This is what my kitchen counter looks like at home now; a cornucopia of delicious organic fruit. Barely even a weeks worth. I no longer shop in a "Super" store; most of my purchases are from Trader Joe's Whole Foods & Dave's. Actually, Trader Joe's has very good organic produce at reasonable prices and has become my go to place for fruits and vegetables.
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| Green juice with feldsalat & pears. |
So what is this raw vegan thing? Well I am still figuring it out, myself. Some of the Raw Foodies describe themselves in terms of percentages: 100% raw, 50% raw etc. I am at about 75% raw, which means that most of my meals consist of raw fruits and vegetables in whole, blended or juice form. For dinner I still like to enjoy something cooked such as my legumes with rice. And the incessant baking that I do continues to go on, of course.
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| Pink beans made in the crockpot with jasmine rice. |
Why eat raw? Everyone is different, I am certainly not an expert in any way....BUT, I feel can be testimony to the fact that I feel A-MAZ-ing when I eat this way. I have no aches or pains of any sort. I feel cleaner and lighter and... Let's talk about the scale for a moment: when I eat 100% raw the weight starts to come off without even trying. The conundrum I face at this moment is making the break from my grains and beans in cooked form. And I can not forget to mention my vices: the baked goods with their white flour, chocolate & sugar that hold me prisoner in a vat of denial and excuses. It would seem that feeling better and losing weight would make this a no brainer for me, wouldn't it?
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| Vegan fudge cake |
Two books I have purchased to help me sort out what is best for my body are:
Mimi Kirk's "Live Raw"
and "The 80/10/10 Diet" by Dr. Douglas N. Graham.
Click Here to watch an awesome u-tube video about the addictive properties of chocolate, cheese, meat & sugar by Dr. Neal Barnard, PCRM
Some of my raw meals:
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| Bananas & berries |
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| Blackberry & strawberry smoothie with chia seeds |
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| Strawberry, banana & pineapple smoothie |
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| Cucumber & tomato salad dressed with basil and lemon. |
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| Lunch! |
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| Raw tomato red pepper sauce with carrots, garlic & basil on zucchini swirls. |
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| Packing up my breakfast & lunch for work. |
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| Grapefruit & kumquat juice |
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| Lunch salad with avocado, spinach, grapes, oranges & pea sprouts dressed with lime juice. |
