Ketocollation

 I don't know how to put it on words. But I have to. Call me crazy, It's okay.

As this pandemic situation still continues around the world, despite the 2,5 years effort, the vaccines (The 4th booster), the travel restriction, etc - I make myself busy by learning and relearning. Still not come back to hotel yet, so I still have abundant time to spend on myself.

As I develop my skill of intuitive communication, I start to experience many new and unusual things. I am a visual person, clairvoyance, so I quickly see something from someone or something. And it happens in a very split second.

I was watching youtube about ex-vegans that turn into meat eaters again, and suddenly this "thing" come to my mind. A picture of a small group of people, gathering around a cow. I assume they're farmer. All of them looks very sad. And there's a conversation going between the farmer and the cow. Definately they are animal communicators. 

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Farmer : You are the last cow in this world. I don't want to slaughter you. I can't. Eventhough it's been years we never ate cow's meat again

Cow : But it's Aidil Qurban. You should follow God's order. And there's no more cattle left in this world but me. So please slaughter me, and feed my meat to those needed, the last moslems.

Farmer : No! If I slaughter you, you will be extinct!

Cow : If you don't slaughter me, I will extinct anyway. I don't have any female left. But you should obey Allah, no matter what. Allah is far more important than me. I am created by God for Humans. So please, honor me by slaughter me today, in this Aidil Qurban.

And all the farmers cry. They've been protecting this cow with all their might, so the rest of the human didn't kill it. Hiding a cow is a big crime this day. They can be punished severely by the country, and scrutinize by the whole world, mocked, jailed, etc. 

They slaughter the cow, the last cow. Someone sing the adzan before the process. A very sad adzan. It's a painful, lonely picture. Not so many people gather there to watch the last sacrifice. As the rest of the world ban the consumption of meat, or if some of them sneak some meat in, it's a brutal and illegal killing. 

And finally, the last cow died on this Aidil Qurban.

The farmer distribute the meat to the rest of the moslem family. I can see that they are somewhat 'marginalize' moslem group, they don't fit with the social structure at that time, they are 'different'. 

The meat is not much, it's only a bite, because the cow was not that fat. Cow has been hunted down by many due to the disease that human have those days. The Zombie apocalipse they call it. Walking corpses. Human hunts down any last meat available everywhere so that they can live 'a bit' after being sick for so long because they follow a diet without meat, that damage their health and brain. They are craving for blood. They can't think, they don't care about halal haram anymore - except these 'chosen' moslem.

All ruminant animals that was liberated before from all farmer, due to human those days demand "animal freedom" - are all gone, extinct. They have no habitat anymore due to the land are all open for agriculture - the world is hungry, no matter how much food (from labs and modern agriculture) provide. They try to ban meat consumption globally, But people start to crave for animal protein, and they become so crazy, greedy, and violent. They kill all those animals that left. 

Every moslem family get one small piece of the last cow's meat. And when they swallow it, they immedietely feel the calmness. Their body sings with joy. They cry with joy, smile, feeling grateful and thankful to the Cow and God. A bliss. Their face are so beautiful. And after few seconds of bliss, they fall into sleep with a smile on their face. Eternal sleep. They all die.

And suddenly a loud voice is heard. A voice that never heard before, a screaching, almost like high scream, that makes every ear hurts. And a sound like a loud trumpet is heard. And every human eyes are looking up to the sky - wondering, confuse, but some of them are in shock, like they know what will happen next.

Yaum-ul Qiyamah

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So I hope this is just my wild imagination. But somehow deep inside my heart, if I'm still around on that time, I hope I am that farmer that talk to the last cow. OR, I hope that cow is the one come from my farm.

 "Are you vaccinated? Udah Vaksin belom?"

Udah beberapa hari ini itu jadi pertanyaan dasar yang gw denger. Simple question yet so powerful, bahkan membuat orang yang udah lama ga negor gw (online or offline) jadi negor gw, but that's the first question. can you imagine?

Instead of : Halo, apa kabar? Sehat kah? Gimana kerjaan? Gimana Keluarga?

Gue bisa maklum sih, sangat. Situasi akhir2 ini yang membuat topik soal vaksin ini jadi bahan perbincangan dimana-mana. Gw juga uda bisa menebak sih klo someday manusia akan terbagi berdasarkan jenis vaksin apa yang mereka ambil :D ... But honestly, gw gak menyangka klo this kind of 'discussion' is going to happen in my own home, my own dining table, my own living room. I mean, my friend and family debating over this matter. V-A-C-C-I-N-E.

