My food & workout journal!

Many people ask me what my day is like. What I eat, what I do for exercise, and if I snack in between meals. For the most part my food intake is very similar day to day. I really love to eat simple meals, I could eat pretty much the same foods everyday and never get board. I drink water all day long!!! If I am hungry, I will eat. I never deprive myself food!  As far as exercise goes, it does depend on my teaching schedule and the weather. If it is nice outside, I prefer to go running, walking, hiking, or recently, cross country skiing, but I exercise indoors as well.
Here is a typical day~

Wake up around 5:30 or 6am
Water or orange juice, followed by hot tea, decaf, herbal
I have my first mono meal around 8am, I like to have a whole melon!

I eat a second mono meal or salad around 11:30 or noon. A mango meal like this is about 4 or 5 mangoes!

Between noon and dinner I snack on raisins or dates, and more fruit. This is a whole pineapple and I usually eat about a cup or 2 of raisins.

Dinner is sometime between 5:30 and 6:30pm depending on my work schedule. It is always some sort of salad, raw dinner, or low fat vegan cooked dinner. Salad is HUGE, I eat out of a serving bowl, not even kidding. It contains about 2 or 3 hearts of romaine or an entire head of iceberg.

 For my weekly workouts, I do 100 squats and crunches daily, if I miss a day, I will do 200 the next day. I spin in class twice a week, I do some kind of walking or outdoor activity twice a week, teach bootcamp once a week, and do a workout at home once a week. To make it easier, this is how it breaks down daily:

Monday: rest day, squats and crunches

Tuesday: squats and crunches, sometimes leg day at the gym (45 minutes)

Wednesday: ride my bike for 90 minutes or do body weight workout, then go walking or hiking for about 2 hours, squats & crunches

Thursday: spinning class for 45 mins, bootcamp for 1 hour, squats & crunches

Friday: spinning class for 1 hour, squats & crunches

Saturday: walking outside, or rest day if weather is bad, but still do squats & crunches

Sunday: rest day, squats & crunches

How To Build The Perfect Salad!

When I tell people one of my favorite foods is salad, I typically get a confused look. Salad has a bad reputation. Boring. Bland. Not filling. This is due to the nasty prepackaged salads we've bought, the dried out/stale salad bar, or our own lack of creativity. Salad can be amazing & full of flavor! There are so many ingredients that can be added into a salad, it should never be boring!

One of the biggest mistakes we have been making is dousing our salads with dressing, oily, salty, sweet, or creamy dressings. These mask the amazing natural flavors of the fruits & veggies we should be enjoying. Salad is a beautiful mixture of flavors, and if done properly, all you need is a bit of herbs & a slash of juice to make it complete!

Here are some tips to making a perfect salad:

1. The Base:
Greens!! Buy numerous greens like kale, spinach, romaine, red leaf, green leaf, Boston, Iceberg, beet greens, etc. Finely chop your leaves and blend the dark with the light! Try a mix of kale & Boston lettuce, or spinach with romaine! There are so many greens out there, buy a huge variety and blend them to add some excitement to the base.

2. Sweets:
Sweet veggies or fruits are a MUST!! They add so much flavor to the salad and make our taste buds happy!! Fruits & veggies like tomatoes, carrots, beets, red peppers, peas, corn, clementine slices, apple slices, pomegranate seed, sugar snap peas, etc. Always add 3 or more of these!! There is no rhyme or reason, they are tasty and full of health benefits! The more, the merrier! Use flavors that combine well and that you actually like! Try buy a variety of tomatoes, cherry, grape, beefsteak, or vine ripe! They all taste a bit different and can really add great flavor and texture to the salad! 

3.More Veggies:
Cucumbers, onions, chives, celery, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, pea shoots & sprouts, etc. I like to add 2 or more of these. I prefer my salad on the sweeter side, so I don't over due on these! Another tip is to leave the skin on the cucumbers, and either slice thin on a mandolin or chop into little pieces! I love the extra crunch the skin adds, the different ways of chopping and slicing can help with texture. Chop cauliflower small, as well as broccoli!

