Rawdelicious Oatmeal Breakfast

Soak 3/4 cup raw Oatmeal over night

In the morning I add the following and grind it all up in my food processor -

• 1 tsp of Coconut Oil
• 1 Banana,
• 1/4 cup of Almonds
• 1 Apple

After grinding it all up, I throw in a handful of raisins (or dates).  I sometimes also add:

• 1/4 cup Sesame Seeds for my calcium
• Cinnamon, a good sprinkle
• Almond Milk

It is very filling, and I love it!!!!

Thanks Donna!!

xoxoxo Lyn

P.S.  For more great breakfast ideas, check out Divalicious!

Cravings are so fun to me, you want to know why? Well, I’ll tell you. They are like the key to a forgotten treasure! They are these complex and fabulous secrets our bodies are whispering to us when we become irritated, busy or off-center. Many of us at one point in our lives or another have experienced late night binges or negative self-talk beating ourselves up for not ‘sticking to the diet’, or restricting ourselves from the simple pleasures of a complete and delicious meal.

But I’d like to offer some techniques that work to notice the cravings, change our perpetual negative thinking around feeling ‘powerless’ around our favorite treats and invite you to take cravings for what they are: messages from our body to perk up and listen!

1. Drink Water We hear this so often but it is so important. Spring water is amazing and the best water you can feed your body. It comes straight from the source of Mother Earth and replenishes us more completely than any bottled water could ever do. If you aren’t sure where the closest spring might be to you check out http://findaspring.com This is actually a great experience for you and your family! Drinking freezing cold water from the Earth is so gratifying. But, if you do not live close enough to a natural spring have no fear just make sure to keep hydrating by drinking filtered water. In the case of cravings often we are dehydrated and the body will react with a message of hunger. Sit down with a glass of water and if you don’t like the taste of plain water add a drop of essential oil such as peppermint or grapefruit which is known to keep cravings at bay.

1. Become one with the present moment. The more we can be here and really experience our lives, (rather than listening to nagging worry thoughts that take us away from who we really are) the less likely we will be to find ourselves devouring our scrumptious homemade raw chocolate at 8pm! We will be aware as we are eating every morsel, every bite and make our dining experience a sensory one honing in on tastes, textures, aromas and this certainly helps to keep us satisfied longer. When being centered, present and in our bodies that in itself is an experience. Taking a regular inventory of our thoughts, feeling, emotions and physical feelings of stress, hunger and pain such as headaches really help us to gauge if we are stressed out and reaching for a snack or if we are genuinely hungry. I do this a few times a day and it has greatly improved my sense of peace with how I feel in my own skin and taught me a great deal about how my own food cravings are often related to emotions ups and downs in my own life.

1. Create New After Meal Rituals The cleaner and healthier our bodies feel by feeding them luscious green smoothies, morning green juices and balanced healthy vegan, vegetarian and raw meals the easier it becomes to notice cravings and have the tools you need to deal with them. If you have a night time ritual of eating something sweet then while you are ‘reprogramming your system’ create a new ritual that lovingly supports your new healthy habits. Take a moment to think about what you really take pleasure in doing? It could be any number of things from playing in the yard with your kids, taking the dog for a walk, meditating, reading a book, soaking in a warm bath or making love!. Experiment. It might surprise you have quickly turn from going to food for comfort to taking a detoxifying soak in the tub.

Cravings can seem complicated but when we slow down and take some time for ourselves to listen to the messages our body is sending the answers we receive can be quite powerful and clear. What is your body trying to tell you today? Listen and respond with fabulous love of your body and life! Self-care is a great healer, enjoy!

Eliza Ceci is a holistic nutrition and wellness coach, motivational speaker and blogger. She is the owner of Peace on My Plate and enjoys providing support to her clients around detox, emotional eating, PMS and pre-pregnancy preparation.  Eliza’s passion is empowering women to understand their worth, creating passionate lives and taking control of their health one green juice at a time. http://peaceonmyplate.com

2008 – The year starts off so wrong!

Hi!  My name is Donna and I’m from Grimsby, Ontario.  The beginning of my raw food journey began in 2008.

I woke up one morning feeling sluggish, overweight, along with a few other health issues. I couldn’t believe I had let myself get in such bad shape.   I had always been a very active person.

I decided to start off my day with a bike ride and start getting in shape.  It was a beautiful morning and I was really excited about doing something healthy for myself.

I had ridden about 5 miles and was just heading for home when a car coming out of a driveway hit me and threw me and my bike into the air.  I hit the ground hard and it knocked the wind right out of me.  Once I realized what had happened, I tried to get up, thinking I would just walk home with my mangled bike.  But, to my surprise, I couldn’t move my legs at all.  I was scared to say the least.

The guy who had hit me had already called the ambulance.  At the hospital they found I didn’t have any broken bones, so they sent me home to recover.  My husband called a very good friend of ours who happens to be a chiropractor.  He wanted me in his office as soon as possible but I was so shaken up I just wanted to sleep.   I went to see him 2 days later and for the next 5 months we did acupuncture and adjustments.

