Some thought-provoking comics...










See more at: http://www.newstarget.com/index-cartoons.html

Raw any way you like it

Note - I had written this earlier this year. I had it on my RawkyMountainHealth site. This is a good reminder of not to be too strict or too liberal when you are eating. It is so easy to go either way, that you can get frustrated or carried away with what you are doing, just a reminder that balance is the key here!

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One thing I have seen on many specific raw discussion groups is the mindset that there is one type of way to eat raw which works for every body.

You may notice that there are 2 different examples (for the most part) people going raw use who tend not to stick with it too long:

1) Eating simple and mono-mealing -

Strictly fruits and vegetables with small amounts of fats like avocados, and nuts and seeds; sometimes eating one type of food at a meal.

In this instance, it may be too extreme for some to go from a complicated cooked diet to such a simple one.

Eating too simply too fast in the beginning may leave a newbie bored or hungry for more complex foods that was eaten before starting raw.

A person can be used to eating small portions of dense foods like cooked animal products, grains and fats which are very filling, and not be used eating enough fresh plant food to fill themselves up.

However, for others, this works well IF their diet was already uncomplicated and hassle-free.

It requires almost no prep time, and can be easily adapted to most any situation away from home. This diet would enable a person to heal from disease and lose weight rapidly.

2) Wildcard diet -

Eat what you want as long as it's raw - eating heavier, richer seasoned foods, commonly using recipes as meals, not centering meals around fresh whole plant foods.

The second type of diet can really set up a person to start craving cooked food as many of these recipes mimic a favorite cooked dish, such as burgers, pizzas, cakes, etc.

The term "eat it as long as it's raw" can also be confusing to a newbie who doesn't quite grasp what raw food actually is. Some people tend to over eat "raw" things like nut butters, nuts, oils, "raw" energy bars, etc. instead of using fresh foods, thinking that they are health promoting. Many seasonings and condiments are used to appease a cooked palette.

It can be expensive between the equipment, ingredients and waste of a recipe that doesn't turn out well. Or it can keep a person's cravings alive, eventually leading them back to cooked foods.

However this can work well with those who need to be filled up if they are used to over-eating and/or eating dense or fast foods, and are actually able go through the process of moving on to simpler foods without turning back to cooked food. Detox and healing is slower and more comfortable.


In my years of raw food experience, I started off with the 2nd instance with much recipe-making and it has backfired. Moving on to simpler foods didn't happen with me, and I went through a lot of money on those recipes. The same thing has happened to most people I know trying the same route.

Now I have seen it work with a few people, so I know it is possible. But they are few and far between. There have been those who have tried the simpler way and have had problems as well. Many have stayed on the diet and had great results, but then crashed and burned in a matter of months.

Yet there have been many people who have come from a higher fat, recipe heavy "as long as it's raw" type of raw diet, gone off the diet, and then started back on raw using the simpler lower fat style with great success.

Many people I've found do not want to even try the raw food diet for two reasons:

1. They don't want to try it because they are turned off by the thought of only eating fruit and salads.

2. They are turned off or intimidated by the high cost and time of doing all those recipes.

If you are not sure which way to go, I suggest trying a balance -

eat what you want as long as it's FRESH (meaning something you find in the produce section, or has recently been picked off a plant),

and if you run into problems like cravings or wanting more or different, then try a simple recipe or two, and halve the recipe so that you don't spend too much money or time on something that you might not end up liking.

Give yourself a limit on the amounts of dense dehydrated foods like nuts and recipes. You might want to portion them out into bags so you don't get into a cycle of daily overeating non-fresh foods.

In conclusion, I don't believe that eating whatever you want as long as it's raw with wild abandon works for most people in the long term.

I believe that people who work toward a goal and incorporate some kind of control and/or discipline end up getting what they want out of any kind of dietary and lifestyle change.

"It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop" - Confucius

Last words of advice - even though you may change the road that leads to your destination, try your best not to stop or go back the other way. Just keep charging ahead and keep your eye on the prize. You may chose to take a few extra steps along the way, or take a couple of short-cuts, or even sit down and rest, but don't let that stop you from getting there.


Sharon Oliver ©2006

Advice to the hosts and guests on Thanksgiving!




It has come to my attention, as it does every year, that many people on a raw or vegan diet are now cringing about going to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. And many people hosting traditional Thanksgiving dinners are now cringing about having to prepare something for the vegan or raw foodist coming to your dinner.

Firstly, let us all remember what this holiday represents.

We give thanks for the freedoms that our forefathers worked so hard at attaining.

We also give thanks for everything we've been blessed with and those we love and cherish.

We also give thanks for having food on the table.

Are we specific about the kind of food? No, we are just thankful that we have food to eat!

So here are a few words of advice to the host/ess:

1) Please don't feel offended if one of your guests won't eat the food you've worked so hard at preparing.

