Chances are you already know how to make almond milk (if you’ve been around raw foods for awhile), but if you don’t, then enjoy this video where I show you how to make almond milk with my new favorite large 1 gallon nut milk bag! If you’re already an almond milk pro,  then fast forward to the end of the video where I show you how to make a blueberry carob almond milk elixir.

Click here if you can’t see the video

If videos don’t tickle your fancy, click here for step by step instructions with pictures on how to make almond milk.

And of course, click here for the best  nut milk bag on earth:) IMO

Blueberry Carob Elixir

1 cup almond milk
handful of blueberries
1 date pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon carob
1 teaspoon Maca powder
1 teaspoon blue green algae
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
pinch stevia powder

Blend in the blender until smooth for an antioxidant immune boosting pick me up!

♥,
C

Any good almond milk recipes you’d like to share? Please share them in the comments section. Thx!

Here is a video of me (Cecilia) using the spiralizer to make a simple raw food pasta dish with my tried and true raw food pasta sauce + how to make your own raw food dehydrated tomatoes.

Click Here if You Can’t See the Video

Zucchini Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara Sauce

8 medium small tomatoes (or 4 large tomatoes)
1 red bell pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs basil (about 10 leaves)
2 sprigs oregano (about one teaspoon fresh leaves)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne or chili flakes
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1-2 dates or a pinch of stevia
6 medium zucchinis spiralized on thin setting
Optional:
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped tomato
4 tablespoons chopped raw olives (black, green, or a combination of both)

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Blend all ingredients except the 2 cups chopped bell pepper, tomato, olives and the spiralized zucchini into a blender until smooth. You can add more sun dried tomatoes for a thicker sauce. Mix chopped bell pepper, tomato, and olives into the sauce for a chunky style sauce. Pour the sauce over spiralized zucchini.

How to Make Your Own Raw Food “Sun” Dried Tomatoes:

Slice some tomatoes and lay them on your dehydrator trays and dehydrate them for about 14-16 hours at 115 degrees until they are completely dry. The thicker the cut, the longer they will take to dry. Eat them as is or use them in recipes. In my opinion, they are so much better than any sun dried tomatoes you can find in a store! They’re sweet, tangy,  and crunchy like a chip!

Manga!

♥,
C

Don’t have a spiralizer? Click here for more info on the spiral slicer.

For more spiral slicer recipes check out the spiral slicer recipe ebook.

I made a gorgeous basil avocado summer seaweed salad recipe using almost all local, in season, and organic ingredients with my two favorite types of seaweed: Silky Sea Palm and Bull Whip Kelp from Ocean Harvet Sea Vegetables. This is one of my favorite seaweed salad recipes of all time and one of the easiest to prepare as well.

If can’t see the video above click here to watch the seaweed salad video

Basil Avocado Sea Vegetable Salad

1 English Cucumber (thinly sliced into disks)
2 medium tomatoes sliced
½ large avocado diced
handful of basil leaves chopped (about ten leaves)
Torn pieces of whole leaf seaweed such as Silky Sea Palm, Bull Whip Kelp, or Dulse
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 lemon (optional)

Layer the cucumber and tomato slices attractively on a platter. Top with the chopped avocado and basil. Drizzle on the olive oil and squeeze on the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and sea vegetables. Makes 1-2 servings.

Hope you enjoyed this video and for more seaweed recipes be sure to check out my sea vegetable recipe ebooklet.

♥,
C

In the first part of my two part series on The Raw Diet and Weight Loss I talked about the importance of being aware of calories when trying to lose weight; if you missed the first part click here. In this next installment I wanted to talk about raw food and satiation and how keeping yourself feeling full can ultimately help you to achieve your weight loss goals. A lot of people tell me that they always feel hungry on a raw food diet and that this can lead to binge eating and sabotaging their weight loss efforts.

When transitioning over to a lower fat whole foods diet a lot of people don’t anticipate having to eat more often to stay satisfied and many wonder what they are doing wrong.

For example, on a typical SAD diet a breakfast might consist of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and orange juice which can definitely fill a person up for awhile, at least 4 hours or so. If you suddenly switch over to a high raw diet you might adopt a lighter breakfast such as a juice or a green smoothie. Even though adopting a lighter breakfast is a step in the right direction, don’t expect it to keep you full as long as a heavy fatty breakfast.