FYI, I'm not vaccinated YET. Why? Not because I'm anti vaccine, but because I have precondition that makes me have to be more cautious with any medical decision. I have autoimmune. But I was vaccinated in 2020 with meningitis before I went for Umrah, and I'm pretty fine with that. I 'Just' got some flare ups and my immune was down for 1 week and so I got flu. Disclaimer : For 5 years, after I fix my nutrition,  I never got ANY flu, and never consume any single pill. So that was the first time I got flu after 5 years. And so, with covid vaccine,  I decide to WAIT. Why? Because 1. Indonesia only get 2 kinds of vaccines which is Sinovac and AstraZeneca (But will soon get Moderna and Pfizer). And these 2 vaccines is not so recommended for autoimmune (as per my own research). So I decided to wait. 

But then Moderna came, but only for limited dose. And it's gone so quickly. Well, I understand because many people especially with comorbidity is still not vaccinated yet. And the number is also high. Psst, actually I know where these vaccine goes as well, many of 'selected' people in my cuntry got their 3rd boost with Moderna - WHILE many other people with comorbidity still not get any single dose of vaccine. I will not discuss this but if you want proof you will SOON find it ;)

But that's not what I'm concerning about. 

I shut down from social media for 2 weeks already. Why? One - Because I cant stand too many informations flying around, and so many sides from the story. Two - and this is the most important thing, I start getting message, from the main circle of friends and family, asking me (or some being pushy) to get the vaccine. Because they know I'm not vaccinated yet. I've told them about my condition, I even make a post about it so people CAN READ. IQRA. But they always come with different way to say that "I AM WRONG" or "I AM IDIOT" or "I AM SELFISH" for not getting vaccinated.

The situation now, with the vaccine certificate, is the one without vaccine cannot go to public places like restaurants, malls, cafes, and travelling to other region. So I start getting tagged by people (ironically my closest circle of friends and family) showing they have gatherings in a cafe and say : "Poor you can't come, go get vaccinated!" while they KNOW why I don't get vaccinated YET.

I know some people DO really care about ME. But some people do really care about Themselves. Those who speak to me with kindness and understanding - will respect my decision, because it is related with my LIFE. But those who "think they care about me" - will push me, and not listen but just talk talk and talk, discourage me, judge me, and even say I'm stupid. 

Am I sad? Of course.

But now I understand that those people, that not so understanding, are speaking not from their heart, not by love, but by FEAR. They fear about whatever covid cause them, family lost, social restriction, economy, etc. The pandemic fatigue. They are TIRED. I am also TIRED. So WE start to find a scapegoat. We blame things for any unfortunate things that happen in our life during this pandemic. First, when covid came, we blame Wuhan people. Then, when covid case rise up, we blame people that reject wearing mask. Now after everybody wear mask, we blame unvaccinated people for the civid that not gone away still. We blame unvaccinated people for the slowing down of economy, for the fear of getting poor, for having no job, for any difficulty in life - even it's not related with covid.

I UNDERSTAND. 

But, I still believe, vaccine is every person PERSONAL decision. It's not supposed to be applied for ALL KINDS of people. I keep myself tidy and clean. I wear my mask anywhere. I take many precautions, supplements, healthy diets, etc. I don't do recklessly spitting anywhere. I don't smoke. I keep safety measure strictly. But why I was considered SELFISH? 

How about people that smoke? They OBVIOUSLY spreading toxin to the air and soil. Are they not SELFISH as long as they take the vaccine? I take my health seriously since 5 years ago, long before covid come, and I successfully manage it. I never got sick even once (God forbid). Why should I tell people about my diet regime? What I have done to keep me healthy these years? While many of people out there, especially the one that push me to violate my medical decision, still live in unhealthy state? Metabolically. They keep smoking, never get exercise, eat many junk food. Just because you take the jab then now you become a saint?

Where is the EMPATH?

Indonesia is a country with multiculture, multireligion. But so far, for hundred years, we can live in harmony. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. Unity in diversity. Where is it now?  

Vaccinated OR Unvaccinated. No matter what your choice, please respect each other. We dont event ask about each other religion. Or whether you are vaccinated with polio or not. Are you vaccinated with meningitis? It's also another spreading disease. I got the shot, so am I better than you? Do I have the right to judge you or not letting you come to my house? The unvaccine one can spread virus to others? YES, so does the vaccinated one!

