Well, it's arrived! The much coveted Ann Wigmore Home Study Course arrived at my doorstep (well, post office as I wasn't home to receive it the day the delivery was to be made) this week. I am so excited to dive into all the information it has to share, and I'll be posting info here as to what I've learned and how it's all put together. As well, the Raw Divas have asked me to share this learning journey with them and their clients. The details have yet to be worked out but I'll keep it posted here also. Info on how you can order the Home Study Course is here. You'll have to hurry as I believe he's taking the course off the market in a couple of days.
Hopefully I can also share this information through Raw BC with talks or info sessions. I spoke to Clive about it when we were on the wild edibles walk last week.
Let the fun begin!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Wild Edibles Walk
On Sunday I was lucky enough to be involved in a local "wild edibles" walk. We met at the Old Stewart Farmhouse for an amazing walk among the grasses and greens. Our guide, Linda Holley is a graduate of Dominion Herbal College. She also studied nutrition at Alive Academy. Her knowledge is vast and I only wish I had an ounce of her knowledge of herbs and wild greens in my own brain. It is an area that I have recently been interested in studying more. There is so much you can do with plants in our "own back yard" let alone throughout the world!
Here's some information I gleened from our walk. First and most importantly...get a knowledgeable guide! If you are ever in the Oregon area I would suggest getting in touch with Sergei Boutenko who runs Harmony Hikes. His website is also full of information on wild edibles as well, including photos, descriptions and some information videos. Here, Linda was extremely knowledgeable about plants and their uses and whether they are edible or not.
I was quite surprised at how many plants and greenery are NOT for eating! Good thing I didn't just run out and start harvesting greens after the talk that Sergei gave a couple of months ago! Of course, with his informative session as well as a hands on hike in our own local area I feel much more informed and knowledgeable about what I can and cannot eat. I'll have to talk another time about a "fiddlehead" experience I had and what I learned after the fact!
Our walk lasted about three hours, one hour over the original plan but we were learning so much. Certainly I will be on the lookout for a good chickweed plant near my home and start harvesting that one right away. It has more nutrition in it than a whole wack of greens you'd get from the store. In fact it is so nutritious that I would suggest to anyone that they need to begin adding this to their smoothies and salads right away.
It is important to be careful about eating anything new, however as anyone can have allergies to any plant and not know it yet because they've never eaten it. In fact maybe that was my fiddlehead issue. OK, I'll explain myself. I have waited about a year to do some fiddlehead harvesting and it was a late year this year but my mom got some on a hike she went on last month and brought them home to me. Not being one to cook things, my daughter and I ate some. She liked hers just plain while I put mine in a smoothie. She had no trouble whatsoever while I had intense stomach cramps and terrible gas about two hours later...and this didn't happen just once, it happened the next day when I added them to my smoothie (I added less and the effect was lessened as well). Hmmm. She seemed to tolerate them without a problem while I did NOT. Lesson learned. It will be some time before I try fiddleheads again.
Today my mom saw on the news that they are suggesting that no one eat fiddleheads RAW as two people have become sick from eating them this way on Vancouver Island. Interesting. So we'll steer clear for now.
Back to the hike.
Here's the link to photos that Diane so graciously posted for us all, along with a mini comment on each one.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DianeJoyL/NatureWalk
Also, Sergei Boutenko has filmed a number of videos on wild edibles. Check out this link for his video on Wild Violets. He has one also on Miner's Lettuce. Or, check out the Dandelion one. They are extremely informative and entertaining! Thanks Sergei!
In wild edible goodness,
Melinda
Here's the link to photos that Diane so graciously posted for us all, along with a mini comment on each one.
http://picasaweb.google.com
Also, Sergei Boutenko has filmed a number of videos on wild edibles. Check out this link for his video on Wild Violets. He has one also on Miner's Lettuce. Or, check out the Dandelion one. They are extremely informative and entertaining! Thanks Sergei!
