30 days Raw!

Many of you know since I did the Peace Treaty on food, I started my raw food journey. During that time, I was reliant on my local deli and co-op that served a few raw food choices. I never learned to prepare anything fancy like pies, nut burgers or even almond milk. I was about 80-90% raw for about 3 months, feeling good, looking good, losing weight... until the stress hit: my husband decided to move to LA for a job.

Oh yeah, you guessed it! That was the end of that!

I was craving everything from cake to pizza and feeling the grounding, heavy, intoxicating joy from every bite. My life felt out of place and my food choices were a symptom of my internal chaos. I knew that the food I was eating was not making me feel good and yet, I didn't stop. For the first time in a very long time, I felt as though I was in the grasp of an addiction.

Then my husband returned to the northwest and we were not moving to LA after all. Within four days, my taste for cooked food weakened. I was ready to make a major change! I bought the book, 12 steps to Raw Food: How to end your dependancy on cooked food by Victoria Boutenko, which I highly recommend. I loved her thoughts, research and suggestions and I followed every one. I gave myself a corner of the kitchen for my raw food, my Vita-mix and food processor and two shelves in the refrigerator labeled "raw shelf."

I read every word with excitement and anticipation and within 3 days, I was inspired to make the choice to go 100% raw for 30 days.

As she honestly wrote in her book, the first week is most definitely the hardest, and oh baby...it was. I wanted my soothing pizza, I wanted to taste the pasta my kids loved so much. Yet, I kept going back to the book and got inspiration to stay on the path. Green smoothies were my mainstay the first week and I purchased the I Am Grateful: Cafe Gratitude recipe book (which I also highly recommend) and began collecting the ingredients I would need to begin learning raw food preparation. Once the week was coming to a close, began feeling the energy, and joy of the raw food and made my first nut burger recipe. And to my great surprise, it was easy and delicious!

The second week I began detox, but it wasn't as bad as the first time and I began an herbal cleanse immediately... which helped my symptoms soften in only two days. I found myself so intrigued by learning the ways of raw food, I decided to make something new every morning. I chose between something savory, sweet, green or dehydrated and found the joy of having a plethora of delicious and satifying food at my disposal... in fact, I had more than I could handle. So I began sharing my treats with whoever would try them (and some actually loved my creations!)

The third week I was getting ready for my trip to San Diego (where I am this fine morning) and I began prepping the food I would need for the 3 week journey. I packed up my Vita-mix, made what seemed like a million flax crackers, and put together a strategy to always have a fresh salad and nut burger daily. Note: Raw nut burger has become an important part of my staying raw and feeling satisfied. Although, I quit using the hard to digest soaked almonds and now use the easy-feeling sprouted sunflower seeds instead.

My fourth week was strange as being around others who love french fries, Mexican food and milkshakes (my kids) I honestly started dreaming about taking a bite... and in these dreams those bites were heavenly... I woke up knowing the truth, but geez! It really wasn't easy... However, I stayed true and I found success in my goal. I feel and look great and my energy is so high... actually, so am I!

Yahoo! 30 days, 100% raw!

Now is day 33 and I am so grateful to be on the first week of my next 30 day quest. If you have a yummy raw recipe or a joyful suggestion, please send it to rain@authentictimes.com

I would love to hear from you!

It's a Beautiful Month....ly cycle!

So the last two days, I thought I might have been going through another detox, Yikes!

However joyously today, I found I was just getting my monthly cycle. Who knew? With low symptoms (lots of spaciness,) I woke up to my period and found that I haven't gained a pound! What? I usually gain 5 pounds the week of my period and spend the next 3 weeks slowly falling back until I gain it back again. I have done this for years.

Since I have been on raw food (2 weeks now) I have lost 11 pounds. But then the weight loss stopped. Since I didn't do this to lose weight (read the last 6 posts and find out how it happened), I didn't take much notice as I continued to eat whatever I wanted, which for right now is 100% raw food. I have been feeling mostly good and high energy.

Let me tell you I haven't felt sooooo AMAZING on my period... well, since I can REMEMBER! This morning I got up and danced and danced for 40 minutes feeling connected to the beauty of the universe!

Raw food has given me the clarity and energy to live during a time I usually feel like I am dying. Yes, this IS right. This is where my body wants to be!

Yahoo!

Raw Food Surprise - part 6

This is the final blog and part 6 of my journey into raw food. Stay tuned, I will be writing more about it as my journey continues with Raw Food!

My Trip to the Colon Hydrotherapist

Seriously, if you would have asked me a week just a week before to go and have a tube inserted in my b***...
Well, let's just say, I wasn't keen to the idea before... The truth was simply I was loving my smoothies, though not very excited about the symptoms of my detox and I was told I would feel better with colon hydrotherapy. So I made an appointment for the colonic and this is when my craving of fats kicked into high gear!

