Raw Diva Spotlight: Marita Loves Living Life Judgement Free

Tell us a bit about you. Where are you in the world, and what do you do for a living?What’s your family situation? (kids, handsome prince in the picture?

I’m originally from Buffalo NY and I currently reside in Wichita Falls, TX; but I’m on my way to new places. We love to travel. My husband and I are newlyweds and new parents to a baby girl of ten months. I spend my days taking care of her, as well as write. I write about everything, but my favorite is self-help.

How did you find our site, and what do you like most about being a “raw diva”?

I found the site by searching for a good cleanse. I believe in cleansing the body at least once a year. I love the motivational messages I get to read as they come into my inbox.

Any inspiring success stories on your path to health and happy living that you’d like to share with our readers?

My secret to healthy, happy living, is through meditation. I’ve learned that finding my “Self” has allowed me to truly love myself, and thus live in happiness!

What would you ask Santa for this Christmas?

I’d ask Santa for a new TV for my hubby. Yes, superficial, but he truly wants one! He’s talked about it so much, I know every detail of his dream TV by heart; right down to the resolution. I can’t wait to see the smile on his face on Christmas.

Any final thoughts, or a challenge you’d like to offer up to our ladies?

I challenge you to living life judgment free. This means no criticism, or negative thoughts about things, people, or situations. Live life observing what you see, and what you experience. With every moment, it gets easier.  This isn’t an easy challenge, but I know you can do it!

Thanks for all the love Tera!

Martita

Staying Young on Raw Food: Mimi Kirk’s Raw Diva Detox Testimonial

Testimonial Time With Detox-er Mimi Kirk

If you haven’t heard of Mimi Kirk, then you’ve been missing out. This 70-something year old diva looks like she’s just hit her 30s, and she’s a powerful and inspiring testimonial of what raw food can do. She also kickstarted her raw food journey with our 7-day diva detox. If you’re looking to help get over the mashed potato overdose of last weekend, then let Mimi inspire you!

I was browsing through some old newsletters and stumbled upon this first testimonial that she sent in. Thought it would be the perfect post-thanksgiving inspiration for us all!

I’m doing great. I’ve been 100% raw since I did the first detox in June 08. This is my second detox.  I’ve sent many people to your site over the past several months to do the detox.  You are the first one on my “raw” list I give to friends who can see the difference in how I look since I’ve gone raw.

I actually have some great salads I make while on the detox along with varied smoothies. I think I use less fruit than most of your recipes call for. Now both my daughters are raw also. The one who started with me in June has lost 45 lbs. and is running her first 10k shortly.

I feel like I’m in my 20′s when in fact I’m 70. I’m sending a photo of myself. Thanks for all your help in getting healthy. You have a great site.   Xoxoxo Mimi

You can share your testimonial by emailing customerservice@therawdivas.com! We’d love to share your success story with others so that it can inspire them to take up the carrot sticks and make themselves feel amazing!!

Tera’s First Video Blog

I have always been a woman of words, but I don’t think I realized how much I prefer those words be written, rather than spoken, until I tried to record my first video with MAC.

It’s been over 3 years now that I’ve been humming and hawing about doing my own video blog. I did one with Mika and Sebastian, but then I was just the silent assistant, so it was easy. MAC helped me take the camera out into a sunny place and we tried to do a video for the Believe in Green project.

Here’s about as far as I got.

Now that I’ve broken the video ice a bit, it doesn’t feel that difficult, and I’ve already started getting ready for another one next week.
Stay tuned and thanks for cheering me on through my stage fright.

Tera

p.s.

Please let me know what kinds of topics you’d like me to cover in an upcoming video blog? Spare us all from another cheesy home video and let me know what kind of funky topics you’d like me to

Getting Onboard a Raw Food Detox

I’ve been writing a lot lately, but most of my love notes have been directed to participants of our 6-Week Deep Tissue Detox. We’ve been immersing ourselves fully into the process and it’s been quite the learning experience. You’re welcome to read one of my posts on the 6-Week Detox blog. I thought I knew a few things about food and my relationship to it, but I’ve still got lots to learn.

Today I’m starting a week behind the others, because I just simply was not ready. I had a few more steps to put in place for myself to get to where I’m settled and comfortable enough to put my focus and attention on simple, cleansing, GREEEEEN food.

