Hur. It was as if all of sudden I added about 6-8 hours in my day, oh yeah thats because I had!

As some of my friends would be happy to attest to (shut up, Lenn), I do eat abnormally slow, but that taken account I really did have much more time than usual on the wknd and during the morning and evening after work. I was thinking I need to do this more often just for the time it creates alone! I also saved a bunch of money, my wife joined me on this adventure and we marveled at how little $ it took to ‘feed’ us on this cleanse. $6 on organic maple syrup, $11 on a case of spring water, $8 on organic lemons, cayenne we already had, but even so its like $4, uniodized salt we already had too but its really just a few cents worth really and smooth move tea another $4, so you can live on this cleanse for 4 days for only $33 for 2 people! Hey its a great way to do some quick saving in a crunch, haha.

Another piece of this adventure I found so interesting was the absolute lack of refuse we had. I looked in the garbage can after 2 days and I couldn’t believe how little trash we had accumulated. So even beyond the health benefits there were some other great lessons in this cleanse for me, not to mention I noticed I could see more clearly and hear more acutely, not sure what that is connected to but it was quite evident to me. Would love to hear any thoughts, ideas or responses you may have as well as any cleansing/fasting experiences you would be interested to share. Happy Cleansing!

After a return from a great trip we all have experienced the need to get right back into the throws of everyday life. Fortunately for me when we returned from our trip last weekend, re-entry included taking my son Jake for his first haircut.

What I thought would be a brief Daddy and me moment, became a family outing. Not only did my wife Adele want to come, but to my surprise our 16 year old Candice said she wanted to go too. I was apprehensive at first (my own stuff), but once we were there and the scissors started going I was happy we did it as a family.

We took Jake to Rockabilly Barbers in Huntington where I get my haircut and Anna from Rockabilly was great with Jake. He didn’t mind the haircut too much and became a different person when Anna asked him, in Jake speak, if he wanted a “ollipop.”

It’s these brief moments in Jake and Candice’s life that I relish the most. We are always moving so fast and seem to take for granted how important the little things are. In this case a haircut became another chance for a family on the go to bond. Pictures, laughing, frustration with a little kid who rather be doing something else, ah it was great!

You won’t see mom, Adele, in any of the pictures though she was the acting photographer on this outing and we won’t forget it. Thanks Mom!

Tom Pellicane - Publisher, canvas Magazine

Rockabilly Barbers

In the Editor’s Letter of the February issue of canvas magazine, I ponder whether it’s more eco-friendly and perhaps inexpensive to cook from scratch or order take-out. The fact is, home cooking often requires many ingredients that add up to a chunk of change and a considerable pile of trash. Just think of all those wrappers our food is usually sold in. Between the packaged goods, dairy items, and even produce—which often comes wrapped in typical supermarkets—we end up disposing of an incredible amount of garbage over the course of a day, not to mention a week or year for that matter. And that’s just for cooking!

Being a self-proclaimed foodie, cooking happens to be one of my favorite activities, and homemade foods are usually much tastier (and healthier) than store-bought or take-out, so I probably won’t change this aspect of my lifestyle. Yet since it’s just me and my husband (and our dog, who I don’t actually cook for—though my niece does for hers, but that’s another story altogether), it’s difficult to buy in bulk unless we’re entertaining. That means lots of wrappers resulting from each individual ingredient when I cook. Each night, as the trash bin fills up higher and higher, I feel more and more guilty about how much I’m adding to the landfill. Of course, we recycle to the full extent that our town accepts, but there is still plenty of refuse that currently cannot be recycled.

I have to resign myself to the fact there is no easy solution for this dilemma, though now that I think about it, there is one practice I should finally adopt: Composting. Looking back, it’s hard to believe, after nearly two decades of encouraging people to compost in various publications, that I haven’t actually done so myself. Who, more than me—former editor of two national gardening magazines and websites, not to mention umpteen books on the subject—better understands the benefits of composting? Compost not only reduces the amount of trash being added to the landfill, it also generates what we gardeners refer to as “black gold,” the crème de la crème of soil enhancers, adding nutrients and aeration for healthy plants. There are many wonderful composting bins on the market, so it’s about time I make the leap by ordering one and doing my part to reduce refuse while helping naturally boost the soil in my garden.

You heard it first: I vow to begin composting starting immediately. But as for the rest of the garbage problem, I’m interested to know what practices you suggest to help limit what ends up in the landfill. Also, we’d love to hear your thoughts on whether it might be more responsible to cook, discarding many wrappers from several ingredients, or purchase take-out, since restaurants likely buy more ingredients in bulk than we do for home use. Please take this opportunity to join the conversation, and add your comments below.

—Diana Murphy, canvas Editor in Chief

In my last post I mentioned we were in Gstaad Switzerland, my wife earned the trip with her company and a good time was had by all.

While there I got to learn a little about the pressures they face in Gstaad which are similar to ours. Gstaad is a picture postcard Swiss Alps town, known as a playground for the elite we were told. Yet we saw mountains devoid of snow, there was rain one of the days and I read that locals are facing mounting pressure for expansion, from pollution and the like.

It was interesting to read in an article that the owner of the Gstaad Palace, where we stayed, is on the forefront of these issues, often times squaring off with the tourism boards. He describes the double edge sword he feels they’re dealing with; the need to attract tourism dollars, competing with the need to keep the environment in the form those visitors expect and locals need. This environment includes the picturesque farms, cows walking on the side of the road and locals co-mingling with the elite from around the world.

These issues reminded me of those we face here, land preservation, keeping the local flavor and the co-mingling of all who live on Long Island.

Four thousand miles apart and facing parallel pressures; it’s what we read about every day, but somehow seeing it first hand brought me back to where I started when conceptualizing canvas. The world is changing so fast how to do manage the change before it spirals out of control. How can we get people thinking about these issues before every piece of open land on Long Island is gone and before the mountains of Gstaad are filled with strip malls, cheesy hotels and water parks?

I hope at some point during the run for President these are topics that are discussed by the candidates. Yeah I know, right now it’s the economy stupid…but if we don’t starting addressing the bigger issues at some point the economy won’t matter.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

I am writing this post from Gstaad Switerzland. No, I don’t lead a jet set life, I am very fortunate that through my wife, Adele’s, hard work last year she earned the trip with her company.

They told us we would have limited access to email, but as well all know technology and the internet has created a wired life that is hard to get a way from. Limited meant I have to walk down to the business center to check my emails, so it all depends how much many times I want to make the trek. Other people we are traveling with are checking palm pilots, treos, and cell phone messages. During breakfast this morning a cell phone rang and was answered in French, so it wasn’t one of ours. It makes me wonder when and where we really get to spend down time any more. As I’m writing this post I imagine these people swishing down the slopes holding their ski pole in one hand and thumbing their blackberry in the other. Oppps watch out for that tree….

The February issue of canvas is on press and we’re excited to keep moving forward. I’ve gotten through my emails, checked daily life in the U.S. through the web and it’s time for me to unwire myself for a little while.

Tom Pellicane - Publisher, canvas Magazine