Eating Cooked Foods to Try and Heal…?

How I Went from Cooked to Raw to Cooked… and Back to Raw.

- by Christie Fischer

I began following a vegetarian diet about 13 years ago, whilst still eating seafood. A few years later the seafood got ditched. A couple of years after that I began the vegan thing (whilst traveling through Italy of all places). It was then a few years until I stumbled across the raw food vibe, and to be honest I can’t remember how but I do remember that instantly it felt right.  I knew it was my next step in terms of my diet.

I did my research and readings, asked questions and sought answers. Then met my current partner who had been eating raw for 4 years, and I remember calling my mum and excitedly yelling, “oh my god mum I’ve just met the coolest guy ever and we have so much in common and he even drinks green smoothies!!” – at the time no-one I knew was vegetarian or vegan, let alone dabbling into raw foods!

Read more »

Sisterhood Spotlight: Crystal’s dramatic health changes with whole food diet

Hello, my name is Crystal and I am so happy to be a part of the RawDivas family.   I always ‘knew’ that eating well was better for me and the ‘proper’ thing to do, but we don’t always do what is best for us and practice what we preach.  My journey has brought me full circle and I live a much different existence now, happily.

I am married to my high school sweetheart and he is a wonderful man. We have two amazing, funny children and I consider myself to be a very ‘lucky lady’.  My life could have turned out much differently.  I am a self professed survivor of much more than loads of laundry, stacks of dishes and a multi-tasking queen.

The website that changed my life is  www.greensmoothiequeen.com and I honestly believe it was sent to me on angel wings.  A lot of things were going on in my life and I needed divine intervention.  Who knew that my angel had gorgeous green wings? :o)

During my first pregnancy, I got very sick at 7 months, was put on Read more »

Why Can’t You Just Start Already? How to Handle Your Fitness Excuses!

By Jenn Givler

You’ve felt the niggles. The urges. The nudges. You know it’s time to start. You know you should be doing something. But every time you think about starting, something comes up. Some other plan, some interruption, some unexpected obstacle.

I’m talking about exercising. In the midst of being a significant other, a mom, a daughter, a friend and a professional, it can be tough to think about fitting in one more thing, or to even just take the plunge.

The fact is, exercise is good for you and your body. Among the commonly stated health benefits (increased cardio vascular health, increased energy, lower risk of multiple diseases, etc…), exercise also has some amazing not-commonly-heard-about benefits.

For example, exercising helps your body eliminate toxins. It also increases the good feelings you have about yourself and your positive self-talk. Exercise is wonderful for your libido. It helps you think clearly, and it gives you stamina for your all of your regular daily activities. It also improves sleep.

Even knowing all of this can make us stutter and stammer when it comes to starting a new exercise program.

Here are 3 simple ways to get started:

• Buddy up.  Find someone that will truly kick you into gear if you start making excuses. And, be sure that your buddy has the same mind-set and similar goals for exercise that you do. Together, create a plan that you can both easily stick to and go for it.
• Find the time.  Find a time each and every day that will be used for nothing other than exercise. At first, it’s going to be tough to stick to that time. Your mind is going to have all sorts of reasons why you can’t. And you’re going to make up excuses. But, I promise, if you stick to a regular time for at least 2 weeks, it will become a new routine, and you’ll actually hate to miss your exercise time.
• Keep it simple.  To get aerobic benefits, you don’t have to beat yourself to a pulp. This is something that is echoed in the Body Enlightenment System.

Walking at a moderate pace for 20 to 30 minutes a day is the perfect way to start moving.

To know that you’re truly getting benefit from the movement, make sure you’re winded (that it’s not easy to have a conversation, or that you’re breathing heavier),  and that you feel like you’re really working.
Inertia is defined as “an object at rest stays at rest unless acted on by an outside force.” For those of us needing to start something, inertia can be our biggest rival.
But, once you get going and get into a new routine, it’s easy to build a great new momentum in the right direction.

