Raw Food Life Force Engery

In my last blog, I introduced my experience with the book Raw Food Life Force Energy by Natalia Rose. This book has seriously changed my life an set me on a new path.

Here's a review: This book is a great introduction to the raw food diet and lifestyle. She makes it easy for anyone to transition to a diet containing a greater amount of "life force containing" foods. Anyone with any prior eating habits, at any eating level can incorporate her advice to any degree he/she chooses. She doesn't tell you to go 100% raw immediately, in fact, she recommends not doing so. She even offers the freedom not to go 100% raw...ever, if you desire! That's what I mean by this book being completely accessible to anyone. Meat eaters, dairy lovers, vegetarians, and vegans alike can all learn a great deal from this book. Of course, she does suggest eating healthier version of foods like meat an dairy, but again, her plan makes you feel comfortable about incorporating this diet to whatever degree you choose. I found her information on food combining the most helpful. When eating raw, it's easy to miscombine your food. That's exactly what caused me so many problems the first time I went raw. Anyhow, every recipe that I've tried has been delicious. Some of the recipes I let my own inspiration make changes here and there, but rarely do I come across a book where the recipes are all amazing. She also gives tips on how to incorporate this diet into your life if you are on a budget. That was especially helpful to me. One thing this book doesn't have, that other raw books do have, are the complicated, raw gourmet recipes which require soaking, sprouting, dehydrating, and a lot of time. All of her recipes are fast and simple with easy to acquire ingredients. If you are looking for a book with more gourmet recipes, there are numerous others. This one is perfect in its simplicity.

My experience: I transitioned from my current diet and immediately began eating more raw and "life force containing" foods. I incorporated her suggestion of daily deep breathing and exercise (I chose morning yoga sun salutes and walking as my main forms) and tried my best to eat "light to heavy" every day and combine my meals properly. Of course, I didn't always follow either of these rules perfectly, but it was all part of the learning experience. She encourages doing your best, not perfection. As I am on a budget, I didn't include "body brushing" until very recently when I finally bought a natural bristle dry body brush, and I have yet to try colonics. Colonics sound interesting and a little wierd, but I do want to try them before deciding wether or not they would be a good practice to incorporate into my life. I have experienced (nearly) two sets of 21 day plans (21 days is just what she reccommends you try, but of course, this can be a lifetime thing if you feel it is right for you) and have written down everything I have eaten, how certain foods made me feel, and the lessons I've learned. I will not reporduce my entire records here, but I will share a summary of all that I have experienced.

First 21 days: Day one, I started my practice of waking up ten minutes earlier in order to rev up my body with a few yoga sun salute sequences. I quickly learned that this gave me more energy and made my body feel better. For my first few days, I had Master Cleanse lemon juice upon waking; fruit for breakfast; veggies in veggie broth, avacado cabbage wraps, or salads for lunch; and whole wheat pasta with marinara and sprouted wheat bread for dinner. On day five I tried a raw zuchini and squash pasta with a macadamia nut alfredo sauce, and on day six I had a baked sweet potato with salad and sprouted wheat (s.w.) bread. On day 8, I experienced my lightest, healthiest Thanksgiving of all time. Morning and breakfast went as usual but for Thanksgiving dinner, I had a veggie and balsamic vinegar salad, raw "pumpkin pie in a bowl" carrot soup, and a baked sweet potato. For dessert I had a raw coconut based pudding from Whole Foods (these puddings are amazing). I felt so good. It was by far the best I have felt after a Thanksgiving dinner. As the days progressed, I began swapping my whole wheat (w.w.) pasta dishes and cooked veggie soups for more salads, zuchini pastas with marinara, continued eating s.w. bread with meals, and started drinking the elixirs from the book, like "life force power ade." I also started enjoying a few pieces to 1/2 bar of 70% dark chocolate for dessert. On day 11, I went to Chaco Canyon, the vegan and raw foods restaurant in Seattle. I had the raw pizza with salad and a slice of raw cheesecake. Later I had the juice and meat of a young coconut and a raw nut based chocolate fudge from Chaco Canyon. At the end of the day, I felt a little over-full and overloaded with nuts, but not too horrible. On day 12 I tried a couple recipes from Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen including spinach avacado dip and blueberry cashew based cheesecake. I ate too much, and remembered that fresh fruit and raw nuts don't combine well. Over the next couple days, I continued eating the spinach dip but realized I preferred plain avacados with seasoning or a big salad to the dip with veggie chips. It was just too filling. My dinners continued to consist of big salads (usually with avacado, cumumber, tomato, red bell pepper, onion, and carrots and a splash of apple cider/balsamic vinegar and agave nectar). After reading Cohen's book, I had to remind myself not to get sucked in by the raw books that don't focus on food combining the way Rose's does. The better my food combos, the better I felt.

