My week with Indigo Foods!

So I am still carrying around more baby weight than I'd like to admit! I've used pregnancy and taking care of a baby and family of five as an excuse to not eat as well as I have in past years. I'm still eating quite well but I eat way too much, thinking that while nursing I need to eat way more than usual. Not correct! In order to direct my energies into the right frame of mind I purchased an
Ethical Deal a couple months ago to receive one week's worth of raw and living food from Indigo Food. For a mere $95 I would receive a week's worth of organic, raw, living food! Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert. How could you say no to food like http://ethicaldeal.com/vancouver/deal/52-off-1-week,-all-inclusive,-raw,-organic,-vegan-meal-delivery-service-($196-value)-and-30-off-next?

On Monday James, myself and baby Logan drove out to Kitsilano to pick up my package of food which will last me three days. I didn't want to pay the extra $20 to have it delivered - but may well do that on Thursday (when the next three days are ready) as our drive out was not a good one...the baby cried most the way out and back! It is free delivery in downtown, the West end, and Kitsilano.

The owner, Lovena, lives in a very pretty part of town. Kits is a hip, stylish and well-to-do area. Her home is nestled in the tall trees that line the street. She answered the door and our package was ready for pick up. She is super friendly and answers any questions you may have. The aroma that filled our van on the way home was intoxicating! I could not wait to start eating it all up, but would wait until morning.

This morning I woke up, excited to start my new, prepared foods. For breakfast, I had granola and fresh almond milk. It was very tasty. I was so full after finishing about 3/4 of my serving that I was not able to finish it. So filling!




For lunch I enjoyed a Mermaid Salad. Absolutely incredible tasting! Loved every morsel.




Then for dinner I had one of the collard wraps along with a soup. Oh gosh, the wrap was curried veg and it was to "live" for! The veggie soup was so delicious, and the dill was very refreshing.






I was so full I had to wait a couple of hours before eating my dessert! For dessert I had a chocolate mousse/pudding that was on a bed of sliced strawberries and whole blueberries with a sprinkling of chocolate pieces on top. Mouthwatering, my kids were begging for some. Will post that photo tomorrow!

I was full all day long on this food and enjoyed it so much. I am a little hungry right now and although it's late I'm sipping some of the leftover almond milk from breakfast and that's helping. Guess that means it's time to go to bed! Good night!

Yummy Drink

Just concocted a very yummy drink tonight...

Water of young coconut
meat of half young coconut
1/2 cup home made almond milk
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp. coconut syrup
1 sample package of Sunwarrior vanilla protein powder

Blend on high and enjoy! My kids even loved it! Kept me full for a very long time.

Next time I make it I'll get a photo to post.
Good night!

Seattle in the Raw

I always get asked, "How do you travel and stay eating a high raw diet?" and my answer is simple...I plan ahead.

Before we left I took stock of all the produce in the house and planned a green juice, a green smoothie, and made some yum cups. That morning I made a quart of smoothie (blueberry, celery, spinach, banana, water, green powder), a quart of juice (apple, carrot, celery and spinach) and eight yum cups (coconut butter, coconut oil, green powder-I like Vitamineral Green, honey, and hemp seeds). I also brought along two bananas. This food lasted me the whole trip down!

I also made sure I had the addresses for raw food restaurants in the Seattle area. Two good ones I've eaten at and enjoyed are:
Chaco Canyon, and Thrive. I also found that Whole Foods is right around the corner from Thrive. My sister also has me pick up a dozen vegan donuts from Mighty-O Donuts each time we go down...and yes, I have to try one! :) For smoothies and juices on the road I sometimes bring my blender if I don't know of any juice bars but in Seattle they have Emerald City Smoothies and there are some raw options/high raw options there.

Most restaurants have a salas and I just bring along an avocado and some home made dressing to put on. I really love Vega's EFA oil blend as the fat for my dressing. I also bring along plenty of spring water and there are some along the way too, you can check out the springs website, to find one in your area!

Think about your last road trip, what did you bring along to keep your body fueled?

Protection from Radiation

Today my Facebook page and my email accounts have been bombarded with information about protecting ourselves from possible fallout from the nuclear plants in Japan. So much tragedy there although there have been some amazing survival stories as well. I tend not to watch the news/read the newspaper as I find that negative energy draining.

I have read a number of articles today pertaining to the protection of our bodies from radiation and felt that I should link them here.

Jon Barron's take

Susun Weed

This is taken from the email I received from David Wolfe et al.

In light of the meltdown of Fukushima: How to protect yourself and your thyroid against radiation:

kelp, ginseng, ashwaganda (recently found to regrow nerves), chlorella, zeolites, fulvic acid, nascent iodine, reishi mushroom, sea salt (also salty miso), botanical (plant-derived) or lipo- vitamin C, magnesium (chlorophyll), selenium (brazil nuts), coconut butter (coconut products), Megahydrate, Crystal Energy. Spread the word."