4. Herbs & Spices:
This is so important!!! Since we are skipping store bought dressing, you cannot skip this step! Herbs like cilantro, dill, parsley, mint, basil, rosemary, red pepper flakes, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, are packed with flavor and essential!. I usually use a mix of spices and 1 or 2 herbs depending on the taste I am looking for. I like a mixture of dry herbs and fresh herbs! Sometimes I use dry parsley and other times I like it fresh! It is more flavorful when it is fresh! So if you really want a more intense flavor use fresh!

5. Juice:
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
or Blend avocado with lime juice to make a creamy base.
I use 1 lime or lemon or orange per family size salad. I just squeeze it over the salad and blend well.

6. Extras:
There's more!!! Now if you enjoy seeds, or nuts, beans or dried fruit, ADD on top! Things like sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nuts, or sprouted lentils are great options! Other beans are great as well! Keep these to a minimum though, they don't digest as well as fruit & veggies and may make you feel heavy and bloated!

Before you eat...mix the salad well and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes! This will help the juices from the fruits/veggies and herbs & spices to blend and absorb. Letting it sit will also soften up the greens a little bit! Now you are ready to eat!!!

Your salad should taste fresh & light! It should be full of color and flavor, not oily, heavy & full of salt! Once you start making a proper salad, you will never want dressing again! This has been my salad making method at home for over a year and a half! My son LOVES to eat them like this and I use to have to give him a ton of dressing before!! We no longer buy dressing, and no longer add oil or salt!!

My Fruitful Beauty

Eyeliner. I was a slave to it! It was the one piece of makeup I thought I would never, ever, live without! I wore it daily, to work, to workout, to hang out at home, and any where else I was going. I had a few staple pieces of makeup, like most women, eyeliner, mascara, powder, concealer, and blush! I played with eye shadows here and there, but could do without. The other items were a must!

Then it all changed. My beauty routine as I new it would forever be different. My life became wonderfully fruity! I joined the high fruit lifestyle. Consuming majority of my calories from wonderful, juicy, sweet raw fruit! Life became unbelievably sweet ;) My mood was great, my health...perfect, and slowly but surely my skin began to reap the benefits! It didn't happen overnight, not even in a month...but about a year into it...I got the GLOW!

I had heard of the fruit glow before from many fruit eaters. Fruity women from all over the world excited to spill their natural beauty secret:FRUIT! I thought...no way! It can't be that simple! And then it happened!!!!

"Wow, your skin looks great, did you go tanning?" asked a client at the gym. No, I don't go tanning, but Thank you! The next day..."you're skin is so pretty" said another gym member! And, just about weekly someone would comment on my skin. All saying I had a nice 'glow', like I had a summer glow. I began to really appreciate the natural glow of my skin, the beauty of it was different, the kind that didn't need much enhancing! So I ended my relationship with eyeliner! It was a HUGE step for me, as I had been wearing it since I was about 15!! But...here I was at 34, parting ways, and loving it!!!

The process continued, I no longer needed concealer, or a powder! I was pretty much left with mascara and occasional blush! It felt amazing! I wanted my bright blue eyes to shine naturally, without the black eyeliner, and I wanted my glow to show without the powder, and as blemishes faded, so did my need for concealer!

So I am no longer a slave to my eyeliner! I no longer need to cover my skin thick with powder and concealer, and I no longer need fake bronzers to give me a glow! To feel confident to go without these items is something I never thought I would have! Fruit is the most amazing food on this planet! It is the true healer, nature's candy, and nature's makeup! So add fruit to your life and watch the fruitful beauty take place! Like magic!

I am not telling you to throw out ALL your beloved makeup, as there is a time and place for a bit of fancy...but to embrace the fruitful life, nature's glow, and the amazing beauty you have hiding under a bad diet & lots of makeup!

Cake is a carb...right?

We have all heard the rumor...remove carbs and lose weight! We probably believed it as well. The truth is, most people don't know what carbohydrates are, what they are used for, and why we need them. Most people will think of bread, fruit, veggies, and cake as carbs...though fruit and veggies are NOT even slightly similar to cake. French fries are carbs...and so are steamed  potatoes...but they are not the same at all. We are very confused here...are carbs making us fat, or is FAT< PROCESSED FOOD< AND SALT making us fat?

Let's take a look at French fries verses steamed potatoes:

Do you see the real problem here...the potato or the FAT?

