Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.01.2005, Qupperneq 11

Traditional cuisine in Iceland is not exactly renowned for being
very vegan or even vegetarian-friendly. In fact the average
Icelander is unlikely to know what vegan means (someone
who consumes no animal products whatsoever). Amidst the
sheep’s’ heads, rams’ testicles and cods’ cheeks, you’re unlikely to
tempt the average Icelander with a good salad. This is the land
after all where adverts remind us that ‘Icelanders eat hotdogs’
– apparently a matter of national pride. Yet it was in this very
land that my eating habits and indeed, my entire life, underwent
extraordinary transformation. It was in a tiny Icelandic
countryside village in May 2002 that I was first introduced by a
friend to the concept of a ‘raw food’ lifestyle.
Finding food salvation in the land of meat and
potatoes
Eating ‘raw’ simply involves eating as much fresh, raw, living
food as possible, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, seaweeds
and oils, whilst cutting out all other foods such as meat, fish,
dairy, wheat/baked goods, processed foods, sugar and so on.
When I first arrived in Iceland in August 2001, I was 23 years
old and weighed approximately 120kg, having already managed
to lose 13kg from my all time high of 133kg aged 21. After
learning about eating raw however, I decided to swap junk foods
for a high percentage raw diet and went on to lose about 54kg
over 18 months and now weigh a happy and healthy 66kg.
From my initial decision to go raw, my life transformed on a
daily basis – the fat just burnt off me, my skin and hair showed
new radiance and I had so much more energy and enthusiasm.
Men started to be interested in me and I could wear whatever
clothes I wanted, not just those which fitted.
The raw food world
In a time when overweight and obesity have been declared
world epidemics by the World Health Organisation, this
lifestyle offers a chance for people to make a real and lasting
difference to their health.
A great source of support for me here has been the Icelandic
raw food group that meets roughly once a month. The number
of attendees at the meetings has rapidly grown from a few
friends support to a current average attendance of 20-30
people. Indeed, when a leading figure from the raw food world,
Victoria Boutenko, came from America to give a lecture series
at the University of Iceland in June last year, the interest and
attendance was phenomenal, leading to her book ’12 steps to
Raw Foods’ to be published in Icelandic for the growing market
here.
For more information, contact: rawreform@hotmail.com
Yup, the holidays are over. And you’re probably thinking as
you tearfully attempt to buckle your pants “Maybe I shoulda
went easier on the gravy”. But what are you gonna do? You hate
walking, you never learned to swim, you’re way too glutinous to
diet and aerobics is for sissys. Well, lip up fatty, cuz I have the
exercise regimen for you.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is now being taught in Iceland. A blended
martial art, BJJ was developed in Brazil in the early part of the
20th century, incorporating the most effective aspects of Judo,
traditional wrestling, and classic Japanese Jiu Jitsu. I talked with
the instructor Jón Gunnar about the obvious merits of a fighting
style that is able to adapt and grow with new ideas and changing
situations. I asked if training in this fashion would be a good
alternative for someone wishing simply to get fit and drop some
weight. He said he thought so, but I should judge for myself.
There was no backing out.
“I ain’t tapping unless it feels like my arm’s coming
off.”
I was paired up with a sparring partner and they ran through
some basic moves with me. We began with some open handed
boxing, one would take shots at the other who would in turn
cover up and attempt to move into optimum position for the
takedown with a hip throw, always moving, always bobbing
and weaving. As I hit the mat, over and over, I realized how
efficient this technique was. The next move was an arm lock.
As Jón Gunnar was describing this move to me he emphasized
that in his classes safety and respect is paramount, as soon as a
technique is used and the student “experiences” it, he or she is to
slap the mat, or “tap out” immediately and the hold is released.
I nodded my head, and said yup while thinking “I ain’t tapping
unless it feels like my arm’s coming off.”
We practiced the movement with my opponent in a position of
decided weakness, my full weight pressing down on his chest
with my arms extended to choke him. BJJ is geared towards
groundfighting to a large degree and is designed to enable
practitioners to turn a bad situation to their advantage. Still, I
thought, no fucking way he’s getting outta this. In an instant, I
was flat on my back, my arm bent at a horribly awkward angle.
I thought my arm was coming off. I tapped faster than you can
blink
This is what dying must feel like
We sparred for a bit longer, and then came the final move of
the day, a leg lock called “The Triangle.” This didn’t sound all
that frightening to me. Before Jón demonstrated the move he
again emphasized the safety code of his classes: “We’re very
careful with this move, we never hold it for longer than a second
or two.” As he maneuvered the lock on to me I asked why that
might...choke… I didn’t finish the sentence.
This effective technique utilizes your legs to pinion your
opponent’s neck to their shoulder, cutting off blood supply to
the brain. Being caught in this gives you the distinct impression
that your head just may pop like a pimple on prom night. As
I was released I thought to myself that’s what dying must feel
like. I left the class, sweaty, exhausted and humiliated. What
more could you ask for in a workout?
