Energy Soup

Well I finished my 40 day fast!! And this is the one that I broke well (the most critical part!)

It was last thursday, and I finally sensed that tug at the back of the throat that is true hunger. It's quite strange it has nothing to do with the tummy! I had a couple of spotty bananas before going to an evening engagement. On the way I bought a little tub of cherry tomatoes. How times have changed, never in a million years would I have been snacking on tomatoes, before turning mainly 'fresh and live', not least because I couldn't stand raw tomatoes.

After my meeting felt like some broth, not in a craving way but in a 'this would be good' way. So wondered if there was a Wagamamas around Westminster. Had a wander past the station and off course there was the Southbank which does indeed house a wagamama. I ambled over and ordered the big vegetable ramen soup but without the noodles and oil garnish. Instead they loaded it up with fresh alfalfa sprouts, and had that with a raw salad. It was the right choice. Went home had a BM later that evening a good sign. If you eat the wrong thing (e.g. bread!) when you break a fast it can hold up your 'just waking up' digestive system for days!

I have been eating very light, still home squeezed orange juice in the morning, a few grapes, and mono-meals of bananas at lunch time, and occasionally edamame when I go for some air. I remember thinking while I was fasting that I would eat raw soup when I broke the fast. I think this was intuition because then I kept coming across posts about energy soups. See example below

http://www.gogreen.org/blend/energy.html

So in the evenings I have a big bowl of raw soup made of whatever veggie/greens are around, on the whole lettuce, baby spinach, celery, red pepper, cucumber and tomatoes and mixed with a cup of miso soup to bring up to room temperature. This my concoction! Then I cut up some broccoli, blanch it and drop into the soup for chewiness. It's so filling and nourishing. You can have fun mixing up the ingredients. I'm not adding any fat at the moment because I'm eating really light as it suits me and aids my running. And also advisable to wait a while before adding the fat in after a fast. Plus before my fast I noticed the nuts were causing me to be sluggish. And I won't have that, my morning run is a vital part of my day. Not in an 'I must exercise way' but something that brings me more joy and freedom, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I have ordered a big box of almonds from Nora Lenz of Raw School. But I will be sprouting to use to make raw almond yoghurt, and raw almond houmous at the weekends.

I had some avocado today because I bought two salads from Planet Organic, one a mix of fennel, coleslaw and quinoa and sprouts. Quinoa is the kind of thing I'm happy to eat occasionally in a bought salad as I don't feel the need to keep on eating it like bread! But it did feel heavy compared to what I've been eating. Anyway I'll monitor how I feel tomorrow. I'm open, and not attaching to anything. Then I got a yummy salad of spinach, baby tomatoes and avocado, I ate the first two ingredients and dropped the cubes of avocado into my energy soup, altogether a very delicious meal!!

On Saturday I went for a friend's birthday drinks at the Eagle Gastropub in Farringdon. They didn't have any vegan salads on the menu, so I asked the chef if he wouldn't mind making me something! (you gotta ask). And I tell you I was served up the most beautiful, delicious salad. Even the others at the table who were tucking into Tiramisu by that time were looking impressed. It was a mixture of grated carrot, lettuce, baby spinach, cubes of beetroot, a touch of dressing and garnished with those green olives that haven't been stored in oil. It was scrumlicious. I feel so loved! I am so loved!!

Inspired Action

Exercise: Ran every day this week, plus yoga stretching everyday and dry-skin brushing everyday!
Day 29

Tomorrow is day 30 of juice fast!

Hola Amigos and Amigas

I am blogging less as I'm starting to research and develop content for my websites!

Can't recommend fasting enough juice or water. Whenever I want to focus on something I fast it helps you root out the distractions. I've been doing mainly oranges and organic too. It's true what they say about citrus juice, it really gets at the crud that sticks on your insides, I've had bowel movements nearly ever day despite not taking in any solid food.

I've been enjoying the running and the dry skin brushing. All these habits teach the principle of delayed gratification. The longer you fast the greater the effects. On day 24 I was flying, that's when I moved up a dimension. The mental clarity and spiritual attunement is amazing.

During this fast I have completed 'Calling in the One' by Katherine Woodward Thomas
http://www.amazon.com/Calling-One-Weeks-Attract-Love/dp/1400049296

I did all 49 exercises one each day and have set my intention, and feel very proud of myself commitment does indeed bring it's own reward. I heard about this book through reading about it on a review of a different book. I read the reviews and decided to get it. The book is a real labour of love and provides the tools for doing relationship with your soulmate, but I would add any relationship would benefit.

This is what Katherine wrote at the end of the book:

"In my work over the years I have come to see that people are divided into two categories. Those who want love in their lives and will faithfully do the work to actualise love; and those who want love in their lives but won't. Those who will do the work understand love as a creative action that they are free to choose in any given moment. Those who won't do the work tend to see love as a thing to get or as a place to hide out. I pray with all my heart that I have enticed you toward the former. For that is the fulfilment of my purpose in life - to ever expand my capacity to give and receive love with all those who cross my path, and to help others to do the same. You, dear reader, are the fulfilment of love for me. And now I beseech you to please pass it forward".

I cried because she inspired me. I loved the definition of love as creative action we can choose any time (including how we choose to nourish ourselves!). The book is brilliantly written and having a chapter to read a day with an exercise provides an excellent way of breaking it down. I can't recommend it enough. I have a full a4 notebook of my notes and exercises that I keep reviewing. Well you know I had been working through 'Life on Purpose' by Brad Swift. But I took a break after passage 4. And it has worked out beautifully (as indeed things do!) because I felt it was time to complete it especially as 'Calling in the One' had meant I had done even more questioning and internal work that would enhance the process. Plus so much of the book chimed with Life on Purpose, and indeed Katherine had defined her own purpose too! I decided to go back to the beginning and do a bit every morning after my run replacing the 'Calling in the One' reading and exercises. It was a little more difficult as it is not set out in daily format, and I found just as I was getting into the exercise I would have to get ready for work!

Anway I did that for a week, and got up to Bank holiday monday. I decided that Monday I would do the rest of the book. And I did I started at 7.30am after my run and apart from an hour outside in the afternoon I kept going until 9.30pm. Felt VERY GOOD!

The next day I woke up with such peace and for the next few day I kept finding pieces of my life purpose jumping out at me from various things I was reading, loads of little synchronicities. I asked myself how am I extending freedom in this situation?, Have I worshipped today?, is this a should action or an inspired action?. And I'm so grateful for the process and seeing it through, and best of all my purpose 'clicks' so I find I am always referring back to it. I immediately birthed a purposeful prayer project, and other inspired projects in the pipeline. Everything perfect in its time.

Here is something that Brad wrote towards the end of the book:

"As a person on purpose, you have within you the seed that may one day grow into your being a servant to the world - when the context of your life is no longer about you. In fact, at that point it stops being just about your family, your close network of friends, your community, or even your country, and it expands to include the whole world and its role in the Universe."

http://www.lifeonpurpose.com/index.php?page=1

Amazing possibilities..

My life on purpose..

..A life of freedom rooted in wholeness, beauty, truth, order and love. A life of worship, inspired action and full self-expression.

And of course this makes it so clear why I am passionate about pursuing and sharing health that is informed by the principles of life, and exploring the reasons and potential for eating a fresh, live plant-based diet among other things!

Lovely Synchronicities

Juice: Orange/celery juice
Exercise: Yoga, dry-skin brushing
Results so far: very smooth skin, since I started my fast the shoulder that I strained has gotten better each day. From waking with it feeling very stiff before the fast, on just the first day I woke and it wasn't the first thing that caught my attention. Bowel movements (BMs practically everyday). Some mucous release via throat. Very high mental clarity.