The average French fries (3oz) has about 267 calories, 123 calories from FAT 13.7grams of FAT, 1.8grams of saturated fat, 247mg of sodium, and only 32.7grams of carbs. So is the carb an issue here? Or is it the insane amount of FAT and salt?

Steamed potatoes have about 80 calories for 3.8oz, and NO FAT< NO SALT!

Freshly steamed potatoes!! Add fresh herbs and enjoy!

So even though both steamed potatoes and French fries are carbohydrates, the potato itself is actually a great food choice! The French fries are ONLY bad because they are soaked in oil and drenched in salt! The fact that potatoes are carbohydrates is not an issue. They will not make you fat. Many cultures around the world eat potatoes as their staple, NONE of these cultures have a weight problem. I eat potatoes a few times a week. I do not have a weight problem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another carb we are so confused about is cake/cookies etc. Yes, these things are placed in the carb category because they are made out of flour. BUT, cake is really more of a fat, salt, & refined sugar than it is a carb.

The average piece of cake has about 506 calories, 204 from FAT, 22.6grams of fat, 6.6grams of saturated fat, and 461mg of sodium! That is A LOT of fat! Now is it fair to even call this 'food' a carb? I think it is a fat...don't you?

This is pure FAT

Cookies and cakes are full of fat, refined sugar, additives, preservatives, and not a food. They should not be placed in a category with real food like rice, potatoes, fruit, corn, wheat, etc.

Natures sweet goodness! Skip the cake!

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Carbohydrates when cooked or eaten raw are the best source of energy for humans. They are also low in fat (or have zero fat), provide numerous vitamins and minerals, keep sugar cravings away, keep our mood stable, and make us feel good. Real carbs are not making us fat...fat, salt, junk food, meat & dairy are making us fat!

Take a look at a plate of chicken Parmesan. People are convinced, if you remove the pasta, and eat the chicken slathered in cheese and sauce that it is the healthier option. But is it?

This is a HIGH FAT meal, skip it!

The chicken is probably seasoned heavily with salt, most likely cooked in oil, maybe even fried, coated with breadcrumbs which have more salt, and then loaded with cheese which is high fat & salt! Now the pasta, well that is a simple food, usually just flour (sometimes whole wheat or corn) and water! Pasta is not the problem here...the high fat & salt chicken and cheese are the problem. Pasta, especially when it is gluten free, is a great high energy food!

Another food with a bad reputation is rice. Now, brown rice or even white rice has been a staple for many Asian cultures (Spanish as well) for centuries. These cultures are also some of the slimmest people out there, with long life spans. Steaming a bowl of rice and adding some veggies is a wonderful meal, it definitely won't make you fat! NOW...when Americans think of rice, they imagine fried rice, loaded with greasy sauces, chicken, beef or shrimp. This is also loaded with salt! Again, it is not the rice or 'carb' which is making you fat, it is the grease, the meat, and the salt!

Perfectly healthy brown rice and steamed veggies!

 I am 100% confidant anyone eating a LOW fat, high carb diet will stay slim and lean, as long as they understand what is a carb and what fat & salt are! Bread is not a problem, bread loaded with processed meat, high fat cheese, mayo, or oil is the problem!

For about a year, I have been testing this theory! I have been eating loads and loads of fruit, rice, potatoes, and pasta for dinner every night, and actually lost weight! I even eat vegan pizza weekly, without a single pound gained! I have energy, I am leaner than ever, I have seen improvement in the workouts, I have a steady mood, I feel amazing! No more stomach aches after a meal, no more feeling tired after a meal, and no more counting calories!

So lets go over the good & bad:
Fruit...fruit is king! Loaded with vitamins, water, and PURE energy!
Cookies...are fat & refined garbage
Cake...fat
French Fries...fat
Potatoes (steamed, baked, roasted)...awesome & healthy
Fried Rice...loaded with fat, salt and unhealthy
Rice (steamed, boiled)...yummy and healthy
Pasta...great option, especially if you pick gluten free and add some steamed veggies
Mac & Cheese...FAT, the cheese is the issue here, not the pasta
Bread...good, but pick a sprouted one, whole grain, fresh, and vegan! Low sodium is key!
Veggies...awesome!!! eat them up, skip the salt and butter!