So my message is, PLEASE. BE KIND. It's okay to be different. It's okay to tell your opinion. But to push it to someone, and even make it like a mandate from God, and you ISOLATE those people that not following your advice... WHO ARE YOU? 

Even God didn't punish any man directly that violate His rule. HE act on LOVE. He LISTEN with HEART. 

If you think your decision is the best for all human being, then BE. Act upon it. Show LOVE. Show the best version of you, that will make people drawn upon you, because the light you show. We are now in a dark room, and each of us are looking a way out, a  silver lining light in the sky. Be that light. Be the peace for people that desperately need it right now.

Kalau kita bertanya pada banyak orang di masa sekarang tentang pola makan atau biasa disebut diet, pasti kita akan mendapati beberapa orang punya tipe diet yang berbeda. Low calorie, Low fat, high fat, high fibre, low sugar, DEBM, Keto, Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescaterian, dan masih banyak lagi. Dan tidak bisa dipungkiri, semenjak pandemi melanda dunia, banyak orang yang berusaha untuk bertahan hidup dengan memilih pola makan yang lebih baik.

 My first experience with dermatologist was when I'm at my junior high school. Like normal teenager, I was blessed with a face full of acne. So then I start to have my regular visit to many derma, from one derma to another derma, for years. Every derma gave me different prescription and procedure, cream, lotion, soap, meds, etc. But then I realise there is one common thing from them - all of them prescribed me a SUNSCREEN.

I was advised to put on sunscreen on my face anytime I go out, 3-4 times a day, reapply whenever I possibly can, as thick as possible, especially living in equator the sun exposure is higher than others. I was convinced that the sun did bad things to my skin. It burns, it grows black spots, cancer, melanoma, etc. Somehow, it rhymes with my skin condition. Every time my skin got the sun exposure I will feel tingling sensation, a bit burn and hot, and even dryness. This makes me totally agree with what my doctors said about the sun's harm.

Now, almost 20 years later, after books and journals of medicine, after skin cream and needles that I have gone through to fix my skin, I got the new insight, a common sense, about the sun :

"If the sun is really that bad, human supposed to be perished since thousand years ago. But why skin cancer is just found recently? Around 50 years ago? Is the sun different? Or is it US - Human, that changed?"

Obviously, human does change. The Sun does not. 

My grandma never wear sunscreen. But she didn't have any dark skin spot. She went out more often than her modern grandchildren obviously. She got more sun exposure than me. I spend my day 23 hours inside a building. She spent her day 13 hours under the sun. But no single fleck. What's the different? Yes, DIET. Not the sun. 

Our diet is so far different from our ancestors. Our environment, with all the pollutions. Our soil is so depleted with minerals. We are having abundant of foods but in fact we are lack in nutrients, deprived. So why we are blaming the sun for what the pollution did? The pollution that WE humans make, not the sun. Why we keep bombardier with information about UV A and UV B? It's the never ending fight. Same like Cholesterol - we blame cholesterol for what other substance doing in our body. 

And then now there are so many studies confirming that the application of sunscreen is even has greater risk for skin cancer rather than the sun itself. Funny right? For years we are so convinced that we have done our best to live healthier, better. But in fact we are down the rabbit hole. We are generations that put sunscreen more that our parents, but why skin cancer is found in younger and younger people? Many skin genetic disorder is found on new born. Our skin barrier is getting weaker and weaker despite all the multivitamins and gallons of sunscreen that we put.

We are generations that think every single thing in this life must have reason - preferably scientific one. We easily believe anything that has 'scientifically proven' or 'scientifically researched'. We love ads that has chemical words on (like vitamins, tocopherol, phytophennol, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, etc) but we forget that sometimes those words are only gimmick or diversion. We think we are smarter that our parents and grandparents. Remember, They face many pandemics, they gone through famine and wars. and lived in an era without google, and yet they are far healthier that us ;)

So, is it just purely human error? Or there's something, or someone, behind these error, that makes human uniformly agree that "we can't live without sunscreen" ?  Same like : We can't live without fibre, we can't live without carbohydrates, we can't live without... what? Tell me what medicine do you routinely take.