I am 8 days in to my annual summer fast (abstaining from solids, just fresh juice and water) and cleanse! I am full of energy although yesterday felt really drowsy. For me I've found every seven days the cleansing seems to go up a level. As part of my commitment I'm running everyday (I rested today), doing yoga everyday and dry-skin brushing everyday to rev up the lymph drainage system. I'm also doing some reading before I leave for work. When I run I do a running meditation, just focusing on and repeating one phrase the whole way. It probably sounds counterintuitive but I have even more energy than when I'm eating solid foods. Which proves the point that food doesn not give us energy, food provides fuel and material for repair and construction. Our (nerve) energy is replenished through sleep.

It feels great to start each day this way. And good to hit the end of the first week milestone. It's been a very busy week and had a two day awayday so had to plan in advance re what to do at lunchtimes to avoid drawing attention to myself. But when you decide and commit to something, an answer always come through. And everything worked out plus I took my own juice with me.

So many synchronicities have been happening as well. When synchronicities (lots of meaningful connected happenings) it shows you are on your path and not out of 'sync'. I had been thinking about being able to buy all my fruit and veg organic. I buy some things organic at the moment like carrots and smaller items. And I also wanted to find a nice organic delivery company so I don't have to carry too much as well, and begin to see more of my vision manifest. I'd looked at a couple of the well known ones but I didn't feel 'drawn' to them. So left it for a while knowing that it would come.

Then I was thinking about possibly doing a mainly orange juice fast. I came across the cute site through reading one of my raw school emails. http://www.fruitgod.com/index.html and Anne had done an orange juice fast which made me think aha!.

Then I decided to have another search for organic delivery companies and found this!
http://www.organicdelivery.co.uk/shopfront/shopfront.php

Immediately I was drawn to them, before I explored what they had to offer. Then I saw they sold juicing oranges! I stepped out in faith and put my first order in and yesterday (yes, they do Saturday deliveries!) I returned home to a box of fresh, fragrant organic oranges. The customer service over the phone was great (can also order online). I resonated with their 'reason for being' and I hope to buy more organic from them. To top it off in the newsletter that came with the box, their was a short article how I think it's the owners, went to on holiday to Cornwall to stay with friends who ate only raw foods, how cool is that?! And then (yes, there is more) there a mini profile on Saf raw restaurant which I've not only visited but is down the road from where I work! Happy to be connected to a business that gets my lifestyle.

Also Planet Organic has opened in Mossy Well. Do you think I'm being set up!

It's Just an Emotion

Exercise: yoga
Food: fresh juice (apple/spinach/lime)

Hellooo

I have been immersed in books. I'm reading 'Left in the dark', 'The writings of Florence Scovel Shinn', 'Being Here', 'Changes that Heal' and 'Calling in the One'.


I've also been thinking about when you start to eat raw, how important it is that you also learn about emotional poise and dealing with the 'stuff' that is exposed when you stop hiding it and numbing it with cooked food. And boy does it come out! In fact eating raw is the best when you are ready for change on all levels, it's more fun and things complement each other. E.g. eating raw helped my fasting practice, and my fasting practice made me more inclined to eat raw. Eating raw made me more grateful to God for understanding what true health is. And drawing closer to God has made me more courageous to be me, to step out find truth and act on it. And so it goes on..


Here is a video (in five parts) from Professor Rozalind Gruben- Graham who eats an all raw vegan diet, is married to Dr Doug Graham well know author of the 80 10 10 way of eating raw. They have a toddler age daughter who is the cutest. They had a picnic and seminar yesterday here in the UK but unfortunately I couldn't make it. Anyway after that long intro! Here is the video.. really makes you think about the way we do things, and hopefully make changes!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icsFTnltYuY

I've been eating more nuts of late. But I feel the effect the next day while I feel fine during the day I don't want to get up in the morning. I note these effects and what I'm feeling. At this stage this is fine, but I'm open to letting nuts fade out to the right levels, but I'm not forcing the issue. It's like when I first went raw I kept wanting crisps even though I hardly ate crisps when I ate cooked vegan! I just kept immersing myself in quality raw food material, knowing that as long as I was open to letting crisps go, they would go at the right time. Now if I were to look at crisps I do 'feel' my mind running ahead to say no. Basically the message that crisps do not serve me or my health goals is embedded in my subconscious now. This is part of what Prof Roz says but much better than me! Happy watching.

Immerse Yourself

Exercise: Walking
Food: 5 bananas, mango and spinach smoothie, almonds, grapes

I notice when I read my living nutrition magazines I get really inspired by my raw lifestyle. I am inspired on a daily basis, but I get further insights from reading and also get to hear how other people are doing. I have read loads of raw books in a relatively short period of time. My subconscious is now becoming increasingly raw! It's weird but I can look at certain foods now and I can literally feel my mind running ahead to work out the long term consequence not just the short term gratification of my potential decision!

Immersing yourself in information and experience of things that are important to you helps you get to where you want to go faster. Catherine Ponder refers to this in 'The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity'.

So first step decide what subject takes your fancy, and then just learn about it, talk and listen to relevant people, practice it , then it becomes a part of you and before you know it, you're an expert!

It applies to languages, a friend of a friend went to Paris to learn french. He lived with a french family, and the teacher refused to speak a word of English. He said he was compelled to learn in that situation, and that after a while something just clicked and the language was just there.

We all know the principle: What you focus your attention on is what you get.

On a separate but not unrelated topic read this fab email from Matthew Bilt;

Did you know there's a way to ALWAYS get what you want...?Well there is, and I'm going to sharewith you how to ALWAYS win and get whatyou want...In fact - even when YOU lose youWIN.Why?Simply - because you are unattached toany outcome.Here's how this works...Let's say you are wanting to create yourdream house or dream relationship...Instead of physically going to a realtor and picking out the exact house - OR meeting some guy or girl and thinkingto yourself..."THIS IS THE ONE"You step back for a second and think aboutthe ESSENCE of what it is that you want.In a relationship - you can get the VIBEof the type of person you want to be with.Or for a dream house, you get the VIBEof what the dream house does for you.So - map out your desires based on the essence of what you want.This is ESSENCE vs. Form... and it's a verypowerful concept.Begin to align yourself with the essence ofwhat you want and not worry about what formit comes in... For example - your dream relationship could be with that one guy or girl you just met... butthere's 100 other people that would do the job just as well.SO STOP GETTING ATTACHED!The same goes for any job/business/goal/relationshipetc, etc, etc.This applies to EVERYTHING.Figure out what the essence and feeling of whatit is you want to create - demand that essencebut be totally unattached to what form it showsup in.It will come to you VERY Fast.That's all for today.We teach more cool stuff like this in our12-Weeks to Abundance course but the letterisn't up yet...So if you're interested just e-mail me.And I'll hook you up.Talk soon!Matthew Bilt Publishing, Inc.7-1650 St. Mary's RoadWinnipeg, MB R2N 1G2

It's All In The Fruit

Exercise: Brisk walking, some yoga
Food: 6 bananas, some dates, bunch of grapes, punnet of cherries, v large handful of mixed nuts, salad of baby spinach, cucumber and celery

You may have noticed I haven't been putting escalators up in my exercise for the day. Well I've decided to focus on doing more yoga on a daily basis. I still do the escalators but not all the time, but when I do stand it's because I'm reading a book. I refuse to just throw my time away!

At the moment I'm immersed in 'Left in The Dark' by Graham Gynn and Tony Wright. I'm nearly half way through and there's a lot of science involved.