Don't let society confuse you! Don't be fooled by fad diets trying to sell you a high fat meat diet, that will have you craving sugar all day! Carbs are not only healthy, but they will help you keep the pounds off and look leaner than ever! JUST make sure you understand what is a real carb, and what is being disguised as one!

Eat up!

Does 'Fit' Represent Health?

We are bombarded with images of 'fit' women and we have been conditioned to believe this image represents health...but does it? Have you ever met a girl that is really fit? Have you talked to her? Or have you met the guy who looks like an athlete from Sports Illustrated? Chances are you have! You also envied them for their beautiful body and probably thought 'wow, they are so healthy'. This is where the line is very blurred.

The guy who resembles an athlete is not necessarily healthy, just like a body builder is generally NOT healthy. Being around 'fit' people a lot, I can tell you what it takes for this athlete to look this way. Let's start with his horrible diet of meat & protein shakes! I once asked a 'fit' guy at the gym what his diet was like, and he said I eat a ton of meat and drink protein shakes a few times a day. He said 'I try to stay away from carbs, even fruit, then I allow myself a cheat day and I binge out on pizza and junk food'. Sounds healthy, right? No way. We know a high protein diet is acid forming and contributes to numerous health issues, cancer being one of them! Depriving yourself fresh fruit is extremely harmful. Fruit is nutrient rich, unlike meat. A diet without fruit is a nutrient poor diet and that is not healthy.

Cheat days. Why do so many 'fit' people have them, or quickly fall off their high protein diets? Cheat days happen due to lack of nutrition. The body will crave high energy food, looking for carbohydrates (that the 'fit' person denies himself) so when the craving is out of control one cannot make a healthy food choice. Turning to junk food, high in fat, salt, and sugar. Meanwhile a healthy person on a high fruit diet has no cheat days...we don't binge eat, we don't feel deprived. We don't need to cheat.

After these disgusting cheat days, he said he would hit the gym harder than ever out of fear all his hard work would go down the drain! WHAT???? He already works out for hours a day, some days twice a day. After a cheat day, his workout routine would be 1 and 1/2 hrs cardio, followed by an insanity style hour long workout. Why would you torture your body for the bad decision YOU made. Your body is your home, it is not your bodies fault YOU binged all day. It shouldn't be punished.

What does that do to your mental state? Does it feel good to binge? To deprive yourself of carbohydrates? To train for hours and hours? To feel like crap after the binge? To feel like crap after torturing yourself at the gym? NO, this is why this 'fit' person is not healthy. I once asked him why do this? His only answer...to look 'like this'. To jeopordize your health for looks is sad!

This is very common in the fitness industry, both 'fit' men and women follow this kind of lifestyle. Some women are even worse, over training on a regular basis, spending 2 to 3 hours at the gym, usually out of guilt from what they ate, or trying to lose weight quickly to fit into a dress or be ready for swim suit season.

Is it healthy to train 3+ hours a day if you only do it 3 times a week? Depends who you ask. If you ask a 'fit' person they would say sure it's fine. 'No Pain, No Gain' right? If you ask a healthy person, the answer would be it's NOT healthy. Over training for long hours puts unnecessary stress on the body, creating an acidic environment! If your diet is right, workouts can be short and efficient, keeping you lean & fit without the added stress! There are no binges when diet is right! There is no guilt when diet is right!

So does the 'fit' person always represent health? Absolutely not!

~Frequently Asked Questions~

~Frequently Asked Questions~

Do I get sick of eating so much fruit? Absolutely not! The amazing thing about eating fruit is that you actually want it, need it, and crave it. The more you eat the more you want! It is the most natural & perfect food for humans. Once you clean up your taste palate you will enjoy fruit, and eat it in abundance! I thought the same thing when I first read 80-10-10, who can eat so many bananas or mangoes?? Then I began my journey and discovered I CAN, lol!

eat fruit :)

Where do you get your protein? Every time I hear this question a part of me dies, lol! Not because it is a bad question, but because we have been taught to only view protein as an animal product! Hmmm....wonder why?!?! Fruits/veggies/grains all contain some protein, it may not all be complete, but as long as I eat a variety of food I will ALWAYS eat all the essential amino acids I need! There is no such thing as a protein deficiency. It does not exist! Even if you eat only bananas or oranges, you are eating some protein...making a deficiency very difficult to come by!

