Goin' Raw, Baby!

I'm enjoying eating a mostly raw diet lately, about 80-90%...essentially, 'raw until dinner', to quote Natalia Rose. I've made a life-choice to quit drinking, and to clean up my diet. I'm just embarking on my 3rd week of health-consciousness.

I already notice some beautiful changes.

• My skin has cleared up and my complexion is healthy-looking.
• I'm already feeling the evidence of weight loss, which is welcomed after putting on a bunch of weight this winter. I'm loading up on organic fruit and vegetables and making them the mainstay of my eating. In the evening, I eat a steamed dinner. I feel so well eating this way.

A "typical" day might look like this:

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  I start the day drinking a glass of water with lemon, which gets the stomach ready for its upcoming digestive duties
  
  
  
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  I admit, while not raw, I do enjoy my morning cuppa coffee!
  
  
  
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  then I do oil pulling, a very odd-sounding but effective therapy.
  
  
  
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  Next, I make a green juice, called Green Lemonade. This delicious recipe can be found in Natalia Rose's book, The Raw Food Detox Diet.
  
  
  

All the goodies for a healthy green juice.

Green Lemonade Recipe:

• 1 head romaine lettuce
• handful of dark leafies (5-6 leaves) either spinach, kale, collards, celery, dandelion greens, etc)
• 1 whole lemon - peel, seeds, and all
• 2 fuji apples, cored...no pips
  
  Juice and drink up right away. This drink is addictive. I start every morning with it and it feels so good.

This usually sustains me until early afternoon, because I also drink water, even though the water content in the Green Lemonade is high. There are various views on what kind of water is best and my choice is distilled.


Some days I choose a fruit smoothie with flaxseeds, and some days I eat the fruit whole. The odd day, I pass on fruit and jump into vegetables, making raw soups in my blender, creating gorgeous salads, and sometimes, collard wraps stuffed with homemade hummus, or almond butter, then loaded with veggies. YUM!

(What on earth is a raw soup? Do you mean to tell me you're eating this stuff cold?? YEP!! There are tons of savoury and delicious raw soups, made in your blender! Some taste cool and refreshing and some 'taste hot', depending on spices. DELISH!)

Dinner is usually steamed fish and veggies, and a salad. Often I enjoy sprouted grain bread with it. Overall, this way of eating, at least the way I'm doing it, includes lots of fresh organic produce, some seeds, nuts, and sprouted grain, legumes, seaweed like dulce and nori, water, and once I get a dehydrator, I'll be making all kinds of things!

I may look radical in writing, but a lot of things led me to this lifestyle and it's all been a really logical path. I'm 43, have 2 sons, 15 & 18, and I'm an artist after years of being a singer and songwriter. I have songs in three films, and a cd. I live with my partner of 14 years, and we have a gorgeous English Mastiff pup, 20 months old, named Gracie and a young cat named Ruby.

Life is good