I haven’t forgotten about our 21-Day Challenge. I just decided that they might not be 21 consecutive days. In spite of all the best-laid plans and good intentions, sometimes life has a way of prioritizing what you need most when you need it. We had been working on a 21-Day challenge to put new habits in place for the year 2010. I can see that putting changes in place gradually has really been helpful for me this time around. In the past I used to just declare a bunch of resolutions on January 1st and break them by noon the same day. It’s happened more slowly this year, but I can really feel clarity and control (the good kind) moving into my life in an empowering way. Already, I can see really clearly that:

• I am putting new habits in place to help me with organizing my finances.
• I’m being so much more disciplined about taking time to read, to learn, to study and to improve things.
• I finally made it to a yoga class after SIX MONTHS of saying I would, should, could. I DID IT and I’m going again tonight.
• I’m better about scheduling and writing battle plans for the day. I’m learning how to let go of things, delegate and delete when necessary.
• I’m prioritizing in a healthier way.
• My love life is SOOOooOOOO amazing and supportive and just keeps getting better and better.

The upcoming W.I.S.H. Summit is really going to take the areas of life we addressed and focus on them for about 10-days. We’ll have 4 speakers on each topic touching the most intimate and pressing questions on womens’ minds. I’m so excited about this happening and we’ve been working on months to get it this far.

I mentioned on the 6-Week Detox blog, that my children are making some fabulous compromises to the way they eat in order to accommodate my new detox regime. It has been fascinating to put new discipline in place and see the improvements in their health and attitudes. I’ve experimented with different levels of intensity before, but they’re older now and a bit more autonomous, so it feels more significant that THEY are choosing to cooperate and support me in this adventure.

After just one week of gluten-free, high-green foods, my daughter’s psoriasis has really improved!! They both seem a lot nicer to get along with, too, but that’s probably because I’m being pretty careful about gluten and other foods for myself. (Not such a crusty mommy.)

One decision I made recently, in light of the changes I’ve observed in the kids and myself this last week, is that I am going to be securing myself a cacao-free home. After my consultation with Dr. Ritamarie, I need no more convincing. Having removed it from our menu plan for a few days, then put it back in, I really got to see that this is NOT a food I need or want to include in my diet anymore. I flushed all soy-based products down the sink, too. I’m not saying I won’t ever eat them again, I’m just saying I won’t keep them in my home and for the duration of our 6-Week Detox, I’d like to avoid them wherever possible.

Cleaning out my cupboards was a big part of my being able to clean up my family’s diet this last week. If the cupboards are full of junk and tempting treats, then it’s a lot more difficult to put discipline in place. There’s also something spiritually cleansing about clearing out your cupboards–as though the space we’re in affects the space within us. You know what I mean? I’m really working on being more disciplined about putting the laundry away before it stacks on my bed. I’m trying to keep the receipts sorted, the dishes washed, the counters and ledges clear. It’s a sort of dance, really. Especially with two kids who sprinkle, splash and spill wherever they go! We have a fantastic program for helping clear out the clutter and get organized. You can check it out here, if you feel the tupperware is spilling from all corners of your kitchen.

Our 6-Week Detox will be ending on March 7th, but the following session will be starting up right away. If you’d like to cleanse and detox this spring, I cannot recommend the 6-Week Detox highly enough. The next session will be starting on April 3rd! You can register now and reserve your place.

The preparations for W.I.S.H. are stepping up to full steam ahead. I’m very excited about what this program will do and decided that I’m going to do a 40-day countdown to the big day. Since we have about 40 speakers on the program, it will give me a chance to share a bit of the information on the calls and help get us all excited and ready for the big event. Speaking of which, I’ve got work to do.

Smooches ’til next time.

xo

Tera

In Chlorophyll I Trust, For Chocolate Cravings I Will Bust

Hey there, frisky critters. I’ve been slimed!

I can’t believe how I have upped the green quotient this week! I’m practically impressed with myself. I’ve fallen in love with one of the green supplements we’re using in the 6-Week Detox. As a multi-tasking, somewhat over-ambitious, self-employed, single-mother, being able to drop a blob of swamp scum in water and call it a meal is a luxury I can handle. To top it all off, by upping my greens I have completely handled my chocolate cravings. Amazing!

Those of you who were listening in on my consultation with Dr. Ritamarie know that I have to give up the chocolate for a while. Interesting reasons why, too, but a bit too juicy for the blog. You’ll have to listen in to the consultation if you want to know why.

I’m SOoooooOOOooo glad I’ve given myself this week to wean myself off a few foods. I’m both fascinated and shocked at how completely unconscious my food choices are sometimes. This detox is challenging me in so many ways. Last night MAC took me on a date. We just went to a cozy, nearby bistro where I ordered tea and a salad. He ordered other stuff that probably tasted great but were most certainly NOT on the menu. Thanks to the ho-ho-holy-cow-did-I-ever-eat-too-much disease of the holidays, I have been a bit more liberal than usual in my finger-dipping. Last night I observed myself putting back new boundaries and resisting the formerly-irresistible foods I’d been nibbling on. I admit that the most effective trick for me was massaging the cyst on the side of my cheek.

