My late friend, Luke Smith was an Orange County native. But that's not where we met. Ironically, it was near the beaches of Los Angeles, during the late 1990s...and one of our first bouts was over a pancake-eating contest.
Skip ahead to 2011, I was obsessed with finding healthier alternatives to traditional meals. One of these was pizza, and if you've ever spent enough time online, then you already know that there is an alternative recipe, and for nearly any dish one can think of.
'Lo and behold, there was one culinary website that contained the recipe for a diabetic-friendly pizza. The way that worked, was that the crust was to be made from Philo dough, pepperoni slices from turkey, and then, of course, goat cheese or mascarpone instead of parmesan.
Now, about Luke...he made killer guacamole at his pad. This cat would take his avocado, make a sour cream base...beat that guac up into a batter that was unbelievable, and I mean, Gordon Ramsay could not have made guacamole like Luke Smith.
But then there's a problem: fatty and processed foods were the bulk of Luke's diet. Frozen burritos, tortilla chips with that wonderful guacamole...Luke ate the foods we all wished we could get away with!
Funny thing: after I offered Luke a challenge, he accepted, and that challenge was to throw-together a pizza that could be diabetic-friendly, but still taste awesome. Would you believe it?! Me and a friend bring over the Philo, the turkey sausage...everything. Between the unleavened dough and the turkey pepperoni, this cat had no idea that he was eating something that tasted like "stoner" food, but one that would actually comply with the inner atmosphere of his body, or anyone else's.
For myself, I have never been diabetic, and yet that pizza recipe from the web has become one of my favorites. That same summer, I translated the Philo pizza recipe to my grandmother, who had also struggled with health concerns. Honestly...none of these people would have known that they were eating something good for them, unless they had actually sat down to read the recipe.
What does this tell me?! That the mind of a man/woman is really far more important than their bodies. The mind, the brain is what controls a lot of things that happen in your life. I'd never, in 32 years, practiced Transcendental meditation. And yet, once Aaron Baker introduced me, in 2014, to binaural beats...that whole process made sense.
Believe me when I tell you, and I wish that I could tell Luke, that your mind can astral project, lucid dream...really, just take your whole body into an alternate universe, but you have to set your mind on that very purpose, and then enjoy the process of getting there. But again, looking for those pizza recipes, online, was the true enjoyment of preparing the meal. Learning something new, but for so long, it seemed like me and Luke were just trying to go straight for the "meal."
If there was anything that could've made my friend's life better, possibly even saved it, then it would've been that very knowledge. It's the knowledge that going slow is necessary to be fast, but you have to go more "slow" than "fast." You have to give a hell of a lot more than receive. I don't care what your spiritual beliefs are; this is common sense!
This is just going to have to be one of those rare moments, when I try to make myself sound like the world's most interesting man. Now that that is established, I will go on to say that I don't always write blogs about medical marijuana, but when I do, I do with a purpose.
In April, I went on a bit of a rant. Even as of the moment that I am writing this, marijuana is still not federally legal in America. But here's the thing that trips me up: medical marijuana vendors, like Pura Vida, are holistically-minded. What that means is that they're able to balance-out THC content with good food, because they know that some herb patients actually want to be proactive with their meds, as I am doing by writing this blog on a body high.
Funny enough, I am currently using one of Reseda Discount Caregivers' in-house and patented, 150mg-milligram edibles. For those of you who have been to Reseda, you no doubt know that their selection of weed brownies is vast anyway, and if you are a fan of super foods, then RDC does happen to be an outlet for the Pura Vida, organic edible brand. Both Pura Vida and RDC's carb treats are choice, but while the former tends to sell their 100mg-milligram edibles for $10 a piece, Reseda sells their in-house brand, at a prescription rate of 150mg-milligrams, for $8 per edible, which opens-up an opportunity: 300mg-milligrams of content for literally $16, and the taste is above and beyond Korova's selection.
My results break-down easily enough: on my cardio bike, I am able to peak at a rate of about 320-385 watts, at a running speed of about 133-34 RPM. Anyone who does cardio regularly knows that this is still a crazy amount of output, but for a guy like myself who likes to iso-test at a peak wattage of over 500, it becomes tedious.
Here's the difference: with Reseda Caregivers' oatmeal cookie and medicated protein bar, I was able to lift, as of yesterday afternoon, approximately 478-watts. This was at a running speed of around 134 RPM.
One factor: timing order. This is something that need be mentioned, because on the same afternoon that I put out 478 watts, I also had an output of 450 watts, my second best number for the day, but at a running speed of about 132 RPM. This is after eating a medicated oatmeal cookie from Reseda Caregivers, and I can say that I've been able to yield similar results from the Pura Vida snacks.
In short, Reseda Discount Caregivers and Pura Vida have some of the San Fernando Valley's best in organic, marijuana-medicated edibles. If you want something more decadent, then you can absolutely buy that from Reseda. Otherwise, be sure to check out Reseda Discount Caregivers and Pura Vida, if you're in Los Angeles, for all of your edible herb needs!