2) There is no need to ask why they are eating this way, where do they get their protein or calcium, or pressure the person not wanting the food. Maybe they don't care for the food, maybe they have an allergy, or maybe there's a health reason behind it, but don't allow it to bother you!

3) Be sure to offer fresh food, at least a nice green salad with fresh vegetables (things like croutons, meats and cheese would be better on the side), and at least some fresh fruit. This way everyone at the table can enjoy the food.

4) There's no need to obsess over a guest who might look like they are not eating enough. Trust me, it is much more uncomfortable for the guest who is made the center of attention because their eating choices are different from everyone else's.

And here are a few words of advice to guests:

1) Ahead of time, casually let the host/ess know you eat mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. The word "raw" confuses most people and the host/ess may try to make some kind of elaborate raw dish which may not go over well.

2) Offer to bring a big salad or a fruit plate to share.

3) Do not make comments about how unhealthy everyone else's food is.

4) If someone asks you the protein question, Dr. Doug Graham suggests just telling them you feel great and you really never thought about it. The last thing you want to do is get into a big debate. If you get questioned a lot let them know you'd love to talk about it later.

Above all, just enjoy one another. When everyone is happy and relaxed the tension will be eased all around.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you feel like you are deficient in something?

A look into deficiency vs. dependency.

I feel led to address this very issue because it's a concern I see so often when people are ready to embark or are starting out on raw, fresh foods.

Usually it goes like this:

"When I stop eating meat, I feel like I need to eat protein, so then I eat some meat and immediately I feel better."

"If I stop using this special oil or supplement I feel terrible, I have pains, and I'm weak, so I need to keep taking the supplement so I don't feel this way, which I know is a deficiency".

"I have to eat an egg every day otherwise I don't feel right".

When something cooked or not particularly natural or fresh for human consumption is removed from our diets that we have probably been eating for most of our lives, and especially have been eating on an everyday basis, we will experience heavy withdrawal symptoms.

Take coffee.

If you are a heavy or daily coffee drinker and remove it from your diet, what is usually going to happen?

You are going to have a withdrawal symptom from lack of coffee consumption, usually a very bad headache.

Why is this?

Because your body has become dependent on the substance and it actually requires you to coninutally eat or drink it in order for you to feel like "yourself" which is actually a lie. The body becomes accustomed to what its been given. You have conditioned your body to feel normal or even peppy by drinking your daily cup of joe.

Now, you know how to get rid of that headache immediately? Of course! Have a cup of coffee and your headache will be gone. Does that mean that your body was deficient of a nutrient?

Of course not!

Maybe it was deficient of COFFEE...but that isn't an essential nutrient you need in order to live, correct?

In the same way, taking away cooked food, animal products, grains, refined sugar, chocolate, alcohol or even certain supplements that you were once using daily is going to cause a withdrawal symptom. Maybe a headache, maybe nausea, maybe dizziness.

"But I just know I'm deficient because I just feel like I neeeeed this substance in my body because it is giving me SOMETHING my body needs", you may say.

Here are a couple of sure-fire ways to find out the truth if you absolutely think that your body needs something:

1) Take a blood test to see if you are really deficient in the said nutrient.

2) Take the substance out of your diet for 3 weeks. See how you feel. Actually record it so you remember how you felt the first 3 days that you stopped ingesting it vs. the end of the 3 weeks.

You'll know based on the blood test, or how you feel at the end of 3 weeks if you are really lacking something essential.

Natural, whole, fresh plant food in its raw state are going to give you the PERFECT amounts of optimal nutrients in their optimal state for your body. Nothing else can or will. Supplements that have been extracted, concentrated and processed may not even be recognizable or useable in your body.

Just knowing that your body can function optimally without the need for supplementation or other products can really save you a lot of money and peace of mind.

When life gives you snow....

We had a huge snow storm just a couple of days ago. I woke up to a snow covered view outside my window. It continued to snow all day long. And we couldn't leave the house as the snow was just too deep for our little car.

I think in my SAD (Standard American Diet) days had we run out of bread or an animal product like milk there might have been panic.

Oh no, there's no milk, there's no bread, whatever will do? I can just imagine being the thought of concern.

Even though the family is not totally vegetarian like myself, they are accustomed to having fruit meals and many vegetarian meals, that running out of something like that is no big deal. In fact, creativity occurs at a higher rate when there is a limited selection of food in the house.

My son put a large bowl outside and collected some fresh snow. We had some great snow cones with strawberry sauce. Made me think of the saying - "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"... so when life gave us snow, we made snow cones!

The next day it was 68 degrees F again and most of it melted off. The kids had a blast sledding and making snow people on the rooftop.

The moral of all this is, don't only make the best of what you have, but have fun with it. I think people often feel like they are "settling"with what they have been "given". We create our own environment, really, so have a blast and enjoy life, whether you've been given lemons or snow.

