This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

This week’s article was all about going back to basics - except for most of us when we experience the “asking big questions” stage of the raw food journey for the first time, the basics we are going back to are ones we’ve usually never experienced in our lifetime before. But going back to basics is not a one-time affair. Finding our truth and living it does not ensure happy ever after unless we are vigilant about what we do (or don’t do) moving forward. Life does indeed become magical when we change our “centre of operations” but the magic…

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

Lemon Balm Berry Ice Cream by Heather Pace

(more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

Noelle Twiggs is the founder of Green Lemonade, a healthy living guide. It’s for women everywhere who want to live more naturally, eat well and still do it in style.  Friend Noelle on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.  Noelle lives in New York City with her husband.

My Way: Noelle

After working on Wall Street for over a decade, I started GreenLemonade.com to celebrate the fact that living a naturally cleansing and rejuvenating lifestyle can be chic and fun. Everyday, my goal is just about doing fabulous, fun, feel-good things and inspiring other people to do the same (good thing I love my job). 

Thursday - Wake up with the sun, roll out of my bed and stroll onto my patio to take in a breath of the warm, summer beach air. This summer I’m fortunate to be spending time between my apartment in New York City and a little pad in the Hamptons. Let’s just say that I’m totally PUMPED. There is so much fabulousness to be celebrated in the Hamptons. I wake up excited everyday.

After a few moments of reflection on the deck, I head inside and change into my swimsuit, grab a wetsuit and surfboard and head down to the beach for a morning swim. This summer I’ve promised myself that I’m going to learn how to surf. Even if it means floating on top of the longest and thickest Cadillac board there is, I’m going to conquer those waves. Watch out Montauk! 

After a few early morning hours in the surf (it’s just so revitalizing!) I head to my favorite smoothie shop in Montauk, Joni’s, and grab a green smoothie. I love my morning green smoothie, it’s so energizing.  I head back to my pad, smoothie in hand, to do some writing for Green Lemonade.

Later in the afternoon, a friend calls and invites me for a bike ride down to the local farmers market to check out the bounty for a home cooked dinner. I love my farmers market trips, and jump at the opportunity. While we’re cruising around checking out the mid-day local scene, we stop and celebrate the day with a yummy salad and some freshly made hummus.

I wrap up the day with a few more hours of work, a fun homemade meal with my husband and call it a night.

Friday - Photo shoot baby! Today I’m invited to dress up and be fabulous. Who could turn that down? I’m off to do a summer photo session in response to a request I got from a magazine. I put on my favorite party dress, toss up my hair and add a splash of makeup and head out. Before I’m out the door, my husband hands me a morning breakfast smoothie he has made for me. Love that guy.

At the shoot, the crew and I have some laughs and share some smiles. I’m excited to see how the photos and the article turn out.

Early afternoon comes and we wrap up the shoot and sit down for lunch. The guys at the shoot have ordered lunch for everyone – a fabulous spread of farm fresh, summer delights. Delicious.

After a fun morning, I head home finish up some writing and prepare dinner together with my husband and a family friend.  Preparing and enjoying a good, quality meal together with my husband and good friends has become an event I look forward to every night.

(more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

This recipe is the one I recommend to clients when they want something sweet and comforting. It’s very simple but lovely and could easily be called a “hug in a glass” that we sometimes feel we need - especially when tea and coffee are a thing of the past! Being a vanilla-lover, vanilla in my recipe is never optional : ) Enjoy! Makes 1 large drink Ingredients: * 1 pint of pure water * 1 level Tbsp cashew butter OR 1/3 cup cashew nuts * 3 Medjool dates OR 1 Tbsp agave nectar * OPTIONAL: Small piece of vanilla bean…

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

For the past 14 years I have been a Reiki Master/Teacher. This is a healing art that I love dearly and am very excited to share. I do private sessions as well as train others to practice Reiki as well. I am such a big believer in this tool allowing the right energies at the right time that I rarely advertise, but rather let individuals or situations find me. I find that this keeps ego out of the process and allows the most beautiful energy to occur.

(more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

109 Year-Old Raw Foodist Recently Celebrates His Birthday

Raw foodist and author Bernardo LaPallo just celebrated his 109th birthday on August 17. Take a look at the video from Fox News Phoenix below to see just how young and vibrant this amazing man is:

Bernardo looks younger than most people I know in their 70s and 80s! He is a living example at just how powerful diet and a positive outlook in life can be.

109 years old! Let’s put that into perspective. Birth year: 1901. Bernardo is still very much alive and kicking, and was born before Lou Gehrig, Charles Lindbergh, Bob Hope, George Orwell and 13 years before World War I.

And he’s not even done yet. Bernardo expresses to the interviewer in the video above just how often he thinks of death: never.

A true Immortalist!

Bernardo LaPallo is not a 100% raw foodist

If you watch the video, note that he is not a 100% raw foodist and still consumes fish along with some other basic grocery store foods, but the bulk of his diet is fresh vegetables, fruits, and fish. I would wager that most healthy centenarians are not so obsessive about their diet and don’t maintain the strict dogma that many of us in the movement are prone to. Bernardo is a true Health Rebel.

Bernado shows us that a relaxed and open attitude to diet is amenable to a long and truly healthy life.

Bernardo doesn’t just eat his way to youth, though. He is a confirmed advocate of using olive oil on his skin every single day as one of his youthening protocols. Those of us in the optimal health community are well aware of the benefits of rubbing coconut oil on the skin as often as possible.