*sigh*

Why do we wait until there’s a problem before we prioritize our health? I guess prevention is a pretty good medicine. Feeling the little lump on my cheek is just a reminder to keep things in check. I’ve spent the week weaning myself off most things, but have until Monday to reach my 100% liquid diet ideal which I’ll be carrying out for the next 6 weeks.

**Several hours later…*

Oh oh! What a revelation.

MAC just left for New York for the weekend. Sitting here alone, I think I finally understand my relationship to food. Looks like I’ll be white-knuckling through the weekend. This detox is forcing me to make some pretty strong evaluations and observations about my food choices. Like this one:

You can eat all the great food, fancy superfoods and Omega fatty acids you want, but you if you don’t sit down, relax and CHEW, CHEW, CHEW your food, you’re wasting money, time and creating toxicity. So, simply practicing the art of eating, sitting and chewing with patience requires a rather significant act of discipline for me.

As for our 21-Day Challenge challenge, all this talk of detox doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for cleaning up your house and sorting your finances for the year! I recommend taking a bit of time to look through the categories we laid out at the beginning:

1. Attitude
2. Fitness/Activity
3. Spirituality/Creative Expression
4. Sensuality
5. Health
6. Family
7. Relationships
8. Beauty
9. Home
10. Money/Abundance.

Have you taken the time to review the different areas in your life? I had a 2-hour accounting meeting and a another one with my banker, so I can scratch the financial review off the list. This is definitely an area where I have a lot of room for improvement. (I seem to prefer focusing on the green stuff with chlorophyll in it.)

Since MAC is gone for the weekend, I’ll be focusing on some of my professional and personal goals. I’ll be spending some time going through clothes, and getting some of the things I need for my apartment. For those of you who are a bit more settled than I am, you may want to try our 30-Day Clutter Free Diva program. In order to help inspire you with your new year’s resolutions and start the year off right, we’ve put this program on a temporary half-price offer. It’s one of our best, but lesser-known programs. We just spend so darn much time talkin’ about food, we forget to talk about the declutter program, but it is an AMAZING program for anyone wanting to spiff up the home front.

In just a few moments we’ve got a support call for the 6-Week Detox.

I think I need it.

Love and loney vibes,

Tera

The Color of Transparency: My Health Consultation with Dr. Ritamarie

I’m sitting here nibbling on dried mission figs and sun-dried tomatoes. Strange combination, I admit. Technically, both of these food items are “breaking the rules” of my new suggested foods list. As I prepare for the 6-Week Detox, the list of foods I’ll be weaning myself off of is long, but since today is the first real day of getting started, I don’t care what anyone says.

Figs are on definitely on the menu.

The 6-Week Detox has 3 different protocols based upon your schedule, work load and experience with raw foods. I’m too lazy to take supplements, and way too lazy to order them, so I need to do Option 3, which is based more on whole foods, enemas, colonics, etc. It’s a bit paradoxical, really, because this is a far more time-consuming path, but I can spend an hour juicing foods, I just can’t be bothered popping pills. Maybe it’s just a question of doing what is most familiar and comfortable for me. I’ll try a bit of both and keep you posted. The thing I love about this whole program is that it is so customized.

Tonight is my consultation with Dr. Ritamarie. Before I spout off too long, I thought I’d include the second part of the preparatory exercises that I’m supposed to do before the consultation. You’re welcome to listen in and comment in the background if you can catch it live. If you get to this and the call has already happened, you’re welcome to listen in to the recording and pass it along to anyone you think may be able to benefit from it.

I know it’s not every day someone puts the intimate details of their bowel movements and cardiac history up on a blog to share with the world, but I think it’s really important that transparency be one of the primary Raw Diva colors. The pink and green are pretty catchy, but at the end of the day what matters to me most is that I’m living what I’m preaching and committed to helping other women find the solutions they’re looking for. I have some health issues to sort out, so I’m going to the person I trust the most to help me make it happen.

I thought you might enjoy coming along for the ride, so I’m inviting you to listen in to my private health consultation with Dr. Ritmarie tonight.

I gotta prepare for my big night. I hope you find this useful and would love to hear your comments and feedback about the process.

Love and support,

Tera

p.s.

For those with a weak stomach, do not proceed. What follows is the metabolic, bowel-blasting assessment Dr. Ritamarie asked me to fill out before my consultation. Hope you’ll be joining us this evening and benefitting from the experience along with me.

p.p.s.

If you’d like to be notified about updates and challenges on the blog, just make sure you’re signed up to receive our Health in High Heels newsletter, or have taken the free 7-Day Diva Detox.