A life of abundance is possible in any circumstance. Who is to say a family living on the street feels any less abundant than a family living in a Bel Air mansion?

It is all in the perception of how fulfilled and thankful you are, not what you've been given.

Here's the best fruit smoothie ever!!!


And the easiest to make.


I make enough for my family of 5.


Sometimes I make a whole quart for myself, so I'll double the recipe. Then everyone's glasses get filled all the way.

Sometimes I will add a handful of greens like parsley, spinach, or baby greens.

I started to get burnt out on the green smoothies, so I've been doing lots of fruit lately.

Fruit Smoothie

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
4 ripe bananas
1 bag frozen strawberries
2 cups frozen mango

Blend. If you don't have a high speed blender, partially thaw the frozen fruits before blending, so you don't burn your blender out!

Fear!

Going into unchartered territory is always scary. You hear about how wonderful it is, but since you have never tried it yourself, there is a fear of leaving your comfortable existence even though the path ahead will only get better.

Why is this so? I believe that most of us are not risk takers, but dreamers. And it is so much easier to dream in our comfortable places without having to make an effort to make our dreams come true.

We may be afraid that we will fail, and then what do we do? How do we explain to others close to us who see us fail?

But most of all, I believe that we really fear succeeding, more than failing. When do we ever NOT fail? Most of our failures have brought us to a better place, because we've bettered ourselves from the learning experience.

Yet succeeding. Succeeding can be scary, because what will be expected of us when we are so much bigger and better? We will be out of our comfort zones of "perpetual failure". Or we do not want to appear better than others because it will make us appear un-humble.

The good news is, you are worthy of success and what your heart desires. There is no 'elite' who deserve anything more than you do. Instead of figuring out why you should feel this way, it is better to persue what you want. Because in the time it takes to learn that you are worthy, you can already be taking your first steps to acquire it.

Taking the first steps up makes success not seem so scary. Push through the mental block that is stopping you from moving ahead. Just push it out of the way, and it will make your future steps to succeeding so much easier. There is no trick to doing it, except to start.

Take the first step now.

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

Where is the proof? Where are those studies? I need scientific evidence!

These are questions and demands often asked by folks who are usually hesitant to give up their favorite foods.

Perhaps the drive isn't hard enough to just put it into gear and go.

Or perhaps there is too much conventional medicine in a person's past to trust something so basic.

But many times it's people who are "hemming and hawing" actually using it as an excuse not to start down the raw food path.

Besides the many personal testimonies of healing on raw food, there are plenty of individual studies and experiments here and there that will appear on the news, a medical journal or on a website.

Here are some sites, info and studies about the benefits of a raw food diet.

http://www.iowasource.com/food/lenkastudy_0806.html


http://rawveganproof.blogspot.com/

Agave Nectar vs. Honey....

What someone new to the world of raw food may be wondering - what is the difference? Which one should I use? Is one sweeter than the other? Do I use them in the same amounts? Is one more healthy than the other?

This is my experience using these two sweeteners in raw food preparation:

Before I start with the comparisons, I would like to note that the optimal way to use these is in a raw, organic state. Cooked sugars react differently in a body just as all cooked foods do.

Buying raw agave nectar and raw or uncooked honey is your best bet. Honey may need to state "unheated" or "heated at low temperatures" as often the honey needs to be warmed for processing, but not cooked. Buying them organic whenever possible will insure that there are no pesticides or chemicals in your product.


Agave Nectar

Agave nectar is a very fluid, very sweet, clean tasting sweetener. It tastes just like cotton candy to me. It will not overpower a recipe, or give it a heavy rich flavor. It's purpose is solely to sweeten, just as you'd use sugar. However, agave nectar is extremely sweet so you may find that you do not need to use quite as much as you would honey or regular white sugar. You may only need to use three-fourths the amount of agave nectar than you would honey.

What I particularly like about agave nectar is that it can be stirred into cold liquid without it hardening, it dissolves almost immediately. It also is not sticky like honey is. According to the Madhava company, agave nectar has a lower glycemic index, so it can be used by those with sugar related problems more than other sweeteners, like honey or sugar.

More information on Agave Nectar: http://www.madhavahoney.com/agave.htm



Honey

Honey is an age-old sweetener, used for thousands of years. Honey has a rich full bodied flavor. Since it will harden when cold, it is great to use in frozen recipes or puddings which require a thick, dense result. It is wonderful in certain ethnic recipes when used with heavier spices and seasonings.

I often use honey when making hot tea as I find it more soothing than agave nectar. I have used it many times to sooth a sore throat.

I like to buy my honey locally. There are a couple of sources near me that I find have excellent quality. This is a brand I often use, which is heated at low temps: http://www.madhavahoney.com/ambrosia.htm

I also use "Really Raw Honey" from un-local sources which is a thick creamed-like honey in a wide mouthed jar which is scooped out. I have often used this medicinally.