I was craving fats! I had 2 to 3 types of nuts or seeds soaking in bowls for the day. I found some raw seed crackers to spread olives onto... lots of olives in olive oil. I was eating whole avocados, found a passion for raw cashew butter and eating coconut oil from the jar!

Oh yeah, fats feel SOOO good!

Thanks to a brilliant new community site called Women In the Raw, I met a women, Amy, who shared that my body was craving fats to slow the detox process down. This made a lot of sense to me. Because I WAS feeling a whole lot better. The crazy news is that I am still losing weight, in fact 2 more pounds. I didn't go into this to lose weight and I was 7 pounds from when I started. I was feeling better every day!

I wanted to know more... I had researched a lot of different ways to eat raw food. Lentils were sprouting on my windowsill. This is big because I have never made sprouts before in my life! I have recipes for raw pizza, soups, salads, dips and so much more... I found Pure Jeevan and recieved a whole list of free recipes! Wendi Dee also has a great story about her journey into raw food.

So here is the thing. I already had the appointment for the colonic and I didn't want to back out. I wanted to feel better. So I went. I did it. It wasn't what I had hoped for... I know many people rave about them, even a girlfriend of mine. This is my honest opinion and since this is my Authentic Blog, I want to share my experience. Please note, I haven't eaten meat for 22 years and have been doing about 90% raw for over a week prior to this day...

The place I went to was a center for healing. The woman was very nice and had been doing colonics for 10 years. The place was clean and I received a new personal packet for my colonic (this is VERY important). She kept me as comfortable as possible and we laughed quite a bit. It lasted for about an hour... more than I would have liked. Afterwards, I only lost 1/2 pound (I have heard reports of up to 10 pounds) and she said I secreted bile.

She said I would want to go again for 2 more sessions in the next two days in a row... which I already knew I would not want to do. I didn't receive any pre or post information to help me on my journey.

Of course, the one hour experience itself wasn't so bad, it was afterwards that I suffered. I had a lot of pain and was extremely crampy inside. This brought up a lot of anger and irritability in me as well. This may have been due to the bile from my liver which Louise Hay says is where we hold our anger. The next day I felt a bit better, though still a little crampy inside and my emotions were back to a comfortable joyous tone. Ahhh.....

Honestly, I had no positive feelings with my colonic. I didn't experience a lightened body feeling or increased energy from this experience (even with the coffee) that I had read about on-line. I did feel "cleaned out," but who wouldn't?

The Bottom Line (I had to say it) is I didn't feel much better, I felt worn out and tired for two days. Because I was not counseled before or after, I am not sure if this is common or not. I chalk it all up to experience and life.

On a higher energy note... Since I wrote my peace treaty on food, I have lost 11 pounds! I have not deprived myself of food at all! I have eaten whole avocados, cashew butter (yum) and tons of yummy fruity green smoothies. At this point I am 100% raw for the past 5 days! What will happen next?

Stay tuned for the continuing posts on my journey into raw food every week!

Raw Food Surprise - part 5

This is part 5 of my journey into raw food...

I Am Not a Raw Foodist, or Am I?

After my husband and I were in alignment to purchase a new Vita-mix, we went on our morning walk. When we returned, I was shocked to see a message from someone about my "Wanted Vita-mix" post. I immediately called them up to find out what model they had and where they lived (and how far I would have to drive.) My jaw literally dropped when I was told he had a year old barely used blender and lived only two miles from my house. His asking price was extremely fair $270.

Can I tell you how excited I was? I was in one of those out of this world experiences. I told him I would be there in a few minutes.

When we arrived, the blender was in perfect condition and the man was really nice. He spoke about how this was too much blender for his world. My husband responded by telling him I was going into raw food and was making green smoothies with it. I was shocked! I immediately told the man, I was NOT, in fact, going into raw food, I just liked the green smoothies.

We stopped by the co-op, out of the way, on the way home to pick up some kale. When we got home and was sooo excited to use my new high powered blender to make my green smoothie!
It was delicious and I felt so happy! I drank (chewed) my smoothie as I continued to read David Wolfe's "Sunfood Diet" Book with intense interest.

Over the next few days, I drank one or two green smoothies daily and I started to notice something that is still a mystery to me.

I began to crave less and less cooked food while craving more and more alive raw foods.

I also began something I didn't expect, drinking green smoothies... Detox!

The smoothies were so energy giving, I was loving it! However the detox was counter-balancing my joy. David's book said something about detox, but I didn't think detox would happen to my body unless I was 100% raw, and I was still eating something cooked everyday, like some cheese, or a small bowl of pasta.

