SUPER CHIPS? How considerate!

I've been going to a church called 1st Chrisitan Church (Disiples of Chirst) http://www.fccames.org/ , and I am really loving it. Last Sunday, the message was on Wholeness, and our minister tried to explain how God is bigger than religion. It was really good. I think this church would be exeptional to any non-christians or athiests who wants to feed his or her spirit, becasue it is so very loving. Not once have I felt feer (something that I feel at other religious gathereings), and everyone is so happy I'm there it doesn't seem real. 

Marry Jane, the pastor, invited me and the other college students out for pizza. Knowing I was a RawFoodist, she promissed to bring me some raw snacks, and....Tah Dah! Behold, for these SUPER CHIPS are delicious and nutricious. I couldn't believe she got me these. It was the perfect food, becasue I've been getting sick of the taste of spirulina powder on my salads, and have been wanting to try some spirulina snacks. This gets two green thumbs up. Thanks Marry Jane!

I would also like to add, that I am really grateful for the people who are supportive in my raw journey. This snack didn't only say: "Here. Eat something you are allowed to eat." It also said "I respect your decision, and I love you."

It is really hard to find people who understand or at the very least don't, but respect you anyways. There are some who are worried about me and offer me carbs in the form of baked goods and I have to refuse. To these people: Thanks. I know you just love me as well.

Carrot Juice = Wasted

A few nights ago there was a party at what some call the Owl-ette House.

Rean let me use her juicer and I made an energy drink that I could use instead of alcohol. It went kind of like this: 2 lbs of carrots, 1 bunch of spinach, 4 apples, 1 cucumber, adn 4 lemons with their rind. And I swear, I felt drunk and high at the same time. At first I was just out of it, then couldn't stop laughing, later ultra hyper, and lastly I crashed. When I crashed, I couldn't walk straight and was slurring my words. I had no idea this would ever happen to me. In the past (when I ate cooked foods) sugar highs made me feel awfull - like my heart was going to explode, but this time, it was completely different.

Looking for a Juicer

I felt kind of silly doing this, but I just knew I had to let the old go, and went with it anyways. I am asking for a free juicer, and although I live in a world where that's unlikely, "ask and you shall receive" right? It's also a good practice to creating your own reality. And when it does happen, it'll be a miracle. So to the one who makes it possible: "thank you."

So this is what I did. I made a good looking flier and printed out 20 copies. I took some over to Wheatsfield (natural food store), gave some to the staff and some I posted on their board. I got 6 left and am thinking of handing them out to my art proffessors.

At first I was nervous, but I'm glad I followed that feeling and went with it. The staff at Wheatsfield was ultra helpfull. One of the ladies there told me that they don't sell any at the store, but have one in the back for some reason. I hope they need it. LOL

Food Combining What?

Yesterday I discovered the art of food combining: Something I haven't cared to research. When you first start your Raw journey, all you care about is making your food look and taste as delicious as possible. But now I'm considering that the choices I've made have hurt my health pretty drastically. Let me show you what I've been eating.

Although, this may look beautiful, I realize now that it is INSANE. Click on it to see the full size image and try to count the over 20 ingredients. I'm pretty sure I have every single type of fat in here. I don't remember, but knowing me, I probably made a super "nutrient dense" dressing with Olive, Hemp, Flax, Sesame, and Grape Seed oil!!! Plus Avocado. I would put all kinds of fruits, fats, nuts, seeds, and starches, not considering what my poor stomach had to handle.

My philosophy was this: I need to get as many nutrients in me as possible, so that I can tell any critic (my family and friends) that I was doing the best I could.

But not any more! I know food combining!

Here are some other examples:

Look at all the fruit combination here. I am especially drawn to that melon. If you don't know food combining, then I should let you know that experts say melon should always be eaten by itself.

 I gag at this one. Flax seed, olive oil, coconut milk, and citrus.

This last one was really cool, and tasted just like the real thing. I used hemp seed, and sprouted quinoa in place of rice. It RAWcked. 

After seeing these images, I wonder why I'm still thin. I mean this is how I ate every day. I spent hours in the kitchen, and ate until I was stuffed. If people knew this, they wouldn't advice me to eat more. So now I'm left wondering if bad food combinations have interfered with the absorption of nutrients. 

Food combining goes like this:

Every food needs a different environment to be digested in the stomach. The stomach has different acids for different foods. So combining too many things together will demand the stomach to secrete all different kind of acids that interact with each other and freak out. This delays digestion until the sugars and starches ferment, while fats and proteins putrefy. Sick hu? And this is why we fart. That's right. And everyone that knows me will tell you I'm a notorious gas passer.

I've always had problems with digestion. I am often bloated, and passing gas from both ends. I used to think that if I ate too much lettuce, it would sit in my stomach undigested for the entire day. And it was true when I combined the lettuce with a million other little things. Since then I have discovered that I can eat all the leaves I want without any problem, just as long as I mix them cleverly. I don't want to go to much further into it so I'll post some food combining charts. I will be using these in my kitchen as soon as I print them off.