Then my sister died of ovarian cancer. The loss of my dear sister and my discouragement over my slow recovery made me just about want to give up, crawl into a corner and die.

I discover the world of Raw Foods and The Raw Divas

I had all but given up when a friend who was really into health suggested I read a book by Natalia Rose about a raw food detox diet.  I began to read it and I couldn’t put it down.  I had never heard of this kind of eating in my life.  I had thought my diet was healthy but now I knew I was onto something big and I started reading everything I could get my hands on.

Then I decided to do a Google search and that’s when I found The Raw Divas website. I went to the Powder Room to find out what it was all about.  Turned out it was a great community of women sharing their experiences and supporting each other. I was totally amazed that there could be something this great on the internet.  I had almost forgotten about my legs, until I went to get up and about fell flat on my face.

I started to journal, join in and really got inspired

I kept going back.  I was silent for a long time, but then I began sharing some of my experiences with the other women.  Wow, I was having such fun!  It really touched my heart to feel the warmth from everyone on this website.

I was inspired.  I sent my husband out to buy me a juicer and a blender.  He thought I was totally crazy.  I started juicing, making smoothies and changing my diet.

I especially liked my new favorite breakfast: I would soak raw oatmeal overnight.  In the morning I would add soaked almonds, apple, coconut oil, and bananas.  Blend it all up, put it in a bowl and add some raisins with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Really yummy!

I also started eating a lot of salads and making green smoothies.  I love using weeds like chickweed, lambs quarters, stinging nettle and dandelions, right out of my garden.

My husband would have no part of it, so I was making two different meals every day.  He liked the S.A.D. diet while I was eating a Raw Diet.

I was still using a wheelchair at this point but, was determined that this was only temporary.  My dear sister who had passed away would have told me to get up, dust myself off and get back into the game of life!

Things get a lot better.  I started doing The Raw Divas Programs and I made it out of my wheelchair!

It was the most wonderful blessing in my life to be a part of the Powder Room community and I became inspired to join in the programs.

I joined the 7 day detox. I couldn’t believe all of the recipes they sent me for free and the emails every day to help me succeed. Wow!   I hope to get to meet Tera and Doll one day, as they are two of the angels who run this website.

I began to feel better and was now out of the wheelchair and using crutches.   As I ate more and more raw foods I felt healthier and had more energy than ever before.

Next, I did a 14 day fasting cleanse and talked about it in the Powder Room.   I would write about what I ate each day and any detox symptoms.  I got a lot of response and support and I lost 20 lbs!

Then I signed up for The Raw Diva’s free 90 day detox.  I learned so much and I was telling everyone who would listen about The Raw Divas website.  People were starting to notice all the changes that where happening to my body.

2010 – Bad news hits again – but turns out for the best as it brings my husband on board!

This year I was hit with yet another tragedy.  My wonderful, husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was shocked.  Hadn’t I already been through enough! But, I wasn’t about to lose another loved one to cancer.

So, onto the battlefield we went.  We are facing this enemy together.  He is now listening to what I have to say and is on board with all my green smoothies, juices and salads.

He doesn’t like a lot of things I make but he is willing to do whatever it takes to beat this thing.  Today I made him a pineapple, mango, smoothie with a few greens in it and he actually said he is beginning to like it!  He went out and bought me a Vitamix blender.  Boy, I was so happy!

I am using a lot of the recipes on The Raw Divas website and from books I’ve read.  I really like David Wolf’s books, he is truly amazing.  I also really like ‘The Uncook Book’ by Juliano with Erika Lenkert.  It is full of great recipes that are easy to make.  ‘The Raw 50’ by Carol Alt is another favorite.

The future is looking good now…

A BIG thank you to The Raw Divas for giving me my life back! The friends I’ve made and the support I’ve received in the Powder Room has really meant a lot.  It’s my community now! I hope I get to meet you all one day, as you have been a big part of my life for the last two years and will be for the rest of my life.

And I just have to mention.  This story wouldn’t be complete without my little border collie Mandy who has been a part of my journey.   She is 14 years old and I am sure she wouldn’t still be here if I hadn’t put her on a raw diet.  So, The Raw Divas helps more than people.  It works for our furry children as well!

My husband will have his surgery in October and I will be writing about that in my journal in the Powder Room.   My Powder Room name is ‘Miss Ginger’ if you’d like to join me. By surgery time he will have lost 20 lbs, be 75% raw and no longer digging his grave with his teeth if I have anything to say about it!

Again, thank you for putting up this wonderful website and caring enough to help people find their own path on their journey to health.  I am now a walking, living testimony to this raw food life style.  I have recovered 100% from my injuries, have greater health than ever before, and I owe it all to The Raw Diva’s website.  Keep up the good work ladies!!!!!

Before I explain what I mean by that subject title, here’s a bit of what’s shaking around here and what we’ve been up to.