In wild edible goodness,
Melinda
Dad II
After all the fuss and muss regarding the cardio aversion that my dad had you would think things would be fine...well, all's not well. He had to go to the emergency regarding a very low heart beat and that his heart is again experiencing arrhythmia. It is common that the condition cannot be treated with western medicine, but we were hoping for the best. I wonder if he'll change anything about how he eats now that diet seems to be the only way he can manage this condition (as far as I believe...the medical community may not agree with that though as they said to "resume your normal diet" as soon as the procedure was done.
Disappointed but hopeful that this may be a stepping stone my father needs to reach higher intake of good foods!
More later about the CHI diet home study course! I got a message in my mail today and I believe it's a package waiting for me but I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up from the post office.
In green goodness,
Melinda
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Dad
My dad went in for a cardio-aversion procedure today. I went in with him, my mom, and my sister. My dad has had heart problems pretty much as far back as I can remember. He's somewhat active and quite athletic when he wants to be but does not choose his food very carefully. Unfortunately this has manifested in his body as heart issues. He had a heart attack about 8 years ago.
This was a huge wake up call for him and I've never seen him more motivated to eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables. He was also involved in a cardio rehab group. He was exercising like crazy and eating well and lost a lot of weight...and he's not heavy to begin with. He did so well for about two years, and then slowly the eating habits began to slip, and fried, fatty foods were again entering the system. He also loves his wine and beer, and sweet treats. You can encourage someone to eat a healthy diet, with many fruits and vegetables but you will have a hard time changing the wiring unless the owner of the house wants new circuits.
He has had tachycardia for many years as well, but it seemed to be in the background. He did join bootcamp with me in July of 2005. I needed to lose excess baby weight and he needed to get active. He loved it and was motivated and went about three times a week and beat me at every run we did together in those first two years. Since going raw, I beat him every time...60 pounds lighter and feeling full of energy, my athleticism is better now than when I was in high school!
Still, the eating habits have not been great for him. He's seen my dramatic changes but still not interested, even when I make him a green smoothie, he is polite and drinks some but it's not his thing.
He started getting tachy's every time we did bootcamp. We signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run and again, he'd get these tachy's each time we ran. It didn't seem normal but the doctors didn't seem alarmed...that was until my dad thought he was having a heart attack on Jan.28th of this year. He went to the hospital and they ran tests but found nothing abnormal. The did however refer him to a heart specialist.
There he was diagnosed with an "arrhythmia" where he was told that they would not even administer a stress test as that could cause my dad to go into cardiac arrest...and the night before and many nights before that we had been out running for an hour?!! Arrhythmia is what Victoria Boutenko (http://www.rawfamily.com/) was diagnosed with at age 38 and told that there was nothing else she could do for her health but pray! Her whole family went raw shortly thereafter due to a type one diabetes diagnosis for her son and they all benefited from it! Her arrhythmia is a thing of the past, naturally.
My dad was told that he had to have the cardio-aversion procedure done to help his arrhythmia. He was put on even more meds than he's already on and then told he had to wait a while to thin his blood enough so that he wouldn't stroke out when the procedure was done. WHAT?! I'd be feeling aversion to having this procedure too, no wonder it got it's name! So, it's now May 27th...exactly 4 months almost to the day that he got the procedure done. They put him out and basically reset his heart rhythm with an electric jolt. Not quite like you see in the movies with the paddles, but you get an idea anyhow.
I am actually reading Victoria Boutenko's 12 Steps to Raw food as it was re-released with a lot of new information. I am enjoying it this time round...and really relate to much of what she's saying. It's extremely informative and she's done a lot of research to back up her thinking. I was reading this in the hospital waiting room but couldn't really concentrate. Instead my sister, mom and I reminisced about all our past operations and our feelings around them and why they happened, and how things have changed so much in our thinking. For example...my dad had his tonsils out along with two of his brothers because they were a nuisance. My mom, sister and I all have had ours removed. How would our bodies be different if we still had them I wonder. I didn't have huge issues with them but when I was six they flared up a little and it was like they were waiting for that to happen and they got me in and out they came, along with the adenoids.
These days it seems like ear infections are far more common than tonsils and that tubes in the ears is the "operation of the day". I only hope that it was in part due to my constant nursing that helped my kids steer clear of any ear infections. It is extremely common today however for kids to have this procedure.