Now, you may well ask, what use is the knowledge of this
undeniably cool shit? We’re not going brawling, we’re not
gonna compete in the UFC, when will all this come in handy?

1. Long arm the law
Let’s say your having a friendly get together at your home
and your neighbor appears red-faced at your door spluttering
nonsense about noise and common decency and the long arm of
the law. Calmly offer them these two choices as you deftly catch
them in an armlock:
A) Encourage them to either learn to enjoy Europe’s “The Final
Countdown” at amplifier number 11 or:
B) You will never ever let go.
They will almost certainly leave your shindig to go it’s course.
Leave the lock on a bit longer and they may be persuaded to
sing along to the synthesizer parts.
2. Beat up a beat poet
You been standing in line in front of Sirkús for a half an hour
in the rain, then along comes Johnny Hipster who nonchalantly
cuts in way at the front. Attempting diplomatic venues, you
walk up and inform Johnny that there are no cutsies, no cutsies
at all. But Johnny, he just won’t listen to reason. In that case,
hip throw Johnny Hipster’s ass right to the pavement. If you’d
like to add insult to injury, you could yell after him how Johnny’
s last short film/book/album/art installation/spoken word
happening/interpretive dance thing really sucked as he skids
down the block.
And finally…
3. Pardon my French
You walk into your neighborhood clothes retailer to find the last
pair of mittens with skulls on them being fondled by a tourist,
the very mittens you been saving for for weeks. The tourist
looks like he really likes those fucking mittens too, “Excuse moi”
he says, “how many crowns por la Mittens de Morte?” What are
you gonna do? It’ll take weeks to knit a new pair. Leap up and
seize that foreign invader in an enthusiastic triangle lock. Your
hand’s been too cold for too long, goddammit.
Monday
Breakfast: Fresh fruit salad.
Lunch: Big salad with fresh
guacamole on flax seed
crackers, all homemade.
Dinner: Raw ‘pizza’
(dehydrated base with fresh
tomato sauce and vegetables),
served with salad.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Banana and almond
milk smoothie.
Lunch: Almond-Avocado
patties made with leftover
almond meal from making
almond milk, with salad.
Dinner: Raw nori wraps
– filled with fresh vegetables,
served with salad.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Fresh fruit salad.
Lunch: Sprouted chickpea
houmous with a large salad.
Dinner: Soaked and
marinated wild rice with salad.
Thursday
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie.
Lunch: Sunflower-seed pate
on homemade flax crackers
with salad.
Dinner: Lettuce Wraps – like
tortilla wraps, but use big
lettuce leaves to wrap filling
of choice.
Friday
Breakfast: Fresh fruit salad
Lunch: Large salad with
hand-reared sprout mixture,
avocado and dehydrated
vegetable ‘crisps’.
Dinner: ‘Garden burgers’
– handmade raw ‘burgers’
with salad.
Saturday
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie with
hemp-seed milk.
Lunch: Hemp patties made
from ground hemp leftover
from making milk, with salad.
Dinner: Courgette spaghetti
(courgetti) with fresh tomato
and basil sauce, salad.
Sunday
Breakfast: Fresh fruit salad
Lunch: Herb salad with
fresh herbs, home-raised
sunflower greens and other
sprouts, served with marinated
mushrooms.
Dinner: Fresh tomatoes
stuffed with sprouted rice and
vegetables, served with salad.
Raw cake for dessert, made
with nuts, carob, almond
butter and fresh pear.
Sample meal plan
Below is a sample meal plan for a week of 100% raw
vegan, energized food. Snacks and drinks are not listed –
normally snacks would consist of dried fruit, nuts, seeds,
etc and drinks, aside from water, would be fresh juices,
smoothies and homemade nut/seed milks.ICELANDERS EAT HOTDOGS. BUT
SHOULD THEY? By Angela Stokes
Three basic tips for
raw beginners:
Don’t be put off going raw
by thinking of the big changes
- take things slowly, be kind
to yourself and don’t punish
yourself for “mistakes.” The
first thing to consider is simply
introducing more raw foods
into your current diet.
A great tip for beginners is to eat just fruit before lunchtime - perhaps 3 different acid fruits
for breakfast - e.g. pineapple, grapes, plums or nectarines, then snack on something with slow-
release sugars like an apple or banana mid-morning to see you through to lunch.
Most often raw foodists consume no gluten products – i.e. anything containing wheat, oats,
barley and rye among others. Gluten clogs up the digestive tract and is as such best avoided.
Gluten-free alternatives include buckwheat, corn/maize, rice, tapioca, soya and millet. Yes, this
does mean no bread, pasta, pizza, cakes, biscuits and so on, be patient with transitioning.
LIP UP, FATTY:
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Padraig Mara
GRAPEVINE HEALTH TIPS:
A list of distinctly
Reykjavík-type situations
where you will be very glad
you know Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:
Angela before and after