I began to get short headaches in different spots on my head, acne all over my body, horrible congestion (like I had a fur ball I couldn't cough up), something fierce covering my tongue in the morning and worst of all, my emotions were all over the place. One minute I was happy and feeling alive, the next I was angry and irritated, the next I was laughing and the next I was crying.... this just wasn't what I signed up for.

How could I continue to drink my smoothies (I simply wasn't willing to give up), and lessen my symptoms? The answer was something I really hadn't counted on...


coming soon... My trip to the Colon Hydrotherapist

Raw Food Surprise - part 4

This is part 4 of my journey into raw food.

Pursuit of the Green Smoothie Blender

I went home that day from Moira's with the borrowed book and feeling amazingly energetic. I was excited about feeling so good inside my body and how this green smoothie filled me up. I was also excited about this amazing blender that turned rough kale into liquid and I immediately began researching the Vita-mix online. I was shocked at the sticker price! Over $400 for a new one!

I picked the book I borrowed up and began to read "The Sunfood Diet Success System" by David Wolfe. I was immediately enchanted by the story of this man and his journey into eating raw food. He had so much experience and knowledge. I stopped working on my business so I could read. I read with my computer next to me so I could research all this new information in the book. I felt pulled to this new knowledge on raw food so before I went to bed that night, for the first time in my life, I soaked my sunflower seeds to put on my morning cereal.

The next morning, I was craving a green smoothie! I ate my cereal and soaked seeds, but wished I lived closer to my friend with the Vita-mix. So I put out a couple of "Wanted Vita-mix" posts on my local "buy and sell" Yahoo groups and Craigslist to see if I could find a used one. Afterall, I wasn't sure I would use it that much. I waited for a response while I eagerly read David Wolfe's fascinating book. That was the first day I began literally eating up his advice.

I went to my local co-op and bought goji berries, more fruit and veggies and a raw kale salad (to go) from the amazing partially raw deli our co-op has. I noticed with each live food I put in my body I felt alive and full of energy. At lunch, I had eaten a small plate of tofu and rice pasta and within 30 minutes, I noticed my energy die down. I couldn't believe it! This was a typical meal that I had been eating for over 20 years and I never realized that it lowered my energy! I needed a green smoothie! I went to my email... no response from my posts, so I looked on Ebay. None of the auctions for Vita-mix's were finishing in the next day, so that night I settled for my kale salad and I felt alive again. Again, I soaked my sunflower seeds for the morning and fell asleep reading David's book.

The next morning, I woke up feeling desperate for a green smoothie. I pulled out my Magic Bullet and made my favorite fruit smoothie without the yogurt. I felt somewhat relieved, but I knew I needed to find a Vita-mix. I checked my email again, no response except from another women who said if I found an extra that she wanted one, too. I received responses from the ones I found on Craigslist (in Seattle) and they were both sold. Living 2 hours from Seattle in a small town, I knew it would be extremely hard to find one used.

When my husband woke up, I found the courage to tell him about the $400+ blender that I wanted, hoping he wouldn't think I was nuts. His slow, thoughtful response was appreciated because I had a feeling he did think I was going overboard. He said, "If you really want one, you should go ahead and buy it." I was so glad to do it, even though I knew that it would be a week before it arrived at my door. Another week before I could have a green smoothie???

What would I do until then?

coming soon... I Am Not a Raw Foodist, or Am I?

Raw Food Surprise - part 3

This is part 3 of my journey into raw food.

My Introduction to Green Smoothies

One full week into the new healthy eating plan and I had began to lose a little weight. I did not eat the low calorie plan from the book, I just added the Monounsaturated Fats into every meal and was drinking the accurately named Sassy Water. I was still free from the tension in my stomach ever since I had finished writing the peace treaty on my resistance to food.

That weekend I was at an all-day Byron Katie seminar and found myself sitting next to two very sweet, lovely women. They both seemed to be about the same age in their 60's, yet one of the women was extremely vibrant. Her skin glowed, her eyes sparkled and she had an energy about her that drew me in like a magnet. As we both got to know her, I found out that she was a personal raw food chef living in Ashland, Oregon. She told me about these green smoothies she was making for her clients. She was excited about the amazing healing properties of these smoothies. We talked for quite awhile and she invited me to go to week long retreat to do The Work and drink green smoothies.

I loved being in a room full of people with Byron Katie, yet the most dynamic part I took away from the seminar was the discussion about green smoothies! I wanted to go to this retreat!

I thought I would invite my amazing friend, Moira, who has been a raw eater off and on, to go with me. After talking with her about it, we decided to get together that Friday to discuss it more. While at her house, I was telling her about my excitement of these green smoothies. She asked me, "Would you like me to make you one?" I was thrilled!

She showed me her Vita-mix and proceeded to put in 6 to 8 leaves of kale, a banana, 1-2 cups of blueberries, a cup of water, a squirt of flax oil and a scoop of spirulina and lethicin. It tasted like something a horse would be happy to eat. So for my smoothie, she added agave syrup to sweeten it. The agave brought the fruit taste out and it was delicious!