Most people mean well and think they are doing a really good job by eating light during the day by just drinking juices and smoothies, but when it comes to dinner time they are so hungry that they eat way too many calories just before going to bed.

Not only will you overeat if you don’t eat enough calories throughout the day, but eating a heavy meal just before bedtime can reduce the quality and length of your sleep, making you feel sluggish the next day. Also, eating fatty foods before bed will slow down the emptying of the stomach which can exacerbate indigestion. The trick is eating more often throughout the day to keep energy levels up and cravings away while still consuming less calories than if you were eating the standard 3 heavy meals a day.

Here Are Some Tricks to Stay Full on the Raw Diet to avoid Overeating at Night.

•  Always eat breakfast- Even if you’re not very hungry in the mornings eat a little something so you’ll be less likely to overeat at night, you’ll be glad that you did.
•  Split your light breakfast into two meals about two hours apart. My favorite breakfast of choice is a green smoothie. I usually make anywhere from 40-64 ounces. I split the smoothie into 2 glasses. One glass I drink right away and the other glass I mix in a spoonful of whole chia seeds and let it set in the refrigerator till I’m ready to drink it in a few hours.  The mucilaginous fiber in the chia seeds helps me to feel full throughout my day.

If you can’t split your breakfast into two meals make sure to add a little extra fat and protein to your smoothies so that you won’t be hungry again in a few hours. My favorite is to add a little avocado or coconut kefir to my smoothies, but you could also add some young coconut meat or a handful of your favorite nuts or seeds.

• Use fiber to your advantage. Fiber can help you feel full longer without adding a lot of extra calories. Snack on apples or celery or add them into your blended soups or smoothies. Add a spoonful of ground flax seeds, chia seeds, or pysllium husks into your blended soups, smoothies, cereals, and salad dressings. Since ground flax and chia seeds are so good at thickening things up, if you add a spoonful to a nut based salad dressing you can actually add less nuts (hence less calories) while boosting the fiber and omega fatty acid content of your recipes at the same time.
•  If you juice, don’t expect it to be a meal replacement. Think of a juice more as a living vitamin supplement and plan on eating something an hour later.
• Snack healthfully throughout the day to ward off hunger. Most people tell me that the main reason they get off track is because when hunger strikes they don’t have any healthy snacks available. Some healthy snacks to have around are cut up fruits and vegetables, raw energy bars, and small handfuls of trail mix. The trail mix can consist of your favorite dried fruits and nuts, but be aware of the portion size because the calories can add up.
• Eat More Vegetables- Don’t be afraid to eat a lot of vegetables. They are low in calories but high in fiber and nutrition so your portion size can look quite large but still be fairly low in calories. Most people I know that eat a high raw food diet (and have a gorgeous figure) eat a huge salad every night, about 4 times the size of a side salad you might order at a restaurant!
•  Adding Some Healthy Cooked Food to Your Diet Can Go A Long Way- Some people, for whatever reason, just don’t fee full on raw foods and end up binging on nuts and seeds or going back to a Standard American Diet. In this case, it might be useful if  they add a few healthy cooked whole food items to their diet such as steamed vegetables, squash, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, legumes . . .just to name a few. Why? Because these foods are low fat yet high in fiber and nutrients. As long as they are cooked with water, they don’t have the same damaging effects as foods that are fried or baked at high temperatures. If you are one of those people that just doesn’t feel full after eating a salad try adding some steamed broccoli, a cup of black beans, lentils, quinoa or brown rice on top. It can really make a difference.

By being aware of calories and keeping yourself full during the day you are less likely to get off track or overeat and it will go a long way in helping you reach your weight loss goals. 

If you would like to lose weight but need more guidance, consider scheduling a raw food coaching session with Cecilia to reach your weight loss goals. Cecilia will give you the practical tools you need to easily add more raw food to your diet to lose weight, experience more energy, look and feel years younger, and radiate a happy healthy “raw” glow.”

Heres to a happy and healthy body!