Here is more information on honey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

As far as if one is healthier than the other - I tend to think that honey is a whole, natural food while agave nectar is more of an extracted product. The agave nectar I use states "100% pure agave" and "not heated above 115". I have read on many medicinal benefits of honey, but not of agave nectar.

I personally do not regularly eat honey or agave nectar straight to promote health other than using honey for a sore throat on a few occassions. So I find that one is not "healthier" than the other - rather they are both useful as sweeteners.

My husband informed me that the State of Colorado can now sell local spinach.

Now that it is available, I'm not prepared to purchase it as I have so many other greens! That is the good that has come out of this whole fiasco - I bought tons of parsley, green leaf lettuce, bok choy, kale, collards, etc.

I think I was over-dependant on spinach. I would buy it in little organic bags, and it was so easy to throw into a smoothie, and so mild tasting I hardly knew it was in there.

It is tragic that so many people got sick and even died from this. Fortunately I was only inconvenienced by it, but from the inconvience I upped my green variety in my diet.

For the last few years I have learned to discover the good outcome in something that seems so terrible at first.

We wouldn't be on this beautiful piece of land in the foothills if we hadn't lost our home.

We wouldn't be living in this gorgeous city if my husband had not have been laid off 3 years ago.

If I didn't have high cholesterol, I never would have done so much research on health and healing.

If things weren't so tight financially for us, my recipes would still be sitting in a notebook gathering dust on a shelf.

If I didn't do mindless and selfish things, by golly, I'd still be doing them and never learn from my mistakes!

Sometimes it takes something stressful, painful, scary and freaky to happen in our lives in order to have something wonderful and beautiful happen. I believe it's all in the Lord's plan, and His timing in our lives.

Salads and salad dressings -

Now how good does this look?

It probably took me 5 minutes to throw together.

It is important to have things ready, like greens washed, onions already cut and bagged, etc. the avocado of course needs to be cut fresh, but most of the fixings can be pre-cut and stored ahead of time.

It just makes it a lot easier to put a nice salad together.

The only "unraw" thing here is the dressing - in a hurry I used Annie's Goddess dressing - now I normally don't do this.

Often people ask "what can I use for salad dressing?". It is so very easy to get in that mindset of having to eat bottled dressing, for whatever reason. What most people don't realize is that the best dressings out there are usually the simplest to make.

Some folks need to slowly get away from the idea that their greens and veggies need to be drowned with a fatty, rich blanket of sauce.

Dressing is really easy to make - The very easiest one was squeezing the juice of an orange over my salad - look out for the seeds - that's it!

Other ways to make dressing is a simple oil and vinegar dressing - just a slight drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of vinegar.

If you don't want to use oil and vinegar here is a really great one - avocado and orange juice.

Dr. Doug Graham has often discussed using a natural fat and a natural acid, meaning instead of using oil which is a concentrated fat, you would use avocado, or nuts, or olive as the fat.

And then instead of the vinegar you use an acid straight from the tree, such as lemon, orange, lime, tomato, etc.

See?

So here are some great combinations:

+ Avocado -and- lemon or lime or orange juice or tomato, etc.

+ Soaked cashews -and- lemon or lime or orange juice or tomato, etc.

+ Almond or tahini butter -and- lemon or lime or orange juice or tomato, etc.

+ Olives -and- lemon or lime or orange juice or tomato, etc.

Now you may be thinking - that sounds booooring. Well, no it isn't at all. Because every combination is very different from the other. If you use a different combination each time the varieties will seem endless!

And if you are just starting out on raw foods, and not ready for the straight-forward flavor of simple combinations, then go ahead and add a little of this and that to it to give it more zip:

~ Fresh garlic or garlic powder

~ Fresh onion or onion powder

~ Dill

~ Basil

~ Oregano

~ Mint

~ Poppy Seeds

~ Sea Salt & Pepper

~ Honey or Agave nectar

~ Soaked sun dried tomatoes

~ Ginger

Anything that looks good.

Now the very best thing I've found to mix up a small amount of dressing is a Magic Bullet. There are many other personal size blenders around, but I like this one the best as it comes with a number of containers, solid lids and lids with holes, and two different blades. I don't use the blender or juicer but who knows, maybe one day I might.

Another tip I have for salads is to get the leaves washed right away, and keep them in plastic bags so it is easy to put them together. This is a huge time saver. I cannot fathom how much lettuce I've let go bad because I was too lazy to fuss around with washing. So then I would buy the pre-packaged, pre-washed lettuces, and now they are all supposedly not recommended for eating (talking about the big E-coli scare in the news) - besides the loose heads of lettuce just taste fresher than the packaged kind.