Start small, but increase your dosages rapidly and dramatically if you live in Hawaii, Western Canada, and the Western USA. Start now. Fallout will descend upon North America sometime around March 22.

Take what you will from the information here. I'm also going to be visiting my naturopath to discuss possibilities for nursing mothers as there is some conflicting information. Hopefully she can shed some more light on this for me and others. I can post about that after I see her. She is expecting in the next month as well so she too must be interested in how this will affect her pregnancy and breastfeeding.

In health and happiness!

Melinda

Another link here...just arrived on my FB page

Here's yet another from Jinjee at The Garden Diet. Lots of similar info.

Although there are mixed reports and reports-still-in-progress about the seriousness of the nuclear reactor damage in Japan, it can't hurt to protect yourself from radiation through eating lots of cilantro and seaweed! We eat lots of seaweed anyway for the B12, which is especially high in Laver, also called Wild Atlantic Nori, which we order in bulk from Maine Seacoast Vegetables at http://www.seaveg.com

David Wolfe podcast.

Even more here

Here's yet another post that's come through: The link is here.

Here's the Radiation Network's site. They show the radiation levels around the country (US, but there is one in Vancouver) it's run by volunteers with geiger counters around the country.

My Favourite Juices at the moment

I've been doing a whole lot of juicing the past few months. Juice became a comfort food for my after I did my juice fast in September 2007. Ever since then when I make a juice I feel like I'm "coming home". LOVE my juice.

Here are my three favourites at the moment:

GREEEEEEN Juice!

Anything green that I have in the house

Cucumber, kale, romaine, pea shoots, sprouts of any kind, collard greens, celery etc.

1 lemon

1-2 apples

Juice in juicer, and usually cut it with some spring water to mellow it out a little. Play with the amount of greens you can handle. With this recipe I usually use 1 whole cuke, half a bundle of kale, half a container of shoots or sprouts, half the bundle of collards, and about 4 to 6 celery stalks, depending on how big they are.

And the Beat Goes On

2 Apples

1 Beet

4 carrots

High in natural sugars, so half and half with spring water. Be careful when juicing beets, they are very cleansing of the liver and you need to work up to more and more beet juice.

Celery, Celera

6 stalks of celery

2 apples

4 carrots

Cut it with a little water too, sometimes.

I feel SO much energy when I juice. It is important to drink your juice on an empty stomach. That's why my juice is the first thing I eat/drink after my lemon water/tea in the morning. After my lemon drink I wait about a half hour (which at times is how long it takes to make a juice when you're trying to make breakie for the kids, and take care of the baby!) and then drink the juice. It's a great way to start the day and I'd say it rivals drinking your cup of joe!

So, what are you waiting for, try it!

Eat Raw, Live Well!

Melinda

Back to Basics!

Has it truly been over a year since I've posted here? So much going on and so much I want to talk about! I've also started up two new blogs so that I can focus on raw/living foods here and about my exercise and baby info on other blogs. My exercise blog is called Up The Creek Run (this is where all my training info will go - and I've got some lofty new goals. Will post there soon!)

The second one I started when I thought I was pregnant two years ago...however when I really did get preggers I didn't write there?! AND, seven months ago we were blessed with another little being. His name is Logan Alexander and he's such a precious "L'il Sprout" as I lovingly call him. Everything about him and my kids will now be written about under the new blog Little Sprouts Big Ideas. My daughter has asked to guest blog there, and I'm sure she will do an excellent job! I'm trying to link these in as for some reason I'm having difficulty combining my blogs from different email addresses...if any of you know how to do that if you could say so in the comments - I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd love to have them all under one umbrella instead of juggling each of them. I created the blogs ages and ages ago and didn't know at the time that I'd done them under different emails?!

I've been working on a couple of other projects as well, other than baby building! Those blogs and entries will be here, Raw Rituals and Total Health Concept. My goal is to blog in one of these areas each night. I'll consider it my night job. Once the kids are tucked in bed, and I've got some quiet head space I'll sit down at the computer and write about all the things I've jotted down in my big idea book! :)

Sunday: Tonight, Thrive On Live but from now on it'll be Up The Creek

Monday: Little Sprouts Big Ideas

Tuesday: Raw Rituals

Wednesday: Thrive on Live

Thursday: Total Health Concept

Friday and Saturday I may take a little break, but if I've got the time and subject matter then I'll write in one of the previous areas again. Or if there was a blip and I missed an area I could catch up on those days.

James has promised to help me spice up the blog a little too...he is only the IT guy at his school, I think I should get some free tutoring in this area, as it is much needed!

In the meantime, Eat Raw, Live Well™ and we'll see you again MUCH sooner than the last time!

Melinda

On Line Resources

Hello to those who've joined me from the Coquitlam Professional Day presentation! I've been filling up on Olympic magic this weekend and have now remembered to put this info onto the website here. Happy reading! Any questions, don't hesitate to call or email me!

On Line Resources for Raw and Living Foods

www.thriveonlive.blogspot.com

This is my site, which is a great resource for people who are local that would like to read about living a raw food lifestyle in the lower mainland and a more northern latitude! Lots of ideas, information and inspiration!