♥,
C

And if you have any tips on loosing weight or staying full on the raw diet please share them below in the comments section. Thx:)

I would venture to say that a large percentage of people initially try a raw food diet for weight loss because they would like to easily and healthfully lose a little weight. There is no need to mention that obesity is an epidemic in today’s society, everyone already knows that. And most people know they should be eating better, but it’s not always easy. Cravings, social situations, and finding the time to prepare healthy meals can be a challenge in today’s world.

The good news is, is that most people can lose weight just by switching to a whole food diet and if a large percentage of their diet is raw fruits and vegetables, even better!  Most people when starting a high raw diet notice that the pounds just start melting away in just a few months. I actually have had a few people ask me how they could gain weight on a raw diet because they had lost too much weight!

But there is a percentage of people who are still struggling with loosing weight even after adopting a high raw diet. I would probably guess that these people have a slower metabolism, and are probably best described in Ayuverdic medicine as a Kapha Dosha body type. Kapha’s tend to have a small appetite yet they gain weight easily.

Whatever the reason or the theory, some of us (including myself), need to be to be a bit more calculating when wanting to loose weight, even on a raw diet.

My First Tip about Raw Diet and Weight Loss:

Tip #1 Be Aware of Calories

If you are seeking to lose weight on a raw food diet I think it is really important that you start to understand the caloric content of the foods you are eating. I know some people might argue that not all calories are created equal and maybe there is a grain of truth to that statement but the bottom line is: if you’re trying to lose weight, calories count.

The first thing you need to figure out is how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. There are many calorie calculators online, I used this one.  According to the calorie calculator, I need about 1700 calories per day. So, in theory, if I wanted to lose weight I would need to eat a little less than that per day or to burn some calories off through exercise to eventually lose some weight.

Here is a list of some common foods on a high raw food diet and the amount of calories they contain:

Foods With a Low Caloric Density

1 bunch spinach is about 80 calories

1 head romaine lettuce is about 105 calories

1 cucumber is about 45 calories

Foods With a Moderate Calorie Density

1 medium banana is about 120 calories

1 mango is about 140 calories

1 mejidool date is about 24 calories

Foods With a High Caloric Density

1 cup almonds is about 850 calories

1 cup sunflower seeds is about 820 calories

1 cup macadamia nuts is about 950 calories

1 tablespoon olive oil is about 120 calories

1 teaspoon raw tahini butter is about 85 calories

1 avocado is about 240 calories

Okay, so now lets do some simple math. If you’re making a smoothie in the morning with 4 bananas your smoothie is at least 480 calories. If you are snacking on 5 mejidool dates you are eating 120 calories. If you make a salad with a head of romaine and a chopped cucumber with a raw dressing of 2 tablespoons raw tahini butter to your salad, the salad is about 660 calories because just one tablespoon of tahini butter equals 255 calories A snack consisting of a ¼ cup of macadamia nuts is about 240 calories.  I hope this gives you a better idea of how many calories are in some common raw foods.

You also need to take into account where your calories are coming from. According to the Institute of Medicine these are the recommended ranges for macronutrients:

Carbohydrate: 45 to 65% of total Calories

Fat: 20 to 35% of total Calories

Protein: 10 to 35% of total Calories

For example, I need approximately 1700 calories to maintain my current weight so 20% of 1700 is 340. This means if I want to get 20% of my calories from fat, I can only eat 340 fat calories per day. That means that I wouldn’t want to eat more than 3 tablespoons of olive oil a day (they are pure fat calories) or I wouldn’t want to eat more than a ½ cup of sunflower seeds a day. Make sense?

If you want to lose weight, it is best to maximize the number of lower caloric density foods in your diet and use the higher caloric density foods wisely. So that means eating more fruits and vegetables and using nuts seeds/oils not as a meal per say, but as a tasty way to dress up more vegetables. Rarely do I just snack on nuts by themselves. My preferred way to eat nuts is blended in the blender to make a lovely salad dressing that I pour on top of a huge salad. The salad is more likely to satisfy me, compared to just snacking on a handful of nuts.

Just by being aware of the high fat and high calorie content of oils, nuts, seeds, and nut/seed butters you are so ahead of the game when it comes to loosing weight on a high raw diet!

To find out how many calories are in your favorite foods and to figure out how many calories you are eating per day plus other cool and useful nutritional information you can use my favorite online nutrition database.