When I make salads, I try not to over-do the additions to it. I try to keep my extra additions down to 2-3 so it doesn't get too boring. By additions I mean:

• Bell peppers (I don't use the green kind, which are just under-ripe peppers)
• Tomatoes (fresh or sun-dried)
• Onions
• Parsley
• Olives
• Nuts
• Shredded Carrots
• Shredded beets
• Jicama (kids love this)
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Zucchini
• Corn
• Mushrooms

Happy Eating!

Owww...but pain does have its rewards.

This past weekend we had our promotion to brown belt and I broke the boards effortlessly - back fist and jumping front kick.

However, I discovered a big welty bruise on my knuckle. Well this time I decided to take a snap shot of it - it doesn't look as swelled up or purple in the picture, but it was pretty swollen. And, my hand came out kind of old looking!

Looks like I have elephant skin!

Checking in here again. I've been doing a ton of photo shoots of my recipes that I'm working on right now.

This Simple Carob Sauce is so easy, just 1/2 cup liquid sweetener (honey or agave nectar) and 1/4 cup of carob, or cocoa.

Yesterday I had a shoot for the commercial for my site. Things are starting to come together quickly. It is still "under construction" but here's the address: www.rawstepbystep.com

We had a busy weekend! Went to see the balloon lighting on Sunday night at Memorial Park. Hundreds of Hot Air Balloons went early Monday morning, which Darryl too Ariel to go see. Jules and I could see them out our window, they looked like little marbles in the sky. http://www.balloonclassic.com/

This morning I had a quart of green smoothie, a couple of lemon rings and later I had the remaining bit of this pepper jack rice cheese I had bought, which was digsuting. It is very strange how even the cheese substitutes are grossing me out.

My back is still screwed up from the other morning when I woke up so stiff. I hope it improves by tomorrow. I've been using an old tube sock, filled with rice and some drops of bergamot oil, warmed in the microwave as a heating pad. I really think that helps.

Darryl took a bunch of photos of me for my site and I really didn't like the way they came out. I downloaded them and sent him the picture of our dog Ruby, lol, told him that was the best of them all!


We officialy started school today. I got some awesome (FREE!) home school forms from this site. http://forms.donnayoung.org/index.htm I am determined to be more organized this year - I usually start keeping my records and then by the end of the year I slack off. I'm not going to do this anymore. How dorky is it that organization excites me.

I also had a raw brownie with a strawberry creme frosting. That was nice. We ran out of the awesome organic peaches I had picked up at Vitamin Cottage. I got some good looking conventional ones at Walmart and I'm hoping they'll taste as good as they look.

Ran into Donna on the way over to the store to buy back her jar of coconut oil, and give her the Tamari Almonds I made for her. I'll be able to make my Magnificant Macaroons now. This is one of the raw treats that the kids really like to eat, so I always need to make sure I make enough for them!

We shall overcome...


Wow it's been a while since my last post. I am happy to say though, that I am officially off another addiction, dairy. After my cleanse I started eating cheese again, like unpasteurized cheese, and even some of the non-fat cheeses, thinking they are better for me. The whole time realizing this was just a nasty addiction for me.

I wasn't eating 'some' cheese, like shredded on a salad, it was more like buying a block of cheese and eating slices of it when I wanted something to eat instead of grabbing a piece of fruit. It was just a really bad habit.

I am not sure what actually did it - I have been praying fervently for my addictions to be taken away so I know the Lord definatly had a hand in it. I was viewing some videos from vegsource that helped.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1308977765978236346&q=vegan&time=390000 This one is with T. Colin Campbell about his book The China study

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3214100593069532942&q=vegan
About sugar, chocolate, dairy and meat addiction.

These were pretty long videos, about an hour each. I had them playing in the background while I was working on the computer.

I do have a couple of other addictions to overcome but I am indeed taking them one addiction at a time because getting doing them all at once would not be a very good idea for me!

Friday June 23, 2006

Day 28

Today I decided to get back to eating. I'm on day 2 of Aunt Flo and a bit moody. I also got my test results back and they were 10% higher than my home test, so I'm a bit depressed. The "nibbling" on some of the raw things I"ve been making surely caused a rise in my cholesterol. Had I been "nibbling" on fruit and non-fat things I truly know there would have been a lower reading.

Next weekend is the family conference then my mom is coming for a visit - I think after that I will concentrate hard on a very low fat diet and check my results. Meanwhile, I will try to do all fruit until night time and then allow myself moderate fat at night so I can transition in.

I need to get a lot more serious than this - I can't follow in my relatives foot steps!!!

Tuesday June 20, 2006

Cleanse day 25

Ah it's been a while since my last entry. Still on this blasted cleanse, but taking a nibble here and there of my recipe making. 5 more days to go. I just keep drinking my juice, water, broth and tea, and a honey stick now and then.