Do I eat raw food all day? I eat a high raw diet. That means I eat raw fruit all day until dinner. I enjoy eating mono meals. For example, I will have 6-8 bananas for breakfast, then in about 2-3 hrs have a fruit snack like 4 apples or whatever fruit is in season. For lunch I like to eat another fruit mono meal, mangoes are awesome, or cherries (when in season). Dinner usually is a large salad with kale/spinach/romaine or any other green, and a high carb/starch cooked meal. I love potatoes, brown rice, couscous, or Quinoa (though it is a protein so I need to add more carbs to the meal). I also make soups, and pizza! I ALWAYS eat vegan and high carb! 

why do people gain weight eating carbs on the S.A.D (Standard American Diet)? People don't actually gain weight from carbs. They gain weight on the standard American diet because they add a lot of fat, sugar, and animal protein to their carbs. I make pizza for dinner often, we use no cheese, no oil, no meat...just veggies! There is a huge difference, though both pizzas would be categorized as carbs. Also, on top of eating a high fat diet, many people think carbs are doughnuts, cookies, chips, snacks, etc., but those are really fats & sugars, highly processed. They should not be called carbs. If people would reduce their fat intake to 10% of their calories they would lose weight, if they decrease their protein intake as well to 10% of their calories they would lose weight. 

Do I supplement to make up for not eating meat & dairy? No way! I believe my diet is very high in nutrients so vitamins are not necessary. I didn't take supplements on the S.A.D. so I definitely don't need them now! If I wasn't feeling well I would get blood work done, maybe it would give me an idea of what I am missing from my diet. Chances are if I am not absorbing nutrients well, it means I need to increase my raw food intake and reduce my cooked food intake. Keep in mind the vitamin/supplement industry is a HUGE money maker...yet no one taking supplements is actually healthy! If we could take supplements and be healthy, we would have far fewer sick people in this country. Supplements are also acid forming in the body...so unless you can get a raw food organic supplement, I would skip it! 

Why vegan? I get this question a lot...even though there are millions of vegans in this world. It is not so uncommon any more. I chose this lifestyle because it made the most sense to me. I don't feel good about the way we treat the animals we eat or the dairy we eat/drink. Not only are these foods not necessary, but they come with all sorts of health problems, pollution, and cruel behavior. I do believe in karma, so eating meat of an animal that has been through these horrible living conditions, tortured, listened to the screams of it's own species being murdered, or milked to death, does not still well with me. They say you are what you eat...I don't want to have tortured, sick, unhealthy food in my body. Karma. Maybe that is way so much disease has come from animal products. A vegan diet can provide me with everything I need and it is yummy :) 

How does my family feel about my lifestyle? I am VERY lucky because my husband also eats a vegan diet! He use to love meat...a lot. Once he tasted some of my cooking he decided he was ok with eating vegan at home, and after doing dome research and a bad reaction to a meat dinner over the holidays, he decided to go vegan 100%! My son struggles with it, as I imagine any 9 yr old would after eating the S.A.D. He has issues with dairy already. so we were limiting his intake before we went vegan. At home he eats vegan, when he is out of the home he does not :( 

Does everybody lose weight on a vegan diet? Yes and no. Most people will lose weight when they make a drastic change in their diet, but the weight will come back or you won't lose a lot if you keep the fat high. Many vegans eat a ton of nuts, olives, avocados, and oils. Not only is a high fat diet unhealthy, but it will not get you to your 'natural' weight. The closer you are to our natural diet, the closer you will be to your natural weight. This type of high fat diet requires calorie restricting...which is not healthy!

What food do I miss most? I don't miss anything! Honestly, I can make any meal taste amazing and keep the fat low, carbs high! I have made stuffed peppers, lasagna, spaghetti, 'meatballs', soups, pizzas, etc. I have also eaten this way for over 8 months so my taste has adjusted. I no longer enjoy dressings on my salad, just a squeeze of lemon/lime and seasonings. I don't crave cake or doughnuts, or ice cream. BUT if I want, I can create a version of these things and stay in the 80/10/10 range!

Vegan lasagna!