Click here for my salad dressing e-book where I show you how you can turn nuts and seeds into fabulous raw food salad dressings!

If you would like to lose weight but need more guidance, consider scheduling a raw food coaching session with Cecilia to reach your weight loss goals. Cecilia will give you the practical tools you need to easily add more raw food to your diet to lose weight, experience more energy, look and feel years younger, and radiate a happy healthy “raw” glow.”

Stay Tuned For The Raw Diet and Weight Loss Part 2 . . .

♥,
C

Most people use avocados in savory dishes but did you know that avocado has some sweet applications as well? In this blog post I will share with you two sweet raw food avocado recipes including a recipe for raw food avocado pudding.

In California summer is avocado season and we are so blessed to have the most delicious creamy avocados available in season!

 According to the California Avocado Comission:

Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. They also act as a “nutrient booster” by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit.

But you really don’t need a reason to eat avocados do you?

In the Canary Islands where my family is from, they have an amazing juice bar called Maria’s where they put avocado in their smoothies to give them a creamy consistency and a lovely flavor. I tried this at home recently and was not disappointed!

Summer Avocado Smoothie

2 peaches
½ cup strawberries
1 banana
¼ slice of an avocado
1 cup orange juice
Pinch stevia powder or a few drops of the stevia liquid

Blend and serve over ice! Very tasty.

Lemon Avocado Pudding

This isn’t my recipe,  it’s from my very favorite raw recipe book Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. She calls it Lemon Mouse and I modified it just slightly.

3 avocados (1 and ½ cups mashed avocado)
1/2 cup raw honey
1/4-1/2  cup fresh lemon juice (2-4 lemons approx)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3-5 drops lemon flavored stevia to taste (optional)
blueberries and sliced strawberries for garnish

Put all the ingredients in the food processor with the S blade, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Garnish with berries if desired.  4 servings.

I took this to a raw food party and it was a hit. I also served it to my family and they loved it! I have made it a few times and depending on the tartness of the lemons I needed to add more or less lemon juice. I like it really lemony!

Hope you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying those avocados!

♥,
C

Click here to Purchase the book Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People  
by Jennifer Cornbleet-this is an amazon affliate link.

Click here to see what other raw food books I recommend

I was lucky enough to talk to the founder of the Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo, and long term raw foodist, John Kohler. We talked about:

• The Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo 2010
• Why it’s so important to grow your own greens and how to get started
• How to be a successful long term raw foodist
• What he eats on a daily basis and what supplements he takes
• Plus he shares with us some of his upcoming projects

Interview with John Kohler long term raw foodist and founder of The Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo 34:38 minutes

Best of all he is offering a discount to the Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo to all Raw Glow Readers!

Get 20% off The Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo by entering the coupon code:

rawglow

Please Click Here to Purchase Tickets to the Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo!

Discover The Secrets To Thriving On A Raw Food Diet at the Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo

Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo
July 31st and Aug 1st
Saturday 11-7 p.m Sunday 11-7 p.m 
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center Complex
425 Morris Street
Sebastopol, CA 95472 

Over two dozen of today’s most talented raw food teachers will teach you how to:

· Grow your own food
· Prepare delicious raw recipes
· Make the raw food lifestyle sustainable for the long term

Plus:

· Discover cutting edge secrets that can change your life
· Make connections and friendships that can last forever
· Learn the healthiest way to live the raw lifestyle

Other exciting events happening at the Raw Health Expo:

· Certified Farmers market less than 1/2 mile away (Sunday)
· Conscious Eating Exercise – Learn to Eat Consciously.
· Raw Health Speed Dating – Meet sexy raw food singles
· Guided Networking Event – Make friendships and business connections with like-minded people
· Best Fruit and Vegetable Contest- Bring your home-grown produce and you could win!

The Raw Health Expo has Attendee Friendly Pricing that makes it affordable for you to attend the expo so you can learn what you need to know about living and raw foods.  It is the lowest cost Raw Expo you will find! 

Purchase your tickets early to save with early bird specials.

Get 20% off The Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo by entering the coupon code:

rawglow

Please Click Here to Purchase Tickets to the Santa Rosa Raw Health Expo!

See You At The Expo!