'..cooking therefore represents one further step away from the ancestral diet that nurtured our brain growth. This new change accelerated the degeneration that had been slowly taking place over the preceding 200,000 yrs. A system, which was already on a downward slope, now constructed itself out of materials ever lacking in the biochemistry needed for healthy functioning.

I am convinced more than ever (not that I need convincing mind) that humans are frugivores i.e. fruit eaters and that if we are going to tap into the potential that God has blessed us with in any impactful way (when I say impactful way I mean character-changing, life-changing, world-changing, and generational change) then we won't be able to ignore this. Ghandi is an example of someone who radically changed his lifestyle to fulfil his purpose and the way he ate was a part of this.

I feel very stirred up inside because I know you and I are not here on earth in order to simply meet meet our needs, and get by. We are here to be ourselves fully and out of that being to impact generations through vision and mission.

Gaining Clarity

Exercise: Lots of walking
Food: 5 bananas, pineapple juice, guava and mandarin smoothie, bunch of grapes, a few dates, a large handful of pistachios, carrot, celery and sweetcorn salad

I've signed up for the 48 ways of wisdom from Aish.com. And one of them was explaining the importance of having clear definitions to be able to make correct evaluations of the results you see in your life.

For example many people say they are into healthy eating. But what do they mean by healthy eating? eating organic meat, being vegetarian, eating fruits? You have to research each area to find out the truth of the matter not simply what you believe to be the truth. Truth remember can stand on it's own merit, it is verifiable, it is does not need belief to stand it up. And so you go and do your research and find that actually meat is not a requirement for health in fact it can be a requirement for anti-health. Then of course you have the decision to eat it or not, both options equally valid. But both options giving different results either in the short term or the long term.

When you say you want to be fit what do you mean by fit? Why do you want to be fit? What is the best way to become fit? Are you committed (single-mindedly focussed). Do you know that fit is not the same as healthy? Fit simply means being able to achieve certain feats usually within certain time limits. It doesn't necessarily mean healthy eating and lifestyle habits are present. We've all done things through sheer force of will! Healthy and fit go together, one without the other is none at all.

Clarity brings consciousness which empowers commitment.

We Can Have Health Now

Exercise: yoga
Food: Big bunch of red grapes, salad- leaves, carrot and celery, pistachios, 1 banana, quite a few dates!

I bought a large 300g bag of raw pistachio kernels from Tesco thinking I will use it to top up my 'nut tub' at work for the week. Hmm very moreish might have to rethink that plan. The grapes from Sainsbury's were juicy but tasteless, M&S wins hands down. But the organic green ones from Sainsbury's are crisp and refreshing. Okay that's the supermarket round up.


Here is something I got from my first copy of Vibrance magazine! It's written by Dr Robert Sniadach. His website is below.

http://www.transformationinstitute.org/index.html

"God is not playing some perverse trick on us. It is not as if God made superb health the endpoint of some incredibly tough maze, one which only brilliant scientists and learned doctors could even begin to fathom. He is not standing back and laughing as we grope for all sorts of 'cures'. I suspect that he is very saddened by our suffering, especially when nearly all of it is unecessary. He made provisions for us, as he made provisions for all His creatures on Earth.

God created Man. God created Nature. God makes it all work. Trust that it all works. Trust in Nature. Trust in Man. Most of all, trust in God.

In The Dark?

Exercise: Run, yoga
Food: 6 bananas, fresh oj, pineapple and celery juice, salad of leaves, carrot and celery, smoothie-mango, goji berries and coconut milk

I stumbled upon a new website (like I need another one!) while reading the latest edition of mini passion magazine from www.detoxyourworld.com, it's www.leftinthedark.com

Read the introduction at this link,

http://leftinthedark.org.uk/introduction

I just had to paste this para from the site!

An investigation into the evolution of the human brain.A journey to the edge of the human mind.
The human brain, over a period of perhaps a million years, expanded at an increasingly rapid rate then, some 200,000 years ago, this expansion suddenly stopped. There is, to date, no plausible scientific explanation for either of these linked events.Religious and mythic traditions of paradise inform us that we once lived in a benign state of perpetual wonder and joy but from this we regressed. The reasons for this are obscure. Do these apparently unrelated perspectives have something in common?

How exciting!!! I have to get this book. I'm a great believer that Truth with a capital T can stand on it's own merit i.e. it's not dependent on belief and is verifiable. And for me the test for Truth is that it brings more freedom into my life period. Read the Introduction link and then ask yourself whether your doubts about eating raw, particularly FRUIT might suddenly be emigrating to some far off land!

I've got to do some more reading, (good science is invaluable) and will unpick it here. What I will add for now is that I noticed when I became consciously raw I was recognising truth more easily, was drawn to my purpose, coincidences and synchronicities were happening that I couldn't ignore, my mind became clear, my spiritual awareness heightened, becoming more courageous and adventureous, I was becoming more me. It's not just eating raw food, as I was changing/investing in new life habits and continue to do so as you will know, yoga, prayer, meditation, being in nature, making decisions based on my values. But eating raw biologically appropriate food is one of the most significant factors along with taking away food that weighs the body down and ties up its creative energy.

A very simple book to read that can help bring clarity is Grain Damage by Dr Douglas Graham. I love this book! It's so easy to read and short but packs a punch. You can buy it on Amazon.com

Graham writes: "during the 'Golden Age of Man' almost three thousand years ago, historical records indicate that man thrived brilliantly on a diet composed primarily of fruit, with the addition of some tender vegetables. This time period produced a disproportionately huge number of history's greatest thinkers, given that the world's population was barely twenty million".

WOW!!

Present And Correct

Exercise: Run, Yoga
Food: Dates, 2 bananas, salad of leaves, capers, avocado, tomatoes, olives and tofu, pineapple and orange juice

I am completely surrounded by the message of 'BE PRESENT'. I hear ya God! I'm reading 'Row, row, row your boat: A guide for living in the Divine Flow' by Steven Lane Taylor and it rocks. Just a bit of awareness can bring freedom. One thing he says is we need to be present to recognise the clues and signs right in front of us to live the life we want. And when we're not in the present we are usually stuck in the past or projecting to the future.

Today I went for a run and I decided to do a running meditation. I've made this up for myself I don't know if anyone else does it. As I ran I was repeating the phrase 'I open myself fully to giving and receiving love'. It was such a joy and I felt I'd run it in half the time although I hadn't. It was one of those times when I could have run forever plus I got to expand my heart. At home I'm still developing my meditation practice but I might repeat a verse of scripture like 'Be still and know that I am God' or a phrase like the one above. The possibilities are endless.

On www.aish.com there are 48 ways to wisdom. And one of them is about staying present. It states that killing time is a crime. And I agree time is not for killing it's for purposeful living, purposeful work, purposeful play, purposeful relationships etc. You get the gist. The thing that was so profound was the statement that we find it painful to be in the present, that is why we waste time. Think about it we numb ourselves with TV, food, alcohol, drugs, shopping and the rest, or we focus on the past or daydream about the future but not in any meaningful way. The extent to which we do these things may well be an indicator of how much or how little purpose we have in our lives.

I continue to marvel at all the resources we have access to in our lifetime. I leave you with Oprah's address to the Class of 08 at Stanford Uni.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpd3raj8xww

Now, Now, Now

Food: 6 bananas, 2 small mangos, oj, salad of leaves, carrot and sweetcorn with a pesto dressing, a handful of organic cashews and almonds
Exercise: Escalators, long walk

I have this habit of checking out a book on Amazon and then I get reading the books that have been linked into that book, and then I'm far away from where I started and am reading the 50th rave review of yet another addition to my wishlist! I LOVE reading, learning and applying.