My First Video Blog! (And my last video as “The Raw Divas”)

I did it!!!  It took three years, and you’ll soon see why, but I finally did a video!!! You can check it out here, and you’ll be happy to know that doing this one certainly helped me get over some of my fears about it, so you won’t have to wait another three years for the next one!! If all goes as planned, you should have it next week!

Raw Mom Cooked Dad

If you’ve ever struggled to stick with it on the raw food program because cooked foods are everywhere you turn, or if you struggle with different food philosophies in the same home, then you’re going to want to get on board our upcoming FREE event called “Raw Mom, Cooked Dad.” We’ve got some half-baked ideas and steamy solutions that will help keep peace on the plate!

You’ll be hearing from David Wolfe, Ani Phyo, Frederic Patenaude, Alissa Cohen, Markus Rothkranz and over 30  featured speakers who are going to come and give us the goods on how to stick with it when the
going gets tough, how to know when to compromise and what kinds of compromises are safe to make. Batch baking, recipe making, you name it, we’ve covered it in this event!

We’ve surveyed over a thousand moms to get their tips, tricks, recipes and inspiration and we’ll be sharing it with you as part of this event, so if you’d like to be on board, you can sign up right away. There will be lots more information made available in the weeks to come.

Green Smoothie Detox

We’ve had so many requests to do another round of the green smoothie detox, that we’ve decided to start another round of it first thing next week. But we had to squeeze it in since we have some other big things coming up. This is the only message you’ll receive about this event, so if you’re interested in joining this detox, now would be a good time to make it happen. You can read more and sign up here.

What’s Happenin’ in Divaland

Before I scuttle off to scoop up the muffins, I just wanted to let you know about a few things worth checking out on the blogs this week:

Diva Blog (www.therawdivas.com/blog)

3 Deficiencies You Can Develop on the Raw Food Diet  by Dr. Ariel Policano

My First Video Blog! (Find out why it’s taken three YEARS to do the first one!)

Meet Lyn Wright: The New Director of The Raw Divas website.

Raw Mom (www.rawmom.com/blog)

Papaya Facials, Easy Salt Scrubs & Luscious Locks

A 3 Part Series on Homeschooling. Here’s Part One!

How to Treat a Vaginal Yeast Infection with Raw Garlic

Green Smoothie Queen (www.greensmoothieblog.com)

Stacey’s Busting Free From Bagels!! Learn More About How She’s Going to Do it HERE.

Green Smoothies Go North!!

Stacey’s Writing a New Green Smoothie Song. (Check out the old diva song here!)

Now, onto the juicy stuff about my upcoming “retirement”:

I’m Stepping Down From the Raw Divas So I Can Step Up to Life!

It’s been just over three years since the first raw divablog post and a lot has happened along the way. We now have a subscribership of over 52,000 women around the world–a mere trickle in the bottom of the bucket, because in so many ways, we’re just getting started.

So, naturally, you might be surprised to hear that I am “retiring” from the Raw Divas.

Let me explain…

While I’ve been plucking away behind my computer over the last few years, I’ve come up with some pretty good ideas and worked with fabulous people to help make things happen. And I’m grateful and excited about everything we’ve done so far.

But as clever creatures know, there are no flat lines in life.

In life things are either expanding or they’re deteriorating. You grow or you go. You know we’re not going anywhere, so the only direction from here is grow! Grow! Grow!

My father asked me one question that would change my life forever.

“Tera, what did Mary Kay sell?”

“Make-up?!”

“No. She sold something people could believe in and belong to.
She sold a community and she sold opportunities for women to empower themselves. ”

B-I-N-G-O!

I’m no Mary Kay, but the projects that we have built were never intended to stuff one woman’s  pockets, nor was I looking to create a self-indulgent empire all about me. These projects were built upon the hope that many women could become a part of it, could come on board and use the tools, the system to help make themselves a living doing what they love.

In order for me to really focus on the projects that I love and that I know are going to help me realize my vision for this company, I need to get out of my own way and let someone with better skills, more attention, less multitasking, oodles of passion and a strong desire to create a powerful community take the lead.

I’d like you to meet a few of the women who are making this happen now:

Meet Stacey

The “Green Smoothie Queen” made her début a few years ago with our first ever 3-day green smoothie challenge. Since then, tens of thousands of green smoothie guzzlers have come on board to experience the goodness of blended lawnmower pulp, and the demand for green smoothies was more than this raw diva could manage on her own. So, I invited Stacey on board to start making it her own.

Stacey is witty and pretty, she writes well and she’s a fiddlin’ gal who sings like an angel. From her cozy little apartment in Winnipeg, Manitoba she spends her time working on the green smoothie blog, green smoothie detox programs and cuddling her new cat, “Cash.”  She’s the creator of our Raw Diva themesong (did you know that we had one?!!) and you can catch her singing it here.

Her personal goal is to turn the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba into the Smoothie Capital of the WORLD!  (it’s currently the slurpee capital of the world). She’s got her work cut out for her but we’re confident that donut shops in her city will be chanting choruses about chlorophyll in no time.