Will fruit make me fat? LOL!!! No. fat makes you fat, cookies make you fat, cheese makes you fat, steak makes you fat. Fruit makes you a lean bean :)

Me on a high fruit diet!!! No fat anywhere to be found :)

Any more questions?

Lifestyle Udate! High-Raw Vegan!

So here we go!!!! I am super excited to give an update because most "diets" DO NOT last this long, I should be tired, hungry, pissed off, and gained weight! Nope...because this lifestyle works for HUMANS!! Are you a human? I think you are :) I don't care what your blood type is (according to my blood type I should be eating meat all day long), that we were "cavemen", that carbs make you fat, you need a lot of protein....I don't want to hear it, because I AM proof. (along with a gazillion other high-raw vegans). I went in to this journey thinking, ok...I will try for a few months see how it goes, maybe add dairy back in (I really don't care for meat, so that's not coming back), get bored with fruit, and so on...NOPE, not happening 7 months later I LOVE my lifestyle :) You cannot say it doesn't work...unless you tried it! I have done all 3- calorie counting-high protein, Standard American Diet, and the High Raw Vegan so I can compare and say what works for me.

What do I eat: I eat fruit all day! As much as I want as often as I want. Bananas have become my favorite food! I can eat anywhere from 4-6 in a sitting and about 10 during the day! I like to eat my fruit in little mono meals: 2-3 apples, followed by my bananas, wait a bit and have a few pears or a papaya! I love dates too!! Never ate them before this lifestyle...now I buy them on a regular basis! I drink smoothies, not daily, probably every other day. I eat salad or some sort of veggie meal for lunch (unless I am working then I eat a fruit meal because it gives me more energy and it's easy to pack, lol)...and I mean HUGE! My salad is a large mixing bowl or serving bowl! For dinner I have a cooked vegan meal (sometimes 2 servings)! If I workout I eat a little extra almonds about a cup (I know, lots of calories...I don't care). My total calorie count is about 2700-3000 daily!!! I don't count to restrict...I count out of curiosity! Foods I eat: anything high raw-vegan. Fruit, veggies, nuts & seeds. Cooked foods: lots of potatoes, quinoa, veggies, brown rice, we don't like pasta so we don't eat it, vegan pizza (my fave) beans, and lentils. The goal of a Natural Hygiene Diet is to eat your food raw as often as possible. I do raw breakfast and lunch, and a cooked 
dinner. 

fruit with a cinnamon date sauce, coconut flakes, and walnuts

lunch for my hubby and I!

hummus and green veggie pizza!!

Am I bored with my diet: NO NO NO! I am always excited to eat my fruit...and very bummed when we run low. I usually buy more fruit towards the end of the week, especially bananas! We run out of fruit first, veggies second, and when we are desperate we eat the packaged foods, lol. Exact opposite of most people. I have NEVER felt so good in my life. I feel satisfied after I eat, if I want more I just eat it...I DO NOT worry about eating too much fruit. I get excited when I see a new fruit in the produce isle. My taste has changed completely, an apple has always tasted good...but now it tastes incredible! Really, I smile as I eat my fruit :) It just tastes so good. Before I liked fruit...now LOVE fruit! Cooked meals are great, but I always include a salad with dinner, there's always room for more raw food!

My weight: I was not heavy or even close to heavy when I started this lifestyle...but I did watch what I ate, and struggled with sugar cravings. I would eat a high protein lunch (tuna, or chicken) and feel completely unsatisfied after, looking for something sweet immediately, and then trying to drink coffee to avoid over-eating on snacks :( I was bloated due to poor food combining and too much cooked food. I would eat dinner and think about what I would have for dessert while still eating! Now...I don't have sugar cravings. If I am out of fruit, I do eat a vegan snack (I am human), but it doesn't happen often, usually if I didn't eat enough during the day and am looking for quick energy! I have not gained a pound back since I started this lifestyle. I was ranging from 124-127, now I am 117 eating about 1000 more calories a day! My stomach is leaner and flatter than ever! I use to have cellulite, especially on the back of my thighs...almost gone :) Definitely not noticeable to others!


