Raw Food Chick Blog

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Beginning



Well, its me, Nanners, Starting my first blog. What- oh - what to write about. Adventures of the Raw Food Chick. I have always been fascinated by blogging, what started this craze, why do people want to read it, what keeps them coming back, who actually has the time to write this stuff, let alone read it. All these are valid points but here I am jumping on the bandwagon.

For me personally, I have the urge to write and talk about raw vegan foods, health issues and my own raw self-discovery, even if I am the only one to ever read it. Why you ask??? Because raw foods have changed my life, I feel better, and look better and have tons of energy and I am more physically fit then I ever thought possible - wow, I better slow down, I am beginning to sound like an infomercial.

But here are the facts. I spent a large part of my life in the food industry, studying food, working with food, preparing food, eating food, serving food and for what??? I never really felt good about the food I was eating and serving. I grew up in the Midwest with a very basic meat and potatoes upbringing. Bologna was one of the staples in my life...Is it any wonder I never felt good about food???

No matter how I ate, afterwards I felt bloated or buzzed or just plain lethargic. Not to mention, being a diehard animal lover, I never felt good about killing animals for food. Food has so many emotions tied up with it. It does, after all, rhyme with Mood. It took me years to finally figure out that everything you put in your mouth does have an affect on your body.

There really is a lot of truth to "you are what you eat". Do you want to feel bad about the food you nourish yourself with - No! - of course not. Once I made that simple correlation, it was the first step in me changing my eating habits and life style. I stopped eating meat - cold turkey - no pun intended. Basically anything with a face, I stopped eating. Not a popular decision in the Midwest. No one understood it. How can you survive???? And of course, the ever popular, "Where do you get your protein????"

So I continued on this path, even with all the skeptics, I marched on. I felt better about my food choices, but still had many of the same side affects. Although I became a vegetarian, I was not Vegan, I was still eating Dairy, not to mention sugar, wheat and good old white bread. I was following what was "known" to be a healthy Standard American Diet (or SAD) and following guidelines published by the USDA but my body was telling me something else..... something was just not setting right... I thought I was doing everything right according to my schooling and following the food pyramid of the SAD. But still, I didn't feel like I was giving my body everything it needed.

Then I had one of those moments in life when you just get stopped right in your tracks - my sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal cancer. That is when my survival instincts kicked in full blast. I started researching alternative methods of care and nutrition. It became an obsession with me, on the internet for hours, talking to anyone and everyone, looking for some answers. I wanted to find the something, anything to help my sister.

It was during this time I was introduced to raw foods through the internet and also from my sister's dear friend and massage therapist. RAW FOODS....what is that? Sushi, Steak Tartar, raw cookie dough? No - none of the above. (kind of a shame about the raw cookie dough, :-) It it just a way of eating where the food is not heated about 118 degrees. (The exact temperature varies slightly from source to source) but that is the basis.

It includes fresh, organic, uncooked fruits and vegetables, raw nuts, raw seeds, beautiful, colorful, food that is full of life and energy. No preservatives, dairy, no frozen TV dinners, and no packaged meals that are so full of ingredients and chemicals that I can't pronounce, let alone spell. It seemed like everything finally started to make sense to me.

So I started to experiment. I made healthy smoothies that were coconut water based, packed with nutrition and were really yummy. These smoothies were some of the only food my sister was able to tolerate, especially after a round of chemo. They were nutritionally dense yet very easy for her to digest.

I made her a variety of these super smoothies and they were very comforting to her. They reminded her of a good old-fashioned milkshake, but with out all the side affects from dairy and processed sugar. It was important to her to have some of her comfort foods when she was feeling so ill. It made me happy that I could make a tasty shake and still give her some much-needed nutrition. Although, in the end, these foods didn’t save her because her cancer was so far advanced, I am convinced they helped to improve the quality of her life up to the end.

After her death, I still continued on with the study of raw foods. Seeing what a positive affect they had on my sister and on me. While I was preparing food for my sister, I decided to go raw as well. I had so many wonderful food choices I never felt deprived. I was able to eat a good amount of food and still I lost weight, food was easier to digest, I lost that bloated feeling, I also had so much energy and no sugar highs/lows because I cut out all processed sugar. My body actually seemed to know what to do with the food I was putting in my body and make good use of it.

Even with all the sadness of losing my sister, going raw was a awesome experience for me and that is the bottom line why I decided to start this blog, I want share this with others so they can feel good too. And so it has begun....... That is it for today.

Stay tuned if you like, I will be continuing on with how I went raw and how it affected me, both the good and the bad. I will also be giving suggestions on how to go raw or at least incorporate more of the lovely, vibrant foods into your diet. And believe me, there are lots of tasty foods to choose from. I hope to see you back here. I would enjoy the company.

Bye for now. Be well.

Nanners

2 Comments:

  • At 3:05 PM, Blogger Nanners said…

    Of course!!! I will be posting more recipes as I go along but here is a basic recipe that will get you started.

    1 1/2 cups coconut water
    2 frozen bananas (I just keep bananas in the freezer and pull them out as needed)
    1T Agave Nectar(or can substitute pure maple syrup or raw honey. Agave can be found at most health food stores.)
    1 teaspoon vanilla.

    Blend in a high speed blender until smooth - it turns out like a creamy milk shake. Yummy

    Lots of variations to this...Can change the fruit depending on what they feel like. With my sister some days she could tolerate bananas and the next day she wanted strawberries so I could just substitute any desired fruit. Typically about 1 1/2 - 2 cups fruit, depending on the desired thickness.

    There are many variations - you can throw in some frozen strawberries and make strawberry-banana combo. Or just make all strawberries or all blueberries. What ever combo appeals to you. Peach and mango are usually quite soothing on the belly and you can put a touch of ginger in - will also help with the nausea. Hemp seeds can be added 1-2T. These are great and have a slightly nutty flavor and are extremely high in protein, sold in most health food stores and no, they don't get you stoned. :-)

    Coconut water is one of the most hydrating liquids on the planet. You can buy Young Thai coconuts in most health food stores or Asian Grocery stores, Cut them open and drain. You can also scrape out the coconut meat and add to the smoothie for a really yummy, creamy texture. It can also also be purchased in bottles/containers in most health food stores as well. Just make sure that it is 100% coconut water and no sugar or any other additives.

    Dairy can aggravate the nausea that is why I use the coconut water or sometimes would subsitute Almond Milk.

    Hope that helps. Check back on the blog for more recipe ideas.

    Blessings to you and your friend.

    Be well.

     
  • At 8:33 AM, Blogger Susan said…

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