While I drank this magically bright green drink, I was attracted to a book on her shelf and asked to borrow it. She most graciously said yes. The most amazing thing is what happened next!


coming soon... Pursuit of a Green Smoothie

Raw Food Surprise -part 2

This is part 2 of my journey into raw food.

A New Way of Eating

After I wrote the peace treaty about my resistance with food, I surprisingly found myself looking at what I ate in a whole new way. The immediate change was I didn't feel like eating! This was very unusual for me. I wasn't worried about food, instead I was relaxed and happy. For the next two days, I barely ate anything.

When hunger finally hit me, I ate the usual assortment of choices, however, I noticed I was eating slower and more relaxed than I could ever remember! One of the character traits I kept from my binge eating days was eating fast. I had eaten so fast in the past, it had worried my husband and he had spoken about it with me many times to no avail. It wasn't until I was over the reasons for my emotional eating, that the pattern of fast eating stopped.

When I was done eating, I was shocked to find that I was in touch with how my body felt afterward! For those of you who new to eating disorders, disassociating with how your body feels and reacts to what you do to it, is part of keeping the disorder alive. As a binge eater, I was no different.

Something radical had shifted inside my mind, body and spirit since I completed the peace treaty.

What I chose to eat didn't feel as good as it had before, so I decided in that moment to look for a new way to eat and, amazingly, I was excited about it!

I found a healthy food plan called "The Flat Belly Diet" by Prevention Magazine. I wasn't interested in losing weight and I was not going to put myself on their low calorie diet, but I was interested in the idea that we don't eat enough healthy fats. This plan that encouraged you to eat Monounsaturated Fats (they call them MuFas) with every meal, including your snack. I was interested to try it. These fats include seeds, nuts, olives, olive oil, avocados and chocolate!

The first meal of the day encouraged you to eat 1/2 cup of sunflowers seeds with 1 cup of your cereal in the morning. I chose an organic multigrain cereal, raw organic seeds and local raw milk. Wow! Since I no longer was eating fast, you can imagine how long it took me to eat that one bowl of food. My jaws hurt after breakfast! Later that day, I noticed how good and full I felt. I was hooked and I quickly traded in my daily egg breakfast for this cereal mixture for the next two weeks.

The other thing that was different about this plan was drinking Sassy Water. Not only did I love the name, I loved the way this water treat felt in my body! The recipe is basically alkaline ingredients, which helps you to detox your body (and some say lose weight.)

I thought I would share it with you here:

Sassy Water Recipe

The night before: Thinly slice one lemon, one cucumber, one knuckle of peeled ginger and 5 to 10 leaves of mint (all organic) Put in the largest pitcher you have and fill with water (at least 8 cups) and let it set over night.

Drink a tall glass with every meal and feel the alkaline shift your body to wellness!
PS: put the leftovers in your disposal after the day to help it smell fresher!

After a week of this eating plan, without lowering my calories, I lost 5 pounds. It wasn't until I went to see Byron Katie that the next step was introduced...


coming soon... My Introduction to Green Smoothies

Raw Food Surprise - part 1

After talking with my good friend Christine, I have decided it might be important to share my journey into raw food. Thank you Christine!

Food and The Peace Treaty

It started about a month and a half ago...

At that time, I was a big and healthy eater. I ate organic, vegetarian and non-chemical foods when I ate at home and when I had time, I LOVED to cook. When I ate out, I ate slices of pizza, huge bowls of pasta, and everything that is gooey and creamy over veggies. Even though, I ate healthy choices, I ate a lot of it. For example, I ate 2 eggs every morning on sprouted grain toast with cheese. I could go on...

This is where the peace treaty entered into the picture. You see, I had spent half my lifetime binge eating, but had quit years before by just quitting dieting. I knew diets didn't work and they led you down a path of denial and obsession.

So now I was a big eater at most meals and having tension with food as I was afraid of denying myself anything. I ate big so I wouldn't binge. I knew something was not right with my relationship with food, I just had no motivation to do anything about it. It was time to put the peace treaty to the test.

The peace treaty is a tool that ends the resistance in your life. And let me tell you, I was resistant! You couldn't get a healthy food plan near me with a ten foot pole. I set out one beautiful afternoon to the beach with the peace treaty workbook and a pen.

After over an hour of writing, connecting, crying, listening and saying goodbye, I made peace with my inner child who had created a belief about food that was running my life. I knew it at that moment something deep inside me had shifted. The feeling of tension I held in my stomach had dissapeared. I felt free! I didn't realize the extent of what would change from that moment in my life, but I knew my life was never going to be the same.

coming soon... A New Way of Eating