Now I got to reading reviews of a book called Being here:modern tales of enlightenment
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Here-Modern-Tales-Enlightenment/dp/1888043180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214439459&sr=1-1

I actually read the reviews on Amazon.com there were loads and all five stars. You can get a lot out of a well-written review;) I haven't read the book yet (although I will be shortly!) but already gleaned some wisdom, it's all about living life right now wherever you find yourself. It is so tempting and I have been there to be wanting to achieve goals in order to 'start' living. However listen up insight on it's way ;) the past is gone and we hope to see the future, but we definitely have now. Sooooo it makes sense to experience the joy, wisdom, peace, love and fulfilment now. And it's simply a choice. It would be great if this kind of stuff was taught in school it is empowering and liberating all at once.

Am noticing some changes in my eating habits I don't seem very drawn to green smoothies at present. I ate the mango just cut up into slices. Normally even though I really like mango, I would much rather smoothie it. Am also having nice long gaps between eating and stopping eating earlier. I'm enjoying my emotions even when they are not happy ones and catch myself thinking through what it really is I'm feeling etc. Interesting new development. Just realised something else, it's in the present that we change, that we are transformed.

Having a Rest

Food: 2 bananas, orange and pineapple juice, bunch of grapes, some dates, small bag of cashews
Exercise: Escalators, long walk

I fasted yesterday, I'm back to my one day a week fasting . If you fast one day a week for a whole year, you are going without food for 14% of the year, imagine the rest you give your body not to mention the the ripple effect on your finances, the environment, the time you can spend on something else.. If you keep going at one day a week after seven years you would have fasted for the equivalent of one year imagine the rest and rejuvenation for the body.

I read a recommendation somewhere of one day a week, one week a month and one month a year.

This is not the same as starvation, or an eating disorder or being forced to go with out because there is no food. This is voluntary fasting from a place of love with the full understanding of what it means and what to expect. It has spiritual, physical and mental benefits.

Fasting is not something you just jump into, in the same way you don't just jump into running for a marathon, you train for it! First of all you prepare your mind, you read and learn about the discipline, then you start to practise e.g. with fasting start with one meal or snack time and monitor your feelings, your body etc. You can do this with support of a health practitioner.

I always find extended fasts much easier than one day fasts. The first day is the hardest it's that jarring between eating (sometimes continuously) and then not. But once you've relaxed into it it's very liberating, your mind becomes very focused. Initially there may be detox symptoms, depending on how you eat.

My little toes were sore from a pair of sandals I bought and yesterday the pain completely disappeared. I felt very peaceful too. Plus I had a real boost to my self-esteem for seeing it through.

I've been fasting regularly now for two years and a half years (sometimes water and sometimes with fresh juice). I'm really glad I did the training, and I still am training... It's a habit that can easily get lost because it's so contrary to modern lifestyles, but it's one I personally want to keep.

Ebbs and Flows

Food: 10 bananas, some dates, salad of leaves, carrot, sweetcorn and avocado, a large handful of cashews and almonds
Exercise: Escalators and brisk walking

Before last night I hadn't eaten a banana for about five or six days, basically because I had to wait for them to ripen! So I found I was eating less fruit say in a day some grapes, a salad and some nuts. But was feeling tired in the mornings and less inclined to run. Was on period too but doesn't affect my running. Last night had quite a few bananas. And today I felt more energised. I need more fruit than salads/nuts to maintain a good equilibrium. Although sometimes I want lots of salads that I can just chew and chew. I go with it for as long as I need to. The principle is natural biologically appropriate foods, but the detail for each individual will be different and will change over time as our bodies get stronger, our needs change and we improve the rest of our lifestyle.

I like bananas and dates as my staples. Others prefer citrus or apples and pears. I also enjoy eating big bunches of grapes particularly if I'm out and about as they also help quench my thirst. I'm also loving pineapple and orange juice. I don't really eat pineapple cut up, not that I don't but I much prefer it juiced and the same for oranges. If I could have only one thing it would be fresh orange juice.

I've gone off tomatoes for a while. But drawn to a carrot/lettuce mix after Italy. And have had a break from spinach. I also cooled off mangoes but have some organic ones ripening for later in the week. Previously I'd pretty much abandoned carrots.

That's the beauty of eating this way, you can eat very simply and get abundant nutrition. You just eat what you're drawn to within the principle of natural eating.

We don't really have to worry about nutrient content of foods we would just eat what are bodies are designed to eat. Animals don't check they are getting enough protein they just eat within the boundaries of their design and hunger. But we do have the benefit of scientific study which only confirms time and time again the importance of more fruit and veg in the diet.

Hmmmm....think about it.

Healthy Mind

Exercise: Lots of brisk walking
Food: 1 L Freshly squeezed orange juice, cashew nuts and large salad of leaves, carrot and sweetcorn with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (not altogether!)

I'm devouring more of my Living Nutrition magazines. The content is just so great and I will be subscribing to the rebranded, redesigned version (now called Vibrance). http://www.livingnutrition.com/

I've just reread an article called the Organic Mind by Lee Glickstein (www.speakingcircles.com)
Lee explains how we can develop an organic mind as opposed to a conventional mind to match and express our developing physical vitality as we go more raw. An organic mind is fertile, fluid and flexible among other things while a conventional mind is rigid with assumptions, 'right ways' and judgements.

These are Lee's suggestions for creating an Organic Mind,
1. Appreciate others like you would appreciate a tree, a river or a fruit i.e. with no judgement
2. Listen while you speak, and softly maintain eye contact
3. Notice natural silence and join it every day
4. Let your judgements pass. Laugh at yourself
5. Listen, listen, listen, softly and with your whole body, listen to the essence of others

And his seven traits of the Organic Mind,
1. Appreciates silence and acts from a foundation of listening
2. Listens to the essence of others and speaks only into the essence of others
3. Conversations move quickly through content into the sharing of meaningful ideas
4. Meets every person through soft, available eyes
5. Is down to earth, laughs and cries easily
6. Thinks less and less about more and more
7. Thinks universally

A lot to munch on there! But such great stuff...

Raw in Roma

Exercise: Escalators
Food: 8 bananas, salad with leaves, avocado, sun-dried tomato, carrot, gherkins, and pesto dressing, bread, tortilla chips nibbled in Fresh and Wild, cashew nuts

I have been in Italy these past few days, first to a wedding in Pescara and then to Rome. The wedding was beautiful in a little village outside Pescara. The reception was held in a castle and on the way we passed fig trees, olive trees and apricots trees, how amazing is that! I want to live there!! I had the juiciest plumpest olives at the canape reception pre dinner. Re dietary requirements, I simply said vegan, no wheat or dairy and that am really happy with a salad. But didn't specifically mention raw.

So knew it would be okay, and also as long as my body was happy and I felt alright eating something then I would go with it. It was a classic five course meal, while everyone was complaining that they had overeaten on lots of meat, I felt just fine. My first course was vegetable soup, then a trio of boiled broad beans, courgettes and another vegetable I can't remember, then I had a plate of mushrooms and potato, then a mixed salad of leaves lightly dressed and finally a plate of seasonal fruit. I had about three conversations with people who asked me about my eating choices and it was really great to talk to them. In some ways I was slightly dreading it but then I would remind myself everything was okay, that I could eat what I wanted, and that I could just be me even if different, this wasn't about labels.

And of course when I said that it was easy! To top it off we danced the night away..

