Start! Heart Walk 2009 Jacksonville, Florida

It's Monday September 28, 2009 and I can't believe that time has passed me by so quickly, seems as if it was just the start of the year.  I must say, the year has been very interesting and prosperous.  I've gained knowledge in myself and started a new area of study.  I made decisions this year that not only affected me, but people who I've never met.  It truly is a great feeling to reach out to others and have them express to you that you have helped them in some way. 

 

I participated in the Start! Heart Walk this past Saturday in support of the American Heart Association.  I walked in memory of my father who suffered from a heart attack (and recovered) and died in later years of a brain aneurysm.  I also walked in honor of those who can't walk due to a stroke, and I also walked for me.  It was a beautiful day along the St. John's River, but at times the scenery went unnoticed due to my efforts of walking three miles.  It's funny how different a mile seems when you're in the city versus the country and when you're walking instead of driving, but we're talking about three miles.  Maybe if someone just said go out and walk, it wouldn't have been so bad.  Sometimes it's not the thing that we must do, but the focus of doing it that makes it difficult for us.  I must say, I really enjoyed the walk.  It was difficult and I'm still sore today.  I'm sore in places that I wasn't sore in yesterday! J But, I am grateful that I can walk.  I'm grateful that I can move.  There are times when it felt like I couldn't continue, but I was determined to continue the walk. 

 

The walk helped me to realize all the things that I already know.  That I have to make a change in my level of health!  I am not ignorant to what's going on with my body nor am I ignoring my race and the health factors that relate to it or that I have hypertension, in fact, I'm more aware of my body than anyone else on the planet!  I am proud of myself for taking a step in the right direction.  I am proud of myself for participating in a good cause.  I hope that my efforts in raising money, awareness, and by encouraging others will enable someone to avoid being struck down by stroke or a heart disease.  For all of those who have survived a heart attack or stroke, may God continue to bless and heal you!  For all of those who participated in this year's Heart Walk or past Heart Walks here's a thumbs up for you! C   

How much food do we really need?

Now, this blog post is purely me listing my thoughts and asking a few questions about the proper amount of food that we need in order to live. I'm not asking any expert, but I'm just throwing the question out into the void and making a few comparisons along the way.

I can remember being a teen and going out on Saturdays to the mall and having pizza. OMG - Dino's Pizza in Augusta Georgia was the best! It was at the Regency Mall. They had a jukebox that played the latest tunes, so as a teen, I was in Heaven. I got to hang out, do a little shopping and have my favorite food. It was a toss between corn dogs and pizza, but usually it was pizza. I can recall eating nearly an entire pizza. Dino's wasn't and still isn't like the pizza chains. They make these large Italian-styled pizzas. One slice is about the size of two to three slices of a chain styled pizza. I can recall eating slice after slice, and when I did visit one of the pizza chains, I would eat an entire pizza. Now we all know that teens eat a lot! Usually it's the guys, but at times, it's also the girls.

Remember when you were young and someone middle aged or older would tell you that one day that food is going to catch up with you. It may seem like your friend now, but trust me, it'll turn on you when you're my age. Boy were they right! It seems like I can barely eat one piece of Dino's without getting full. So what happens to our stomachs? If our tummies have grown accustomed to large amounts of food when we're young, why does it not like it when we're older?

Since I've been dabbling in the raw food realm, I've noticed that I don't require a lot of food. But even before that, I realized that we Americans eat way too much food! I mean, we're talking three meals a day plus snacks. Why is that? Because our elementary school science book told us to? If we're all different, how is it that we're all to follow the same guidelines when it comes to eating and the proper amount of food?

Since I've been eating raw, I've noticed that a green smoothie will fill me up for hours. There are times when I have to make myself eat. I don't like the habit of eating when not hungry, because I've done that for far too many years, and it's part of the reason that I'm in the situation that I'm in now. While in church one Sunday, the pastor preached about how we must die each day. After developing his sermon, I later understood where he was coming from. We must die to the flesh and avoid temptation. The things that we want must be ignored and we must not allow ourselves to do what we desire when we know it's not right. I believe once again it all boils down to being disciplined and having self control. Just think, when we are truly disciplined in how we eat and why we eat, we'd barely eat. So my question is, how much food do we really need?