Meet Fiona

Passionate and fiercy loyal to all things that make the world a better place, Fiona is the director of our Raw Mom site. She’s got experience teaching young  children, in marketing and promotion, and she has a beautiful family of her own with three children.

She’s collaborating with me on the production of the Raw Mom, Cooked Dad event happening very soon (!!!) and has some amazing products and resources for moms and children that will be coming up on the site.

She’s busy building class planners that you can print off and take to your school with all the materials you need to give classes on ice cream, sprouting, green smoothies and other cool stuff kids love. It’s about more than just helping your kids get healthy, but having a positive impact on the youth in your community. Helping your kids inspire change in others!

She’s got big plans for Raw Mom and since she’s come onboard the community has really started to come alive! Fiona lives all the way over the ocean in the U.K. and her dream is to provide as much support as possible to mothers and families inspired by healthy living and the raw food diet.

So… we’ve covered the Green Smoothie site, we’ve covered the Raw Mom site…

Which leaves us with The Raw Divas. This project has been the heart and soul of all we do until now.

I can assure you that choosing to give up the throne on this project wasn’t easy. It required someone who shared the same world view as I do, who could market like a ninja in high heels, and who could make the Raw Diva project something better than I could do on my own. And I found her.

Meet Lyn Wright.

If Lyn and I were aliens, we most definitely came from the same planet!! And while the color of our hair may
lend itself to different generations, she’s got the experience and wisdom of a wise woman and the spunk of a frisky teenager!! Lyn’s passion is health and the well-being of others and she’s made her living up until now in marketing and promotion. You can actually read all about her here on the blog.

She’s here to help make the Raw Divas something bigger and better than I could do on my own, and she’s going to keep that blog hopping and get a lot more more Viva in our Diva!

Lyn’s goal is to work with me to expand this project so that Mary Kay can one day look down at an army of electric pink eco-cars and smile from above in admiration of the things we’ve accomplished.

So you see, my sweet, I’m not disappearing completely.

There are a lot of changes that will be happening in the months to come.  Until these changes are put in place, you’ll still find my sassy contributions on all these sites. But I’ll be moving to a behind the scenes role so these women can step up to make these projects even better than I could have done on my own.

And as for me, dear %$firstname$%, I will be rolling out some very exciting things and while I will wait to give you more of the details until next week, I will start by saying that it has something to do with this very brave and courageous act done by Doll this week, my assistant and our customer service queen.

I’ll let you take a peek and fill you in on more details next week.

Until then, have a fabulous weekend and know that I am simply glowing with gratitude for your presence and your support of what we do here. None of us could be here without YOU making it all happen.

Gushing with gratitude,

Tera
p.s.

Since I will be weaning myself off the diva blog, most of my personal updates, pictures and articles will be happening on my new facebook page. Please come join me here and check out why yesterday was one of my best days EVER!!!

So, you are loving the raw diet, right?

You’ve lost weight, you have more energy, and a positively juicy new outlook on life. Fantastic! A raw vegan diet is filled with nutrition, vital force, enzymes and is free of nasty preservatives and chemicals. It is truly amazing. Still, even on a raw or high raw diet, it is good to have a health “check-in” from time to time. The fact is there are actually a few deficiencies that could develop on a raw, vegan diet if you aren’t aware of them. They can develop if you are not meticulous about having diversity and perfect balance. And really, who is? Here are 3 markers I feel are crucial to keep your eye on. This way, you can be sure you are staying healthy in every way on your raw vegan diet.

1) Ferritin (your iron stores).

2) B12 Levels, measured as methylmalonic acid (MMA).

3) Cholesterol (wait to be surprised here!).

1) Ferritin.

It is important to keep your levels of iron healthy. Of course, iron allows the transport of oxygen to your cells via the blood. Low iron levels are commonly referred to as anemia. One of the most common signs of iron deficiency anemia is sensitivity to cold weather. You feel like you cannot get warm no matter what! Another sign you can look at are changes in your thumbnail. Yes, your thumbnail. Look at it from a side angle. Do you see a dip in your nail? This can happen from the deoxygenation of cells over a period of time. It is a “secret” sign of your body that you need to check your iron levels.

Now, back to those labs. The iron levels in your blood may show up as normal even if you are on the edge of becoming anemic. Ferritin, which are your stores of iron, provides a much more accurate check of whether you are running out of “gas”. It has been said that iron-rich blood gives you charisma. Now, who wants to be without that for very long?

Ferritin levels are very important to check to avoid iron deficiency anemia. The range for women is 12-300. I would address levels below 50. Depending on how low it is, supplementation may be in order. The company Floradix carries and “Iron and Herbs” mix that is tried and true for vegans. If you are very anemic, however, this is going to be a slow intervention. In this case, you may want to supplement with a chelated iron such as iron aspartate. For those worried about iron supplements causing constipation, no need to lose any sleep. Ferrous sulfate is a form of iron is prescribed by many MD’s in high doses (325mg) at one time. This type of iron is more likely to cause things to “slow down” or to be clear, cause constipation. Also, the dose we are talking about with the iron aspartate is about 30mg, more or less.