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/

This is a great website to check out for many ideas and to join forces with many others who are on their raw food journeys. I was in the original Raw Food Rehab and Penni is so wonderful and full of ideas!

http://www.lovingraw.com/

Philip McCluskey is the sites’ community leader. He’s compiled a great selection of information for you on this site!

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/

From their website:

GI2MR is community for people who are passionate about harnessing the power of raw food and holistic living. Our community is a place for support - a place to share and grow.

http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Kristen’s put together a great site with lots of recipes, insight and links. Check her out also if you’re pregnant or wanting to have kids as she’s almost half way through her first high raw pregnancy and loving it!

www.thegardendiet.com

This is one of the first and most inspirational raw food internet sites that I came across. It is a family of seven. Storm is 58 but looks more like 40 and his wife Jinjee is 40 but looks to be in her late 20’s. They have five beautiful raw children who are thriving!

Jinjee has something called the “Raw Daily Inspiration” that you can subscribe to, I highly recommend it, as it’s kept me inspired this past year.

www.rawreform.com

Angela Stokes has a great site here. She also has a blog that you can subscribe to for daily information. I love getting her updates in my in box.

www.rawspirit.org

Angela’s fiancé, Matt Monarch also has a great website. He has just started his own blog this last month and it too has some great updates and information. I also look forward to reading this each day.

www.goneraw.com

Amazing website filled with delicious recipes. Any time I am looking for something quickly I go here and search in their user-friendly side bar.

www.rawbc.org

I am a member of Raw BC and they have many resources linked to this site. This is a great way to find local and nearby places to eat.

www.gorillafoods.com

Aaron Ash is the owner and head chef of this take out window at 422 Richards St. between Hastings and Pender. He is great! Always ready with a smile and your order. The food is absolutely delicious. I try to treat myself by visiting once a month for something great to eat!

www.living-foods.com

I visit this site often too for some new recipes or for some inspiration. There is so much to look through that I still haven’t seen everything on the site yet…

www.alissacohen.com

Here is Alissa’s site, full of information. There are some videos you can watch and stories and photos of people who’ve gained back their health while eating a raw food diet.

www.realrawfood.com

This is a raw food store, where I get a lot of my nuts, seeds, honey, Nama Shoyu, etc. You can order by phone or over the internet. They are pretty quick with delivery also. They are based in Naramata, B.C.

www.upayanaturals.com

This is another great Canadian site for ordering raw foods and other equipment for a healthy home. I have also found them to be quick with delivery and good to deal with. They are based in Ontario.

www.rawganique.com

These guys are great. They have hemp clothing and lots of raw goodies for sale. They are super quick with delivery and have been extremely friendly and helpful in my orders with them. They are based on Denman Island, B.C.

www.youtube.com

If you want to know how to open up a coconut, watch other raw foodists talk or do recipes, this is a great site to SEE it done. I really enjoy typing in names like David Wolfe, Angela Stokes, Matt Monarch, Storm and Jinjee Talifero and words like raw foods, living foods, vitamix blenders etc. Have fun with it, time flies when you’re on youtube!

www.rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com

This is a blog that I enjoy reading daily. They are a couple who live in the states who are really down to earth. Heidi is currently a third of her way through a juice feast. Lots of info on this blog, it’s great.

www.shazzie.com

Great site, she’s done lots for the raw community in the U.K.

Exciting News!

I am pregnant! I am in awe! That's right, my first high raw/raw pregnancy. Goodness only knows how I made beautiful children the first two times, with what I was eating! This time it's all about how much nutrition I can get in my belly for this little one. I am also far more relaxed about the whole thing so stress hormones are much less this time around as well! I'd let Penni in on the fact that we were going to try for our third baby but have been pretty quiet about it so far as I didn't know how long it would take to get pregnant.

With our first two kids we got pregnant the first month we tried, with both. This time it was month two we got preggers, not bad for a 38 year old I guess. It is still extremely early on, I'm only 5 weeks along and have not shared this info with anyone but my husband, my naturopath, and this trusted group. We will share it with family at Christmas time. We are so excited, as this is something we've talked about for two years now and it is finally a reality! It may not have been Thanksgiving up here in Canada this past weekend, but there was a lot of thanks being given around here, that's for sure.

So far this is what I've been doing for food:

Lemon Water to start off the a.m.
Fruit in the a.m.
Water throughout the day.
Green smoothie for lunch (fruit and green veg based)
Snacks have been nut smoothies (nuts, flax oil, and superfoods etc.) or some raw grawnola
Salad and steamed/baked veg for dinner. Vegan dinner also a couple of times.