So us three girls just talked and reminisced about operations, family, life, death and the circle of life for the three hours we were in the hospital. It was great bonding time as I know we were all nervous in some way about what dad was going through.
As my dad was being discharged, the nurse told him not to exert himself for 24 hours (no problem there if there's hockey or golf on t.v.!) and to stay away from alcohol for 24 hours (how about for a lifetime!?) and to resume his usual diet when he felt like eating again (I says pardon?!?! No telling him to keep away from fats, and sweets and processed goods and to focus on a more vegetarian diet...I questioned this and the response was that diet had nothing to do with it). I beg to differ. Food matters. More than we'd like to admit. So I'll continue to make him raw desserts, dishes, salads, smoothies, and hope that he'll eventually gain a liking for all things raw. I can encourage, but I cannot force.
Arrhythmia is supposedly genetic...all the more reason for me to continue eating a high raw diet!! I do not want to put my family through what we went through today with my dad.
Sleep's important too, so I'm off to bed.
In green goodness.
Eat Raw, Live Well.
Melinda
This was a huge wake up call for him and I've never seen him more motivated to eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables. He was also involved in a cardio rehab group. He was exercising like crazy and eating well and lost a lot of weight...and he's not heavy to begin with. He did so well for about two years, and then slowly the eating habits began to slip, and fried, fatty foods were again entering the system. He also loves his wine and beer, and sweet treats. You can encourage someone to eat a healthy diet, with many fruits and vegetables but you will have a hard time changing the wiring unless the owner of the house wants new circuits.
He has had tachycardia for many years as well, but it seemed to be in the background. He did join bootcamp with me in July of 2005. I needed to lose excess baby weight and he needed to get active. He loved it and was motivated and went about three times a week and beat me at every run we did together in those first two years. Since going raw, I beat him every time...60 pounds lighter and feeling full of energy, my athleticism is better now than when I was in high school!
Still, the eating habits have not been great for him. He's seen my dramatic changes but still not interested, even when I make him a green smoothie, he is polite and drinks some but it's not his thing.
He started getting tachy's every time we did bootcamp. We signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run and again, he'd get these tachy's each time we ran. It didn't seem normal but the doctors didn't seem alarmed...that was until my dad thought he was having a heart attack on Jan.28th of this year. He went to the hospital and they ran tests but found nothing abnormal. The did however refer him to a heart specialist.
There he was diagnosed with an "arrhythmia" where he was told that they would not even administer a stress test as that could cause my dad to go into cardiac arrest...and the night before and many nights before that we had been out running for an hour?!! Arrhythmia is what Victoria Boutenko (http://www.rawfamily.com/) was diagnosed with at age 38 and told that there was nothing else she could do for her health but pray! Her whole family went raw shortly thereafter due to a type one diabetes diagnosis for her son and they all benefited from it! Her arrhythmia is a thing of the past, naturally.
My dad was told that he had to have the cardio-aversion procedure done to help his arrhythmia. He was put on even more meds than he's already on and then told he had to wait a while to thin his blood enough so that he wouldn't stroke out when the procedure was done. WHAT?! I'd be feeling aversion to having this procedure too, no wonder it got it's name! So, it's now May 27th...exactly 4 months almost to the day that he got the procedure done. They put him out and basically reset his heart rhythm with an electric jolt. Not quite like you see in the movies with the paddles, but you get an idea anyhow.
I am actually reading Victoria Boutenko's 12 Steps to Raw food as it was re-released with a lot of new information. I am enjoying it this time round...and really relate to much of what she's saying. It's extremely informative and she's done a lot of research to back up her thinking. I was reading this in the hospital waiting room but couldn't really concentrate. Instead my sister, mom and I reminisced about all our past operations and our feelings around them and why they happened, and how things have changed so much in our thinking. For example...my dad had his tonsils out along with two of his brothers because they were a nuisance. My mom, sister and I all have had ours removed. How would our bodies be different if we still had them I wonder. I didn't have huge issues with them but when I was six they flared up a little and it was like they were waiting for that to happen and they got me in and out they came, along with the adenoids.