Keep in mind some foods that are high in iron so that you can avoid a deficiency. They include Jerusalem artichokes, cherries, blackberries, nettles, spinach, dates, Swiss chard, burdock root, sea vegetables like kelp, and (yum) figs. Iron needs to constantly be renewed, especially if you are physically active. So, round up some of these foods soon!

2) B12 – Methylmalonic Acid.

MMA is considered to be a more accurate check of Vitamin B12 levels. It will tell you if you are developing a deficiency before it will show up in the serum (blood) B12 levels. Having a B12 deficiency is serious business. It is probably the most risky deficiency that can develop out of a vegan or raw vegan diet. There are many things you can do to prevent it, you just need to be aware of them!

Just getting back to MMA for a moment. If you don’t have enough B12, MMA levels will increase. That is because B12 helps to convert MMA to a crazy substance called succinyl CoA. Succinyl CoA is a raw material that helps you to produce ATP, the raw fuel of your body. Which is why…one of the signs of low Vitamin B12 is fatigue.

The more serious sign of a vitamin B12 deficiency is parasthesia, or numbness in the extremities. The old pins and needles feeling, but for an extended time. The reason this is so dangerous is that it is irreversible. Yep. As in, permanent. You really don’t want to dance with the possibility of a B12 deficiency.

As a doc, I do recommend that this is the one place that you consider taking a B12 supplement on a regular basis. Why take any chances?

Here are some food-based ways to keep your B12 levels up. You can have nutritional yeast for vitamin B12. Caution, caution, caution! I recommend you look at Red Star Nutritional Yeast if you want to go with this option as they have one of the highest quality nutritonal yeast products. Get it fresh! Nutritional yeast that is out in the bulk bins, or has been sitting on the shelf for a long time is less likely to have sufficient levels of B12.

Are you a clean freak? You might be a good candidate for a B12 supplement. Washing your fruit and vegetables really thoroughly is excellent for clearing the germs, but you may also be washing off the soil-based organisms that build your B12 levels.

Foods that contain B12, but are questionable for reliable supplementation include spirulina, blue-green algae and sea veggies like dulse. I love these superfoods for many reasons, but I would not rely on them for sufficient quantities of B12. In Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford lets us know that this type of B12 may be an analogue of the B12 that our body utilizes. Enjoy the other high nutrition of minerals and amino acids in these foods.

Are you in love with raw sauerkraut? How about kombucha? Like to take mega-doses of probiotics as a hobby? Well, if your intestines are rich in healthy bacteria, you may be producing sufficient quantities of B12 internally. Of course, with people taking so many antibiotics and not having a healthy share of probiotics they are more at risk of having a B12 deficiency.

3) Cholesterol

OK, hold on to your hats and your shares in your pharmaceutical companies! Your cholesterol may be TOO LOW. If you have total cholesterol below 160, you may want to consider getting those levels UP, yes up.

Is cholesterol just some pesky toxin that we are trying to ban from our bodies with every opportunity? The drug companies make it seem that way, don’t they? Cholesterol is a crucial raw material for healthy hormones including reproductive hormones and adrenal hormones. It is also an important component in cell membranes. You want to love up your cell membranes! They surround your cells, allowing only certain things in (like good nutrition) and making sure that all the waste products get out. A healthy cell membrane is crucial to disease prevention including cancer.

Low cholesterol levels have been correlated with depression, anxiety, risk of hemorrhagic stroke and premature births. Pretty crazy! You might notice that you are craving saturated fats, or that you are feeling a little fatigued or just “not right”. Have your labs done and then check out the parameters below.

If I were looking at your labs, I would want to see total cholesterol above 160, LDL above 90 (even up to 110), and HDL above 50. If your total cholesterol or LDL is low, I want to recommend that you really make an effort to get some saturated fats into your diet. Of course, coconut oil satisfies this need, and so does cocoa butter (the fat portion of raw chocolate). Red palm oil is also another oil to consider. It is really beautiful to look at because it is also rich in beta-carotene, which is pretty cool. This is the palm oil that is NOT partially hydrogenated. Check out organic virgin Palm Oil from Tropical Traditions.

I suggest that once per year you give yourself a gift and check in with a health practitioner who is knowledgeable about raw vegan nutrition. Here are the labs that I suggest you have done each year:

• CBC – Complete blood count
• Chemistry Panel – numerous checks including fasting blood sugar, liver and kidney markers
• TSH – Thyroid marker
• Lipid panel – fats including good and bad cholesterol
• Vitamin D-25-Hydroxy – Best marker of your Vitamin D levels
• Ferritin – Iron Stores

It only takes a small investment of your time and attention to truly inform yourself about what you need to thrive and avoid deficiencies. You’re worth the effort.