I am taking the following vitamin supplements:
B12
Prenatal vegan (whole food) vitamin
Vit. D
Probiotics

Superfoods I've been adding to my smoothies:
Vitamineral Green
Earth
Sproutein
Coconut butter (not sure if it's considered a superfood, but it's sure super tasting)

These are other superfoods I'm taking as well (just ran out of chlorella, so need to order more):
chlorella
chlorophyll

I'm also following Kristen's Raw, as she is about five or six weeks ahead of me in her raw pregnancy. She has done a lot of research, and is writing a lot about what she's doing in her pregnancy. I have also followed Jinjee Talifero since my earliest days of raw, she has had five kids, either vegan or raw vegan.

I've not had any morning sickness with this pregnancy. I attribute it to my supplementing with a B complex and my diet being far better than when I was pregnant the last two times. Last week I heard the heartbeat for the first time, and I almost cried. I've also been feeling baby's movement for at least three weeks, maybe earlier but I thought it was too early to feel anything. It is especially active right after I eat fruit!

Eat Raw, Live Well!

Melinda

Great Martini Party!

Got your attention, didn't I?!

I attended a martini party last weekend, and took with me the following:

1 HUGE pitcher of green smoothie - frozen peaches, banana, kale, 2 tbsp. agave (to make it sweeter for the others) and water.
1 small pitcher of green smoothie - parsley, Vitamineral Green and apples.

Raw chocolate nut clusters - home made
Raw sweet nuts - home made

Two lovely martini glasses.

Well, after arriving with my huge bin of stuff and taking ALL the ribbing for not drinking the martinis, things actually worked out GREAT! I couldn't believe how much people joked with me about being "hard core" with my diet. Why didn't I bring wine, wine's raw (I may have a glass every now and then, but right now, while losing weight etc. I want to abstain). Why don't I just have "one" martini?

Well, as they got tired, and feeling terribly full, I was feeling great. Then, it happened...one person took the chance and tried some of the green smoothie, then another, then another and before I knew it, at 11pm I looked around the room and all 8 had green smoothies in their martini glass except for one! That's pretty good! I know it was late at night, but WOW! I was so happy to see this. Should have taken a photo!!

Not only were they drinking them, but they were enjoying them. I couldn't believe it. They were going back for seconds as well. It was a great night of conversation and because I was prepared (see previous blog post) I was able to stay true to me and help my friends get some quality food into their bellies! :)

Happy Sunday to you all!

Socializing Raw

So, it's that time of year again when we come out of hibernation for about five weeks in the winter! With socializing on an all time high this next while I've been busy in the kitchen preparing some things to help me remain raw while still being able to socialize with my friends!

For example, las Friday night it was off to a MARTINI party! Of all things! I only work part time teaching and never get to socialize with the ladies so I agreed to attend this party but wanted to go prepared. As well I want them to experience some raw goodness while we're there!

So today I was busy in the kitchen making some raw nut/dried fruit clusters. It is completely raw and delicious! I'll post the recipe in the recipe section! I also made some of my sweet nuts as well. These will be nice to nibble on while we drink. But never fear, I will not be partaking in the martinis...instead I will be sipping on my GREEN smoothies that will be prepared just before I go. I am going to take it in a big Mexican pitcher and share with whoever is willing! I'll also serve them in martini glasses just to stay within the theme.

It is good to remember:

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."
-- Ben Franklin

It is very true in most cases! I love to feel prepared and a little pre planning is all it takes. In order to succeed, we need to take steps that will help us to feel prepared, especially during this holiday season. Who knows, by living our truth we may help someone else find theirs!

Checking in - Finally!

Alright, it's been many weeks and I've yet to write a blog post. During the original RFR I wrote almost every night - and spent lots of time on the site...being a teacher I had the summer off and the luxury of time. Being back at work it's more about carving the time out to look through the new RFR site and revel in the fact that it is such an amazing place to be!

I have been working on my routines, as they tend to help me stay on track. Here's a look at a typical day so far:

5:15am wake up (make my side of the bed)
5:15 - 5:30 eye massage and palming (Bates Method of natural vision improvement) Conscious breathing technique at this time also.
5:30am - 6am guided meditation
6am -6:30am yoga (video at home)
6:30 - 7am - rebound, dry brushing and shower, get ready for the day.
7am-8am - get family ready for the day, laundry load in washer

First thing in the morning I begin with a lemon water. Usually about a litre of water to a half lemon's worth of juice. If I am hungry then I eat some fruit. If not I wait until I'm hungry to have my fruit. Favourites include apples, pears and bananas at the moment.

On my work days I leave for work at 8:15am I teach at a local middle school. I did a green smoothie demo last Friday and it was a hit. We also have Fruitful Fridays where everyone in the class brings in a piece of fruit and we make a Friendship Fruit Salad to share. They LOVE it!

At work I can sometimes come home for lunch and I will have a green smoothie, or else I bring in some nut butter and some banana or celery to much on at lunch. Usually I'll have more fruit for a snack after school.

On my days off I usually play taxi most the day and do our family's shop for the week on Tuesdays. I also spend a lot of time decluttering - decluttering my body has lead to mass decluttering of my home as well.