♥,
C

A few weeks ago my friend took  me to see a truly inspiring movie called, May I Be Frank, about a man who goes through a Raw Transformation.

Movie Synopsis from The May I Be Frank Website:

May I Be Frank chronicles the transformation of Frank Ferrante’s life. Frank is 54 years old, obese, depressed, and addicted. He stumbles into a local raw, organic and vegan restaurant in San Francisco, Café Gratitude.  When Ryland, a server at Café Gratitude asks Frank “What is one thing you want to do before you die?” Frank replies, “I want to fall in love one more time, but no one will love me looking the way I do”.

Ryland, his brother Cary, and Conor, his best friend, are inspired by the possibility of helping Frank.  For the next 42 days, Frank will eat only raw food, practice gratitude, visit local holistic practitioners, and get a weekly colonic.  Ryland, Conor, and Cary get to support Frank’s miraculous transformation.  Frank gets a new body, a clearer mind, and most importantly, a soaring spirit.  May I Be Frank documents the essence of the human condition and what it truly means to fall in love again.

 I was deeply inspired by the movie, May I Be Frank, and I decided to write a blog post about what we can learn from Frank Ferrante.

 7 Things We Can Learn From Frank Ferrante’s Raw Transformation

 1. Transformation Takes Commitment

One of the first scenes in the movie is when Frank signs a contract to eat all raw everyday, get regular colonics, drink 4 ounces of wheatgrass daily, do daily affirmations as well as many other lifestyle changes for 42 days.

Frank shows a strong commitment by being willing to hold himself accountable to making huge changes in his way of living for the next 42 days. Saying that you’re going to complete something and then following through takes a strong commitment.

 How about writing a contract with yourself about what changes you would like to make in your life. Exercising everyday for a month, juicing everyday for a week, or saying affirmations everyday in the mirror . .  . (etc.) Write a contract for yourself, sign and date it, and then follow through, you’ll be glad you did.

 2. Transformation Takes Courage

Frank shows tremendous courage by stepping into the unknown. He doesn’t really have any idea what he is signing up for, he just knows that he wants his life to change. He never had wheatgrass before or a colonic before and at first they seem foreign, almost scary to him, but by the end of 42 days he is an old pro:)

 Dysfunction can be comfortable, safe, and familiar. Any change is scary even if it leads to bigger and better things.

 Allow yourself to be scared, allow yourself to feel uncomfortable. Remember the Martin Luther King, Jr. Quote, You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

 3. Transformation is Messy

 Halfway through the movie Frank is bubbling up with old anger which is demonstrated by a bitter fight he has with his ex-wife. He feels hopeless, like he wants to give up on the whole transformation thing, because it seems as if old patterns are remerging and nothing seems to be changing. For me, the best part in the movie was when one of Frank’s coaches reassures him, in his moment of desperation, that the universe is perfect and maybe he had just the perfect interaction in that exact perfect moment that he needed.

Transformation is never smooth. Old ugly patterns will rear their heads. A more accurate interpretation would be that you will become conscious of old patterns that have stopped you in the past so that you can change them.

 Don’t expect transformation to be a smooth ride; it’s ugly, emotional, vulnerable, and sometimes you will want to give up. Just know that everyone falls down, the trick is, getting back up.

 4. Transformation Takes Authenticity

 Frank’s team wouldn’t have been able to help him if he didn’t have the courage to be completely open. Frank risked showing his feelings and in the end, he gained deeper relationships with people that were able to accept him for who he was. He didn’t have to pretend anymore. With Frank’s willingness to be vulnerable he was able to heal some very deep family wounds and strengthen his relationship with his family.

How can you change if you can’t admit that anything is wrong? Transformation takes honesty, not just with the world but more importantly, with yourself. Are you in denial or lying to yourself about how bad things are? Are you afraid of what people might think if they knew the real you? Take that chance, maybe you will give someone the opportunity to love you and accept you more than you ever thought possible.

 5. Transformation is From the Inside Out

 Even though Frank’s physical transformation is notable, it wouldn’t have been possible if he didn’t work on the inner transformation. Through support and daily affirmations Frank is able to learn to love and accept himself. This new relationship with himself is what helped him to make intelligent food choices.

