Foodie Friend Deva Mecredy & Intuitive Eating

My dear friend Deva treating me to a fine buddhist
monk's meal in Mount Koya.
I have the same amount of trays on my side of the room. 

I've been incredibly blessed over the last summer and now fall, my path littered with kitchen devis (goddesses) nourishing me with food and their soothing company.

Recently, my friend, Deva Mecredy, raw food chef and food consultant, came to visit me here in Osaka. She came with a extraordinarily plump yoga mat bag that was stuffed with superfood powders like macca, raw cacao, chia, cacao nibs, a portable blender and a healthy love for food.

I met Deva in India nearly three years ago, where she introduced me to my now favorite Indian breakfast hole-in-the-wall, Sri Durga Bhavan in Mysore. Over breakfast we would share our unravelling through the deep ashtanga practice. I also visited her in her home in Hong Kong two summers ago, arriving from New York half-dead from jet lag and half-hearted from a breakup. This young lady with an old soul nursed me back to emotional health with home prepared raw food, the best vegetarian dim sum in Hong Kong and of course the most nourishing sustenance: love and friendship.

When Deva's involved you know there's going to be some good eating. This is inevitable. Once she was settled in, she was scouring the blogosphere for best sushi places in Osaka.

Here we were together again. Hell bent on nourishing our friendship and each other over loving treats: sushi, salads, some home cooking by Deva, super food smoothies and the more than occasional sinful custard creme filled pastry that is so popular hereabouts.

Now, I've been strict with myself about diet over the last couple of years, really focusing on wholesome food. But my food odyssey took a turn at the end of July, when I arrived in Barcelona. And since then I've been in the "Eat" portion of my "Eat Pray Love" journey. I've decided to indulge certain loves, of grain, good grain if it's available; chocolate; beer on Fridays. Being in Japan has also inspired a pause in my vegetarianism to allow for the myriad of fish products that are in most dishes. One can avoid meat, no problem. Fish and seafood is a lot tricker in Japan.

But more importantly, Japanese food is renowned the world over. And it would be criminal of me (I being my own victim) to miss out on the opportunity to eat amazing and quite healthy quality Japanese food in Japan--not to mention the opportunity to be with people in a new place, food always being a great vehicle for meetings and celebrations.

And with Deva I had an accomplice. At Osaka, we had a pretty good setting. Osaka is "the" food capital of Japan. They even have a word for the kind of eating they do here: "kuidaore," which literally means eat till you drop. We didn't go to such extreme lengths, Deva and I. But there was definitely sushi, fine dining, the most delicate Parisian macaroons, and to simply get it out of the way, fast food fries coupled with chocolate ice-cream sundae--hey that's what felt right for at the time, it was an emotional response we both agreed, but certainly were more aware of it thanks to us answering the call. What's great about eating with Deva is there is no restriction. The key idea was to eat when we were hungry, to answer the cravings, and to nourish ourselves.

This is Deva's debut article online. I feel like a proud mama! Eating intuitively, I love it!

http://greenvitamin.co.uk/vitality/2013/8/21/eating-healthy-is-about-intuition