Not Waiting to Die…

What’s so cool about Bernardo’s story, is that he isn’t just sitting down everyday with tubes sticking up his nose. He is very active and very aware. His brain is firing and he has a fire in his eyes.

In fact, this centenarian is the author of a recent book about health and longevity called Age Less, Live More. In addition, he is actively pursued as a consultant by those wishing to maintain their own high levels of health from around the world.

What else does the future hold for Bernardo? In addition to releasing another book soon, he wants to open up a raw food/American food hybrid restaurant in his town of Mesa. Oh, and he has a blog too: http://www.agelesslivemorestore.com.

————

We don’t know about you, but we can definitely say that we hope to be as active, aware, and ambitious as Bernardo LaPallo is at 109 years young.

Happy Immortality, Bernardo!

~ JS and Heidi
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com (more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

It’s very common for me to hear from people who have lost too much weight on the raw food diet and cannot gain it back. Desperate emails reach me, begging for help to put on a few pounds.
(more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

Latham was born and raised in California, and is a graduate of both
Columbia University, where she earned a degree in Visual arts and
Environmental science, as well as the Institute for Integrative
Nutrition. She is a certified holistic health counselor, who mixes her
passions of plant physiology, botany, holistic nutrition, fitness, yoga,
and green cuisine into a lifestyle program that supports the various
needs of her clients. Specializing in maternal and child wellness,
Latham served as Program coordinator for the Healthy Moms-Healthy Babies
project for the B-Healthy organization. She is the co-founder of Panela
Productions, a company that educates parents and children about food,
through cooking classes, and events, and founder of Tender Shoots Wellness. Latham has developed partnerships
with Vogue Magazine, Destination Maternity, Jurlique, and Euphoria Spa
to produce events for expectant and new moms.

(more…)

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

Long time RFRN reader and fabulous designer Marta Spendowska recently posted one of the best summaries we’ve seen on how to start (and stick) with a raw food diet. Marta has been around the raw food scene at least as long as we have and has a lot of insightful wisdom to share.

Even though we no longer follow a strict ‘raw vegan’ diet these days, we encourage many of those starting their health journeys to follow such a regimen for a while to cleanse their bodies before they start adding other things back in. The raw vegan diet is excellent at completely stripping and cleansing a toxic body when done properly.

How to Start Eating Raw

So how does one start this path? We’re going to summarize Marta’s 10 steps here and you can go to her full article to get the overview of her steps. We’re going to list each step below and give a little commentary from our own perspective:

1. Educate yourself. This is extremely important. Without at least some prior knowledge about what you’re doing, you are doomed to fail.  This means reading raw food blogs (like this one!), websites, and books.
2. Decide about so-called ‘ percentage ‘ of how much raw food you’re going to start eating. To someone first starting out, they may not realize that not every raw fooders eats “100% raw”. Many quickly abandon the diet when they can’t do what they think is the only way to do it.  A good rule of thumb is to start “50% raw”, then as you adjust to the diet, increase more raw food until you get to the magical “100% raw”.
3. Decide about the time frame of raw diet. This is very important. Give it a 2 week trial to see how it feels for you.  Or, if you are really passionate, make a commitment to stick with it long enough until you’ve cleansed your body.
4. Buy nice, inspiring notebook and set an intention. It’s critical to keep yourself motivated and inspired. The best question you can ask yourself is, “Why am I doing this”? Do you want to lose weight, clear your skin, etc.?
5. Decide if you can get rid of everything that contradicts with raw food diet. If you’re not going 100% raw, what do you want to keep around? See if you can get rid of any item in your kitchen that doesn’t match what you intend to eat.  We know some people are 100% raw except for steamed veggies.  Other people like to eat sprouted grain bread, or perhaps some cheese.
6. Decide if you should talk about your raw trip with others. Often it’s best and easiest to tell as few people as possible about what you’re doing. Unless you are 100% confident in what you are doing and armed with lots of knowledge, you may get easily swayed away from what you’re doing from well-meaning friends and family. Keep it to yourself if you can.
7. Decide how to act in public places. How are you going to eat out? It’s going to happen, so you may as well plan for it. If you aren’t going 100%, we recommend just eating the best you can and not making it a big deal when you’re out. Just wing it, but try to avoid going out as much as you can while you are doing this.
8. Search for local food. This is ideal, but not always feasible on a raw diet. Do the best you can.  Farmers Markets are excellent sources of local raw food!
9. Always, always, always have something prepared in your fridge. This is the most important step and key in this list in how to stay raw. Make sure you always have something available to eat that is on your plan.
10. Food is not everything. Find other healthy obsessions! Yes! Chill out. It’s just food. Don’t make it a raw-ligion. Obsessions are never healthy.

 Making a big dietary shift doesn’t have to be difficult if you plan and intend what you are actually doing properly. Give yourself a little prep time, a goal, a time line, and stick to it. You can always re-evaluate after your trail or cleanse ends.

~ Raw Food, Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

This post was syndicated from the following source | Source Feed

Knowing how to handle emotional intensity when going or trying to stay raw is one of the most important skills you will ever have to master on your raw food journey. The reason being, because as you lighten up your diet, anything that does not serve you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually will come up for healing, transforming and/or releasing. This happens because the human being is wired for an amazing level of health and wellbeing on all levels and anything that does not serve it it will let go of once it is given something to displace it with…