I'm saying like this because I used to be in that position. I couldn't live without my gastric meds, I couldn't live without my cold meds, I couldn't live without my sore throat candy. And now I think back about those time, WHAT THE HECK! Human are made independent, but why we are so dependant on something now? Like sunscreen. I heard my friend saying : "OMG, I forgot to put my sunscreen today! I don't wanna go out. I better go back, or my skin will be damaged!" -- Seriously? Human are that weak? Is this what a super intelligent machine (aka human) created by The Most Intelligent Being supposed to be? Is there something wrong with our common sense and our ability to reason?

ARE WE THAT WEAK?

Whenever we eat, we want it to fill our belly as full as possible or 'Kenyang' in Indonesian. If we eat and we still feel there's some space in our belly we will feel that our food is not 'much' enough. So we end up munching more to fill the belly gap. And how many of us say that we are already full (e.g after eating a spread of buffet) and we think that we can't eat more but then we still can eat one or two slices of cakes, pudding, pot cream, or anything? Hey, you said you were full! Remember?

In the age of plenty like now, you will find that everybody has their own type of diet. Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, Keto, Mediteranian, DEBM, Atkins, OCD, or anything. But at the moment the diet that become  trending topic is Plant based diet VS Meat Based diet.

Just to give you some idea, a plant based diet is a diet that consist mostly of vegetables and fruits and no meat at all. This diet is divided into many types : Vegetarian (Lacto/Ovo/both), Vegan, and raw vegan. While the Meat based diet are diets that heavily based on protein or fat, such s : Paleo, Ketogenic, Carnivore, Atkins.

But I'm not going to discuss about each of those diets specification or criteria - you can Google it. What concern me the most is our attitude towards the difference. I saw so many people attacking each other on Socmed, talking bad about other's diet, mocking, and even create a group full of hatred towards other diets.

To begin with, I believe that everybody has the right to choose what food they want to put inside their bodies. We are free to choose our diet. We also have our own reason why we decide to go with one diet. And once you choose a diet, and you feel it's not right for you, and then you change to other kind of diet, it doesn't mean that you should change your circle of friends and find the new one. So many people I heard is been casted away from their previous group just because they try a new approach for their diet. Or even they feel guilty whenever they eat something that is 'not allowed' for their specific diet, confess it in the group, and being super sorry and feel like a jerk for doing so, like they just confess a marriage infidelity case. E.g : if you're a vegetarian, and you eat 1 piece of salmon skin, then you are judged as a sinner and you deserve a punishment! Since when human act like a God?

It's happening to me as well.

Before, I don't follow any types of diet. I just eat whatever and whenever I want to eat. And when I heard one of my friend decided to be a vegetarian, I feel happy for her. I always amazed with people that go to certain extend for their health, and I believe a vegetarian diet is a good thing for her. So I support her by asking her whether there's a food or restaurant that she can eat comfortably as a vegetarian whenever we going out for lunch, I/m willing to step back and adjust to her needs. Because I appreciate her effort to be healthier.

But then, when I decided to follow Ketogenic diet, the response that got was not as I expected. Instead of support and respect from her, she acts like her diet is way more superior than my diet, and even she keep saying that I have to stop from my diet because it's unhealthy. Even when I still eat all the craps from my 'Standard Diet' she didn't say anything and just go as usual. But when I decide to follow a diet that I hope will make me better, her reaction was unexpected. I thought by giving her example of how much I support her when she just turned into a vegetarian will give her ideas of how I would like to be treated as well - respect.

What I want to emphasize from this story is, everybody has their own battle. Especially about anything that they decide to put into their body. Sometimes, it's not just about a trend, a way to slim down, or a random thought. You will never know that their diet is about life and death decision. You will never know how many things a person should give up from her diet just to be able to awake and feel less painful in her body. And you will never know how many nights a person have gone through with stacks of pills and hospital beds she needs to sleep in until she find the diet that at least 'ease' her agony.




From this experience, I will try to respect all diets. What we can do is just to keep searching and 'fine-tuning' what's the right diet for our own body without judging others. What's HEALTHY actually? 50 years ago scientist said that egg white is better than the yolk. But now, they said the yolk has better loads then the white. Doctor said that vegetables are good, but when they found out you have gout then vegetable will be bad for you. Everybody has their own definition of healthy. So let's respect each other. Rather than pointing out the difference of each diets, why don't we talk about something that we have in common from our diet? Isn't it more interesting? To agree on something we have in common? While we keep our mind open for any new science that will be revealed and listen to our body more than we listen our society?