The first night before the wedding some of us went for a pizza, I really didn't want pizza or pasta or rice so one of my friends asked for them to prepare a salad for me. It was very simple, leaves, carrot and sweetcorn, lightly dressed. It was one of the best meals I have ever had.They had given me a good sized bowl but I was still hungry (probably helped by the fact that we arrived at the hotel at 7pm after setting off at 10am from London that morning!) So this time I got the italian words needed to ask for another one and they brought me a huge bowl and it was still delicious. I guess I had paid them a compliment by asking for another one and they rewarded me well!! It was in my top 10 of raw meals, hunger met simple nourishing fare.

Rome was wonderful and it was good to be back again. My hotel was perfect with a fruit stall at the end of the road that also served freshly sqeezed oj do you see why I say that I am the most blessed woman in the whole world? It's run by a charming lady called Augusta, check it out if you go on Via Della Vite off Piazza Spagna. It was quite blissful to eat when and what I wanted. To spend the whole day walking outside in the air and sunshine, feasting on the sights and poking my head into various ancient and modern nooks and crannies. I revisited an old favourite Cafe Magnolia who do about 10 different creative salads as well as pizza and pasta so a good place to bring friends. Of course it came with bread and I had some. I know I was sleepy from the dancing of the night before and all the travelling but that night I slept for 12 hours straight and could have slept more but got up at noon because I didn't come to Rome to sleep!! That's the effect on me good to have the reminder...



It's good to be home..

Everyone Needs Compassion

Exercise: Escalators
Food: 8 bananas, fresh Oj, cashew nuts mixed salad with carrot, leaves, avocado, sundried tomato and sweetcorn, a handful of dates a few hours after the salad

Deep down I know that it would have been a good to fast today. I wasn't feeling hungry and felt my body could do with a rest especially as I had quite a few cashew nuts which needed to be fully digested.

Did I then fast, heck no, I carried on business as usual. I soon felt the consequences, my body certainly didn't want the cashews. And I could feel it trying to get equilibrium! A couple of loo visits and everything was fine!

There is a quote that goes something like, "Greatness is being courteous and kind to everyone especially when there is no apparent benefit".

And I was thinking it would be lovely if we could be kind to ourselves as well, not just how we treat our spirit, mind and body i.e. what we eat , how we move around etc but also when we mess up and make the wrong choice. Like me today! Compassion brings hope. So let's be kind to ourselves so we can be kind to others.

We are the revolution..

Repetition

Exercise: Run, escalators
Food: 3 bananas, banana and Dr Martins's coco milk smoothies, handful of almonds, some dates, some chocolate and some sun-blushed tomatoes from tomorrow's salad

Read something in Mike Brescia's (of Think Right Now fame, see links) email today which reinforced what I'm learning about how we use our imagination. He stated we use the following to keep in our minds eye the things we want to achieve, i.e how to remember them

- repetition of word pictures
- repetition of positive thought
- mental pictures
- mental movies
- affirmations

So the question is does this work, yes! It's how we learnt our times table as kids, it's how we learnt to develop good handwriting (okay some are still working on that one) and it's how we would get excited about going on holiday to name a few.

It can seem like magic when it all kicks in the secret is that while doing this you will start to get insights and nudges to do things or stop doing things. That is your plan working out for you. So if you are getting a niggling that it's a time to explore something it's worth checking it out, e.g. going veggie, eating more raw, becoming organised etc.

For eating healthy you might write daily affirmations on how you feel when you eat right, then use encouraging thoughts to keep doing what you need to do, play a mental movie of where you are now and where you are headed.

Habit is God's way of helping us to experience good all the time!! But we get to choose... all the time.

Come Join The Party!

Exercise: Escalators
Food: 5 bananas, smoothie (celery, papaya, mango and pear), bunch of grapes, big salad - lettuce, sun-dried tomato, carrot, sweetcorn, pine nuts, pesto dressing

Another of my friends is getting intentional with her eating, she's vegetarian four days a week now in order to in her words, save the planet, and a girl at the yoga weekend asked me if I was a raw-fooder, she'd obviously been observing what I was eating! She said I looked great and was glowing, which was lovely to hear. I've gotten used to a certain level of being eating like this plus all the other adventures I'm on, so it's always blows me away when the results are so obvious to someone else. She herself tried raw for six months and thinks it's time to make it more permanent.

And.. okay not one of my girlfriends per se, but Oprah has gone vegan (for 21 days)!
Read more here
http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/cleanse/blog/blog_main.jhtml?promocode=HP42

I love the comment at the end,
Kathy Freston's Comments: External "fillers"—like soda and chips—leave you feeling empty and wanting more. Yearning, dissatisfied. To really feel substantially filled and nurtured and cared for, it has to come from something that is not outside of us. If you are pushed against a wall or challenged, try to remind yourself that you need not do and be everything.

If more people knew that they would be experiencing more freedom. It's these 'moments of truth' that bring awareness. We reach for 'soda and chips' or whatever it is we reach for, it could be any thing to damp down those emotions.. 'healthy food' does not promote health in our body if we don't actually need it, it becomes excess and something else for the body to deal with. I remember being offered some strawberries once and I said 'no thanks!' 'but it's fruit' they said. I'm not hungry and I don't want them but I'm meant to shove them down because they're fruit? It's completely a different matter if I want to shove them down!

Well if you doing the veggie, vegan, journey you know you're only a couple of tube stops from 'more raw' and 'all raw' !!!

Yoga

Exercise: Yoga, escalators and run
Food: Oj, 3 bananas, green salad with avocado, cashews and a few dates

Am doing a yoga and meditation weekend today and tomorrow. It was so lovely the centre is in Oakwood, so tonnes of greenery and what a gorgeous, delicious sunny day today!!

Giovanni (who looks like George Clooney with Mel Gibson's eyes, true! Serious potential for lookalike work there) guided us humorously and sensitively through four sessions of meditation interspersed with yoga stretches and poses.
http://www.rolfing-yoga.com/flash1.html
http://www.wccmretreatcentre.org.uk/

I'm really enjoying getting into meditation, just being present. Felt very detached afterwards but in a good way, just being in the midst of everything. The day ran from 10 to 5 with break for lunch and a wander. Lunch was a mix of vegetarian and vegan fare.

I felt light and floaty at the end so despite being out the whole day, then doing two trips for food shopping, I felt compelled to go for an evening run. And it was just the right conditions, cool and breezy!

Have noticed yesterday (off work) and today that I'm not eating as much but not sure if this is a trend yet, because when I'm not at work ie doing the things that I really, really want to do, food moves down the agenda. I was thinking that lots of people I come across don't like their jobs or are feeling unfulfilled. Which means they must be living off purpose, so is it any wonder we are eating off purpose too?

Anyhoo will see how I go. I may be moving to a new level in my raw journey. Haven't craved anything this past week, seems chips may have fallen off the 'attachments' list completely. Was going to get some edamame on Friday and I felt a check in my body like it didn't want that. It was very subtle but immediately turned round thinking 'no don't want that'. At another time I might get a go ahead signal. In a similar vein I had some nuts this evening and felt like I had enough, then went back and had some more although not a lot. But I felt that check, although I ignored it!