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O.K. I fixed the comments problem. Now you don't have to be a member of anything, just sign anonymous. Right on!

An apple a day? ...or as many as I want...

Muahahah. Apples are mine. And it's kinda true. These wild foods ARE all mine. I feel like no one else wants them. Just the other day my friend Heidi got hungry and I told her about the pear tree. She told me I was going to get sick and then asked "ARE THEY EVEN EATABLE?" I almost ripped my hair out. Anyways, check em out. These apples are growing by the sidewalk behind my house, and they are plentiful. This is the most generous apple tree I've ever seen.

We're quite the "pear"

Earlier today I convinced Katie to pick pears with me. I told her she could have her own cotton mesh bag and she was sold. Once we met with the great tree Katie realized that we weren't the only ones interested in what it had to offer. I'd say there were 15, maybe 200 bees sharing the pears. I told Katie that there was plenty for everyone, but she was convinced that if she took a pear they would kill her.

So I did all the pickin' myself. These babies are sweeeet and low glycemic, which is a plus for my overeating-sweet-tooth-having-self. These are some good calories. If I take a couple and eat them on my way to class, I'll get kinda hyper, so I need to watch it. It's like all my meditation practices are thrown out the window every-time I see this tree. I even think about it when I'm in class. Is that anything close to sane?



So I picked for a while, and was forced to share the wealth when Katie sneaked her hand in the bag and snatched a golden pear. What a snake! Just kidding Katie.

Yumy

Rawckin' Vid

Hey, ya'll. I made a lovely video with a cheesy public-television-documentary-sounding-voiceover. I hope you enjoy it.

At first It's me going to farmer's market, then I talk about the Broccoli Bouquet some more. I know everyone else has seen them flowers, but give me a break. I'm exited to see my food look different from the cookie cutter examples at the grocery stores.

Lastly I had to show these people I met at Wheatsfied a few weeks ago on my way to Farmer's Market. Wheatsfield is the natural store in my city where I get all my goodies. Anyways, these musicians simply had nothing better to do, so they wrote a song about an octopus, zebra, coyote, and heaven.

Oh and I need money. Send me money.

Here is the video!

Earning My Breakfast

This guy is Arnold Kaufmann. He became sick some time ago and became 100% raw to save his life. I think it's been about 10 years and although old, hasn't changed a bit in appearance. We call his system simply "Arnold's Way."


In this system he describes how exercising first thing in the morning is key for staying young. it prepares your body to optimally absorb nutrients, get the blood moving, and to detox. 


I have been doing this for some time and I cannot go back to being stagnant. It makes the first half of the day "the best day ever."


I think the philosophy behind this is that, as an animal, we are designed to be active and not to sit in our own juices. Getting our food becomes too easy when we drive to a supermarket and everything is there neatly on shelves. I always like to think about how I would act if I were a monkey, and I would work hard for my food: Hunt, hike, climb trees, etc.


Eearning my breakfast consists of morning stretches, strength training (mostly for my weak upper body), and I usually walk, bike, or skate to Hy-Vee where I literally get my breakfast. Sometimes I even go looking for wild foods and let me tell ya, I have found Mulberries, Raspberries, Pears, Apples, Dandelions, and even Maple Nuts (I forgot what these are called) just on my way to class!

Farmer's Market

It's my favorite thing in the world. No one else I know gets exited like I do when its Farmers Market time! It is held on the other side of town and I ride my bike over at least twice a week. I would only be happier if I grew the food myself, but these people do a very good job. There is always a good variety of your common foods, except Spinach. I have been asking for weeks and they keep telling me it'll be ready in a couple more weeks. I'll check again tomorrow...


But if tomatoes are what you want, then WATCH OUT. I have never seen so many different colored tomatoes in one place.

Yesterday I got a pound and a half of broccoli and noticed some of the flowers where blooming. I got really exited and later found out from a friend that its nutrient quality declines at this stage. She called it the seeding stage, where the nutrients in the plant go into making the seed... or maybe the flower. I don't know. What do people think?

Just for Mom

Hey mom. Everything is gong really well. Jeff and I are getting along, our house is clean (most of the time) I haven't been hospitalized (: my anxiety is in check, I've been going to class, and today I was finally allowed to register for class! Yay. I will be putting up some pictures of my art studios and projects that I'm working on so you can see how much work and fun it is to be in Art. Oh, another thing is I have a blog now! I've had it for just a few days and haven't really told anyone about it yet. I need to get into the swing of writing entries and figure out what they should be about. But so far I've decided to keep it positive and have it bee a personal motivator. I'll be posting about health and all things related. I think Health doesn't just include what you put into your body but also what comes out. For example the emotions, happiness, dealing with stress, treating others with love and all that junk. 

Oh and my birthday is in a few days... I was wondering... a personal trainer sounds nice. (;

Katie and I get sun