When embarking on any physical transformation remember that at the core, is learning to love and accept yourself. The more you love and accept yourself the more likely you are to eat a healthy diet that nourishes your body instead of harming it.

 What can you do today to love yourself a little more? Can you be gentle with yourself if you make a mistake?, can you believe in yourself a little more?, can you tell yourself you love yourself? Simple acts of love can be the most powerful.

 6. Transformation Never Ends

 I was lucky enough that I got to speak with Frank and he was very open about his life. He admitted that he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was having a tough time. He said he was a work in progress and that he was still learning how to be authentic.

I loved his message because it is easy to think that transformation has a final destination and the truth is, is that we are always evolving, some would even say eternally. So if transformation is a never ending process, that should take the pressure off a little bit right? Next time we are impatient with our progress we just have to remember that we have an eternity to get it right, or at least a lifetime

 7. Transformation Requires a Support Team

 I asked Frank what advice he would give to people wanting to transform their lives. And you know what he said? He said that seeking support was the most important thing you could do! Frank was lucky that he had three coaches and we may not be so lucky to have three coaches but we can always go to a raw food potluck, find an accountability partner, or work with a raw food coach such as myself. 

 I would be happy to support you on your next committed, courageous, authentic, messy, never ending, wonderful, beautiful, delicious raw transformation!

 Click here to schedule a raw food phone consultation with Cecilia to start your raw transformation!

Click here to learn more about the May I Be Frank Movie and to find a screening near you.

Click here for Frank’s Ferrante’s  honestly written and inspirational blog.

♥,
C

In the raw food community I hear a lot of people talk about how they’ve gotten off track with their diet and that they need to get back on track. If a stranger was listening to some of the conversations I’ve heard I’m sure they’d think they were a little strange. For example, I remember a conversation that one of my close friends and I were having about how bad and unhealthy we had eaten that day because we had eaten *gasp* a puffed rice cake! We both starting laughing realizing that if someone was overhearing our conversation they’d probably think we were a little nuts!

So what do you do when you get off track with your healthy diet and lifestyle and how do you get back on track?

And I’m not talking about eating a healthy cooked option like steamed vegetables and quinoa, or going out with your friends once an awhile and enjoying a cooked meal at restaurant. I’m talking about what happens when you can’t stop eating foods that don’t make you feel good and you feel guilty, ashamed, and all around awful about it.

Of course, food issues are not unique to the raw food community but what I’ve noticed is that people in the raw food community seem to be the most hard on themselves about what they perceive to be unhealthy food choices. Knowledge about nutrition is power, but when you use that knowledge to abuse yourself it can become a weapon.

Tip#1 Find Some Awareness Around Your Food Choices, it Will Empower You.

My old meditation teacher used to say it’s not about perfection, it’s about awareness. He was talking about meditating, but I’ve found that it can apply to almost every facet of your life. When you are aware of something you have the power to change it. Being conscious of why you are making certain food choices is key. It’s important to know your triggers. One way to do this is by keeping a food diary for a few weeks and write down what you ate, where you ate it, and how you were feeling in the moment or you can just make a mental note (without judgement), whatever it takes for you to start noticing your patterns.

For example, I’ve noticed that one of my triggers is the Holidays or when friends and family are visiting from out of town. I tend not to make the healthiest choices in these circumstances because I start to  feel left out when I see everyone sharing in an abundant gourmet feast and I’m sitting there with a dinky salad. With this knowledge in hand I’ve been able to prepare ahead of time to make sure I have plenty of healthy options during the holidays. (Whether it’s enlisting my family to make me some vegan options, or ordering a holiday box from a local raw food restaurant, or preparing a lot of the food myself).

Once you know your triggers you can be prepared. When you don’t know your triggers you are powerless.

For example May tends to be a tough month for me as many of you know if you’ve read my story I lost my mom to suicide when I was a teenager. May is tough because both Mother’s day and my Mom’s Birthday happen in the same month. This year I thought I was happy on my mother’s birthday. I told people it’s been 16 years and I’m at peace and I really thought that I was! The next day I had this huge craving for home baked zucchini bread that I decided to indulge. My husband loves to bake, so I asked him to make me a healthier organic version of it with coconut oil and oatmeal. After a few days of eating it, it really didn’t feel good in my body, but the weird thing was is that I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to keep eating it, but I couldn’t stop. I usually don’t struggle much with cravings so I decided to check in with myself and take inventory of what I was feeling.