To you health,

Dr. Ariel Policano

Dr. Ariel Policano has been studying live food nutrition for over 15 years. She is a licensed naturopathic physician and a graduate of the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Ariel helps people to optimize their health with a balanced diet of living foods, superfoods and other cutting-edge nutritional interventions. She is the creator of the Body Bliss Cleanse, which is an effective 14-day supplement program. Dr. Ariel is available for phone consultations and works with clients around the world.

It’s been over 3 years now that I’ve been humming and hawing about doing my own video blog. I did one with Mika and Sebastian, but then I was just the silent assistant, so it was easy. MAC helped me take the camera out into a sunny place and we tried to do a video for the Believe in Green project.

Here’s about as far as I got.

Now that I’ve broken the video ice a bit, it doesn’t feel that difficult, and I’ve already started getting ready for another one next week.
Stay tuned and thanks for cheering me on through my stage fright.

Tera

p.s.

Please let me know what kinds of topics you’d like me to cover in an upcoming video blog? Spare us all from another cheesy home video and let me know what kind of funky topics you’d like me to

I’ve been a fan and follower of The Raw Divas site since it first came out.  It has helped me a lot and I love telling others about it.  I love how it’s actually a community and that things are kept FUN!

I’ve been interested in nutrition for a loooong time (yes – I’m old!) because I was very motivated to find a better way to handle my health problems.

I didn’t get off to a very good start.

As a toddler I had severe asthma which also led to catching anything that came along.  My mom was a chain smoker but no one back in the 50’s thought to tell her not to smoke around me!

For fear that I’d miss too much school, my doctor put me on ‘desensitizing shots’.  This seemed to stop the asthma during the 5 years while on the shots, but it caused weight gain and after the shots were done, the asthma, while far less frequent, would flare up at times.

My ‘teen rebellion’ was to reject the food I’d grown up with, reject the idea of using medical drugs to handle health issues and start trying to eat right and exercise so as to control the asthma without drugs.

At that time there wasn’t all the information there is now, and I’d barely heard anything about a vegetarian diet, much less a raw diet.

My ‘big changes’ were things like using ‘whole wheat’ flour, eating less meat, and using honey instead of sugar. Can you imagine – that was radical in my world back then!  My mom hated whole wheat bread and purposely sought out the whitest bread she could find!  My brothers still tease me about my first whole wheat/honey cookies that they decided were perfect for their sling shots!

I had pretty good success.  My tactic was to improve the removal of toxins – with running and exercise, while at the same time increasing my nutrient intake.  This helped prevent the asthma and helped control my weight for the most part.  I also handled PMS by observing what I would crave, usually chips, and realizing that the very foods I was craving were the ones that caused extra bloating and therefore extra pain.  Once I stopped eating the stuff I was craving right before my period, I had no more PMS. I felt great most of the time.  I thought I was pretty hot stuff.

I had a rude awakening during my pregnancy.

I got really sick!  And I mean REALLY sick!  Not just morning sickness.  I couldn’t hold anything down, hurt everywhere, had heart palpations, asthma back with a vengeance and I had a ‘glaucoma’ attack and lost some of my vision.  Not only did I feel horrible, I worried about my baby and it also hit my pride.  Here I’d thought I was eating so much better than everyone around me and knew what I was doing.

Once again I found nutrition served me well.  An acquaintance ordered me (love her!) to go get Adelle Davis’s book and do her anti-stress program – NOW!  We went out and bought a TON of vitamins and everything we needed for her ‘protein’ drink.  She had you sip on 4 oz. of the drink and take a huge handful of vitamins every 3 hours, around the clock, if awake.

It was amazing.  I went to feeling like I was on my deathbed to back at work in 3 days.  As long as I continued on it, I did great.  And funny thing was, it was a milk based drink.  I know now that I’m allergic to milk! It’s still one of the mysteries of life how in the world it helped me so much.  My theory: I think I was absorbing about zero nutrition, and that it threw so much in, that even if I only absorbed 10%, it was enough to start improving things.  And I also know now that my adrenals were shot and that it was a program designed to help the adrenals.

So, I recovered from that ordeal. Nursed my son (for a loooong time), determined to reduce his risk of developing allergies.  (which worked!)

In the many years between then and now about all I’ve struggled with was weight.  Occasionally the Asthma.  I was semi-vegetarian.  I didn’t eat meat all the time, and more like a seasoning when I did. Not as a main course.

When Fit for Life came out it moved me closer to being a vegetarian.  And somewhere in there I found out some of the foods I was allergic to.

Age, Pre-menopause and Menopause have brought a lot of new challenges. Weight issues, eyes worse, more aches and pains, nails getting weak, moods not so great at times… I started reading more and more and looking for more answers.

I discovered the raw food movement about 6 years ago.  I didn’t jump in fully but I did at least eat more raw foods, made green smoothies daily when they came out, and ate a lot more greens.

Then about 3 years ago, I went to a nutritionist and through hair analysis found out my minerals were low, adrenals low and soon after thyroid low.  Then thanks to the Gianni’s recommending doing blood tests once in awhile and a program by Dr. Rita Marie, I found out my vitamin D levels were low and verified the thyroid is low.  Taking the vitamin D made a huge difference in how I felt.