A Parallel Universe

Exercise: Escalators
Food: litre of OJ, about 10 bananas, handful of cashews and almonds, green salad - baby spinach, peas, avocado, celery, cucumber and raw pesto

Sometimes I have moments where it feels like I am living in some weird and wonderful world of my own (indeed I am and so are you!) with the various journeys I have embarked/am embarking on in every area of my life, and it is literally every area. So much is changing or changed, just a few,

- I don't watch TV (not a rule or a conscious decision would watch if I wanted to, it simply went from medium priority to low priority to zero priority. )
- I would not have called myself a nature-lover before now I know that I am
- While not being a beach lover I wouldn't have been my choice to visit a cold country during their cold season. That is not an issue now
- I shop intentionally, I visualise what I'm looking for and then go and find it. I no longer shop to escape or for retail therapy anymore. Still enjoy shopping just clearer about my objectives!
- I eat a natural, unprocessed plant-based diet. A colleague asked me if it was hard eating out as there is so much I can't eat. I said everywhere does a salad! Also explained I'm not doing this from a place of deprivation but of abundance. I can eat ANYTHING I want, it's just that I choose not to. Big difference.
- My courage muscle is growing bigger!
- My desire to learn is huge
- Much better able to detach from emotions
- Trusting God's work


quote from author Neale Walsch... "You can live a charmed life, and there is a formula by which you can make this work." Here is the formula: "You can live a charmed life by causing othersto live a charmed life. That is, be the source of "charm" - ofcharming moments and experiences in the life of another." "Be everyone else's lucky charm! Make all who you touch today feel"lucky" that you crossed their path. Do this for a week and watchthings change. Do it for a month and you'll be a different person."***

I'm taking up this challenge....

And,

"To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you like everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight - and never stop fighting.

E.E Cummings, poet

Coolio.

Awareness Is The First Step To Freedom

Exercise: Run, escalators
Food: Green smoothie - mango, apple and rocket, 2 bananas, 600g grapes, salad - lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, celery, tomatoes and raw basil pesto, almonds dipped in raw honey

Despite having about 5 hours sleep I woke up really wanting to run. I realised this was probably due to the fact that I had gone to bed saying I'm going for a run tomorrow. I also stopped eating quite early 8/9ish and had a couple of pints of water between that time and going to bed.

Today I didn't eat until 12 noon, had good long gaps between my 'meals' green smoothie at noon, grapes around 2, bananas around 4pm and salad about 4.30 and almonds when I got in around 8.30pm.

I have been dipping into my sister's book 'The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn'. Go and buy this book for the sake of your spiritual health. We are spiritual beings. Hmmm yes you might feel uncomfortable but it's true, and you will never truly 'get it' until you embrace that. Anyway go buy that book, read the reviews on Amazon.

I was thinking today how sometimes when we tell someone about some new thing we are doing or someone tells us about some new thing their doing, we or they can get distinctly agitated. And what it is, is that we feel threatened or that we have to change. The ironic thing is that if we genuinely feel that way we are probably not living very congruent lives and it may be change is needed! But essentially the thing is you don't have to do anything, just be open to the possibility of new insights that can enhance your life, that way you'll recognise if and when you need to change.

It's a quality that certain people have to listen to another's experience and not feel defensive or judgemental. I once met a lovely guy who I talked to for ages and what struck me is I was saying some unconventional things by 'mainstream' standards in terms of my lifestyle etc and he was just so comfortable and happy in his skin listening to me. And that was when I realised what an attractive quality he had (and the rest!). People like that have something precious. I have a number of friends who have that same gift/maturity and it's a blessing to be around. They are people who you can just be yourself with while still growing into greater things.

Awareness is such a catalyst for freedom. Just recognising the truth of something whether it's a pattern of thinking in our own lives, or the fact that our lifestyle habits are not supporting our vision of ourselves etc can precipitate massive action. i.e. as Bob Proctor states in 'You were born rich' - the highest level of being is, thinking good thoughts -which lead to idea- manifest in physical. But how we tend to live is look at our current physical condition - think how to solve it - and then come up with idea. Always, always the VISION comes first regardless of your current circumstances.

Remember when I said when I was little I used the think that there was a definite way of good health. What we hold deep in our minds has huge impact on our life for better or worse. We get to choose. Get the Florence book!

Please Yourself

Exercise: Run, yoga and escalators
Food: Dates, banana ice cream tart, plus extra banana ice cream (ie just bananas), a few grapes

I am now the queen of raw recipes. Well I have been experimenting! I've had a burst of creativity. I made a 'cous cous' recipe yesterday. I processed a head of cauliflower minus the green bits, until it looked like fluffy cous cous. I then mixed in some shelled green peas, some corn from fresh and wild which I'm sure had been heated in some form and vacuum packed, but not bothered, it looked like a corn on the cob should look, I mixed it all up with Seggiano's raw pesto (I will get round to trying out my own recipe, but until then this is delicious and cheeseless!), and some mushrooms which I marinated in a little olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar. It looked like a cous cous dish and tasted yummy too. The funny thing was a colleague said to me 'your lunch looks so lovely, I wish I could eat it'.

I made another banana icecream tart this time with blackcurrants blended in, and then another plain banana one with an almond and date base. Get me! The base is basically how Lara bars are essentially made , but in different quantities of nuts and dates, and most with added spices. But this is the cheaper option and you can the ingredients that work for you.

I'll leave you with this quote that I swiped from Bob Proctors 'insight of the day' email

"That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong."
William J.H. Boetcker

Staying with this, I used to work for a business based in the owner's home. A good few years ago now. My boss was a lovely lady and it was just the three of us working there. She would bring us out biscuits, snacks etc. Then one day I decided I wasn't going to have any biscuits because I was on a health kick. Didn't feel great that I was chomping on biscuits everyday. It wasn't part of my eating style if you discount the occasional ploughing through of a packet of digestives! And even though I said to her 'no biscuits for me', even when it was just me she still wheeled them out. I have to say I felt under a lot of pressure to just eat them to appreciate her hospitality. But I didn't because one, it was important to me to get out of the daily biscuit habit, and two, if I had started eating them again it would have rendered my words meaningless and I would have lost some self-respect, if not her respect. Beacuse even when people try to either consciously or unconsciously sabotage your efforts they are actually grudgingly or maybe wholeheartedly admiring you. It's what inspiration is about. Have a think about someone who truly inspires you, it's usually someone who knows their path and is walking it, and they usually stand out from the crowd in more ways than one.

I think if we are inspired to do something we should especially do it. I believe this is because these are pointers for significant growth and focus in our lives. I also believe it's how we are meant to live, inspiring and inspired. This is the way of much happiness and fulfilment (happiness is a byproduct of fulfilment and not the other way round!). In the absence of that (being out of touch with our lives and the source of our lives) leaves us being 'fixers' doing things we 'ought to' 'should to' etc. This way is often accompanied by discontent, frustration and listlessness. In a nutshell we are more likely to succed at what we want to achieve when we are inspired to do it. I ask myself questions like an I inspired to eat raw, (Yes), am I inspired to give money to this cause, am I inspired to volunteer to help etc. I've found it a useful tool. Hope you do too!

Why Do You Do What You Do?

Exercise: Walking (yesterday running and dancing)
Food: Green smoothie (mango and spinach), box of grapes, 3 bananas, bought salad (leaves, peas, sweetcorn, avocado, sun-dried tomato), a small packet of pistachio nuts, some dates

Yesterday I went to Vita organic restaurant in Soho, I had a selection of salads and orange juice. The oj was delicious, the salads were okay not inspired. They had a raw choc cake for dessert. I'm not keen on raw choc, probably because although I used to eat it, choc was not a mainstay. In the end decided to have it and I definitely didn't like it. It was so bitter and full of nibs and started getting a headache. Some people really do love this stuff but I'm not sure it serves my highest good! I've been looking at some anecdotal evidence and it seems raw choc can never be truly raw plus all the other stuff it contains. So we're eating it for the taste (or not!) like most things then;) But if that's the case is it heresy to say I would prefer a square of the regular, fair-trade kind??