What I realized is, is that my mom’s birthday had affected me much more than I thought. I made the connection that my mom used to bake the best zuccinni bread and that by eating it; it was my way to feel connected to her again. So instead of eating more bread, which I didn’t want to do, I instead started journaling my feelings. I cried, I wrote, I prayed and guess what? After an emotional release my cravings were completely gone and I never touched the bread again.

I’m so glad this happend because I had an epiphany; I realized that I was putting off feeling my feelings by eating something like zucchini bread that would numb me temporarily. I realized that emotional eating (eating not when hungry but when sad or angry with the purpose of feeling better) is a form of procrastination. By overeating you are procrastinating or putting off feeling your feelings that need to be expressed. I’ve found time and time again that feeling the negative feeling and letting it go is 100 times better and less scary than all the behaviors we do to avoid our feelings!

Sometimes you may not be aware of what is triggering your food choices but if you stop and check in with yourself you might find that there is something much deeper going on that just a sugar, chocolate, junk food . . .(fill in the blank) craving. I find that talking to someone, journaling, or even meditating is the quickest way to release negative emotion. Just sit with you body and allow it to feel, don’t tell it how to feel but just let it be, relax into your feelings, and let it be okay to be where you are. Choose to nurture yourself with love and acceptance instead of cookies:)

Tip #2 Even if You Slip Up, Stay Positive.

Don’t underestimate the power of your mental attitude! For example lets compare person A to person B. Person A eats a healthy high raw diet most of the time but occasionally indulges at her favorite restaurant. She enjoys her meal, doesn’t feel guilty about it and the next day is happy to go back to her raw routine. She goes to her local raw food potluck and doesn’t even mention it because it’s really not a big deal and frankly no one’s business but her own. Person A feels good about her food choices, she knows she is not perfect all the time but is proud of herself for consistently eating right the majority of the time.

Now take Person B. Just like Person A Person B eats a healthy high raw diet most of the time but occasionally indulges at her favorite restaurant. But unlike person A she feels awful about it, she feels like she cheated, she obsesses over the perceived damage the food is doing to her body, she feels like she’s blown her diet for good (and thinks so what’s the point?) and therefore continues to make unhealthy food choices. She feels so bad and embarrassed that she can’t even go to her local raw food potluck because she fears that other people will be able to tell that she’s eaten unhealthy foods and according to her, she’s blown it and is no longer a member of the raw community.

I really wish I was making this stuff up, but unfortunately I’ve seen similar and very real situations just like person B. So who do you think is going to have more trouble maintaining a healthy lifestyle?  The message is: if you “get off track” the quickest way to getting back on track is to lighten up, go easy on yourself, and above all love yourself. Don’t make it a big a deal, after all it’s just one meal!

Tip #3 Remember No One is Perfect

In the raw food community I get the feeling that everyone just assumes that everyone else is eating 100% raw and that they are the only ones who struggle, it’s their dirty little secret. Well guess what, the real secret is that no one eats perfect all of the time. I’m not here to out or embarrass anyone but I know from personal experience from being in the raw community for awhile that everyone struggles from time to time. Hey, I’ve dedicated my life to educating people about the power of raw foods and I just admitted earlier that I emotionally ate some zucchini bread! Now, am I encouraging you to eat junk food? no absolutely not, but I am letting you know that you are not alone if you do slip up from time to time. Can we all just lighten up a little and stop pretending we’re perfect? There are no raw food god’s condemning us, no one is judging us besides ourselves.

How to Get Back on Track

If you’ve gotten a little off track I’ve found that the quickest way to get back on track is to start your day off with a green juice or a green smoothie. For some it might take a few days or even a few weeks to get back to their normal routine, but just start with a green smoothie in the morning and progressively keep adding more raw food to each meal until you’re back to where you want to be. For extra motivation give yourself a challenge, such as the Green Smoothie Challenge where you drink one green smoothie a day for thirty days. Chances are that the start of your day, will set the tone for the rest of the day.