These days it seems like ear infections are far more common than tonsils and that tubes in the ears is the "operation of the day". I only hope that it was in part due to my constant nursing that helped my kids steer clear of any ear infections. It is extremely common today however for kids to have this procedure.
So us three girls just talked and reminisced about operations, family, life, death and the circle of life for the three hours we were in the hospital. It was great bonding time as I know we were all nervous in some way about what dad was going through.
As my dad was being discharged, the nurse told him not to exert himself for 24 hours (no problem there if there's hockey or golf on t.v.!) and to stay away from alcohol for 24 hours (how about for a lifetime!?) and to resume his usual diet when he felt like eating again (I says pardon?!?! No telling him to keep away from fats, and sweets and processed goods and to focus on a more vegetarian diet...I questioned this and the response was that diet had nothing to do with it). I beg to differ. Food matters. More than we'd like to admit. So I'll continue to make him raw desserts, dishes, salads, smoothies, and hope that he'll eventually gain a liking for all things raw. I can encourage, but I cannot force.
Arrhythmia is supposedly genetic...all the more reason for me to continue eating a high raw diet!! I do not want to put my family through what we went through today with my dad.
Sleep's important too, so I'm off to bed.
In green goodness.
Eat Raw, Live Well.
Melinda
Monday, May 26, 2008
Subtle
I'm reminiscing by reading a journal that I wrote when I did my juice fast in September. When I first went "raw", I think it really swept me up. It's like a romance when you first start dating someone that you're drawn to everything they are. You talk about them constantly, think about them day and night, get heart palpitations when they touch you, or just when you see them across the room.
This is what it was like for me with raw and living foods. I do believe that I was probably quite overbearing about it all to begin with. I thought about it all the time, dreamed about it, lived it in every facet. I was telling people that they should go raw because when you feel that good you want everyone to feel that good...but most aren't in that space yet. It's like falling in love and telling everyone how wonderful it is and then telling them that they should fall in love too. How absurd is that?! Many things have to come together for someone to fall in love and I feel that it is the same with finding raw and living foods.
If I'd found it sooner, I too would not have welcomed it like I did in Jan. of 2007.
So, now I am much more subtle about how I eat. Most who know me know that this is how I choose to live. Others who do not know me see how I am and some even ask what I do to have so much energy and seem so alive! I wait for others to ask for my guidance, my suggetions, and this way I will not be as overbearing.
The last thing I want to do is turn others off of raw foods because of how I have approached the subject. If I have offended anyone in the past, I am truly sorry. In the future it's subtlety that I'll focus on.
In green smoothie goodness,
Melinda
This is what it was like for me with raw and living foods. I do believe that I was probably quite overbearing about it all to begin with. I thought about it all the time, dreamed about it, lived it in every facet. I was telling people that they should go raw because when you feel that good you want everyone to feel that good...but most aren't in that space yet. It's like falling in love and telling everyone how wonderful it is and then telling them that they should fall in love too. How absurd is that?! Many things have to come together for someone to fall in love and I feel that it is the same with finding raw and living foods.
If I'd found it sooner, I too would not have welcomed it like I did in Jan. of 2007.
So, now I am much more subtle about how I eat. Most who know me know that this is how I choose to live. Others who do not know me see how I am and some even ask what I do to have so much energy and seem so alive! I wait for others to ask for my guidance, my suggetions, and this way I will not be as overbearing.
The last thing I want to do is turn others off of raw foods because of how I have approached the subject. If I have offended anyone in the past, I am truly sorry. In the future it's subtlety that I'll focus on.
In green smoothie goodness,
Melinda
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Farmers' Market
One of my favourite times of the year is when the Coquitlam Farmers Market opens. It symbolizes the start of the summer season for me, even if the calendar does not. Each year there are more and more items available, and more and more people coming there to purchase their goods. If you'd like to visit their website you can do so HERE. They are in their 12th season this year. Hard to believe that I've only been going for four years. It's fun for the kids too.
This year I am going to ask the farmers about wild greens growing on their farms. This is something the Boutenko family did to reduce their costs on edible greens. Wild edibles are full of nutrition and usually they are just discarded by the farmers.