On Day 15, something significant happened: I experimented with dairy cheese. Now let's back up a second. After reading R.F.L.F.E. I learned that soy products and processed foods in general are not ideal and should be avoided. I had heard this every now and then, but just ignored it. When I committed to trying this program, I promised myself I would follow her plan. If it worked, it worked. If not, I could always go back to my old diet. So I cut out soy; soymilk, soy cheese, soy meats. I realized that most of my favorite vegan foods are just processed junk. No wonder I was starting to feel like crap. Now, I will never speak badly of the vegan diet; eating vegan is AMAZING and wonderful. I LOVE vegan food. I really LOVE vegan JUNK food! But certain people just don't digest certain foods well. I am understanding this is true with me, because I have only been able to loose weight when eating raw or mostly raw. So, anyhow, armed with my new info, I started to wonder if I would miss cheese, now that vegan cheese was going to be rare (if at all) in my diet. While there are many raw nut "cheeses," none of them are that good. Besides, I'm trying NOT to overdose on nuts again. And in her book, Rose discusses the possibility of eating raw goat cheese. Goats milk in general digests much easier than cows' milk, and when in raw form, it digests even easier--easier than nut cheeses, even! I'd been vegan for over a year so I felt really guilty about my desire to try this raw goat cheese. It was so easy to be vegan, but I truly wanted to try this goat cheese for myself and see how it made me feel. I've always been such a cheese lover. But cruelty to animals, slaughterhouse practices, and--most moving for me personally--the health hazards of eating dairy made me turn to vegan options instead. So I fought with myself about whether or not to try raw goat cheese. The hardest part was facing the fact that I would no longer be labeled "vegan." And I was afraid I would disappoint everyone who knew me. But then I decided that a label does not make me who I am; I do. And I am no one but me no matter what I eat. So I went to Whole Foods and picked up a block of aged, rennet-free (in other terms, vegetarian) raw goat cheese. I felt like a total whore! I thought the vegan police was going to pop out at any moment and arrest me. But I relaxed as I got home and made a simple meal: Portobello mushrooms topped with warm marinara and a sprinkle of raw goat cheese. I didn't die. I loved it. It was tasty. So I decided that I do like raw goat cheese. Whether or not I will continue to eat it on a regular basis, I still have not decided. I don't intend on going "cheese crazy" with it or anything, but I do like the option. So now that I am over the guilt of letting my veganism slip, I can get over my beloved label. Vegan will always hold my heart, but I do personally like my current experiene with the occasional addition of the goat cheese. It's just me and my decision.

Anyhow, back to my 21 days. I felt great even after the addition of the raw goat cheese. On day 19, I had a molassas cookie, one of the only vegan treats from my job at Starbucks. My boss bought it for me, so I ate it, refined grains and sugars and all. I didn't feel too bad until later, when my tummy was a little sick. Probably had to do with the fact that I ate it for breakfast (with a banana) instead of for dessert or dinner, where all of your heaviest meals and treats belong. Then for dessert, I increased my bad food combo day by eating raisins, dates, and almond butter after a portobello melt (cheese and nuts/dried fruits are not a good combo.) The next few days went well with veggie/greens juice in the morning; fruit for breakfast; veggies, salads, avacado, or lara bar for lunch; and zuchini noodles or portobello mushrooms w/marinara and salad, big salads with veggies or nut cheese, or baked sweet potatoes with salad for dinner. For dessert I would have 70% chocolate, coconut based pudding, or nut based pudding. That ends round one of my 21 day eating plan.