I took my cholesterol on my home monitor this morning and it registered at 243. I was hoping it would be lower since I'm fasting, but I haven't really been exercising. Then I went to get the full blood lab cholesterol test and I will soon find out just how accurate my home test is.

When I got back from the lab...my vision was all screwed up. It was like I was looking through water. At first I thought it was because I just had water to drink for over 12 hours because of the blood test, but I realized later that I'd had that before my period a year or two ago. Equal Half made me some orange juce and told me to lie down and it went away pretty quickly. Then I got a mild headache so I chalked it up to PMS coupled with a hefty dose of detox.

I had some horrible cramps this morning. Bowled over crying and all. So it makes me wonder if my cholesterol is higher due to hormones, and Equal Half and I discussed taking my results on the last day of this cleanse, after my period is hopefully over. No sign of the period, and I don't know when it'll come since I'm mainly taking in liquids.

Oh, I just whipped up some of Anna's Happy Cow Burgers, from www.therawtable.com. I tried a small piece out of the dehydrator now and I can't believe how good they are. I usually don't like that kind of stuff, the nut heavy things much, but I had a feeling that most of her food is really good! I copied almost every recipe out of there and stuck it in my raw notebook of recipes. I cannot wait to eat a whole portion of those burgers with lettuce, onions and even a slice of tomato and the cucumber sauce she raves about. It all sounds so good to me right now!

We went to Taekwondo tonight but I was so tired and lethargic, absolutely no energy and felt so draggy. Not sure if it's this wretched heat or what. The days have been just gorgeous though...so much lovelier now than it was last year this time!

I finally have more control of my pictures here, so tomorrow I'll be able to put in a few photos. I'm excited about this because usually I have to ask Equal Half to resize and send me everything, which is a hassle for him no doubt!

Thursday June 15, 2006

Cleanse day 20

I miscalculated and thought I was on day 19 - I've been losing track of time. This is good, that means only 10 days left. Can hardly believe I'm two-thirds of the way through this thing!

Although a few boo-boos along the way, had a few licks of stuff here and there to taste what I was preparing for my raw friend. I have vowed to stop as I'm getting my cholesterol checked on the 20th and I don't want to take in anything but liquid, even in the form of a lick!

Anyway, this is what I made her last week for her raw food service

Carmelized onion and spinach quiche with a buckwheat walnut crust
Zucchini noodles with marinated vegetables and garlic bread
Israeli salad
Almond Raspberry thumbprint cookies
Carrot cake with creamy lemon frosting

She said she loved everything and is looking forward to the next pick-up. However, I am going to have to use a lot of restaint, and hopefully everything will come out tasty even though I can't taste it.

Yesterday equal-half and I saw "The Break Up" which was a pretty good movie, but kind of sad. He was very sweet and thoughtful because he was concerned about eating popcorn in front of me while I was fasting. I told him to go ahead though. Should have fed him lunch before because that stuff is such a rip-off at the theatre.

Wednesday June 14, 2006

Cleanse day 19

Left out quite a few days as I haven't found a moment to write. The kids started their day camp and I'm looking forward to going to Glen Eyrie http://www.gleneyrie.org/ for a weekend which has a beautiful old castle that a king built for his queen. It is a family conference and they have said they would accommodate me with my dietary needs so I told them huge salads with lots of fruit and nothing cooked or processed. I will be off my cleanse by then and am planning to bring some back up food just in case.

Glen Eyrie is where the kids have been going to camp. This morning when I dropped them off we passed by a beautiful herd of bighorn sheep. I mean they were grazing about 10 feet away from the car! The grounds are just gorgeous and it is so peaceful. We've hiked there before and had a mini tour around the castle. It is just breathtaking.

I've come up with a great V-8 substitute. I was in the store and grabbed a jar of V-8 and headed over to produce to pick up all the ingredients on the label. I made it once on Monday and it was a bit more V-8 tasting than the one I made today. I can't get over how a tiny slice of beet in relation to everything else I've stuffed in the blender can still cause the drink to get so purple! Oh, and I have to blend it all since the Breville really doesn't do greens well. Perhaps I will try using my juicer again, though, because it is sort of a pain to strain it all.

I also made some cinnamon raisin toast and gave a slice to Darryl with almond butter and honey on top. He said it was really good, but he probably wouldn't like it so much plain. It isn't meant to be eaten plain, though. It is meant to be used with sweet topping or *as* a topping, like crumbled over banana ice cream or fruit!

Saturday June 10, 2006

Cleanse day 15

I'm almost half-way through this cleanse, I cannot believe it.

I am feeling fine, a little emotional today though. They are having some health checks through my church which I'm going to sign up for. Some arterial and bone density tests. I'm happy to be able to cancel the CAT scan I reserved - now I won't get radiated.

