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A Forest Monk Goes to McDonalds

Description

Simon, after eating a clean diet for two months, goes to McDonalds. Hear him share about his experience and talk about the nature of addiction.

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Music is "The Woods" by Silent Partner.

Tags: Kenton Whitman,ReWild University,Human Rewilding,personal rewilding,mindfulness,how to,bushcraft,survival,wilderness survival skills,how to survive in the woods

Video Transcription

[Music]

this video is in regards to an experiment that a few poorest monks have done here at reweld university and that is to after some duration in the woods eating very simple food you go into a fast-food restaurant and you bought just kind of whatever whatever you want whatever jumps off on the menu not trying to be the healthiest choice or anything maybe actually the opposite I'll see what this feels like in your mind and body and what was your experience yeah I definitely didn't put any limitations on myself when I wasn't inches McDowell you worked at McDonald's I don't it was wasn't it yeah I think I think so except it doesn't really matter either like it's it's considered bad food for girls it's any of those general fast-food restaurants

yeah so I was I'm sure I'm not sure I didn't I don't think I ate breakfast that day either like deliberately I kind of wanted to hurt myself on this experience so I went and yeah I've been to McDonald's before it was quite familiar in a sense but it's I'm not sure for some reason I wasn't able to like order properly I had to like ask do you have this to have that because the menus were like too much for me like it just felt like sensory over floor I think oh yeah I wasn't really able to like understand like I I understand English doesn't understand the menu so just so I had to ask him that and the cashier like that's what's probably the first time so when I asked do you have this like they're so used to people just ask you for the usual stuff but yeah I did my first order I say first because I had to order two times I think it was just like McDouble like bacon McDouble something with barbeque and also medium fries and like coca-cola

and also big coke I think was medium medium coke yeah because I really don't like the coach it's my thoughts I liked I liked so and also some sort of like ice cream thing not not ice cream but like this that's actually scared me looks like something growling by me yeah so I ain't that it okay so I have to admit it kind of like it it's good in a way it is it tastes good in the same way that it tastes good when I when I eat is back hold yeah but when I've been out here after a while you I've learned there's other waves other ways to have good food like I'm not sure maybe we've just been taught that this is how good food is and out here I've discovered like things like making it yourself make some difference

and like making some things from the bottom up make some difference so I'm and I've gotten used to out here to to real it tastes better food without them being like stronger taste it doesn't have to be stronger tastes like you can just be like a good texture to the food for example and get that if you're able to like decide how you want your food yourself for example and if it's mass-produced yeah that's kind of says itself that it it might not be as good but it tasted good because it was a lot of sugar I think not too sure but like I'm sure have to describe the temptation part but yeah I didn't really feel full after that one order for some reason it was more than I would usually back home so one I've been conditioned to eat more than I'm used to out here and to the food I don't think it's that feeling really and the best way I could describe it was it felt like getting full in the sense that it was kinda like a bubble or a balloon and my stomach standings

I remember you're saying I'm almost felt ball and a balloon yeah it's kind of like it takes up space at the same time as it's like really it's not that much long this doesn't know that was a different sensation then let's say you have a big meal over the campfire oh yeah definitely it's hard to describe it but for example when I when I did my second order and I was done with that I kind of felt full mmm then it's just more like a hard lump but when I'm when I'm really full out here it's it's like I feel like singing I feel like like being playing the guitar or writing stuff I feel creative I feel happy like that's when I feel like oh now I'm really full because I feel happy there it was more like full as in the terms of like it's no more space and I don't think that's necessarily what you want it's

so kind of turned from a balloon into like this hard yeah in that since yeah I've helped full what about afterwards how did you know in the next hours next days so then I have to mention that I went to marketplace afterwards yeah we were supposed to go there and we were supposed to meet there after I've been there and like bought my stuff and I had the opportunity to buy everything I wanted you know and still I couldn't okay so I wasn't really full so it was still kind of like a hard balloon I guess because I had space for donuts and all kinds of other stuff when I wasn't marketplace I bought like glazed donuts this time buying that up I had a grocery store might not even be the best donuts so but I bought a lot of sweets that I didn't eat immediately and I've but I ended up eating them when I returned to the cabin like I didn't tell you about most of those sweets I told you about the Cheetos there was more and I ate a lot of it in one day what ended up happening was the other day I realize I like literally God's sake in a different way than I've been sick before like I didn't like get a cold or something like that it was more like visible symptoms on my body it sounds worse than it is but it's like it was just surprising to me that in one day I could see such difference and I really didn't feel well in general