Start simply, find a buddy, pick a time and go for it.

**Jenn Givler is a fitness and wellness coach. She helps busy women break their fitness hiatus, and shows them how to fit fitness into a busy schedule. You don’t have to be a fitness buff, or live at the gym to feel healthy, fit and strong. Check out Jenn’s web site for exercise ideas, recipes, and insight: JGivlerFitness.com

How to give your cells a kick with Spicy Kale Tomato Sprouts Soup

My tongue is happily tingling from the spicy raw Kale Tomato Sprouts soup I made for dinner. I got a sudden urge for a raw soup; perhaps it was inspired by Tera’s Cream of Broccoli soup she wrote about last week. Or, maybe it was my body simply calling out for a dose of dark greens by way of a soup.

So off to the kitchen I went to work with what I had available. In the blender went a few handfuls of kale and a cut-up tomato. I added a cap of extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, a few sprinkles of black pepper and Himalayan sea salt, and a shake or two of curry powder and cayenne pepper, followed by a bit of water — just enough to help everything blend. I didn’t blend it for too long since I wanted to encounter a few chewable pieces while eating the soup. When I decided to turn the blender off, I ended up with precisely the soup consistency I wanted!

Once I removed the top of the container, the smell was a bit strong, so I thought, “Oh no!” However, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste when I sampled it. It was indeed spicy, but pleasant — the type of “kick” I could tolerate, enjoyably. I poured the soup into a bowl and then decided to place some Alfalfa Sprouts on the top, and that turned out to be the perfect touch once they settled into the semi-thick liquid. The sprouts provided a noodle effect, but then as I ate some more, the soup started to feel like the texture of fish chowder, a staple popular in Bermuda (where I grew up).

Toward the end of my soup adventure, the spice was starting to slightly become a little too much for my palette, so I figured a slice of Ezekiel bread would help balance things. I happened to have one slice left, which I lightly toasted. Viola…that helped me to polish off the meal ever so nicely!

My tongue has now stopped tingling, but it’s as if my cells are singing, joyfully — thanks to that spicy Kale Tomato Sprouts soup! It’s a wonderful sensation, perhaps prompted by the fact that I drank nothing but water from about 1:00 p.m. the day before making the soup through to the next morning! Maybe that mini-water fast has helped me feel my core a little more closely today.

I think my sudden green-soup urge was a friendly reminder that raw foods truly do go deeper into the body and serve a far greater purpose than surface-level foods.

With Gratitude for Raw Bounty,

Penny

Photo by Stef Noble, flickr.com

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Part 2 (two days later) — The Soup Experiment Continues

How to make Carrot Avocado Sprouts Soup!

Photos by me this time!

Well, I thought I was done with this post, but then I went and experimented with a Carrot Avocado Sprouts soup for today’s lunch. Oh my goodness…talk about something good. Wow!

So, how did I make it?

In a blender, I simply put…

~ 2 large carrots I had cut up into chunks

~ 1 avocado

~ approx. 1 teaspoon of cold-pressed olive oil

~ a sprinkle or two of Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper (I also added about a teaspoon or less of Apple Cider Vinegar, simply because I’ve wanted to take that, daily, this week.)

~ a tad of water to help move things around in the blender

I started the blender and got a chunky consistency which I liked, but when I poured it into the bowl, some of the mixture stayed in the blender. So, I simply added a little more water in the blender and re-blended that portion. Then, I poured that over what I had already put in the bowl. Oh now it looked like the perfect soup! (Remember, it’s a little chunky underneath. My preference!)

I added Alfalfa Sprouts on top (which give a noodle effect when eating), took a seat that would allow me to look out at nature as I ate, said a prayer full of gratitude, and then that soup was gone in no time. I said “ummm” with just about every spoonful.

I think this is a perfect soup for the fall. I am totally loving this raw-soup experiment.

Have a soup-er raw fall. I hope you’ll enjoy soup-ing up as much as I am!

Love,

Penny