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Metabolic Assessment Form

Please list the 5 major health concerns in your order of importance.
1. The cyst on the back of my leg.
2. Scanty menstrual cycles. Is this a problem? I don’t mind it.
3. Salt cravings and late night eating.
4. can’t think of any others…
5.

Please select the appropriate number, from ’0-3′ on all questions. 0 as least/never and 3 as most/always.

Category I (Colon)
Feeling that bowels do not empty completely – 2
Lower abdominal pain relief by passing stool or gas – 1 (if I eat something I know I “shouldn’t”)
Alternating constipation and diarrhea – 0
Diarrhea – 0
Constipation -0
Hard, dry, or small stool -0
Coated tongue or “fuzzy” debris on tongue -0
Pass large amount of foul smelling gas -0
More than 3 bowel movements daily -0 (I WISH!!!)
Use laxatives frequently – 0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 3

Category II (Gastric Enzymes)
Excessive belching, burping, or bloating -0
Gas immediately following a meal – 0
Offensive breath -0
Difficult bowel movements -0
Sense of fullness during and after meals -0
Difficulty digesting fruits and vegetables; undigested foods found in stools -0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 0
Category III (Gastric Irritation)
Stomach pain, burning or aching 1-4 hours after eating -0
Do you frequently use antacids? -0
Feeling hungry an hour to two after eating -0
Heartburn due to spicy foods, chocolate, citrus, peppers, alcohol, and caffeine -0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 0
Category IV (Pancreatic Enzymes)
Roughage and fiber cause constipation -0
Indigestion and fullness lasts 2-4 hours after eating -0
Pain, tenderness, soreness on left side under rib cage -0
Excessive passage of gas -0
Nausea and/or vomiting -0
Stool undigested, foul smelling, mucous-like, greasy, or poorly formed – ?? 1
Frequent urination - 0 (not too frequent. Just normal)
Increased thirst and appetite – Sometimes. ? When I’m hungry and thirsty. 2
Difficulty losing weight – 0 – not if I stop eating.
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 3
Category V (Biliary)
Greasy or high fat foods cause distress - 0 What do you mean by distress?
Lower bowel gas and/or bloating several hours after eating - 0
Bitter metallic taste in mouth, especially in morning – 0
Unexplained itchy skin – 0
Yellowish cast to eyes -0
Stool color alternates from clay-colored to normal brown – 0
Reddened skin, especially palms – 2 maybe this is me a bit.
Dry or flaky skin and/or hair – 4 I have this right now.
History of gallbladder attacks or stones - 0
Have you had your gallbladder removed? No.
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 4
Category VI (Blood Glucose Fluctuation)
Crave sweets during the day – 0
Irritable if meals are missed – 0
Depend on coffee to keep yourself going or to get started – 0
Get lightheaded if meals are missed – 0
Eating relieves fatigue – 0
Feel shaky, jittery, tremors – 0
Agitated, easily upset, nervous – 0
Poor memory, forgetful – 0
Blurred vision – 0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 0
Category VIII (Adrenal Fatigue)
Cannot stay asleep – 0
Crave salt - 5
Stow starter in the morning – 0
Afternoon fatigue – 0 (only if I eat cooked foods or haven’t slept the night before)
Dizziness when standing up quickly - 2 (only happens when I’m trying to get off salts)
Afternoon headaches – 0 (Only happened after the lice treatment)
Headaches with exertion or stress – 0
Weak nails – 0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 7
Category IX (Cortisol Elevation)
Cannot fall asleep -
Perspire easily – 2 (when I’m nervous or physical. But not in an uncomfortable or unnatural way)
Under high amounts of stress – 2 well, for me stress isn’t that stressful.
Weight gain when under stress – 1
Wake up tired even after 6 or more hours of sleep – 0
Excessive perspiration or perspiration with little or no activity – 0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 5
Category X (Thyroid – Decreased Metabolic Activity)
Tired, sluggish – 0
Feel cold-hands, feet, all over – 2 (eating bananas in winter doesn’t help me)
Require excessive amounts of sleep to function properly – 0
Increase in weight gain even with low-calorie diet – 0
Gain weight easily - 2 (if I eat poorly)
Difficult, infrequent bowel movements – 2
Depression, lack of motivation – 0
Morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses – 0
Outer third of eyebrow thins – STRANGE idea! 0
Thinning of hair on scalp, face or genitals or excessive falling hair – 0
Dryness of skin and/or scalp – 4 YES! Seriously.
Mental sluggishness – 0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE:10
Category XI (Thyroid – Increased Metabolic Activity)
Heart palpitations – 0
Inward trembling  – 0
Increased pulse, even at rest -0
Nervous and emotional -0
Insomnia -0
Night sweats -0
Difficulty gaining weight -0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 0
Category XII (Pituitary – Decreased Metabolic Activity)
Diminished sex drive – 0
Menstrual disorders or lack of menstruation - 1 (it’s very low flow and one day of cramps, but not unmanageable)
Increased ability to eat sugars without symptoms - ? Maybe. 2 Not sure what this means.
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 3