and most of all like I can notice my energy go being more like fluctuating damn and at the end of it I don't really like at the time I was like yeah this is what I want to do it this is this is what I really want to do right now and I eat all this chocolate I want to eat all the sweets but when I'm here talking now like I can look back and say like oh I'm really glad I did that it's like it's just a temporary thing that's happening and it's like if I couldn't say that I'm that it has helped me in any way on the long run to eat those sweets it's just like this short-term temptation we have which is doing good for us one last thing you that was interesting for me was that so previously you smoked yeah and you had the option to buy a pack of cigarettes at that you weren't there yes so I kind of was confronted with that option if I wanted to and I wanted to like I was literally considering like walking my car through the store being like aha where are Kenton and Rebecca like are they gonna see me if I buy it back to see this let's be quick because I want to do that before they get here I was like literally planning to do it but after walking a little bit around like I felt I just knew how bad I would feel about doing that during this program afterwards so just kind of like it was it was kind of not for my body's best interest but but for my own conscience but what's interesting is I did buy a lot of sweets and that's not good for me either

which tells me and yeah I miss working for say like for years like in at least three years like consistently like most people would would expect that to be an ingrained habit surprisingly it's been easy for me to not smoke at all out here like it's I haven't had like any thoughts even about like missing the cigarettes

which i think is interesting but it's really like not something I've been thinking about but um what's interesting is it was easier for me to avoid the cigarettes that it was to avoid the donuts at the store so the sugar was more I think here's this it's different for each person but I would conclude that at least for me sugar is sourced rather than cigarettes like I haven't had those symptoms from the cigarette hahaha if it smoked old packaged them yeah but see that was eye-opening cuz sugar is such a you know you call it a drug and in many ways is but of course the socially accepted one that we all are almost expected to consume regularly hmm yeah that was interesting because you think Oh nicotine is being you know it's not gonna be any comparison but sugar is more addictive and that I think applies to all people that's just my thought but also it's interesting how if you're away from sugar then your return to should be like a rebound yeah I need lots of it how easy it is to like clearly see what it does to your body and that's different than just hearing someone or reading that sugar is bad you can actually go out and like stay off sugar for two weeks or probably more if it's if it's possible like return to eating sugar and then like do the extreme like do a lot of sugar I think you're able to see like what I saw thank these in terms of energy that's it's just interesting cuz that's not something that most people necessarily get to experience in my life so thanks for sharing that word it's definitely everybody I hope this is something I'm gonna bring back to my everyday life as well because it's definitely yeah made something she made some change I think in my view well of course share in the comments any thoughts you have about who's experienced being healthy for a while and then binging on trigger like that what it felt like for you and also I guess it'd be interesting to hear if anybody else has had any experiences with nicotine versus sugar and how they feel is it then you know the same experience for them or the the sugar feels like more of a adopt I drug an addictive drug mmm-hmm thanks for sure yeah experimenting

and also it just just think how I had him to have like what did you call it like thing you get if you're away from good girl withdrawal with the dross from from cigarettes nothing not that I can notice like did you try quitting before yeah but I think yeah but at the same time a half yes no it's like you telling yourself I'm gonna quit and then you throw the package in the bin it's like I'm going to par next week is like I guess you know it's just for this week just this week and or maybe I can transition into just smoking at parties that's not so good either that sounds like yeah your comfort it down yeah yeah and then you do that and then you you're back on you know but out here it's not even available and that's why I think there hasn't been much missing cigarette because when when it's not that accessible I don't think it it pulls him that much so I don't think I was really as addicted as I thought I was how much of addiction is that availability hmm yeah yeah there's there's more than just cigarette that applies for I think there's a lot of other addictions internet stuff that I've been addicted to it out here since it's not as accessible I don't feel like I'm missing it either it's like mardian on my mind well so I think accessibility is a bigger factor in addictions than we've been told actually

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ReWildUniversity

ReWildUniversity

To aid and inspire you on your personal re-wilding journey, ReWild University brings you videos on edible wild plants, tree climbing, natural movement, ancestral skills, and much much more!

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