Round 2: I actually struggled with this one. Most of my days were positive and similar to what I described just above. But at one point I started eating heaping spoonfulls of raw honey throughout the day/night. I didn't particularly feel sick or anything, but I just felt like it was too much. I didn't need it, I was just snacking which would usually lead to binging. I noticed the more I let myself snack, the longer I would snack, and the worse my food combos would get. So I tried my best to refrain from eating raw honey by the spoon or raisins by the bowl, which were my two most-consumed after dinner snacks. I learned that if I wrote about how satisfied I was, and how I didn't need any snacks, I wouldn't eat anymore! A couple days later I gave into my sweet tooth and ate candy like Panda Licorice which is made of wheat flour and molasses. Not the worst thing in the world but it is refined and processed. On a positive note, I went to a wedding reception one of these days and it wasn't so bad. I relaxed and ate a big plate of salad and grilled green beans and red peppers. But backslide again when I had a few molassas cookie episodes! My boss bought me another cookie, and last week, my co-workers gave me three boxes full! I ate through one full box (only one cookie a day/4 cookies per box) and then one out of another box before I gave them to my boyfriend. Luckily, the cookies are being discontinued and will no longer tempt me at work.

The worst eating day I experienced happened on Christmas Eve. How strange when I had such a positve Thanksgiving experience just a month before! I went to my mom's house. The day started all right, but in the middle, I ate two panda licorice bars and a box of maple candy while I was waiting for dinner. For dinner, I ate things that I have not consumed in years. I feel pretty guilty and non-vegan about it, and am ashamed of my lack of discipline. It happened when my mom made my two pre-vegan favorite foods: latke's and smoked salmon pita pizzas. For some reason, that day and the couple days that followed, I was craving tons of pre-vegan and pre-sober food and drinks like wine, that Xmas Eve dinner, and the cheese bread Brian ordered at Claim Jumper. It was bizarre. Anyhow, back to Xmas Eve: I ate salad, a raw avacado and corn chowder, a whole pita pizza made with refined wheat pita, non-raw, non-organic goat cheese, and non-organic smoked salmon (which, besides those no-no's, meat and cheese don't combine with starches like pita and avacados). Then I had tons and tons of fried latkes. When I was completely full and bursting at the seams, I continued to eat...a molassas cookie. I was in so much pain that I could barely move. I really put my body through torture that night. I thought my kidneys were going to explode. I was so ashamed afterwards that I did not hold constant to my committment of eating pure, whole, foods (not to mention vegan!) and maintaning properly combined meals. I wrote a little essay to myself about how I should have eaten that night and at what point I should have stopped. Needless to say, lesson learned, big time.

I felt so hopeless that I continued to over eat and miscombine my meals over the next couple days. But on day 16 and 17, I re-read R.F.L.F.E and The Raw Food Detox Diet, bought a body brush, and re-committed to the plan. I started dry body brushing every day, reminded myself to eat light to heavy, and raw till dinner. And here I am today. I ate perfectly yesterday: green juice in the morning, asian pear for breakfast, "sandwhich salad" for lunch, then small spinach salad with zuchini noodles and pesto with two slices s.w. bread with raw honey, and chai spiced almond milk with two pieces of chocolate for dessert. Today I had green juice, a pear, a banana, and the "sandwhich salad" for lunch. After this post, I will eat a big salad. I feel great and I still am maintaining my healthy weight! Now that the molassas cookies are out of my life, I can try to abstain from refined sugar and flour and work on those last 5 lbs!

My favorite meals from this book: There are so many!

Life Force Power Ade (I usually improvise with different greens and fruit)
Holiday Anytime (carrot juice with pumpkin pie spice)
Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl soup
Raw Tomato Herb Potage with Shredded Raw Goat Cheese (I like to blend most of this soup in a blender rather than just a mixing bowl)
Suddenly St. Tropez Salad (this has goat cheese and is my fave!)
Daily Avacado Classic Salad
Salad Gone Nuts
Sandwhich Salad (best lunch ever!)
Quickest Spaghetti (sprialized zuchini noodles with warm marinara)
Portobello Melts
Banana Mint Dessert "ice cream" (I use peppermint extract instead of mint leaves)
Baked Apples (I dehydrate mine for an hour or two so it's warm)

What I've learned from this book: How to increase my intake of raw, life force engery generating foods. How to properly combine my meals for best digestion. How to eat "light to heavy" for quickest elimination and digestion. How to incorporate some healthy cooked foods into my diet. Which foods are inharmonious. How to dry body brush. How colonics can help. Why some raw food diets fail. Some amazing recipes.

Anyhow, with that all said, I highly recommend this book to everyone! She provides a FAQ in the back, along with thorough sample menus and a 21 day eating plan you can follow word for word if you like. This book has truly changed my life and the way I eat. I bought a copy for my mom for Xmas and hope she can find it useful. We used to have so much fun eating raw meals together! Happy New Year, everyone!