The Secret to Getting You Empowered Over Your Health
(Hint: It has NOTHING to do with nutrition!)
By Tera Warner
One
of the first questions people ask when confronted by the idea of living
the raw food lifestyle is, “What do you do for protein?” I
truly cannot count the number of times I get asked this question by
people when I start to explain a little bit more about the way I eat.
Every time I hear it, it makes me realize the degree to which
we’ve been indoctrinated about our ability to be in control of
our health.
What is it that’s got people so concerned about protein?
Of course, that’s not the only one that comes up. There’s
calcium, essential fatty acids, and all kinds of nutritional mumbo
jumbo that causes people to get into quite a flutter when they approach
a new way of eating like the raw food diet.
Growing up, most of us were confronted with
the idea of the “4 food groups”. As a child I remember them
being: “Meat”, “Dairy”, “Grains”,
and “Fruits and Vegetables”. Admittedly, the
nutritional charts have undergone some significant evolution since
then. Now we have “The Food Pyramid” and meat
“alternatives.”Given these old standards of classification,
it can be a real shock to someone when we present the idea that it is
possible to thrive while choosing foods from just ONE of the old four
food groups!
Yet, more and more people are doing it all
the time and with tremendous success! You see, the truth is most of us
are running on automatic circuits that were installed after having sat
through one too many “Home Economics” classes in school, or
after having watched a few too many public service announcements from
the National Beef Producers Association.
It takes real courage to move beyond some of these ideas and embrace something different.
Whether you’re talking about protein, calcium or essential fatty acids,
THE POINT IS THIS:
After you sift through the endless piles of conflicting data on
nutritional information, you will get to the bottom of the situation
and realize something very, VERY important.
Above all things, you have at your disposal
your innate powers of observation and intuition. These are the tools
that will allow you to move into a real “knowingness” about
your own body and what it needs to thrive.
Remember, stress alone can inhibit a
person’s ability to digest foods, and there are people who
overcome cancer simply with positive thought! There’s no reason
to believe that one standard set of charts could possibly be applicable
to all humans. We each have environmental conditions and personal
situations and histories that implicate themselves in our overall
health equation.
MY protein needs may not be YOUR protein
needs and the ONLY person who can even begin to assess your protein
needs or any of your needs is YOU! You can do that best by
observing the signs your body gives you, not by following some
nutritional chart whose production was generously sponsored by the
meat, or dairy, or poultry industry. I don't believe that we have
“one solution” that works across the board for everyone.
Let’s face it, if it was possible, we’d already have
it.
Amy and I are passionate about raw
foods, because we see it help people time and time again. That’s
why we do what we do, but we’re not here to convince you of
anything and we certainly aren't trying to say that raw foods are the
only way to go. We're trying to present you with some ideas that have
changed, and continue to change, the lives of a lot of people. We're
trying to create opportunities that will allow you to get some
EXPERIENCE and that ultimately bring you closer to getting the results
you want for your health.
You can go out there and find a whole mountain of testimonials to support just about every diet ever known to humankind!! Your job is to find what works for you and to continue your pursuit of greater health and awareness by being willing to change and take reasonable risks.
Start by observing your body’s
reactions to the foods you eat. When you’re choosing your foods,
select from the foods that nature offers to you and enjoy them in their
simplest form. If you're delving into cooked foods, well steamed
broccoli makes more sense than pizza because you could find
it in nature rather easily.
You will make the most gains when you take steps to empower yourself to observe and be in communication with your body to find out just what your needs REALLY are. No chart will ever tell you that, nor should you
allow any other person or publication to invalidate what feels right
for YOUR body! There is no "right" way. There is just your way. The
only way to determine what that is, will be by experimentation,
observation, and sometimes the courage to take risks, make changes and
explore the unknown! With practice and by employing the use of
programs like the 7 Day Diva Detox, you will naturally improve your ability to observe the natural health
indicators of your body, such as skin tone, quantity and quality of
sleep, energy, and emotional poise.
Choose
the foods that bring you closest to your idea of perfect health, and
also consider how these choices will impact those around you, and even
the environment and health of the planet. What kind of
possibilities can we create for our children and their children when we
start to consider our choices in terms of their long term consequences?
One of the greatest routes to personal
empowerment in any area of your life, comes when you are willing to
take responsibility for the fact that your choices have an impact on
the world around you. You have a potential to touch the lives of others
and to make a difference. Follow your own path, but follow it
consciously. You hold the power to your health and you are the one, the
ONLY one, who can truly know what works best for you.
Be adventurous, trust the process, and play big! Live life as fully as you can - in nutrition and all things.

When you’re ready to burst forth into your health potential, then you’re ready for the Sisterhood!

It doesn’t get better than this!!

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