Then at a free test I also found out I had some osteopenia.

Yikes – I was getting horrified.  I thought I was one of the people taking good care of myself.  How could this be???  What isn’t falling apart?!

I read a few things that gave me a wakeup call.  One talked about not procrastinating when it came to handling any health issues.  It’s so easy to put off an exercise program, to lose the weight you need to lose, to really lose the bad eating habits that are hurting your health.  I think it was Dr. Berg.  Then he also had a post about how it’s wrong to think just a little bit won’t hurt – it can!

I realized, I had all this information, but I had never really broken free of all the cravings and bad habits that prevented me from really eating an optimum diet.   It was great I hadn’t eaten the SAD diet all my life.  But I’d never really done enough to fully address all the harm that had been done early on.

So, I decided I really needed to step it up.  Really get off of chocolate and sugar this time.  Truly stop eating any foods I’m allergic to (like gluten!).  Not even a little bit.  No more food samples where I work.  No more thinking, ‘It’s just one bite.’

Then Raw Divas to the rescue!

Even though I send people there a lot, I hadn’t really participated for a long time.  I did the 3 day green smoothie challenge and then went right onto the 21 day cleanse. It has really made a huuuggggge difference.  I have been doing so much better – and for longer – than any other time I’ve tried being high raw.  I’m off of chocolate and sugar and not craving them.  I’ve been completely gluten free for over two months.  Completely milk free for two months.

I’ve finally lost some weight, aches and pains reduced to almost nothing, no headaches, more energy, sleeping a lot better, a lot more cheerful and playful ….

I feel empowered!  When there are bad foods around, I haven’t been the least bit interested in cheating.   It is so freeing to just do it and get to the place where you are not fighting with yourself.  Trying hard to resist, then failing to resist, then beating yourself up over it!

I should have stayed connected up 3 years ago when I did my first Raw Divas program!

Here’s a list of some of the things I think really helped me. Maybe it will help you.

1. Get connected up to like-minded people – like Raw Divas – and do the programs, access the online community and connect!
2. Keep reading – you never know when you’ll read something that will help you understand your situation better or give a tip that moves things forward. Do like Tera says, observe for yourself what is working or not and trust that you can figure out what works for you better than any ‘expert’ can.  You can get the help of a nutritionist or health oriented doctor, but don’t make them responsible for your health.  You be the captain.
3. Really decide – no more procrastinating. Why not have great health now, before things have gotten so bad that now you have to take action.  It’s never too late – but don’t wait for a heart attack, diabetes or cancer to decide it’s time to take action.
4. Get rid of the idea that a little bit doesn’t hurt. The foods you are probably tempted by are the ones that are VERY addictive – meat, cheese, chocolate, sugar, salt.   Or, they are foods you are allergic too.  And, if they are a processed food they will also have additives to make them even more addictive – like MSG, sugar and salt.   The more you eat of them, the harder the ‘addiction’ and the harder to stay away from them.
5. Use Fit-day! While on the cleanse Tera introduced us to Fitday.  This was a real eye-opener.  I saw that I wasn’t getting enough calories during the day, which was why I was over-eating at night.  And, I could see that I was eating way too much fat!   It was amazing to see how just a little bit of nuts could take me from 15% fat for the day to 30-40% for the day.
6. Journaling. Telling other people in the group what I was eating, how I was feeling, how I was doing, seeing how they were doing, sharing tips – really is a big help!  This really helped me to sort out issues that made me reach for the wrong foods or overeat.
7. Decide to make life more fun! Finding things that gave me pleasure – like great music, great conversations, activities I enjoy.  Don’t let food be the main entertainment.
8. I didn’t do this intentionally – but somewhere in there I stopped watching TV for an hour each night before going to bed.  I think getting busier with things I enjoyed or wanted to work on made this happen.  It was part of the ‘put more fun’ in my life decision.

Here’s my recipe that I used when weaning myself off of chocolate.  By making my green smoothie a ‘chocolate smoothie’ temporarily, I didn’t become a rabid chocoholic later in the day.

‘Get me off of chocolate Green Smoothie’

Ingredients:

• About 2 cups of water
• ¼-1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or other berries)
• 1 heaping T of raw chocolate powder (once I was out, I just continued with the carob and didn’t miss the chocolate)
• 2 heaping T of raw carob powder
• A big shake of cinnamon and big shake of Kelp powder (optional)
• ½ – 1 avocado (optional – I don’t usually add avocadoes, but I wanted this one creamy like a chocolate shake)
• Huge amount of spinach – 3 – 4 big handfuls until the entire top of the blender was full.

So, that’s my story!  A BIG thank you to everyone at Raw Divas!  I love you all!

Xoxoxo,

Lyn Wright

It’s important to me to give a bit of attention to the people who helped make BiG happen. It was really a treat to get the chance to hook up with these green scene stars on the phone for a one on one call about what will make the world a better place and inspire us all to take a bit more responsibility for the way things are.

