Category — How To

We all get unhealthy food cravings from time to time that are hard to control.  There can be many reasons why we crave certain foods: it could be that we’re just plain hungry, stressed/emotionally upset, or physically addicted to the foods we are craving. Certain foods are more addictive than others such as high fat and high sugar foods, chemically processed foods, and sometimes we can be addicted to the foods we are allergic to.

However, no matter what the reason for our food cravings we are trying to satisfy a need in us, whether emotional or physical. To put it simply, we are trying to make ourselves feel better. Unfortunately, most of the time, if we give into unhealthy food cravings we end up feeling worse! Fortunately, there are other ways to comfort ourselves without food that won’t make us sick or leave us feeling guilty!

Here are ten ways how to control food cravings and comfort yourself without food. Try them next time the craving monster hits!

Next time you get a craving . . .

Tip #1  Try chewing on something instead of eating such as a piece of sugar free gum, a straw, seaweed, licorice root sticks . . .(etc.)

Tip #2  Try stimulating your mind by playing a crossword puzzle or suduko.

Tip #3  When wanting to zone out and eat mindlessly try flipping through a magazine instead, it doesn’t take much mental effort and can have a calming effect.

Tip #4  Try bringing yourself back to present moment by paying attention to you breath and any bodily sensations you are experiencing in the moment. Repeat the statement, “I am here now”.

Tip #5  Try making yourself more comfortable by changing into sweat pants, letting your hair down, finding a comfortable place to sit or lay down, and or snuggling up with your favorite blanket.

Tip #6  When looking for comfort without using food, try using the soothing effect of heat to calm your body such as drinking your favorite cup of herbal tea, or applying warm washcloth over your eyes or forehead.

Tip #7  Try giving yourself a quick self massage on your hands, feet, shoulders, ears, face, and scalp.

Tip #8  Try changing your mood with different scents. Essential oils are great way to experiment; some scents have a calming effect and others have an invigorating effect. You can use an aromatherapy humidifier, lamp or diffuser or simply pour the oil on a cotton ball and sniff anytime you need it!

Tip #9  Try listening to a piece of beautiful relaxing music such as classical or new age type music that has a calming or uplifting effect on your mood. If you need a quick pick me up try dancing for a few minutes to your favorite energizing music.

Tip #10  Try looking at pictures of loved ones that make you smile, and make sure to have these pictures handy next time a craving hits.

This blog post was inspired by the book 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers, PSY.D, so if you liked these tips, check out the book! (Available on Amazon.)

If you have any other ways you like to comfort yourself without food, please do share!

♥,
C

P.S. If you would like some personal guidance on how to conquer cravings I am also available for a  raw food coaching session.

*Above is a picture of some mineral vegetable broth I made with the left over juice pulp of celery, carrot, and beet juice. It was a beautiful red orange color that I then sprinkled with dulse flakes.

Last November I wrote a post about how to stay warm on the raw food diet and in the post I explained how I make mineral vegetable broth full of essential nutrients and electrolytes. The original post elicited a positive response and a few questions from readers, so now that the weather is cooling down a bit I decided to make a short video about how I make the (now famous!) mineral vegetable broth.

Click here if you can’t see the vegetable broth video above.

I’ve experimented with making mineral broths many different ways and I’ve found that they turn out the best when I make sure the broth has sweet, spicy, and salty elements.

Choose 3 or more from each category:

Sweet Elements

*Carrots
Beets
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
Bell peppers
Apples (without core)
Potatoes
Winter  or Summer squash

Spicy Elements

*Onions
Leeks
Ginger
Garlic
Scallions
Spicy Peppers (use sparingly)
Bay leaves
Thyme
Oregano
Rosemary

Salty Elements

*Kombu Seaweed
*Celery
Shitake Mushrooms
Miso Paste (optional)
Chard
Parsley
Cilantro
Kale
Collards
(any greens will do with the exception of dandelion greens which can make the broth too bitter)

You can also add any culinary or medicinal herb as well!

*Essential

Directions:

Rough chop the vegetables and put them in a large pot of water. Add a few sprigs of herbs, a few bay leaves, and at least 2-5 good sized pieces of seaweed. Kombu and Wakame work best, but any seaweed will do. Let the pot come to a boil and then simmer on low for at least 3 hours. You can then strain the broth and add a sprinkle of salt if desired. For a really clear broth you can use a sprout bag to strain it after it has cooled. Sip the warm broth like tea or use it as a base to make cooked vegetable soups and grain dishes. You can also freeze the broth to defrost for later.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe and stay warm!

♥,
C

I commonly get asked how to make green smoothie recipes that don’t taste, well, green. I can sometimes sense the fear in their voices, as if they are afraid to make a mistake and create a green mushy concoction that tastes like tar!