A friend from TKD decided to do a juice fast and we've been chatting a lot lately. Hopefully I've been a source of encouragement to her. She wants to lose weight but I'm hoping she'll see improvements in other health areas that she might have concerns with.

I had a gift certificate to Amazon so I got a really nice wide ceramic peeler. It is called a Kyocera Mega Peeler. I cannot wait to use it.

Recaps! Recaps!

For some reason today I have a lot of energy. I missed the last two days so here's some recaps:

Tuesday June 6, 2006

Cleanse day11

Today was alright but then I got very very stressed and emotional when I found out that I had to get a physician to sign off on the kids' day camp forms. They don't have a physician out here, and no insurance and their shots weren't kept up, not that I care because I am not for immunization, but a bit on the fence because I don't know or not if it will possibly protect them.

On top of that, they sent me the forms so late, only a few days before the kids start, and on the forms it specified that it had to be sent in at least 2 weeks prior to the start date! So I was kind of freaking out.

I got so stressed out and was in a I-don't-know-what-to-do mode, kind of broke down and wanted something, so I had some almond breeze.

Wednesday June 7, 2006

Cleanse day 12

Next day I went after more almond breeze like a dummy. However I was more ready to tackle the kids' physician issue.

However, I called the 444-CARE line and talked to a nurse. She referred me to a doctor's office for a low price so we got them in to be seen and have their camp forms signed. They ended up seeing a student which was fine with me.

Practiced TKD forms on the deck with the family.

Had some veggie broth, then later at night chewed on a lot of honey comb.

Thursday June 8, 2006

Cleanse day 13

Woke up early feeling like a brick hit me - we went to the tennis courts at 7:00 and I had some carrot-apple juice before hand which I forced down because it was so sweet. Wasn't in the mood to play tennis but felt really great after we were done.

On the way to the courts we saw a dead deer on the grass near the road. It was so sad. People just drive way too fast on the street here, and it is hard to see the deer since their coloring tends to fade into the background. Adam said he was a little baby bunny rabbit curled up dead being picked on by a mean 'ol magpie. Even though it is the circle of life, it is still sad when we see these things!

Monday June 5, 2006

Cleanse day 10

Emotional rollercoaster!

Had a good and scary day. Couldn't get in touch with Equal half so I thought something bad happened to him on the freeway back from the Denver airport. He finally came home, thank the Lord, and his phone had been on vibrate.

Intense emotions I'm having! I'm glad that I am on this fast so I am not stuffing my emotions with food.

Had orange juice, honey and the water from 2 young coconuts today. I can't get enough of that coconut water.

I made up some quiche tartlets with these cool new Wilton tartlet pans I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond. They have removable bottoms. I'm excited to be making some individual tarts and quiches so there's no waste.




So tonight I made the Buckwheat Walnut tart shells which I will freeze for later. I don't know if it is because I'm fasting, but I'm having a lot of fun in the kitchen!

Once I get enough pulp saved, I'll be doing the carrot cake. It should not take long as we get about 3-4 cups of the stuff every time.

Sunday June 4, 2006

Cleanse Day 9

Equal half and I went to the tennis courts early this morning. I haven't played tennis in over 10 years and I stank. We also had these ancient tennis racquets - over 20 years old. Equal half took the 2 older kids back again while I stayed home and made them breakfast. He said a couple people were laughing at their old racquets.

They look similar to the one above. Maybe I could make them into a clock or sell them on e-bay. I wonder if they are worth something.

Needless to say we got some new ones.

Not much else to report. I'm sure I'm cleansing big time as much as I brush and scrape my tongue I'm being told that I still smell funny.

Energy level is good, but got very tired and needed to lie down after noon.

Saturday June 3, 2006

Cleanse day 8

This morning I made some of the BBQ chicken fingers from Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen. I already had the main ingredients and no nuts involved, so I figured I'd start making some stuff for when I come off this fast. The only problem is it called for olive oil and my olive oil is not light tasting and tends to make everything else heavy tasting with a funny taste. So hopefully they will come out okay, I will have to have equal half taste test them for me.



They are in the dehydrator - will have to remember to take a snapshot of them when they come out. The photos in her book look like real chicken fingers, and they looked that way when I shaped them. I did a couple different things to them like used leftover carrot pulp, a little nutritional yeast and a couple tablespoons flax seed to help them hold together.

There are some other recipes that I really want to try out, esp. from Living Cuisine by Renee Underkoffler. I wish there were pictures in this book, but just reading the recipes makes me salivate. I've tagged many pages so far and will be halving them to try them out.

This morning I had my regular carrot-apple juice and orange juice. Pretty boring, ha? Last night I was having some salt cravings. Was in the mood for some vegetable broth so I may indulge.

Friday June 2, 2006

Cleanse day 7

Amazing....

It is so very incredible how on a fast or cleanse one day can be so completely different from another. Today I feel lots of energy.

