Support for a "happy" diet

Eating raw food is a wonderfully rewarding lifestyle. Still, like any major lifestyle change it is work and a lot of...change. Humans need support and community. Because raw food is not the Standard American Diet (SAD) it is important to find the people who do eat a lot of raw food to create a support system for success. 

One of the places I have found incredible support and encouragement for this lifestyle is The Raw Food Rehab. It is an online community of people who eat raw food. Everyone is at a different place in their journey, and are supportive not matter where you are in yours.  It's a great forum to ask questions, find recipes and receive support. The founder, Penni Shelton authored Raw Food Cleanse- a great book in my raw food library. 

Community is a key ingredient to a healthy life and transitioning from a SAD diet to a "happy" one - no matter what percent raw you plan to go. Happy rehabbing :) 

Raw Thoughts

A note to readers- I will soon be updating the layout of my blog to make it easier to find recipes (esp as I add more :), information etc. In that new layout I will have a place for "Raw Thoughts." This will be a place I share with you the spiritual and "raw" thoughts I have in this food journey. So- here is the first. Hope you enjoy. 

A WALK IN THE PARK

Saturday, January 14th was a sunny surprisingly warm day in North Texas. After being in an office all week I was craving some sunlight and outdoors. Walking in the near by park seemed like the ideal thing to do- so off I went.

My normal walk at this particular park is two laps around the track which has a beautiful pond in the middle and lots of trees (a rare thing to see in the city in North Texas). About half way through the first lap I heard a thought in my head telling me to only walk around the track once today. I argued- why would I only walk around the track once? I quickly realized my Father was trying to have a conversation with His sometimes stubborn daughter. 

This thought…His voice was persistent. So with a resolve to only finish this one lap, I slowed down. Immediately I heard "why did you slow down?" My response was "because, now that I know I only have one lap I want to enjoy what's left of it." He said, "Yes, this is like your life. You only have one. You don't have two. Just like you were rushing through the first lap when you thought you had two, you are rushing through your life focusing on accomplishment and results when I am calling you to notice what is around you. That is where life is- all around you. Yet, too often you are so busy trying to get through life, you don't notice the life I am longing for you to take part in." 

Once I slowed down on my walk, I enjoyed it instead of just trying to check something off my list. I also noticed the plants and life all around me. I wanted to soak it all in because in the winter it's rare that I am outside in warm sunlight. My life has often reflected this. I am not "outside" where life is. Instead I am watching TV or locked in on my next endeavor to accomplish something, or the every day check list- what ever that day's may hold. 

I will take heed to this warning. With His help I will enjoy life and not just plow through. For it is in enjoying Him and all He has made that you discover true life and purpose- not in the check list. 

Best way to start the day

One of the first major changes I made in my eating habits is what I ate in the morning.  One of the body's best ways to shed pounds and detox is to eliminate. "Taking the trash out"as it concerns your body in vital. Otherwise you live in a trash compound. Before you can get the good stuff in, you have to get the bad stuff out.

The easiest way to aid your body in it's natural progression of elimination is to drink water upon rising and eat or drink fruit for breakfast. Never eat fruit with anything else or it will ferment in your stomach. (wait 30-45 minutes before eating anything else as a general rule).

Some great choices in the morning are:


- Fruit (plain and simple fruit, anything you like and as much as you like)
- Fruit smoothie (frozen fruit with almond or coconut milk): most blenders will be able to handle this. If your blenders can't handle frozen fruit you could always do this with non frozen fruit or half frozen half unfrozen. This is what I had every morning before I got my much loved Vita-mix
- Green smoothie: in my opinion this is the ultimate fuel to start the day. If you have a high speed blender such as a blendtech or vita-mix this smoothie is a cinch (if you don't you may end up with chunks of spinach- not too tasty).

1. 2 C. frozen fruit of choice
2. Water - enough to almost be level with frozen fruit (add more if needed- or use less for thicker smoothie)
3. 2 C. dark leafy green of choice (spinach is mild and a good one to start with. My personal favorite is Kale.)
4. Blend and enjoy

This is my breakfast nearly every day. It's amazing how the fruit hides the "green" taste. I am normally hungry again within a couple of hours so I eat more fruit. Ideally I eat only fruit until lunch time. I have found I have more energy and feel much better with this regimen. If I really want something more substantial I will eat nuts, raw veggies, and some Ezekiel bread. some other healthy raw snack. 

I eat dessert when I'm sick

Because processed suger shuts down your immune system, I made sure to stay away from sweets when I was sick. However, many raw desserts actually build your immune system.  Now, if I feel a bit under the weather and I want some fudge...I eat it. Coconut oil and raw honey build your immune system. Both of these ingredients are in my favorite one minute fudge. The raw cheesecake from the Rawtarian is also pack full of nutrients. How something so delicious can come from coconut oil, cashews, macadamia nuts, raw honey, dates, and lemon juice I've yet to figure out. (It really is good. I made this for my family at Christmas and it was a hit.)

Now when I eat a dessert I feel really good about it because I am feeding my body good things and building my immune system. I would feel no shame to eat cheesecake for a meal. In fact- I have done it.

Eat more dessert!