If a large salad does it for you and a green smoothie for me, isn't that enough? Hunger is truly our body saying that it needs nutrients or so I've heard. So if we've given our body the nutrients it needs, why would we hunger? With the All-You-Can-Eat restaurants, fast food joints, and celebrations that have food as the centerpiece at every turn, there's no wonder why we're fat and dying! How often have you eaten something, felt full, but kept eating because it tasted so good? Plenty of times right! Think about the amount of money, time, and energy that we put into holiday dinners. OMG - Thanksgiving and Christmas is maddening! Years ago my mom and I would spend hundreds of dollars to make treats, and a huge family dinner. I think about all of the food we'd consume. Do we really need a plate overflowing with turkey and dressing, and potatoes of two varieties, and gravy, and macaroni and cheese, green casserole, dessert, and so on and so on?

Have you ever seen one of those documentaries of people in third-world countries and saw the small amount of food that they eat? They have no concept of overeating. We feel sorry for them, but we're the one's suffering! Our nation has become so greed stricken and money hungry that food has become nothing more than dollar signs to the large food corporations, and we've become they're food addicts. So much is centered around food. It's advertised everywhere. Here you are driving home thinking of the chores that you need to complete and there's a billboard for ice cream. You think to yourself, umm, a bowl of ice cream would be good after dinner. You stop by the store for ice cream. You get home and wonder why you have so many bags of groceries. You had to get cookies to go along with the ice cream, and you also decided that you haven't had a banana split in a long time so you buy everything that goes into making one. Soon, your single idea of having one treat has been blown out of proportion.

Think for a minute about who gives us the information that we have regarding the amount of food that we need. Think about the food pyramid and all of the many things that are included in it. It's so funny, when I try to diet with a weight loss program, I am always hungry. I've never liked dieting, not because I was restricted, hell I need restriction, but because every two hours I was hungry!!!! I was told that I needed to eat every two hours, but why? How can diet companies package foods and create foods that are a facsimile of the natural thing. I keep seeing Special K create drinks and packaged foods, but what about natural foods. Oh that's it, Special K doesn't have any natural foods. I mean there aren't any bananas or cherries that are labeled Special K. All that I know is that eating raw curbs my appetite and helps me to learn that I really don't need all of the food that the diet and drug industry tells me I do.

So what's one to do who's learning their way around the raw food diet? I've had someone try to debate me, and I say try, because everyone has their own opinion and I'm not about to argue with anyone regarding their point of view, but this person was telling me that I'd run the risk of not consuming enough calories and that I'd go into starvation mode. So how can I be starving myself if I'm giving my body the nutrients that it needs? Not food, but nutrients! When we consume the standard American diet we're consuming food, but not nutrients. This is why I feel we instinctively eat when we're not hungry due to our body still needing nutrients. To me eating is not about having food, but what it's really about and should be about is consuming nutrients that will help the body to heal, regenerate, reproduce, excel, flourish, develop, grow, and repair. I think we've become consumed with the actual motion of eating. We have removed the association of nutrition from our diets. All that we see and are driven by is the need to remove the hungry feeling. We're not focused on eating to live or be healthy, but just to eat, and when we do we simply seek out food that we enjoy.

Does anybody get what I'm saying? As for myself, when I'm being conscience and eating raw, I choose to eat when I'm physically hungry, and I try to eat what my body needs and not what my eyes desire. If having a green smoothie satisfies my body, then that's all I need. Yes, I do need a certain amount of calories to live, and when I feel hungry due to not having enough nutrients to fuel my body, then I will eat. Part of the reason that we lose weight when we eat a raw food diet is because our cells are not overloaded with processed toxic ridden foods. This allows our cells to function as they should. Did you know that your pancreas and liver work very hard at removing toxins and stored lipids from your cells. In doing so, it allows your body to be in a metabolismic (is that a word) state of homeostasis , but when we constantly put junk in, we get junk out. The foods that we constantly consume causes us to store more and more toxins and fats in our cells. When we diet (calorie restrict) on popular diet plans we simply just reduce the amount that we eat, but the foods are the same.

Jenny Craig offers packaged foods that you're to consume, and the plan urges you to eat fruits and vegetables. You lose weight, but when you return to your old habits, the weight returns. You've changed the amount of calories your body needs, but you're still adding more toxins and fats, not necessarily from the foods, but from what those types of processed foods do to you. Do you see how it's not necessarily how much your eat, but what you eat?

I will continue on the raw food journey until success is mine. I will continue to train myself to eat when I'm hungry and not when I desire. I will work towards training my mind to resist foods that aren't healthy for me. And, I will work even harder at developing the motto that junk in equals junk out, but raw in equals junk out and fat gone! There are so many wonderful aspects to eating a raw food diet that you don't even know yet. People, people, take back your power and do what's right for you and your body. No one can tell you what YOU need. Become your own nutritionist and use food for it's proper purpose - nourishment. Do something great and nourish your body today?