Had 2 more coconut waters, some carrot-apple juice, orange juice, lots of water and some honey sticks.

Went to TKD and had plenty of energy.

Thursday June 1, 2006

Cleanse day 6

WIPED OUT

Today I was so tired, lethargic, lightheaded, weak - just felt so draggy. Had some wonderful OJ in the morning and my carrot-apple juice.

Cut into a young coco for the water. I managed to scoop out the flesh in one fell swoop - cut into thin strips for noodles and froze it for later. Looking forward to making some yummy fresh live Pad Thai after the fast is over. After drinking the coco water which was absolutely delish by the way, I felt flushed like I'd taken a niacin pill. Strange.





Just felt too weak and out of it to do any type of activity so I was going to come along and watch the fam at Taekwondo.

I drove the fam to Taekwondo, having an emaciated feeling like my bones were protruding or something, then got very dizzy lightheaded and felt like I was outside of myself which turned into a mini panic attack.

I said to Equal Half "Quick - hand me a honey stick!" and felt a lot better after that.

Then Equal half realized he'd left all the TKD gear at home so I dropped them off and had to get back on the fwy 2 more times. Had another mini panick attack on the way home so I called a friend so I could chat with her to keep my mind off of it on the way back to the studio.

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow!

Wednesday May 31, 2006

Cleanse day 5

Fairly good day, but with some heavy emotions running wild. I felt better later though.

I have noticed that the bumps on my elbows are starting to smooth out. They were hard bumps similar to my son's psoriasis that he gets.

Today all I had so far was some carrot-apple juice, a spoonful of raw honey called "Apitherapy" and water, and some sun tea.

I had a surge of energy when I was making dinner for my family for Israeli night which was huge baked potatoes, Israeli salad and Yemenite pancake bread. Equal half says that everything tastes better when I'm on a fast, LOL.

I ran around a bit but then I crashed and had my sun tea. I just don't think I can over-exert myself.

Tuesday May 30, 2006

Cleanse day 4

This morning had my carrot-apple juice and a lot of water, some honey sticks and delicious sun tea I made (strawberry-white tea, fresh mint, lemon balm).

We ordered our Spiroolis from Hallelujah Acres - can't wait to get them. Their shipping was very reasonable too.

I can feel my stomach pulling in, a feeling I often get during fasts and liquid diets. I bought this coconut water at Whole Foods yesterday, I'm going to have it after Taekwondo tonight.

I got back from Taekwondo - I don't remember ever sweating so much. The coconut water was okay, but not as good as fresh from a coconut. It had a sour-ish taste and I wonder if it was heated in any way.

Monday May 29, 2006

Cleanse day 3

Woke up clearer headed again. Last night we started watching some DVD's from the 24 season. There are 4 shows on a DVD and somewhere during the 2nd show my head starts hurting to the point of unbearable pain. I could only sit through 3 shows. However the shows were really good - a raw buddy recommended them to me!

Had 2 cups orange juice in the morning, then water and a honey stick here and there.

Did some shopping and met Kim at a couple of kitchen stores - she was looking for the Spirooli but they aren't anywhere to be found in the Springs. Then we headed over to Whole Foods for a bit. Picked up a bottle of Honestea Mango White.

Equal half and I took the kids to see "Shaggy Dog" which was better than I thought it would be...Adam now fasts with me on Mondays (I am still on this modified fast though) so he took along honey sticks too. I am so proud of him!

Tonight we watched the last show of 24 on Season 1 disc 3, but then discovered that disc 4 was split on one side, so called it an evening.

Sunday May 28, 2006

Cleanse day 2

Woke up feeling a lot better - had to brush and scrape tongue an awful lot though. I really like the Dr. Tung's tongue scraper because it has a sharp edge and does a great job. The plastic ones don't do much for me.

Carrot/apple juice...then lots of water.

Went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo where we fed the giraffes and walked around for over 3 hours. Boy was I tired. I brought some honey sticks with me so I wouldn't pass out though! Brought some healthy snacks for the fam but they ended up at the cafe, and though the food smelled wonderful to me, equal half said it tasted pretty bad!

Saturday May 27, 2006

Cleanse day 1

Another beautfiul Colorado morning.

Detox - woke up to some back and head pain and nausea. Headache progressively got worse all day long until at night it was so bad I thought I was going to throw up.

Been drinking watermelon juice all day and had a spoon of honey.

Friday May 26, 2006

My friend and I just signed a 1 year raw commitment to each other. My progress will be recorded here.

We agreed to eat fruit/fruit meals until dinner and limited dehydrated foods, fats and nuts. I have cholesterol issues and my friend has weight issues so we are pretty much on the same path.

Menses started today on day 26. Experiencing a lot of irritability at this time - I am planning on juice dieting tomorrow.

Start weight 154.2


So this is what they feed the sick patients in hospitals.