Seek out raw food community. When people slip up it is when they tend to shy away from raw food potlucks and events and that is when they need to go to them the most! If there is no raw food event in your town seek a raw food coach like myself to give you some ideas and motivation for getting on track.

If neither of those options work for you watch an online raw food video of one of your favorite raw food speakers like the videos you will have access to when you’re a member of Monday Night Live All Access Pass. I listen to the videos while working on the computer or you can even download the audio to your ipod. Don’t underestimate how important it is to keep learning about all the reasons why it’s good to eat raw food and just hearing people’s inspirational stories can be a real motivator as well.

And lastly, I recommend buying a new raw food recipe book or raw food e-book to get the creative juices flowing, you should not just be learning the Why of raw foods, but also the How, like how to make really yummy raw food recipes so you’re less likely to be tempted.  My latest favorite raw food e-books are, The How The Top Raw Chef’s Really Eat E-books. I was a contributor to these e-books and I think they are some of the most useful raw food e-books out there because of  the honesty of the raw chefs who contributed. They talk about what they eat everyday, their struggles with staying on track and how they’ve overcome them, and their favorite simple everyday raw food recipes. (80 recipes total!)

Overall the biggest motivator to get back to your healthy routine will be how much better you start to feel and look with shiny hair, clear skin, mental clarity, more energy . . .that you’ll forget how you ever managed to get off track in the first place!

♥,
C

Resources to Stay on Track Mentioned in the Article

Green Smoothie Challenge

To join the green smoothie challenge all you need to commit to is: Adding at least one 16 ounce green smoothie to your diet everyday for at least 30 days! 30 days is the perfect amount of time to incorporate a healthy habit into your lifestyle. The Green Smoothie Challenge Recipe Booklet should give you all the tools you need to be successful. Are you up for the Challenge?

Raw Food Phone Consultation by Cecilia

For an affordable hourly fee, I give people the tools they need to easily add more fresh raw fruits and vegetables into their diet so that they feel better, experience more energy, look years younger, and radiate a happy healthy “raw” glow.

Monday Night Live All Access Pass

Monday Night LIVE! ALL ACCESS PASS is a collection of online video recordings and downloadable audio sessions from the 2009 and 2010 seasons of Monday Night LIVE!! @ Café Gratitude. It’s an ongoing, dynamic collection of the most up-to-date expert information on raw food living. Over 50 plus hours of  important raw food information at your fingertips to keep you motivated and on track for a very reasonable price!

How The Top Raw Chef’s Really Eat E-books

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 everyday 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:)

Now that summer is near, most of us need to be drinking more water to stay hydrated. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.  According to Dr. F. Batmanghelidj who wrote the book, “Your Bodies Many Cries for Water” he believes that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) contributes to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases that can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a regular basis such as preventing heartburn, backpain, migranes, asthma, and other ailments. Click here to learn more about his groundbreaking work .

There is so much information out there about how much water we should be drinking a day and everyone’s needs is going are going to vary a bit , some say 64 ounces a day (8 ounces 8 times a day), some say more than that. According to the Mayo Clinic website  a good rule of thumb is to drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day.

Regardless of what the experts say I bet most of us could feel better if we drank more water, but if you are like me you are not always motivated to drink enough water. I’m not a fan of plain water, but luckily I’ve found a way to make it taste really good so that I actually enjoy drinking it! Here’s my simple recipe:

Citrus Mint Water

You can use a big glass water pitcher or make it one glass at a time.

Add a few slices of one or a combination of the following fruits: apple, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, and/or cucumber and add them into your glass or water pitcher.

Then add a sprig of fresh mint.

To make it over the top, you can add a few drops of liquid stevia, my favorite is Sweetleaf’s brand Lemon Drop, naturally flavored Stevia.

 I can’t wait until our stevia plants start growing and then I’ll add a few stevia leaves to the water to replace the liquid stevia.

Make it a glass at a time if you want it at room temperature, or put the pitcher in the refrigerator and make sure you drink it in one or two days at most before the fruits go bad.

For a fizzy soda type drink you can use natural sparkling mineral water, which should help you kick the soda habit forever!

It tastes so good, especially with the stevia, I’ve never enjoyed drinking water more and I’ve never felt so hydrated.

Enjoy!

♥,
C