Stay in the fight and do your body right!
~Cynthia~

What are some good books on the Raw Food Diet

Below is a listing of books that I have in my raw food resource library. I've actually listed them in the order in which I purchased them. I give a brief description of each and what I found useful in them. Of course we all see things differently, so what may appeal to me might not appeal to you. Of course you don't have to purchase all of these titles. Visit your local library or check with a raw food friend. Borrow the book and see if it's one that you'd like to have as a future resource. All of these books have very valuable information that you may want to refer back to. Happy reading raw fooders!

Get Healthy Through Detox And Fasting by Dr Don Colbert (Was my first introduction to fasting, spiritual food connection, and detoxing the body. Excellent resource)

The Raw Food Detox Diet: The Five-Step Plan for Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss by Natalia Rose (Great book for the beginner! Filled with menu ideas, how tos, whys, and tons of useful information. Did I mention the easy meals? No dehydrator required. Awesome raw ranch dressing recipe!)

Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen (Excellent resource. Alissa appears as a true down to earth person who's walked the walk and talks the talk. Loads of recipes, photos, how tos, befores and afters, and much more! The DVD set shows you how to prepare a variety of recipes found in the book. Well worth the price you pay)

Eating Without Heating: Favorite Recipes from Teens Who Love Raw Food by Sergei & Valya Boutenko (Great book filled with great tasting easy to make recipes. The zucchini and squash pickle is super easy and amazingly tasty! Very simple, quick, and easy recipes that are filled with flavor)

Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet (Great recipe book. Jennifer gives great explanations of the tools needed in a raw kitchen. She explains process and tells the whys of what raw food preparers do. Quick, and easy recipes. Designed for 1 or 2 as stated. Recipes can be doubled. Basic equipment is needed. Provides resources and country wide restaurant guide. Great book for the single raw foodist or someone going it alone in a family on non-raw foodies)

12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food [12 STEPS TO RAW FOODS REV/E] by Victoria Boutenko & Gabriel Cousens (Still haven't finished this book. I kind of lost interest in it. Victoria explains the background to the human diet and compares it to the animal kingdom diet. She provides information about the health problems that plagued each family member and how raw foods cured them all. She gives very helpful information about eating raw foods and provides 12 steps to take in order to be free of the standard American diet)

Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices by Dr N. W. Walker (Haven't finished this one either. Dr Walker provides an extensive look into the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Don't look for any recipes here. He lists various fruits and vegetables and tells you what ailments they can help prevent and cure. Good source of information on plant based foods.)


Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (What an eye opener! This book tells it like it is. Rory and Kim are bold, brass, and straight up. They give their honest opinion and don't care who's toes they step on. Learn why milk, meat, and anything un natural is bad for you. Rory and Kim give you tons of information that will help you change your present diet from SAD to vegan, and perhaps raw. The book is geared to a raw food diet, but it is an excellent resource of information that will help you to change how you see things about food. They also give you tons of resources such as healthy alternatives to what you presently eat. This is one book that you must have in your raw arsenal!)


Recently ordered:

The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr Douglas N. Graham (Can't wait to dive into this one. I want to see what Dr Graham says about the 80 carb/10 fat/10 protein plant based diet. I made a video stating that I wanted this book and wanted to see what information it contained. I'll let you know once I'm done!)


Future Purchases:
Naked Chocolate: The Astonishing Truth About the World's Greatest Food by David Wolfe (Awesome recipes! One in particular is the one for a chocolate peanut butter cup type candy. Reminds me of the Reese's peanut butter cup)

Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow by Matthew Kenney (Super Delicious looking dishes I want to try)

Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes by Ani Phyo (Her recipes seem real easy, quick, simple, and tasty)

Ani's Raw Food Desserts: 85 Easy, Delectable Sweets and Treats by Ani Phyo (I saw the video for the Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake on You Tube and intend to try it out. After reading a review of how simple Ani's recipes are and the little time it takes to prepare them, I thought I'd add this one to my list. Her recipes are simple and don't require a lot of ingredients or time.)


Vital Creations: An Organic Life Experience (Bringing the Simplicity of Cultural Cuisine to the Home) by Chad Sarno (He has a recipe for these stuffed yellow zucchini I want to try along with the marinated onions. You'd swear they were cooked - awesome!)


Happy Reading!
Cynthia