Many years ago, before an antiseptic was found, a young doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis, found out that there is a microorganism called bacteria live everywhere, especially on the hands of the doctors.  And that bacteria was the cause of high mortality of many women that gave birth because doctors handle many corpses and just go straightly to help woman labor process. The senior doctor was so offended by this young-rookie doctor because they thought that doctor hands are the cleanest and keep throwing bad words towards the young doctor., and even said that this young doctor is crazy. Semmelweis end up in asylum and died by the sickness the he found out before (Sepsis), such an irony. Years later, medical community agree that there is a microorganism called bacteria and an antiseptic is needed.

Many centuries before, Galileo Galilei was accused of defying God just because he agreed with heliocentric theory and say that The Sun is the center of our universe and all the planets revolve around it - because his theory is against the majority of the higher society that time. He was then send to house arrest until his death. Years after, the world agrees that The Sun indeed is the center of the universe. And since the beginning, Galileo Galilei had no intention to defy God at all, indeed he became more religious than before. He was just try to find 'an answer'.

Do you still need more historical record?

Let's be wiser.
Science is evolving.
When you are on one diet, it does not mean that you are more superior than others.

Truffled Mushroom With No Hash

Some people may think that being a Keto will limit us from many good cafes and restaurants due to the food that they are serving are not Keto-friendly. Yes, it's because they are not designed for a Keto Cafe/Resto! But it doesn't mean that we have to say goodbye to them forever.

When I first jump into Ketogenic world, I think I was overwhelm, overreact, and overuse the freedom of eating meats and fats as much as I can have. I ate beef fat, chicken skin, beef/chicken organs, etc. And within a week, I feel so gross and cannot stand seeing fat anymore. I think it's because of my mental rejecting the food that I used to think it's bad. Luckily I did not give up my ketogenic life, instead I tried so hard to find other fat resources that I still can eat - such as fish, eggs, and avocado.

I used to avoid Avocado. Since I was a child, my mom never feed me Avocado because she hates Avocado. The reason why she hates avocado is because she was taught that avocado is full of fat, and fat will make her fatter.. or fattier. Which one is correct?

So then I was doctrinized that I should not eat avo as well because avo is full of fat and fat is bad. But when I tried avocado juice, I felt a bliss! I'm at cloud nine. It was soo gooood. I looove avo juice! Especially with chocolate syrup. But I always feel guilty every time I finish the juice because of the ideas of how many fat I have added to my body - guilty pleasure.

But now, after I know the truth about fat, and what it can do to benefit our body, I start to consume avo more and more. I always try to eat avocado everyday. Because of the super rich nutrients avocado has, especially potassium.

Many people think that Banana has the most potassium contain, but the winner is actually avocado. Living with Ketogenic lifestyle I need to consume more minerals everyday because of the fact that my body cannot retain water as much as carbo-eater, because carbs has the ability to hold a lot of water in the body including the minerals. And many times as well carbo-eaters are deficient in minerals because they don't consume enough minerals, and they just fill their stomach with food that make them feel full but has empty nutrients.

One thing that I still cannot find the replacement in Ketogenic Lifestyle is Smoothie Bowls. I was so addicted to Smoothie Bowl. But unfortunately, all the smoothie bowl that I found use banana as the base, because it's cheap, and it's thickening enough. I have not found yet a smoothie bowl with avocado as the based.

So, as usual, here it is... I made my own smoothie bowl with avocado as the based. Sometimes I add Kale, or frozen mix berries. And then I topped it with any dried ingredients that I have in my pantry like seeds (chia, flax, sunflower, pumpkin seeds, etc), cacao nibs, grated chocolate, desiccated coconut, nuts (almond, pecan, walnuts) dash of liquid whipped cream or coconut milk or almond milk, or some slice of fresh allowable fruits (berries, kiwi, dragon fruit, pineapple, etc).

Some people may think that living a ketogenic lifestyle is so hard because I have to give up many things in life, pay even way more expensive for my own food ingredients, and sometimes make myself 'look' hard due to the selection of food that veeery limited. But well, that's the other side of the coins. When I start living ketogenic, I found my life was suddenly so small because I cannot eat many food that I love before. But now I know how to handle it. I just need to turn around the perspective that : It's not that I'm wrong or sick, The choice is there, but  I need to choose wisely :)

So, is anyone knows any recipe to make avocado more and more yummy? I have tried guacamole, avocado salad, Avocado Juice, Avocado brownies, Avocado fat bomb, what else? I really want to try baked avocado. Is it good? Share you story on the comment below!

I wish you all AVO GOOD DAY~

Cheers,
Ingkan :)