Category XIII (Pituitary – Increased Metabolic Activity)
Increased sex drive -0
Tolerance to sugars reduced -0
“Splitting” type headaches -0
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 0

Category XVI (Menstruating Females Only) – Female Hormones
Are you perimenopausal – Nope.
Alternating menstrual cycle lengths – actually, I seem to be right on target these days. Used to be VERY irregular.
Extended menstrual cycle, greater than 32 days – nope.
Shortened menses, less than every 24 days – nope
Pain and cramping during periods -2 yes. Just for one day. Minor compared to what I experienced before childbirth.
Scanty blood flow - yup. 4
Heavy blood flow – nope.
Breast pain and swelling during menses -nope.
Pelvic pain during menses – nope.
Irritable and depressed during menses -nope
Acne breaks out – nope
Facial hair growth – nope.
Hair loss/thinning – nope.
Please add the scores and put the TOTAL HERE: 6

How many alcoholic beverages do you consume per week? none. Maybe 3 in the last 10 years.
How many times do you eat out per week? maybe average of one, but we work with the raw food restaurant.
How many times a week do you eat fish? 0
How many caffeinated beverages do you consume per week? 0
How many times do you eat raw nuts or seeds? uh… if I eat at the raw food restaurant, a lot more. Usually 2-3.
How many times a week do you workout? Well, not as many as I’d like. *sniff* 0 but I am just very active with the kids, walking here and there, etc.
List the 3 worst foods you eat during the average week. uh… if I have a bad week I’ll get some refined sugars from something the kids left kicking around (chocolate, or something), hummous, glutenous bread.
List the 3 healthiest foods you eat during the week. greens, fruits and greens.
Do you smoke? no.
Rate your stress levels on a scale of 1-10 during the average week. 2
Please list any medications you currently take and for what conditions: none
Please list any natural supplements you currently take and for what conditions? none.

My Personal Health Consultation With Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

Health, huh?

How does a multitasking mother find enough hours in a day to balance her “health” into the neverending pile of laundry to fold, dishes to wash, floors to clean, etc.? I’d love to fit in more fitness, casual conversations with friends and more time to float in a spa or go for pedicures. I’d love to, but there’s a certain amount of discipline required if we’re to get the things we want in life. There’s a certain amount of commitment necessary if we’re going to achieve our goals and dreams and visions. We’ve been talking about the 21-Day Challenge. We’ve been talking about taking a few days to put new habits in place and create the vision of what we want for ourselves this year. We’ve looked at fitness, spirituality (though only telepathically ) and we’re taking a look at “Health”. It’s time for you to create the ideal. Let’s make the little pimples and zits of our health equation VANISH by putting in place the discipline and dietary choices we need to thrive.

Easier said than done, right? Well, its all starts with a decision to make it happen. Recently, I had to make a decision when I was confronted with yet another unexpected “gift” from my body. The kind of gift that isn’t necessarily wanted, but appreciated none the less. As I sat here the other morning on the throne of the Diva empire, I was busily singing the song of health and high energy living when all of a sudden…

…I found another cyst.

*gulp*

Read more »

It’s Time For Our Annual Attitude Adjustment

Gooooood morning, Sparkle Puff. (Okay, well, it was morning when I started this. But then the doorbell rang, and one of our kids needed help with her entrpreneurial plan and another had a fashion question and the drier finished and lunch needed to be prepared and…

…7 hours later I have finally managed to free myself enough to finish this blog post. I don’t know about the kids, but I can’t wait for school to start on Monday. )

I admit I was feeling just kinda ordinary this morning (a bit of indigestion after this week’s festivities) until I sat down to do my own reflections of 2009. I looked back through the calendar and went through, month by month, taking mental note of all that had happened. It didn’t take long, but WHAT A TRIP! If you haven’t done it yet, DO IT! At first all I noticed were the dramatic things–January was a bit rough. With the hope that it might inspire you to fit in the time to do your own reflections in detail before settling into the goal setting exercises we’ll be doing throughout the weeks to come, here are a few of my observations about the successes of 2009:

Personally:

I fell in love and worked through the bumpy parts of a new relationship where you look for every exit door you can find before deciding to make love work with a person.