Girl stuff: My skin feels great, soft, and my "monthly" breakout is so much better!! I use to breakout right before my cycle and it would last forever! Now it is very minimal, and clears up fast! Speaking of monthly issues!! NO MORE PMS or cramps!! This happened after about 5 months! I really can't tell that my cycle is coming because I have no more "signs" like cramps, mood swings, bloating, etc. My cycle is so easy, no cramps at all!! REALLY!!!! I absolutely love this!!

How I feel about other diets: This is the hard part of the lifestyle...you really begin to question why isn't everyone eating like this??? I mean, don't you want to feel amazing? Have no more weird cravings? cheese now sounds like something nasty and smells awful, and bread cravings are GONE!!! If I have bread-sticks with soup for dinner, they just don't give me the same high like they used to. I haven't craved a sandwich in months. I have little desire eat bread (I used to love bread toasted, I could eat a whole loaf). I don't really like it anymore. I pretty much get giddy in the produce isle and would rather buy a cart full of fruit! Other diets just don't seem to make sense. Counting calories, limiting fruit or carbs, eating "protein" with each meal. Why??? It doesn't make you feel satisfied. I know because I use to do this. Always feeling deprived, or drinking coffee to try to satisfy a sugar craving. Gaining weight or having to limit calories to avoid gaining weight. On the standard diet...calories do count. You will gain weight if you don't monitor your calories. On a high-raw vegan diet you don't limit your calories and you don't gain weight (you would have to eat a high fat diet...just about all nuts).

My workouts: Nothing has changed besides having lots of energy :) I am still exercising the same amount. I have not lost strength, speed or the desire to move. I actually feel fine. Most people will tell you this lifestyle is not made for athletes...wrong, it actually is designed for humans...and humans are designed to be athletes! If you are not moving (a lot) you are not doing what humans are designed to do! After a workout, I love to dig in to my fruit stash! I can tell you the body responds completely different to a fruit/veggie raw meal after exercise vs a protein cooked meal...I know because I have done both. After a fruit meal, I feel hydrated, full of energy, happy, and satisfied. After a cooked protein meal I would feel full (like heavy), tired (like a nap is in order), and not satisfied at all (in search for a snack or sugar). 

no lack of energy here!

So...that is my update! I can't wait to see what I feel like after a full year! I hear it gets even better ;)

Need a lifestyle change? Feel tired, gaining weight, can't control your cravings, no energy, not exercising? Contact me to learn more about the High-Raw Vegan Lifestyle :) How to make a smooth transition, how to eat based on the Natural Hygiene Diet! It makes all the difference. 

Making Natural Health & Fitness Work For You!

Natural Fitness is slowly making a name for itself in the fitness world as more and more people adopt a plant based diet and less complicated lifestyles. We know what the fitness & diet world has to offer,
 but what does Natural Fitness have to offer?

-No Calorie Restricting
-Eating A Diet Full Of Fruits & Veggies
-Focus On Health vs Weight
-No Counting Carbs/Proteins/Calories
-Body Weight Exercises
-Stretching & Happy Workouts-you pick...Running, Yoga, Hooping, Zumba, Dance etc, HAVE FUN!!!
-Green Smoothies Or Juices

Where do you start? The most important part of changing your lifestyle is to let go of the old and embrace the new! So many people cannot truly let go of their old lifestyle, fear taking on a new approach, and end up going back to their old ways. Natural Health & Fitness has a proven method of weight loss, health, and living, but it has to be embraced without fear. Change is difficult, living a lifestyle which is not endorsed by society is difficult, but the health benefits are worth it!!! Find a Natural health Practitioner to guide you and support you along the way!

Who is this lifestyle for? EVERYONE!!! But...if you have struggled with weight, tried every diet out there, lose weight and gain it back, feel tired and have low energy, or health issues, then you MUST consider making the change! The reason why so many people have amazing results with Natural health & Fitness is because it is not carbohydrate restrictive, it does not focus on weight, and it does not about counting calories. Imagine waking up and being able to eat a large amount of fruit, topped with chopped dates, and nuts! Yum!! or a dinner full of amazing veggies, roasted, baked, and raw! The best part is how fueled and happy this kind of diet makes you feel! If you have ever been put on a low-carb diet, you know the terrible feeling of wanting to binge on carbs as soon as you can!