Green Urban Goddess Sarma Melngailis is about a lot more than mouth-watery desserts and classy restaurant. It was fascinating to get a sense of all the work that goes on behind the scene. We see malomars and chocolate mint cookies, but there’s so much more to it. Listening to her talk about her uncompromising commitment to organic, raw ingredients inspired me is a reminder that we vote with out dollars!

It takes guts to make hippie a hip thing to do, and the thing I loved most about this call was when she shared a bit about the fact that she goes out of her way to choose staff who are not vegetarian or raw to ensure that she creates a comfortable experience for anyone who comes into her restaurant.

Sarma’s got style and there’s no denying it. You can catch her interview when you sign up for BiG and learn more about how you, too, can be a lucky duck when you check out her online store and score yourself some of her treats and eats!

Next time you’re sitting there feeling sorry for yourself about not having enough money or time or having too much to do, then pull out tonight’s interview with Kris Carr and listen to it again and again and again!

The fact that she’s taken one of the heaviest words out there and turned it into a “crazy sexy” thing means she’s tapped into her superpowers in a BiG way! THAT is the power of thought, the power of attitude and gratitude and living in joy, and that’s exactly why we asked Kris to be a part of our Believe in Green project.

Lucky for us, she said yes! You’ll love this inspiring interview with Kris and after listening you’ll want another dose of her positivity and you can dose up here.

The only man on our BiG thinkers panel was Anthony Anderson, also known as “the raw model.”

And now that you’ve seen his picture, I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not why I invited him, you frisky critter!! I invited him because he loves getting his fingers in the dirt and has some amazing advice and inspiration for BiG thinkers like you. He’s passionate about permaculture and by the end of this call, you will be too!

I was so impressed with the content he shared in this call and had more positive feedback about this call than any other. He was in a fantastic space for this call and I hope you’ll sign up for Believe in Green so you can soak up some of his wisdom and wonderfulness. (Even though this event has ended, you can still access the calls for free!)

Robyn knows how to speak to anyone and help create a comfortable gradient with objectives that feel realistic. She also is the single mom of 4 children (3 of which are teenagers) and so she knows how to shop on a budget, multitask, run a business and still make time for healthy living. You can sign up to access her interview here:

I am delighted to present Majora Carter.

Major was so busy we had to reschedule this interview about 4 times!  That’s probably part of the reason that when the interview started, she thought I was just another annoying journalist.   Jimmy the web wonder worker actually forgot to edit the part where Majora told me to look online for the answers to the questions I was asking!!

*gasp!* She thought it was a print interview.

I’ve never felt THIS worried that I’d be met with one word answers during an interview. She was a tough nut to crack, but once I managed to speak a few of the words that resonate with her, she actually ended the interview by calling me “sweetheart.” I received a lot of great feedback about this call. Majora was the first person to help create a public park in the South Bronx in over 60 years!!

If she was a tough nut to crack, it’s only because that’s what it takes to make things happen where she lives. The thing you need to know about Majora is that she’s seen a lot. She grew up in places you and I have never really known and she CHOOSES to live there still because she’s committed to making things better. I suggest you sign up to catch this interview and for more information about her, visit her website or catch her super-inspiring TED talk!

The next si-star to grace our BiG stage with her presence was the lovely Angela Stokes-Monarch! What a treat to connect with her again. She’s come along way from being 160 pounds overweight and while in the beginning her motivations were to lose weight and improve her personal health, she’s now inspired by her ability to touch the lives of tens of thousands of other women and men around the world.

I invited her to take the BiG stage because she’s invested a lot of time recently in learning more about sustainable living, and she’s nearly achieved that ideal for herself. When you sign up to catch this interview you’ll get to hear about some of her favorite resources for growing your own food and sustainable living, and you’ll also find out what she wanted to be when she was a little girl and how, in a certain way, that’s exactly what she ended up doing!!

You can sign up to access these calls for FREE at any time, but I suggest you fork our the ten smackeroos that will go to helping the Girls’ Club, too.
Thanks again for your support!

I’ve interviewed Victoria a few times, but this was by far my favorite. I was so surprised by some of her answers and her outburst of love and appreciation at the end of the interview is probably something I should record and listen to when I get up every morning. You can listen to the Believe in Green interviews at any time, and while you can sign up and listen to the calls for FREE, we encourage you to drop a wee bit of cash knowing that your $10 donation will go to support the Lower East Side Girls’ Club and their health and nutrition programs.

Here are a few reasons to sign up and listen to Victoria’s call

• She explains how to avoid the gross green smoothie experience of having your food taste like lawnmower pulp.
• Her personal routine is super inspiring.
• She’s got great advice for new comers!
• She gives a few secrets to foraging for wild edible greens that I had never heard before and added dozens of new plants to my wild repertoire.
• She’s got one of the best attitudes a human can possibly have.
• She’s the queen of green smoothies doing great things to make a better world, and listening to her will make YOU want to get up and do great things, too!

You can access Victoria’s interview when you sign up for the Believe in Green event here.

Thanks again for supporting this program!