Thursday, September 25, 2008

Spending LESS money now on raw!

What a strange change has been happening to me these days. I have switched to mostly organic and have been listening intently to my body telling me when I'm full, hungry, thirsty, etc.

My costs have gone down!

I'm just not as hungry. I feel full and satiated with less food. Some part of me wants to eat more just "because I should." But I have so much energy and life!

Mind you, for the last couple months or so, I have been doing less frequent vigorous exercise. I still walk plenty, but that would take very, very fast walking or several hours to get me a little tired these days. So, I'm sure that my body is become more efficient and simply is not expending too many calories. That's got to be part of it. BEFORE I switched to organic, I had noticed that I didn't need huge amounts of food to fill me up.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Organic just tastes better? Or is it the garden sorrel?

Yesterday, I made the choice to buy most of my food organic. I may have to make some exceptions since organic food supply is not so easy to come by, but I'm not sure about that just yet.

In any case, yesterday, I bought a green that looked familiar, but it is most definitely new to my taste buds. I looked up the Hungarian translation to see what it is in English = garden sorrel?! Um, OK. I never heard of that. So I looked it up, and here is what I found: A Botanical Website

Some interesting info on that site about the plant itself and cultivation. Makes me really wish I had land and a garden!

Anyways, it's not just this sorrel that has me pumped. I also got some tomatoes yesterday that were the best I have ever had.

My food has not tasted as good recently, and I think this was what I needed. The good thing, is that I was satisfied after a small amount of food last night and so far today. Not super small, just less than usual when my body said "Whoa, there, I've had enough."

So, I listened. And... funny thing, my blender is broken, so I just had a green salad for breakfast instead of a green smoothie! LOL, what a funnily, perfectly what I wanted... breakfast.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Tips for Good Skin (Very Detailed!)

I wrote the following several months ago. Since then, I have been following my own suggestions and think I can say that I have morphed into someone with consistently "flawless" skin!

I have a confession to make. I've been 100% raw for almost a year, and my skin still isn't perfect. Besides my vanity, this just drives me bonkers because I feel like I do too much of the "right stuff" to have anything less than flawless skin. Mind you -- it actually is pretty nice. Just not PERFECT. High standards. I know.

In any case, I really mean to, but I have NOT been exercising every single day. I think this is a big part of it. I've been googling like mad and using my head, trying to think of ALL of the different pieces to this puzzle.

Here's what I came up with:

Re: digestion/elimination/detoxification...
Under normal circumstances, the body is able to eliminate toxins from the body via urine, feces, exhalation, and perspiration. Thus, the major organs involved in elimination are the kidneys, liver, colon, lungs, and skin. In addition, WBCs (white blood cells) of the immune system are designed to neutralize microbial toxins. The liver is the organ primarily responsible for breaking toxins into harmless byproducts, which are eliminated into the stool or through the kidneys into the urine.

The previous was found here: http://www.innvista.com/health/microbes/toxins.htm

The bolding is mine.

So here's what I figure...

Our body has a few ways to get rid of wastes and toxins. The primary method is through the feces. (Hint, hint: Green smoothies! Info here: Basic Green Smoothie) The liver and then kidneys turn additional toxins into the "harmless byproducts" which are then eliminated through urination.

If this is not working well, then the skin is up next. Pimples! Rashes! Dry patches! And skin that just... doesn't... radiate HEALTH!

So, based on everything I have been looking at and have learned from experience, questions, books, and posts, here is my personal take on the things that "matter" and help for good skin...

Top Priority: Eliminate through feces!
  • Drink those green smoothies!
  • EVERY DAY!!! REALLY.
  • Have some ground flax every day.
  • Have an apple a day. (We want to keep the doctor away anyways, right?!)
  • EXERCISE! DAILY! It helps move the bowels and digestion.
  • Dry skin brush. It helps with circulation and thus digestion and the bowels. (Face AND body!)
  • 8-10 cups of water daily. Who hasn't heard this?! No excuses!
  • Vitamineral Green or some sort of green powder (Optional -- but I believe it helps from my short experience with it and how it seems to really help move my bowels!)[Edited later to note that I believe it to maybe be helpful but am not certain.]
  • Rebound or Jump rope! This helps the lymph nodes, circulation and thus -- getting everything moving!
  • Edited to add: Oil pull! This is actually to help with getting rid of toxins. It is great! I have a blog post that explains the reasoning and the how-to behind this. You can find it here: Oil Pulling How and Why