Exercise is very important, ALL exercise is important! Some trainers frown upon certain types of exercise like Zumba, hooping, pole-fitness, dance, or yoga, claiming it does not get the results that strength training does. BUT...if your workout makes you happy, isn't that the first step? If you start by doing a workout you enjoy, eventually it will lead you to other workouts...I have seen this happen! Feeling happy is a fantastic thing, being told a workout which makes you feel happy is not important is irresponsible! I believe if more trainers praised their clients in engaging in "happy" workouts, then their clients would be less stressed, more confident, and maybe have better weight loss results!

Discover how amazing you can feel and look! Sometimes it isn't about what you ARE doing, it's about what you are NOT doing? If you are NOT eating enough fruits and veggies, and NOT doing your "happy" workouts maybe you need to start and new program :)

Are we frugivores?

As I continue to change my eating habits and study Natural Health, I find Fruit has become the biggest part of this experience. Reading books about plant based diets I discovered they all have one thing in common...FRUIT! Fruit has had a terrible reputation as "high protein" and "low carb" diets flooded the diet and fitness industry...well you know because fruit makes you fat, right??? WRONG!!! Now, I won't go into the dangers of eating high protein and low carb, instead I will talk about the benefits of eating HIGH CARB!
High carb does not mean eating bread and pasta, which is what most people associate carbohydrates with, it's all about eating an abundance of fruit...our natural fuel supply!
As a specie, we ALL have a sweet tooth, at one point, most of us ate fruit to satisfy it...exactly how nature intended, but as the food industry created man-made sweets full of refined sugars, food additives, and colorings, our taste buds have drastically changed. We have a sweet tooth because our natural diet should contain an abundance of fruit, providing us with fuel, amino acids, vitamins, and water! The modern day human has been so over-sweetened, fruit no longer tastes sweet. This has caused us to satisfy our NATURAL sweet tooth with UNNATURAL foods...dangerous foods. Is fruit making us fat & sick? NO...most humans don't even eat the recommended serving of fruit in a day, but I bet they are eating an abundance of man-made crap...oops I mean carbs ;)
What does the human body use for fuel? Glucose! Some will say protein and fat...I would disagree. And think about this...who benefits from a high fat, high protein diet? THE FOOD INDUSTRY and BIG PHARMA, no one else! Ever seen an athlete "fat load" or "protein load" before an event? No! The human body can run like a smooth machine on a high fruit diet, it provides it water, glucose, amino acids, vitamins without robbing us of energy!
We need protein, that is very true, but the RDA grossly exaggerates what our real need is. Well, let's break it down to what we really need...AMINO ACIDS, about 21 grams per day! We have been sold this idea we need meat and lots of it, meet contains protein which the body needs, if you think the meat industry doesn't have their dirty little paws in our RDA of protein you are brainwashed. Fruits & veggies contain amino acids, most contain all essential amino acids! When we eat an abundance of fruits and veggies we are eating a direct source of what we need, instead of eating meat...which is high in protein, but the body needs to break it down into amino acids. This is a laborious process robbing us of energy! Eating fruit and veggies gives us the amino acids we need in the raw and ALIVE form.
As I add more fruit to my diet, I have seen many amazing changes! My desire for processed foods has been cut down 90%, really, Fruit has become my natural carb supply, and it has excited my sweet tooth! When you give your body natural fuel it will set you free from processed food cravings! Does protein make you lean? Ask any high raw food vegan and they will say NO WAY! I haven't been this lean without restricting calories EVER!!! That's right, no cutting calories! No robbing your body and mind of fuel (glucose)! My diet is very high in fruit, I eat fruit all day, as much as I want! I have a ton of energy, hydrated, clear headed, and my body is LEAN!
I cannot go back to eating the American standard Diet...also known as SAD. It is sad for sure. Most who are living on this diet created in labs by people more concerned about the bottom dollar, are struggling with major health problems including obesity! I do believe our natural diet is supposed to be high fruit & veggie, low protein, low fat! This s a lifestyle full of abundant eating, no calorie restricting, eating so much raw food you really do feel ALIVE! So are we a fruit eating specie? YES WE ARE! So ditch the man made protein bars, energy snacks, and weight loss shakes, and eat fruit! Give your body the fuel it craves, don't deny your natural sweet tooth!  Try 30-60 days on a high fruit, low protein, low fat diet...do it for your health!