I love the re-development of St Pancras station, (and my pleaure is heightened by the presence of chopp'd, a chic salad bar. The original one is in Leadenhall Market and a new bar opened about a month or so ago in Spitafields) it is so bright and airy with beautiful shopfronts, the glamour of being the start of a journey into Paris via Eurostar, but also a solid departure point for places in the East Midlands amongst others. I love the big wooden doorways that connect it to Kings Cross, it's a bit like stepping into another city even though both stations are side by side.

I made my raw hummous but not sure about it so it's in the freezer! Meanwhile as the temps soar, banana ice cream is hitting the spot!

As you know I am working through 'Life on Purpose' by Brad Swift. I can't really rave about this book enough. I think it is in my top three of all time inspiring books and that is saying something as I've read plenty of fab books, plus I haven't actually finished it yet! I've been on a break ;) but ready to pick it up again. The interlude has been very useful in allowing things to soak in. There was an excellent feature in the 'life on purpose' ezine. Read at the blog here It's one to read over and over. And the principles can be applied to the raw food lifestyle and other ways we choose to eat.
http://www.lifeonpurposeblog.com/

I'm seriously considering signing up to their latest purpose project - purposeful prosperity....

Playing Gourmet

Food: 4 bananas, mango and spinach smoothie, quite a few almonds, salad of celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and mushroom marinated in raw pesto, later on a mixed salad of deli leaves, sundried tomatoes, peas, sweetcorn, pine nut and pesto dressing, edamame and later some dates and super cold banana ice-cream!
Exercise: Escalators

My chickpeas are sprouting! I have no idea whether I will enjoy the raw houmous I'm going to make but I love the fact they are sprouting, something about seeing something grow. I do realise I will be pulversing them in the food processor at some point!

I have a pasta nozzle for my juicer so decided to run a courgette through to see if I could make veggie spaghetti. That didn't work there was courgette juice spraying out all over the place...nice. So just cut it julienne myself marinate in pesto with mushrooms. It tasted yummy and great textures. Felt quite proud of myself. Will be using mushrooms more in my menu now.

I took a friend to Saf restaurant this week and she loved it. She had the Buddha Bowl - jasmine rice and tofu (cooked) and Apple cheesecake made with cashews. The cheesecake is a serious high point! I had some nuts and olives, seaweed salad and the cheesecake! But we both felt light as we were leaving.

Yesterday had some houmous and mushrooms in houmous bar, this morning I noticed my emotional poise had been seriously diminished! The link for me seems to be getting ever stronger. Harmony........

Eating Out

Exercise: Run, lots of walking and escalators
Food: Freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juce, some dates, banana 'ice-cream', salad from Beetroot, and then a salad from Fresh and Wild (leaves, raw tofu, carrot, alfafa sprouts, beetroot etc), corn, water with slices of cucumber

Forgot to say, checked out Saf restaurant in Shoreditch last week! It's the latest opening by raw chef Chad Sarno. I was able to go late afternoon when it was very peaceful. The decor and service is beautiful. I had a starter and a main. For starter I had flax crackers with guacamole, salsa and cashew cream. It was all lovely but I try to keep the fat levels down, so next time will ask for extra salsa and minus the cashew cream as it was a touch rich for me. My main was the Saf bowl with courgette noodles, parsnip rice, marinated mushrooms, a spicy dip and a couple of other things. This was very refreshing and I liked it a lot. I didn't try any of the desserts, well mainly because I ran out of time! And they are yet to launch their take away service. But I was sitting alongside another lady and we swapped notes on our choices. She then very kindly put aside one of her raw cookies for me from her dessert. It was very generous and unexpected. It was some sort of lucuma/choc combo. I'm not a fan of raw choc for a myriad reasons, but if I do decide to eat it I'm not kidding myself it's a health food. Awareness is the first step to freedom. So actually would have happily done without it as I didn't enjoy it that much, I could tell if I had eaten more of it my body wouldn't have been happy.

I remember last year after spotting a raw choc bar in Spitalfields Organic I bought it and ate it, nothing surprising there! But by the time I got back to my desk I felt distinctly unwell and it was like my throat was constricting. Managed to get myself to the bathroom without looking like I was dying, and threw up, after which I am grateful to say I started to feel human again. I remember checking the ingredients and lucuma was one of them along with the obvious raw cacao etc. So anyhoo not a fave for me. I had my eye on the lemon tart so will probably try that next time. Nice for a treat. One fab thing I brought home from there was their delightful way of putting slices of cucumber in the drinking water. Such a simple act but very aesthetically pleasing as well as being very blissful to drink.

Today I had a salad at the dinky Beetroot cafe on Berwick St, I've eaten there once before, it has a good vegan selection both hot and cold, but also carries cheese and meat stuff. My salad was a mix of greens, the signature beetroot, carrot, cabbage in a soyonnaise dressing, quinoa and some peanut, sprouty bean thing. At first I thought the large box looked quite small. But then realised it had depth. I chewed for England. Very yummy and filling. Highly recommended for just £5.90. I think it would be great for a low-key food date.

I had initially been exploring Wardour St to find Vitaorganic which I found but it was closed. There are a quite a few raw/health friendly cafes in that millieu of Wardour, Berwick and Brewers St. Also got some Itsu edamame and another salad from Fresh and Wild for later. The past couple of days I've not been wanting the lettuce part of my salad but happy with celery, cucumber etc. So just going with that. What I have been wanting a lot of is orange juice. So am going to load up on the golden ones this week. OJ is my number one favourite raw thing to have anytime of the day.

I've had a pack of chickpeas in the cupboard for ages so have decided to have a go at sprouting and make some raw hummous!! Also my fabulous Matstone juice which serves me so well has attachments for making pasta and nut butter, so will see if it can do the vegetable spaghetti. When I think of it the machine is pretty amazing. It also has a very simple slicing attachment which I use for celery and cucumber and other bits for salads, I enjoy them so much more when they are finely cut. Plus it has a an oil extractor attachment which I've never used, But just thinking I could use it to extract oil for my skin and hair. I'll need to work out whether the yield is worth it, but I can have fun finding out!

Present And Correct

Exercise: Run, escalators, and a tonne of walking
Food: mango and pear smoothie, 3 bananas, some dates, 2 salads of mixed leaves with either peppers, sweetcorn, cabbage and onion or beetroot, carrot and cucumber

I processed some semi-dried tomatoes (from Spitalfields) with a little olive oil to use as dressing, the tomatoes tasted gorgeous. Although the salads weren't quite right a little cold methinks.

Glad to be out in the fresh air running, and marvellous weather for it too. Not sure I would be up to it feeling the effect of tuesday's yoga's class which was all about the legs, and still building strength. Although have a definite inner strength. The message for me at the moment is very obviously 'be present'.

So I visualised doing my run and just enjoyed each 'step' as I went not worrying about how far I'd done or how far to go, and it was blissful, almost timeless.

I've been motoring through my back copies of 'Living Nutrition' and I've read at least three articles about 'being present' in one form or another!