Each time I eat a meal I do the palming technique for my eyes again, working on improving my vision without surgery - on my own...but there is a practitioner close by who I may be seeing for her 8 week program as she has great success...just saving up the money for it.

Then evenings consist of tidying the house, dinner is usually a salad, or steamed veg (in the winter months) and possibly a vegan soup...I'd say I'm raw about 95% of the time and if I eat anything cooked it's at dinner but it's not much at all anymore. I just feel better raw!

Something I've done differently this last week and a half is going to bed early so that I can rise early. I used to go to bed at 1am or 2am and get up at 7am. Now I'm going to bed at 10:30pm at the latest and it is amazing the difference it has made for me and how I feel. If you can get yourself to bed early I highly suggest it. I've read that the hours you get before midnight count as double!

I also do conscious breathing before bed, more eye massage and palming my eyes and visualization. I find the breathing techniques especially helpful in falling to sleep quickly!! I've enjoyed reading everyone else's blogs on here and apologize for taking SO long to get in on the action. It's Monday and my work week is over due to the holiday on Wednesday and this Friday being my Friday off so I plan to spend a lot of time in here offering recipes, positive comments and blogging!

Hope you all have an amazing week! I'm getting juicy this week, been missing my juice! How's your week been so far?!

Living Simply

When eating simply begins to shape your habits around food, you start to look around you a little more and realize that living life simply is the answer to less stress, more time for quality in our relationships, and that less is more.

Well, I am currently reading, called "Living Simply With Children". A lot of things they suggest, we already do in our family. Family nights, game nights, movie nights, eating dinner together, making time for each other and many more are talked about in this book.

I highly suggest that if you are looking for some great ideas (and resources - suggested throughout the book) then you pick this one up. I know our local library has one but after reading only a couple of chapters I knew that I wanted to have this one to refer to in my home library (nothing grand, just a bookshelf or six throughout the house!).

Check out a sample of the book here.

What can you do to simplify your life today?

Live Well!

Melinda

Kids and Eating at School

I haven't written here in a long while. I find little time for extra-curricular stuff once the school year (and my part time teacher work) starts up. I have noticed a number of things about kids and their eating habits at school and wanted to talk a little about it here.

Before the bell goes in the morning: I see students in the school, snacking on slurpees, pop, candy and the like that they have purchased at a nearby store. When I comment about it, the usual remark is, "Who Cares, it tastes good." They have also mentioned that they need a sugar kick to be awake enough for class, somewhat like a number of friends and family members who need a caffeine kick first thing.

Recess snack: Gone are the days of a piece of fruit for recess. Now it is packaged goods, in wrappers that are polluting our landfills. I too have fallen prey to this as my daughter gets bugged about carrying around her tupperware during recess time when they are playing outside. So, a couple times a week I will throw in something that may have come in packaging...even though it's against my grain.

Instead of going outside in middle school, the kids sit in the classroom, stand in the hall or talk beside the vending machine. So they are eating junk before school, not so great snacks, and getting little or no exercise. Most are driven to school, and the only exercise they get in a day is their Phys. Ed. class.

At lunch, I have to admit that I'm somewhat impressed with about half of the lunches that the kids come into my classroom with. Most are balanced according to the "Canadian Food Guide", and are mostly "whole foods" but still about half of them are certainly not. Two or three come without lunches because they didn't feel like making one. Another five or six purchase their lunches from the cafeteria on average, and the choices there are not great, but supposedly improved from past years. You'll still see yam fries, slushies, and the like as they make loads of money from these things. Yam fries are better than the other fries they were serving only a few short years ago.

Where my challenge lies, is making lunches for my daughter. Although my family is not totally raw along with me, we do eat fruit for breakfast, and I usually give them vegetarian or vegan options for snack and lunch. It's difficult as in most schools, nut butters are banned. I actually asked her teacher if there were any allergies and if not, could she have nut butter and was told yes. I do use raw almond butter, macadamia nut butter, walnut butter also, as peanut butter is not my favourite to give. I also give her sprouts, avocado, salad, plantain chips, and some other "not so mainstream" items in her lunch. From the first day of school, she has been teased about these items and I'm at a loss as to how to change this without giving in to the "norm" for lunches. I see myself asking if "this item" will cause any ridicule, or if "that item" will cause heads to turn. Even with things I thought would not be a problem she comes home saying that she was teased again today.

I have tried to give her the tools to help, and she's really quite good about it, but I know that it's causing her some distress. I asked her how she thinks we can help the situation, and her ideas are great. First, I come to the class and do a raw food lesson with them and let them try the food. This way they will see that her "weird" food is actually tasty (they are not allowed to share lunches in class time due to allergy concerns, etc.). She also suggested teaching the parents at a parent meeting so they could make these foods for their kids. Another great idea. She also wants to open up the "Lizard Sauerkraut Cafe" in our house. She said that she tries to ignore it, but it doesn't seem to be going away. I spoke to the teacher regarding this, and to keep an eye out, but often the teachers are not in the room when kids are eating. She also said that there is no time for "extra-curricular" stuff like a raw food lesson as there is hardly time for the "core" subjects. So I'm kind of at a stand still with this.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Love to hear your take on things like this and if anyone else has experienced the same and what they did.

