What would be the positive changes to one's body, mind and spirit if "living" food were substituted for the standard American diet (the SAD diet). Does eating fresh, natural foods in abundance -- UNCOOKED -- bring new-found energy and stamina and joy and zest for life? Or is it all hype? What really happens when we let go of processed, refined and animal foods? Do cells really rejuvenate themselves through food that has its life force intact? And how does it change us?
Well, I woke up early to get my smoothie made, and for Day 1 I "experimented" w/ some raw cacao. I probably won't do that again ... greens and raw cacao do not (imo) compliment each other! In other words, it was a bit yucky. Now had I had a nut milk-based fruit-alone smoothie, the cacao would've been a dream ... but NOT w/ the greens!
Here's what I whipped up at 6:30 this morning:
1+ cups of water 1 anjou pear 1-1/2 bananas 1 handful of Italian parsley 2 handfuls of curley kale 3 stalks of celery
It lasted me until about 2:00 p.m. ... It's 4:30 now and I'm a bit famished. I'm having dinner at Pure Food And Wine in about two hours, though -- I'm taking a buddy out for her birthday tonight -- so I'll hold up just fine.
Check out this brief interview with the "queen" of green smoothies, Victoria Boutenko, author of the terrific little book, "Green for Life":
I'm about to begin another "green-smoothie experiment" for 30 days. I had been having daily smoothies for a while, but have recently fallen out of the habit, and so with the arrival of Spring I thought I'd get back to it. Beginning tomorrow, it's early to rise so I can do the green smoothie thang. I make enough to last through the morning into the early afternoon -- and then have a dinner open to my imagination -- but it'll be mainly green. These 30 days are going to be all about GREEN!
I'd been planning to do this for a coupla weeks, but a conversation I had today with a dear friend who is dealing with a health challenge has spurred me on. With each green smoothie I have, I'm going to see not only myself -- but my friend as well -- becoming more radiantly healthy!
I came across a list today of many benefits of having green smoothies ... Ode to the Green Smoothie. If you're not convinced by the list ... just challenge yourself to drink one a day for a week and see if you're not convinced then. You WILL be!
Enjoy the music and flowers . . . as you sip your green smoothie!
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. (William Blake)
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. (Voltaire)
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. ... and no virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own; therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness. (Reinhold Niebuhr) Tomorrow is promised to no one - let us forgive one another today.
This week finds me heading into three full months of Supercoach Karen Knowler's "Raw Passion" online program, a support and coaching experience that I share with about 10 other "Passionistas." (Check out Karen Knowler's Website and Karen Knowler's Blog).
For my efforts these past months and going forward, I'll "reward" myself in mid-September with a week in Sedona, Arizona where I'll visit a dear friend of mine who I met in Hawaii. We'll hang out together with a bunch of hippies at The Raw Spirit Festival.
I'll be blogging here much more consistently again now -- doing my best to visit every day, even if just to drop a short note or post a recipe, link to a great website, article, song, video ... whatever strikes my fancy. Might even chat about how this transition from SAD to RAW is actually going for me - spiritually, physically, emotionally -- because if there is ONE thing I know beyond any doubt, it's that this transition to eating mainly natural foods has turned into a whole-life experience. In other words, it's affecting me on more levels than just the physical.
I'll sign off now until Monday. My time from now through the next two months will be mainly filled with sorting and packing up my belongings, as I'll soon be moving out of my present digs into a new apartment (once I find it, that is). I'm so glad to be stepping into this brand new time in the Spring, of all seasons!
In closing, one of my best friends, Jami, has just debuted an on-line, call-in "radio" show with her friend of many years, Nancy. (I say "radio" show because they're hoping that soon it'll be picked up by either Serius or XM radio). Nancy is a licensed family/relationship therapist, and Jami brings to the show her years of challenges and triumphs in relationships as a wife, young widow, single mother and having had years in the "dating" world ... and now recently remarried to the boyfriend she had when she was 17! The show offers free advice with "schtick" to anyone who calls in on Friday afternoons. Feel free to call in to them ... you can remain anonymous, of course, if you like! They are taking calls every Friday afternoon from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. at 914-202-8661. Check out a snippet from one of their recent shows, "What Were You Thinking with Nancy & Jami," by clicking on the video below:
Check out The Fresh Network's review of the Channel 4 show "Health Food Junkies" which aired in the UK on January 14, 2008 HERE.
To view "Health Food Junkies" -- what in my view was an extremely narrow (and negative) presentation of the raw food way of eating -- check out We Like It Raw and view it in three parts on YouTube. (Some of the comments after the YouTube clips are terrific, especially Jen's.)
I've decided going into hibernation mode for winter will be a terrific thing. Will return to blogging in the Spring -- that glorious time of new life. See you then. :-)
In the meantime, why not check out "nonviolent communication." This past autumn I started to listen to Marshall Rosenberg on the subject, and I think it's pretty cool stuff. There are three parts to his talk. Check out his website here: Marshall Rosenberg's Bio
Wainwright's "Coast-to-Coast Walk" across England, a 290 mile walk across some of the most beautiful land on earth in Merrie Ole England -- one of my favorite places to be. This is a 3-part series with lovely music and soothing narration. It's a toss up whether I'll be walking this in Spring of 2009 OR biking in Ireland and then exploring my grandparents' roots in County Mayo and Longford. Note: the 1st video is mislabled "2nd" in error.
Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part I * Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part II * Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part III *
"People ask me what's the best exercise and I tell them 'it's the one that you're willing to do' ... because otherwise you're not going to do it anyway." Dr. Douglas Graham
Peace cannot be achieved through violence ... but only through understanding. (R.W. Emerson)
Understanding begins when one risks speaking from the heart to another. One of the greatest thinkers ever was quoted as saying, "Don't let your brain interfere with your heart" (Einsten). I think he was on to something.
In the words of psychologist Abraham Maslowe . . .
for "persons to achieve total wellness and self-actualization, we need to develop comfortably, calmly, and with a beautiful ease, all four aspects of our being (physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual) " Most "holistic healing," as regards nutrition and wellness, deals almost entirely with the specific vitamins, minerals and enzymes the "healer" determines a body needs in order to be "well". In contrast, we passionately believe that all human sickness - all illness, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or intellectual - does not stem from what we lack, but rather from that which remains trapped in the body.
We can't get rid of it all. Beef, pork, lamb, veal, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, white flour, white rice, cookies, confectionary foods, drugs, alcohol, pharmaceuticals -- as the years pass, a person's large intestine collects residue from all this stuff. The human body (having a great desire to keep it's pipes open and free of what becomes solid, gooey, poisonous, and putrefied) will periodically "melt" this toxic matter down, thereby allowing it to pass back into the bloodstream. These toxins then have free reign throughout the body, where they proceed to collect in organs and other areas, wreaking systemic havoc. The years continue to pass, the person continues to eat poorly, to live under emotional stress and in spiritual vacuity, and the body gradually becomes overwhelmed by toxicity. Inevitably, this build-up of unreleased toxins leads to disease and death.
The reason medical professionals find nutritional deficiencies is not because the individual in question consumes too little of a given substance, but rather because these substances (which may have been in our cells at birth) have been eradicated over time by all the poison we've put in. This poison is like acid eating away all the microminerals and vitamins the human being was born with. This is why malnutrition often takes time to show up.
The key to health lies not in learning about folic acid, riboflavin, glutothiamine, the role of B6, or whatever mixes best with Vitamin E. These details do not address the problem, but rather treat only one of the many specific symptoms. It's not about what we put in - health is about how completely and efficiently we move it all out.