Ways to be present

- Look at the person you are talking too
- When you eat, savour each mouthful, note how you are feeling, look at the colours,
- Smile
- Let past 'stories' be that, create new stories now
- Use language creatively and lovingly
- Spend time in nature (even if it's a walk down your road!) and focus on all that surrounds you
- Be forever grateful

This bit is from an article by Happy Oasis in Vol 19, 2007 Living Nutrition mag
reframing statements from a negative to a positive


- What's wrong? What's happening?
- Are you ill? How are you feeling?
- I don't want to get sick I aim to be healthier than ever
- Life is suffering Life is so precious, brimming with gifts
- It's freezing outside Invigorating isn't it?
- Feeling lousy I'm feeling a little less than fabulous
- Don't worry Have faith
- Don't shout Shall we whisper? Wonderful!
- I don't want to I prefer
- I won't I'd rather
- I hate I appreciate
- I hate rain Rain is beautiful
- You can't win The adventure continues

Genius!

Skin Glorious Skin

Exercise: Escalators
Food: grapes, 3 bananas, some dates and orange/celery juice

Had first food at 6pm today. The grapes were lovely actually tasted them not just the sweetness. The bananas were like ice cream as they were very ripe, hence I was eating them so they wouldn't go to waste. But feel it would have been better to stick to the grapes. Well they'll sweep me innards clean!

Tuesday was the hardest day but very happy with my body's progress. I couldn't have contemplated this while working before. Ideally I would have been laying with my feet up at some serene and scenic location getting plenty of rest. So plan B was getting plenty of sleep and lots of fresh air everyday, and reading good stuff.

Today had to stand on one escalator, otherwise danger of me going backwards while everyone else was going forwards! Feel weaker after eating, not surprising as my body is now diverting energy for digestion.

This points to the fact that food does not give us energy, sleep does, or to put it another way we experience renewal and rest while we sleep which leaves us energised. Food simply provides the 'raw' material for your body to break down and then build the body. Think about it you can go 24 hrs without food quite easily (you may not want to but you can!). Can you go a whole 24hrs without sleep? Not an attractive prospect, you'll probably become a whole different animal!

A couple of months ago, maybe less I had a breakout of spots on the left side of my face, very bumpy. I was not impressed as I have great skin! But decided to just carry on as is because I knew it was a detox symptom and not something to 'treat'. And it cleared up by itself first becoming very smooth and now the marks have all but disappeared. My skin is absolutely beaming and I haven't worn make-up for at least a week, just a touch of lipstick and mascara. I kind of just stopped. Will I continue like this? Who knows.

Am bulk ordering raw pistachios, cashews, and nori sheets to experiment with veggie sushi.
www.realrawfood.com

Yes For Yoga

Exercise: Yoga, escalators
Food: Water

I started my yoga class again after a six week break plus Easter hols. This was due to the fact that when I went to sign up in Jan it had already filled up. As it happens it was a blessing in disguise as I was asked to help out on a project which ran through that period so it would have clashed.

But I have missed it (I know I can do it on my own, but really like the discipline of a class and the tutor is fantastic) and I only realised how much after today's session. I thought I might struggle with the food sabbatical that I'm on! But it was amazingly fulfiling, if not necessary easy. I felt much more present, although very glad when we moved from the leg exercises to the floor!!

And even now as I stab at my keyboard I feel very serene. To the point I just want to sit in silence, no music, learning audio or youtube. I don't even want to read my emails so I'm not. Although I did a bit of virtual house-keeping before I left for my class so don't anticipate there are many, if any.

I am currently feasting on my Living Nutrition magazines (now known as 'Vibrance'). And it's such a pleasure, I actually felt slightly disappointed when my tube stop arrived as I had to put my mag away! You probably get that I read A LOT. You'd be right. I absolutely love learning and it's simply fabulous to recognise it as one of my core needs. Because I'm able to indulge to my heart's content and its bringing such amazing blessings.

Anyway one of the articles was by Shelley sharing how she healed from debilitating side effects from using a particular birth control method. Read more here www.rawandjuicy.com

Well I'm off for some serene sleep, and I wish you the same. I'll leave with this Irish blessing I read in Living Nutrition.

Whenever there is happiness
Hope you'll be there too,
Wherever there are friendly smiles
Hope they'll smile on you,
Whenever there is sunshine,
Hope it shines for you.

All or Nothing?

Exercise: Escalators
Food: Water

Sometimes in the raw food movement it can seem if you're not 100% raw you're not 'there'. And there are stories of well known raw-fooders who say they went from a typical western diet to 100% raw overnight. It doesn't actually mean that much in itself, the thing that matters is your motivation and getting the results you want. And most importantly the lessons you are learning.

The thing is you don't want to be doing things through sheer willpower eventually it will seem such a drag. Your will is something you use to make a decision, it's strong desire that keeps you going. That's why it's so important to know your 'why'. That way 'failing' at times won't bother you. But if you are a perfectionist you will find failing very painful!

I used to be a perfectionist when I was a kid growing up. This was linked to the people-pleasing until again I realised I could lose that behaviour, it may have served me well at one point but by then it was stressful. And I'm glad I did!!

Without a doubt raw fresh fruit and veggies are the food of choice for humans, with some nuts and seeds. The evidence is all over the place. Read some of the links to the right. Some raw menus also include raw bean, sunflower seed and veggie sprouts and raw grains. I think if you're drawn to any of this all you can do eat and then see what your body does and how you feel. For me that is part of the fun of this journey getting great insights and making adjustments. I simply cannot ignore the physical, spiritual, mental and emotional benefits I'm experiencing. But also the potential for the big picture stuff, world hunger, the environment and living sustainably.

The health benefits of eating raw biologically appropriate foods are well documented, see this link for more info from Roger H, and also his great table comparing raw food and cooked food. It may help you with your 'why'.http://rogerhaeske.com/?p=109

Another way to help you with your 'why' and the changes you may want to make with your eating habits if you like a challenge, is to go 100% raw for a month or two. It's something that can be done with a friend or group, and you can get support in doing this from qualified persons. That will give you a good feel for what you can expect. At the end you can decide how you are going to continue to eat.

I don't like to say cooked foods as bad, because they don't just cook themselves, hit us over the head and say eat me!! (This is not the same as saying cooked foods can have toxic effects on the body which is true). Because it's like we are projecting fear, instead of working from a place of love. It's more a case of is what you are putting in your mouth serving you well? That's the question, and it's up to us to take responsibility for the answer.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_9063513

Here is some more about raw runner, Tim Van Orden and his 'why'.

Are you a risk-taker?

Exercise: Escalators and lots of walking
Food: Water only

I've listened to some more Bob Proctor audio, this time on risk. He states that only the person who risks is free. And that the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. If we live to avoid suffering and pain we cannot feel, love, learn, grow, change or truly live.

When you think about all the people who have ever achieved anything worthwhile e.g. Ghandi, William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King and many more including the not-so-well-knowns, ancient and modern. One of the things they had in common was they were risk-takers. They had a big idea to meet a big need and dared to step out.

Taking a risk requires being able to think, it's not the same as gambling. It's taking action because you know where you want to go. It involves asking questions, challenging established ways of doing things, looking at existing results and planning for new ones.

When I was younger I was a people-pleaser, trying to make everyone happy. It just got too much, as you can never please everyone or more to the point it's not my purpose in life to please everyone. So I said 'enough'. I used to avoid conflict and pain as much as possible i.e. anything for an easy life. But an easy life has limited learning and growth, and decisions are rooted in fear and insecurity. Completely different now!!

Eating raw is taking a risk. We are challenging the status quo, we have examined the evidence and like, no love the results! We have engaged our thinking faculties to take action. We know 'why'. We may fail numerous times, but we are only failures when we quit. Failing along the way to the goal is simply learning experience.

Often when we take real risks we are first given resistance by our loved ones, but when we prevail they have a new and higher respect for us.

"Security is a myth. If life is not a series of risks it is nothing." Helen Keller