Thanks!

Busy in the Kitchen

So, it's that time of year...in a few months and some of us over at the Raw Food Rehab unit are putting together a little Holiday e-book. I'll let you know when it's available!

In the meantime you can drool over a couple of my possible recipe submissions! The first is the Raw Nogg, The next is a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie and the third is a Minty Dark Cocoa.

This weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I have so much to be thankful for.

In early September we started "Gratitude and Attitude" journals with our kids. Each evening we ask the kids to tell us three things they are grateful for and one thing that they feel they can do better the next day. Some examples from their books include "Thankful for their family, our house, friends who speak nicely to us, their blankie", etc. I noticed that often they were relating thanks for people and experiences, not so much about material things which I feel is great!

Some things they say they can work on are listening the first time when being asked to do something, sharing better with each other, having a positive attitude when we have to leave an activity, etc.

It really has them thinking, and they are very appreciative children. I've also noticed that they are thankful during the day more as well for things that they would normally take for granted. So, on this Thanksgiving weekend, my suggestion to you is to start a Gratitude and Attitude Journal! It's amazing how much we are blessed with and we need to appreciate what we have NOW, and abundance and happiness will find us!

Three things I'm thankful for:

Normal tests that I had done at the Doctor's Office.

Appreciative friends

Children who make me laugh on a daily basis and make me SO proud with all they accomplish.

One thing I can improve on:

Staying calm, at all times.

How about you? What are you thankful for? What can you improve about your attitude?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh My - Onion News Network

Now I know why they call it the Onion News Network, I laughed so hard, I cried!

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

The Blue Zones

Now here's a video explaining the book I'm about to read, it's called "The Blue Zones". I would like to create a Blue Zone in my home, why don't you?! Tell me what you think. I'll periodically talk here about changes I'm making to my daily rituals, to incorporate some of this information.

Take a listen:

Holy HOT Batman!

It's smokin' hot here today. I've been sweating like crazy in the house getting things tidied up so we can leave on Sunday for our camping vacation. Another short one but it is in the desert part of British Columbia so it will be even hotter than here on the coast!

We've been eating out of the garden a lot lately, it's so incredible just to pick through and eat tomatoes and greens and carrots that grew right here. We're very proud of our little garden!

Today I ate:

32 oz. lemon water
16 oz. water with Vitamineral Green
32oz. Green juice: chard, celery, cucumber, parsley, collard greens, lemon - every time I drink a green juice, it's like coming home. Since I did the 32 day juice fast two years ago this September I always love drinking them and thinking about that time.

Banana Mash:
1 banana
1 tbsp. dried coconut
1 tbsp. pecan butter
1 tbsp. agave
1 tbsp. raisins

Put in bowl and mash it all together. I ate this for energy for when I went to bootcamp. Ended up resting on the couch with my daughter, lost track of time and did not make it to bootcamp!

Corn Salad on Kale

Chia/buckwheat Pudding:
1 date
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash or so of nutmeg
1 banana
10 hazelnuts
1 cup water

Blend in a blender and pour over 1/3 cup of sprouted buckwheat/chia mix.

YUM!

ps. David Wolfe is coming to Vancouver in October for the Body, Soul and Spirit Expo...check out the details here.

Brian Clement Lecture

Impressive of course! LOVED all he had to say and YES, Penni he was in his suit and looked quite dapper indeed. He is a lot funnier than I would have guessed, and had us laughing throughout the lecture. I wore my "mango addict" t-shirts and a number of people loved it. I also had a bag that says "green" in all sorts of languages...had a guy ask me to take my photo as he loved the message on the bag and my shirt and the greens and all that...and I was just waiting in line to get in! Talk about a great start!

I wish I could have eaten, there were all sorts of vendors who were touting their wares and here I am on a water fasting day! Anyhow I ended up purchasing a spiralizer like the one that I saw the Hoppa's using. How much did you all pay for that? Not sure I got a great deal, but it looks so much easier to use than the one that I have currently so we'll give it a try! Even got a free zucchini to go along with it from the supplier's garden! :) She's taken Alyssa Cohen's course and sells these to her clients etc.

Back to the man of the hour - or two hours - Brian Clement.

Let's see if I can summarize some of what he talked about.

Three things you need to do in order to live the life you want:

1. Do what you LOVE.
2. Live with integrity, eat pure, exercise, and connect with the universe and/or God.
3. Contribute - giving is the only way to true happiness...it's what we're here to do.

You have to be happy with yourself first. You have to believe that you deserve health. Disease is a state of mind.
Call your mothers and thank them for everything, mothers are so important...heal that relationship if you do not have a good one at the moment!

Life is a Process, every second you can choose to do something BIG, most of us choose to do nothing or do something small and manageable. Choose BIG! Penni did and now look at us! Ripple effect!