Okay so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but there is definitely a little trepidation when it comes to taking the green smoothie plunge! I take a no holds barred anything goes approach to making green smoothie recipes, but there are a few basic guidelines I abide by to make sure that my husband will drink his every morning (i.e. it has to taste good!). To learn my green smoothie basics, so that you can take a tasty walk on the wild (greens) side, watch the video below and let me know what you think:

Click here if you can’t see the green smoothie recipes video above.

If you want to delve a little deeper into the art of green smoothie making consider checking out Cecilia’s Green Smoothie Challenge Recipe Ebook.

Have a Great Day!

♥,
C

Do you like those raw energy bars you can get at the grocery store? I love them, especially when I’m traveling or too busy to prepare something, having one on hand gives me a little energy boost. When I was traveling in Southern California recently, a typical breakfast for me was a non sweet green juice from a local juice bar and a yummy raw bar. Talk about a breakfast on the go:)

Making your own raw energy bars can be just as satisfying as buying them because you get to control exactly what ingredients to include and make them taste exactly how you want!

To make them you’re going to need a food processor and a blender (a high speed blender is best ) or a spice/coffee grinder that will grind seeds.

The basis of a raw bar is dried fruits and nuts or seeds but you can also add your favorite super foods such as spirulina, carob, maca . . . and your favorite spices such as cinnamon and vanilla. You can use one nut or seed or a combination of different nuts and seeds. I like to grind my seeds first in the blender and if I’m using nuts I like to food process them in the food processor with the S blade until they reach a coarse flour like consistency.

Here is a recipe I came up with recently and you can use it as the basis for making your own raw bars.

Lemon Omega Bars

1 well packed cup of soft medjool dates chopped really fine
2 cups raw dehydrated coconut
1/2 cup ground chia seeds*
1/2 cup ground sesame seeds*
2 tablespoons lemon zest (I like mine really “zingy” but you can use less zest if you don’t, I used the zest of about 6 lemons)
10 drops lemon stevia (optional)

First grind the chia seeds and sesame seeds in a blender or a grinder until fine. Then add all the ingredients to the food processor with the S blade on and process them until they are well incoporated. Then press the “dough” firmly into a small glass pan greased with coconut oil (optional), 8 X 8 works well. Cut them into bars or squares and then freeze them in the freezer at least overnight. Pop one out any time you need a boost. Makes 16 squares and 8 bars.

*I used chia and sesame seeds because I wanted to get my omega fatty acids and I find them easier to digest than nuts but for a richer (better tasting) bar I recommend using 1 cup ground almonds or 1 cup ground brazil nuts ground in the food processor with the S blade.

Fun!

This is another one of those everyday recipes I wanted to share with you. Speaking of everyday raw recipes my friend Shea Lynn Baird came up with 2 incredible e-books called, What Raw Chef’s Really Eat.

In the E-books you will find out how 15 raw chef’s eat everyday and their favorite everyday raw recipes. Both e-books contain over 80 everday raw recipes from top raw food chef’s including Matt Samuelson, Melissa Mango, Abeba Wright, Chaya-Ryvka, Cherie Soria, and many more including yours truly:) Click Here to learn more about the What Raw Chef’s Really Eat E-books.

 ♥,
C

Announcing the winner of the *Raw Glow Blog Free Nylon Sprout Bag Giveaway*

Iceblueyes

please e-mail me your shipping address at glowingraw-info@yahoo.com.

Thank you for all who entered I appreciated your answers they were all inspiring!

Here is a short video of how to make crispy raw sweet potato chips:

Click here if you can’t see the video above

Raw Dehydrated Sweet Potato Chips Recipe

1 large sweet potato
Few sprinkles of sea salt
Drizzle of olive oil

 Slice the sweet potato thinly with the adjustable ceramic mandoline on the thin setting (0.5 mm) using the handguard, and put the slices into a large bowl. Drizzle the sweet potato slices with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt until well covered. Dehydrate the chips in the dehydrator on at least 115 degrees for 24 hrs or until crispy. Makes about 2 dehydrator trays of chips. They start to get soggy soon after they are taken out of the dehydrator, so put them in an air tight container and consume them within a few days.

•  If the chips are not crispy perhaps you did not use sufficient olive oil or perhaps you did not dehydrate the chips long enough.
• Please do not try to make raw potato chips.  Potatoes are part of the nightshade family and have natural toxins when consumned raw.

 Click here for more info on the adjustable ceramic mandoline slicer

 Click here for more info about dehydrator sheets

Thanks to Carol Bundock for this recipe

 Happy Creating!

♥,
C