I became a better mom and actually went through some A M A Z I N G marriage counseling with my ex-husband. After 6 years of having been divorced!!, we actually ironed out the wrinkles in our relationship and became amazing co-parents and good friends to each other! Then we put the kids on a much better schedule and just got them feeling and behaving SO confident and SO darn cool. Yes, we are still divorced.

I started getting a lot more sleep and had a whole hot yoga binge in March that I looooved. I swam, skated and cross-country skied. I strapped on my shoes and adventured over the big bridge near my house a few times. I did a juice fast and started green juicing for the first time after almost 7 years of being a raw foodist.

Professionally:

I created WISH: Women’s International Summit for Health and in preparation for it interviewed some of the most incredible people I have ever known. In 2010 I’ll be bringing it to life on March 8 (International Women’s Day) and I cannot begin to express how escited I am about it. I did the Raw Mom Summit with Shannon and we had such a powerful and positive impact on the Raw Food Community, that we decided to spread the circle of influence a bit wider.

I developed the 6 Week Deep Tissue Detox with Ritamarie and spent huge amounts of time revising, improving and finally launching it. 2010 will be the year I actually do it myself!

I became partners with Crudessence and was assigned as the “Director” of their workshops and community programming.

The other thing that stands out in 2009 are a few moments I took to make some smart decisions about how to manage my business–a moment of clarity and confidence. I was simply deciding NOT to do something, but knowing that I would put my energy in the right place felt fantastic. I got excited about  the fact that something as simple as a decision could get me feeling so enthusiastic and hopeful so quickly. It propelled me to pick up my e-pen and start writing to you. Not about productivity, performance or promises that were kept. I wanted to write to you about the power of decision making. When I look back the things that excited and inspired me the most about 2009, it was the DECISIONS that I made to take charge of my life or business in a positive way and improve things.

That’s why it is SO important that you take the time NOW to chart your course for the year ahead. NOW you are setting your goals and making objectives and DECISIONS about how you want your life to be this year.

Today (January 2nd) we’re supposed to be looking at Attitude. (I wanted to wait a bit before hitting the obvious food, fitness, etc. Many people are still on vacation and getting back into gear with things, too.)

How do you look at your life? When you consider the things that happen in a day, a week, a year, how do you view your role in it all?
Do you view yourself as the passive participant in the soap opera of life, or are you the clever creator of all that happens to you?
When you wake up in the morning, are you ready and rarin’ to take on the day, or dreading the never-ending to do list?

When you walk in the street and look out at other people, what kind of thoughts are you thinking?
What about when you look at yourself in the mirror? Are you critical and judgmental, or compassionate and kind? What about in your relationships and professional life? When things aren’t going well, do you point the finger, or ask yourself what more you can take responsibility for?
Do you hear yourself making a lot of excuses or apologies?
Do you validate the things that go right or feel focused on where things are troubled and difficult?

We talk a lot about food, diet and exercise. We talk a lot about enemas and superfoods and drinking enough water. We talk a lot about the things we have to get done in a day, but criticism is bad for your liver and anger makes your armpits stink! Grumpiness puts ugly wrinkles all over your forehead and face, too! There is nothing beautiful, attractive or remotely empowering about being a GRUMP or a complainer. So let’s make this the year of good vibrations, baby!! Out with the crust, lift up your bust and show the world how beautiful life is!!

Understand that crabby people don’t feel good about themselves or they wouldn’t be crabby in the first place. Rather than bitch and complain about what other people do wrong, do it right. Rather than tell other people they’ve pissed you off, tell them how much you appreciate something they did.

When you feel like everything is wrong, find the one thing that is right about it all, and things will all turn around. Life is as positive and as pleasurable as you are able to wrap your attitude around your experiences. I could talk about this one for hours, and in fact, if at least 10 people ask for it, I’ll give you a special spiritual butt-kicking teleseminar all about it.

At the end of your days, it won’t be the car, the house, or the clutter in your cupboards that fills your soul and lets you leave this world in peace. It will be the choices you made to love in the face of opposition, to persist in the face of adversity and to believe when everyone else has given up. It will be the moments you lived and loved at your very best that will stand out and lift your soul to a higher place, or (if you’re not a soul-subscrber) it will simply give you the satisfaction of having lived a meaningful, empowered life.

Reach out, stretch your heart wide open and make enough room to love one more person. Then make enough room to love them all and watch how doing so makes loving yourself a whole lot easier. You can do it, Sunshine. You can make this your best year EVER. I know you can and I’m rooting for you until my pom-poms fall apart!

Go, Girl, Go!

2010: May it Be Your Best Year Yet

I’ve settled myself into coziest chair in the house and it’s about one hour until the clock strikes midnight.