One of the biggest things I took from his lecture tonight is this:

H.O.P.E.

Why eat Raw Food? H.O.P.E.

H = Hormones - messengers, cellular communication found only in raw foods, cooked no longer has them. Hormones balanced means happy person.

O = Oxygen - Food based oxygen, helps raise hemoglobin, regulates metabolism, plays role in nutrient ingestion. He wants to write a book, Eat Oxygen, Get Skinny. Raise your levels of oxygen and you'll lose weight. Get it from raw and living foods. Get it through proper breathing. Get it through exercise! If there is enough oxygen in the body, cancer cannot exist.

P = Phytochemicals - protect body from disease, can destroy disease, some good places to get this are:

Wheatgrass, speltgrass, kamut, barley grass, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, broccoli, garlic, onion sprouts, sprouts of all sorts.

E = Enzymes - allow and enhance body's electric abilities, we're all energy, from the moment of conception (A Life is Born - was a movie he said everyone should watch, shows this electrical start we all came from) to the moment we decompose, we are energy.

Finally he states that with Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and trace minerals, protein, electrical enzymes ingested in a raw and natural form is the best way to live longer, as is eating less...over time, don't rush it. Constant steps forward. Keep learning as changes happen, embrace change and continue on your path.

Take 100% responsibility. Those who come to HHI who heal are people who are willing to do it themselves, not give themselves over to others in order to be healed.

Supplements he suggests for sure are:
B12
Algae - fixes DNA
Enzymes - he takes 20/day!

Some may benefit from:
Pollen
ginsing or gotacola (the second one is a female ginsing? Not sure on the spelling) Also Summa.
Stabilized oxygen
Sodium or sliver nitrate when you are on planes
Rescue Remedy in purse at all times!
Cayenne helps circulation and emulsifies lipids.

If you ever go to Hippocrates, they follow you for LIFE. They always get updates from you and will keep a file on you for years to come. This helps them in their research for long term. It's a great idea as both you and they benefit!

I now want to take not only their three week program, but the three month one! Time to start savin'!

I hope that my notes make some sense to you all! I sure am glad I made the trip out and took the time to go.

I only drank water and lemon water all day today, so nothing to report for eating.
Feeling full of energy! Big, busy day tomorrow! Night all! Oh, I'll post a photo as well!

Been a While!

Well, back from camping and leaving again soon for another camping trip but had to catch you up to speed on my trip to Victoria! It was great, family time and blissful eating time at the raw food cafe called Cafe Bliss. If you want to see there website, click here.

I feasted for four days! It was purely amazing food and the people were great.

Here's what I wrote for the RFR group:

I have not been able to blog for a while here! I have missed it! When I was camping the internet became sketchy and I figured it was the universe telling me to enjoy the moment and do the computer stuff when I got home.

I ate raw gourmet while I was away. I did smoothies and juices for the first four days of the week last week. I blended all my food for the trip over on the ferry and the drive. It was perfect. I had all my jars ready to go. Smoothie for breakfast, smoothie for lunch, smoothie for dinner - which was good because we missed the open hours for the raw food cafe!

Then on Friday I had berries for breakfast, and a smoothie for brunch! We went to Cafe Bliss (http://www.cafebliss.ca/) for lunch. I had this for lunch:

Creamy Green Smoothie:
pear, apple, orange, almond ylk, hemp hearts, Vitamineral Green, Bee pollen tocotrienols, maca, lucuma and vanilla
I LOVED IT! I'll have to play with it and make my own, it was a great start to the meal while I waited for my salad and cracker plate.

Summer Salad:
Made with locally sourced, fresh ingredients that are in season. There was lettuce, sunflower sprouts, blueberries, and a few other things I can't remember five days later. It had a lemon tahini dressing.

Baja cracker plate:

Yam crackers served with guacamole, cashew-macademia sour cream, and fresh cut salsa.

I had this cracker plate each day it was SO good! LOVE it!

Had a lemon bar for dessert. More food in one sitting than I've eaten this whole 10 weeks! :)

So the whole time I'm sitting there with my mom for lunch, there is this guy who I kept making eye contact with. I thought he seemed familiar and he and I had some talk at the "raw stuff" area where they sold items like kelp noodles (got some) clear agave (got some) and jungle peanuts (got me some of those too!) along with lots of other great items. Afterwards when my husband and dad and kids came by, they got talking to this guy and his friends - our sons made fast friends on the side walk outside. James introduced me to all of them - visiting from the States he said. He also mentioned that this guy Bruce does classes and travels talking about raw foods. I said Bruce Horowitz? He laughed and said "Ya". His friends were impressed I knew who he was. When I wanted to get a photo with him they all laughed and told him he was a celebrity now! :) I'll post that photo later for sure!


I then ordered these things to go, for later at the campsite:

Hawaiian Pizza - buckwheat crust...like no other Hawaiian pizza I've ever had!
The Baja cracker plate which I shared with the family.
Lemon Square
For my snack (like I needed one!!) I had a Mylk Shake, orange creamsicle

I felt light, great and NOT like I'd eaten that much in one day, for sure! Good thing I'd done smoothies during the first part of the week for this feasting! Food Feasting I'll call it!