Speaking of wild edibles...Raw BC is holding a Wild Edibles Nature Walk in South Surrey this coming weekend. Here's the info from the site:
June 1: Nature Walk - Finding Wild Edible Plants in our own backyard, or close to it...
In March, RawBC sponsored a presentation by Sergei Boutenko, of the RawFamily, where Sergei spoke about the abundance of wild edible plants that grow naturally in the Wild.
Several of you who attended requested that we create a Nature walk here in the Lower Mainland, where we could go out and discover and identify plants that grow wild and are edible right here in our own backyard.
We are fortunate to have as our guide, Linda Holley, a graduate of the Dominion Herbal College (www.dominionherbal.com) and has also studied nutrition with the Alive Academy.
Date: Sunday, June 1st
Time: Meeting time 9:30 am. Nature Walk begins: 10:00 - 12:00 noon
Location: Historic Steward Farm, 13723 Crescent Road, Surrey
Meeting Spot: Parking lot by the Heritage Stewart House
Registration: Must RSVP to info@rawbc.org as space is limited.
Details, such as ride sharing, location map, what to bring, will be sent as soon as you are registered.
Cost: General Public $15
RawBC* members $10
*RawBC membership available at event, if arranged beforehand
I'll be there for sure, rain or shine as I live nestled at the bottom of Burke Mountain and have plenty of room to roam for wild edibles just outside my door! Hope to see you there.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to market I go...
Melinda
June 1: Nature Walk - Finding Wild Edible Plants in our own backyard, or close to it...
In March, RawBC sponsored a presentation by Sergei Boutenko, of the RawFamily, where Sergei spoke about the abundance of wild edible plants that grow naturally in the Wild.
Several of you who attended requested that we create a Nature walk here in the Lower Mainland, where we could go out and discover and identify plants that grow wild and are edible right here in our own backyard.
We are fortunate to have as our guide, Linda Holley, a graduate of the Dominion Herbal College (www.dominionherbal.com) and has also studied nutrition with the Alive Academy.
Date: Sunday, June 1st
Time: Meeting time 9:30 am. Nature Walk begins: 10:00 - 12:00 noon
Location: Historic Steward Farm, 13723 Crescent Road, Surrey
Meeting Spot: Parking lot by the Heritage Stewart House
Registration: Must RSVP to info@rawbc.org as space is limited.
Details, such as ride sharing, location map, what to bring, will be sent as soon as you are registered.
Cost: General Public $15
RawBC* members $10
*RawBC membership available at event, if arranged beforehand
I'll be there for sure, rain or shine as I live nestled at the bottom of Burke Mountain and have plenty of room to roam for wild edibles just outside my door! Hope to see you there.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to market I go...
Melinda
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Food Matters
Well, it's gaining momentum, like I've said before...check out this trailer for an incredibly important movie that's set to come out soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss
David Wolfe (the cute curly headed one...) is looking great. I'm so excited to see he's a part of this movie! His book The Sunfood Diet Success System was one of my first raw food reads...and continues to be at my bedside for nightly reference. He also cowrote the book with the most impactful sentence I've read thus far: "Cooked food is poison". I had a hard time accepting that sentence, but as I get further into my studies and understanding of food I truly believe it to be a statement of truth.
Food Matters also has a website:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/
Food does matter, no matter how you look at it. BUT!! Even with this information, what percentage of the population would be willing to substantially change their diet???
Something to chew on.
In green goodness,
Melinda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss
David Wolfe (the cute curly headed one...) is looking great. I'm so excited to see he's a part of this movie! His book The Sunfood Diet Success System was one of my first raw food reads...and continues to be at my bedside for nightly reference. He also cowrote the book with the most impactful sentence I've read thus far: "Cooked food is poison". I had a hard time accepting that sentence, but as I get further into my studies and understanding of food I truly believe it to be a statement of truth.
Food Matters also has a website:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/
Food does matter, no matter how you look at it. BUT!! Even with this information, what percentage of the population would be willing to substantially change their diet???
Something to chew on.
In green goodness,
Melinda
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