I wanted to connect here–with you and with myself in preparation for the new year. I’m going to find a quiet place in the house and within myself to focus on a few things as the clock strikes midnight.

I mentioned yesterday the importance of reviewing your successes for 2009. Hopefully you managed to find the time to do that. If not, do that now. It’s important to validate the good stuff before you move forward with the new. Celebrate your success.

In the same way that I had you scan the months of the year in our last exercise, I’d like to ask you now to scan the different areas of your life and aspects of who you are as a person and as a woman. The never ending to do lists and multitasking miracles we pull off still somehow don’t manage to leave us time to address our own personal details. When was the last time you had a pedicure? Never had one? What needs to happen in your life to reach closer to your ideal?

Have you ever set yourself some New Year’s Resolutions only to break them on Day 3, then give up on yourself?

Remember from yesterday’s message, this program is our slow and steady path to success. Put your discipline in place. Get serious and straight up with yourself.

How committed are you when other people ask you to help them, show up for something, or be there in some way? Make a commitment to yourself over the next 21 days. I don’t know where you’re at, how you’ve been or what you want to achieve for yourself, but you can do whatever you want, you can achieve all kinds of amazing things if you’re willing to take the time to paint the picture first.

This is YOUR day.

This is YOUR chance to start fresh and make something happen.

It’s a new moon, a new year, a new beginning.

For the next 21 days, treat every day as if it was the first day of the New Year. Be committed consistently throughout this program. This isn’t going to be a quick fix. Let’s get serious, roll up our sleeves and make this the best year ever! If you slip up on Day 3, keep going!

Tonight’s New Year’s Eve. Take some time to visualize and paint the picture of your year to come. Just images, colors, textures, spaces and sounds. Make this easy, natural and playful for yourself. If you find you are forcing yourself, step back. Think of something you love and just hold that space. Recall a moment you felt proud of what you had achieved and hold that space for a while.

Here are the 10 different areas of our lives we’re going to be addressing throughout the 21-Day Challenge:

1. Attitude
2. Fitness/Activity
3. Spirituality/Creative Expression
4. Sensuality
5. Health
6. Family
7. Relationships
8. Beauty
9. Home
10. Money/Abundance.

I don’t want you rushing ahead of yourself, so I won’t put too many details about each category, but at least you have them and can start putting your attention on the different areas.

January 1st is your day to dream, play, imagine, hope and COMMIT to the next 21 days.

Then starting on January 2, we’ll spend 2 days on each section. The first day, you’ll brainstorm your ideal scenario for each of these topics. Just let yourself go, pull out colored pens and dream, play, explore the possibilities of what you can create for yourself in each of these areas. Write your notes on a paper or in a notebook. You’re going to need to sleep with them under your pillow.

Why?

Because my mom always told me to do that with my study notes before my exams. It all works by osmosis. On the second day, after you’ve slept on your ideal scene, dreamed about it, and let the pictures paint themselves, then it’s time to circle the ones that stand out most and feel the best when you read them. Then you identify which ones are achievable in the short term and which ones should be considered more long term.

Then you need to create some action steps that you can take over the coming weeks.

We’re going to repeat that little pattern for each of the 21 days of the challenge. For now, my Sweetcake, it’s time to PARTY and countdown to the New Year. But before I let you go and sip champagne or hug your loved ones, I want to tell you how grateful I am for your support and kind words. If I counted my wealth by adding up success stories, letters of appreciation, celebration and good news, I would be one of the wealthiest women on the planet.

And since I do, so I am.

Thank you for the gift of your courage, support and kindness as part of this community. May 2010 bring more green to your plate, more awe in your raw and all the love and abundance you can possibly create for yourself.

My very best wishes for your new beginnings,

Tera

p.s.

If you’re just coming across this for the first time, all you need to do is be signed up to our 7-day detox or Health in High Heels newsletter and you’ll receive daily notification about our 21-Day Challenge! Happy to have you join us for this adventure.

Reflecting Upon Your Achievements in 2009

What a day!

A bit about my day:
I spent the whole day working with some new business partners and I’m so excited about what’s coming in the new year. I’ll limit the self-indulgent chatter and just say that if you’d like to learn more about the live events and workshops I’ll be organizing in Montreal, you can check out the Crudessence website. In the meantime, you can check out the view from the loft where I’ll be teaching in these pictures I’ve included.

Last night I managed to work up a bit of a fever—still processing those mashed potatoes, it seems. By necessity, I was on lemon water and kombucha for the day.