We walked a LOT that day which also helped burn off any extra food intake. We saw the Miniature World, Undersea Gardens and I even bumped into an old College friend - and didn't feel embarrassed to see him as I am no longer overweight. In fact I hope he tells his brother that I look great, the last time I saw his brother he tried to pretend he didn't know me and then asked if I was pregnant! (I did have a five month old at home, but it still hurt!)

Saturday August 8th:

Fruit bowl for breakfast.

Another feast at the raw food cafe, after walking downtown Victoria for a while. We saw an amazing castle, and can't believe that people used to live like that. I also can't believe how well made everything was...we are all about quantity these days and not quality!

My daughter chose to eat with me today instead of getting Mexican food with her daddy and brother. She said she would rather eat the raw food for lunch.

I must continue this later as I have to take the kids to swimming lessons! Back soon!

OK, back at it here. I have some photos to upload as well before bed tonight. Burning the midnight coconut oil!
Just finished the questionnaire as well so will post that separately.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, lunch on Saturday at Cafe Bliss:

Baja cracker plate
Bliss Salad
Creamy green smoothie

My daughter had the Kids' plate:
You get choices of crackers with any three of these carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber slices, avocado slices, cherry tomatoes, almonds and raisis, olives, apple or orange slices, berries. She chose the yam crackers, with avocado, cherry tomatoes, and olives. Sprouts came on the side and she loved that too! Go girl!

One sad note here...I was chewing on pitted olives when I crunched down on something hard - half of my tooth cracked off. I mean it, a whole half a tooth. It's a tooth that was on it's way out, and I've been putting off the dentist but holy crap, I could not believe I didn't feel a thing. This tooth would have probably been gone long ago but I really do believe that raw foods have helped me keep it just that much longer. No infections either. Probiotics and salt water rinses have helped to keep that away too. Luckily.

Took for dinner:

Baja Cracker plate
Bliss Pizza
Goji Creamsicle: almond mylk, pear orange, goji berries and vanilla.

Also had fruit salad...after all that and had an attack of the gassey in the evening. It was terrible. I NEVER eat fruit after a meal anymore...and will continue that after this episode. I did not like having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the washroom in the dark!

Sunday, August 9th:

Checked out some outdoor stores in the morning. Mountain Equipment Coop is across the street from Bliss...so you guessed it, another day of great prepared food!

Got a green lemonade - cucumber apple lemon and kale to start
Creamy Green smoothie for the road.
Baja cracker plate for lunch
Had dinner at home, just a blender drink. Seemed to pale in comparison!

Monday August 10th -
Lemon water in a.m. - 2 cups
smoothie - blueberries, banana, greens - 5 cups worth but drank 1 cup for breakfast, 2 cups for lunch and another 2 cups for a snack...we were out all day long.
Dinner - nut butter - pecan and some honey with hemp seeds and flax.

Tuesday August 11th -
lemon water in a.m. - 2 cups
2 cups water with 1 tbsp. Vitamineral Green
1/2 pound of cherries.
1 litre of water.
2 tbsp. pecan butter.

Feeling a little bloated today. Will be eating very lightly the next few days...juicing and blending and lemon water and vitamineral green and some chlorophyll in the water. Somewhat nervous about a tooth being pulled...my root is being reabsorbed by my body...said he'd never seen anything like it and wondered why I didn't experience any pain. When I went in he noticed that it was more involved than he thought and now I have to have half a tooth for another month - he leaves on holiday tomorrow!! All well, he says that no pain, no infection, means it will be ok and just to keep it clean. I certainly will!

An interesting day to say the least! Now I'm off to add photos of our trip and Cafe Bliss!

Day Two Smoothies and Juices

Forgot to publish this last night...

Loving this smoothie and juices beginning to my week. It's so freeing when you aren't really focussed on food! It's been more smoothies than anything else today.

16 oz. lemon water
Rebounder for a little bit - finding my knee hurts a little when I rebound every day...anyone else have that issue? Suggestions to help it? I rebound barefoot, so possibly I need shoes on? I thought rebounders were supposed to be better on the knees than running, and I run without a problem?!

Brunch:

Frozen banana and cherry smoothie - it was more like ice cream it was so thick!


Dinner: Pumpkin Pie Soup. Delicious! Half the recipe made about 4 cups of soup.

Bootcamp for one hour, it was a great workout this evening.

Drank about 2 litres so far today but will be drinking some tea and water this evening as well.

There are some detox type things happening for me. The pasty tongue is there, bad breath in the morning (could also be the garlic from last night's soup!) no body odor, a little moody, but not hungry much and eating only when I am hungry.

Better energy though, we'll have to see about the weight loss, I'm up a couple pounds today?! Seems weird as I'm eating less and much better! I'll give it some time to settle as I'd had too many raw macaroons this weekend!

Enjoy the night!