  • Next priority: Don't add MORE toxins! And keep the stress at bay!
  • Eat (100%-ish) raw! (I know, I know, it goes without saying. But I had to say it!)
  • Breathe deeply and consciously EVERY day at some point. This helps to breathe better all day. Which is good for stress and for circulation.
  • Eat organic if possible.
  • Drink filtered water.
  • Don't use chemical-filled products (i.e. shampoos, conditioners, soaps, laundry detergent, facial cleanser, etc.)
  • Consciously relax the face muscles. This is another de-stressing technique.
  • Limit your time on the computer. We all love RFT and RFC , but we are made to have a life away from the computer screen sometimes!
  • Get some fresh air. This really helps with destressing. Even when it's cold. For crying out loud, just put on a jacket and whatever other amount of cold-weather gear it takes!
  • And about the above, if you're not in a cold climate ... Well, no excuses! Get outside! You need all the sunshine + Vitamin D you can get in that case.
  • Stretch for 5-10 minutes a day. This helps with circulation and destressing.
  • Exercise every darn day. Even if just for a few minutes. Usually a few minutes turns into a few more once you get moving anyways!

  • Some other skin-specific remedies to add:
  • Fasting periodically for some period of time. (Even if it's just for 12 hours or one day). This gives the organs a chance to continue cleansing. This is helpful because skin problems really are usually that the liver and kidneys need a break or a chance to cleanse.
  • Cucumber juice. Alissa Cohen has a recipe in her book specifically for skin that is something like this (sorry if it's not exact; this is from memory and how I do it!): 2 cucumbers, 1/2 red pepper, 2 carrots, 1 apple, a touch of ginger
  • External remedy: Put honey on skin (a light amount to cover entire face), let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. Rub some warm-hot water and brown sugar into skin to remove the honey. (Thanks to a Brazilian chick at the local spa!)

  • So, these are my suggestions, and they work. Please, please leave comments if you have tried-and-true suggestions you would like me to add and want to share with others. :)


    Edited to add: My good friend Joz has reminded me about "beauty sleep." I actually didn't know whether to put this under the tips about elimination or those about stress. Early to bed, early to rise ... makes a difference for elimination AND stress!

    Sunday, September 7, 2008

    Getting through Emotional Detox and Eating Carbs

    A gracious young woman on RFT (www.rawfoodtalk.com) is going through a really tough time at 3 weeks into raw food. She is sad and depressed and also wanting some more carbohydrates (other than just fruit). I won't name her here out of respect, but I think the information I posted to her could be useful to someone else:

    First, I'm sending a hug out to you! You are most definitely going through detox. When we hold in emotions or stuff them down/protect ourselves (even subconsciously) by having a glass of wine or munching on chips, pretzels, cheese and crackers, etc... our body honors our actions by not letting us feel the entirety of the emotions. But then they're stuck until our body is ready to let go of them. Eating raw is so cleansing and healing that you're at a point of cleaning out the old emotions too.

    Emotional detox is very real and sometimes painful. Trust your body. Love yourself. You will get through this an (emotionally) healthier person and certainly happier too. If you are a religious person, ask your higher power for the strength to get you through. If you are not, tell yourself OUT LOUD, "This is temporary. I will get through this. I deserve to be truly happy." And that is what will happen. You will find that, if you allow the healing, you will probably be happier than you've felt in many years. For no reason!

    As for your desire for carbohydrates, I have an answer for you! Do you have Alissa's book? If you do, look up the burger bun recipe. (If you don't have it, feel free to send me an email by clicking on my name. I'll send it to you rather than posting it here.) It has sprouted buckwheat groats in it. If you have not already tried it, it is very filling.

    You can use the burger buns as a pizza crust, a bread, burger bun, it's even the calzone recipe's outside! As well, I sometimes sprout buckwheat (takes less than 24 hours and is the easiest sprouting process!), then add some oil, spices and salt (not a lot!), then dehydrate. BAM! Popcorn! It's filling in the say way as eating bread or other carbs and can also be added on top of salads for a crunch, etc.

    Did I mention that you're going to get through this?! You are!