When I came into the office this morning I was met with smiling faces and a familiar glowing granola energy. At lunchtime the kitchen staff put out a big spread of salads, sauces, pâtés and treats. It was amazing to be at a staff meeting where EVERYONE was eating raw food.
During the lunch hour, I got to chatting with a few of the other girls and was so reassured to hear some of the foods they’d eaten over the holidays, that I actually burst out laughing. Knowing that my friends chose to eat macaroni dinners and microwaved carrots rather than upset, annoy or irritate their families at Christmas time was touching and reassuring.

At one point during the lunch hour, the new head chef (who is not a raw foodist, but is a trained chef) presented a tray of cookies. They were COOKies, with milk, flour and eggs, but they were made with love. EVERYONE on staff took one or two out of gratitude for the offering. I was on liquids only, but was moved to see people put aside their food obsessions to partake of a special offering.

About the 21-day challenge:
So, let’s talk about what’s going to happen over the coming days and weeks.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve! Wow. Another year whips by and here you are wondering how it all happened so quickly.

I think the first thing for us to do is a proper review of the year. There’s no need to make any of these tasks long or complicated. As you’re reading these notes, get things done.  Even if you just take a few moments and scribble some thoughts in an old notepad, it’s better than not doing anything at all. It is important to put things in writing. Taking ideas from thought to paper is a powerful process.

What were the biggest things you accomplished this year? Take the time and reflect back on the last 12 months. If you have to pull out a calendar, do it. Now is the time to celebrate the things you did well and honor your achievements and improvements in 2009. Before we take the time to set new targets and resolutions, let’s validate all that went well and all we did successfully.

Months slip through the sands of time rather quickly. Take a few moments to recall where you were last new year’s eve. Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing? What did you hope to achieve for yourself in this last year? What can you validate yourself for having achieved and accomplished? What can you celebrate about 2009?

Put your focus on the things you want to create more of. There may have been some rough months and rocky roads, but you got through them and are stronger for it. Honor what you did well, so that you feel inspired and empowered.  Scan briefly the months of the year and just jot down a few of the key points, events, realisations that stand out for you looking back:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Tomorrow and over the rest of the weeks, we will be more focused on creating targets and objectives for the New Year. Now is the time to review, celebrate, validate all that happened in 2009.

We wouldn’t be raw divas if we didn’t have our interests strongly grounded in food and nutrition. So let’s talk about some of what we can accomplish for ourselves over the course of our 21-Day Challenge.

One of the things that I’ve noticed (having worked with nearly 30,000 women around the world) is that extreme fasting, juice feasting and water fasting can be very difficult to bounce back from and often results in bingeing or even WORSE dietary habits after the fact. For the purposes of this 21-Day Challenge I’m going to recommend a slow and steady route to getting back on track. Rather than put our attention on all the things we should be avoiding, let’s focus on what we can be adding.

Salt is my major addiction, and the more I try to tell myself NOT to eat it, the more I feel compelled to eat it and find it everywhere I look. Whatever it is you are wanting to “avoid” focus on its opposite or a healthy alternative. For me, focusing on a lot of celery, tomatoes and mineral-rich greens is key to liberating me from my salt addiction. Telling myself to avoid salt does NOT work. Another thing that makes a big difference is drinking enough water. Chances are, no matter what you’re eating, you’re probably not drinking enough water.

They say it takes 21-days to develop a new habit. Spend some time thinking about the healthy habits you’d like to adopt for yourself. As we go through the process of setting our resolutions, objectives and targets for the New Year, I highly recommend you post them in the comments section of the blog. What a powerful way to share them, hold yourself accountable and inspire others at the same time!

In my next post I’ll cover a few objectives for food-related targets that might inspire you over the 21-Day Challenge ahead. I’ll also let you know how our New Year’s resolution and objectives will play themselves out over the weeks to come. We’ll be looking at about 10-12 specific areas of your life and setting ideal targets, short terms goals and action steps! Often we have a nasty habit of setting resolutions out of guilt for what went wrong last year and while feeling bloated for having eaten too much over the holidays! Let’s stay focused on the good stuff so we can create more of the same.

Since we’re “Raw Divas” and most of what we do is centered around food and diet, I recommend you at least articulate the food related objectives that you’re ready to start implementing when January 1 hits. What healthy habit would you like to implement in your life? For me, it’s making green juices. I would say I will be avoiding salt, but as I mentioned, that’s not been working so well. I’m going to be VERY careful about focusing on what I want to do MORE of. Adding more greens is where it’s at for me right now. I admit, the temptation to restrict fat, throw myself into a juice fast or hard-core regime is strong, but I’m convinced that slow and steady will help me win the race this year.

Okay, my dear. I’ve made this long enough and am off to prepare myself a green juice and something to eat. Wishing you a night of inspiring reflection and projection about the good things to come.

Love,

Tera