The Live Green Smoothie Diet

Last Day for $20 Savings on my LGS Daily Recipe magazine…

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 20, 2009: High-Raw “Rawish” Meals To Help Introduce Friends & Family To The Delicious World of Living Foods

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Last night, I was hanging out with a good friend of mine before we went out for a little dancing, and for the second time I served him up a high-raw “rawish” dinner that fully satisfied both his taste buds and appetite.

It’s a great feeling, sharing such healthful meals with people you care about, and at the same time leaving them marveling at how delicious the experience can be.

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Raw Cocktails

A Great Way To Introduce Cocktail-Lovers To The Great Energy & Flavor Of Raw Foods!

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The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 18, 2009: Dave the Trucker: Raw Food Weight Loss of 178 pounds in 13 months!

Check out this more recent video about Dave…he’s now lost 200 pounds! Dan McDonald (”The Life Regenerator”) has been following Dave’s progress all along. Be sure you check out Dan’s youtube channel… he’s an awesome resource and a very cool dude.

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This guy is just so awesome…I’m in love with him.

Whoever thinks that raw & living foods are just for kitten-kissing, long-haired hippies making love-beads on some commune…think again! Here’s a truck-driving “regular guy” who’s discovered the power of it…and is reinventing his life, his body, and his health in the most inspiring way!

Here he is introducing his story — he had stage II colon cancer, kidney disease and other serious health challenges, and he was 411 pounds and on 19 prescription medications. He’s now off all 19 meds, cancer-free (documented with his doctor) and he’s changed to the raw foods lifestyle. Don’t miss this interview!

If this doesn’t inspire you to change your life and your health the way you would like, I’m not sure what will!

(These interviews are done by wonderfully passionate Dan McDonald, “the life regenerator” — check out his You Tube channel here! to see more video interviews of Dave the Trucker!)

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Here he’s talking about the nutritional energy “zing” of “juice feasting” on live barley powder, as well as the power of colonics, and how amazingly resilient his skin has been despite having lost 178 pounds in just 13 months (16 months by the time this vid was shot)!

There’s are three months between the first video and the second one. Look at how much more of a “raw glow” Dave has in that second vid! Raw & living foods really do make a demonstrable difference, one you can both feel and see!

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The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 15, 2009: Eating Out At Restaurants… Living The Good Life, Raw-Style

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After a bit of hiking at the Round Valley Reservoir, and practicing rumba walks on the sandy beach, I stopped at the Fox & Hounds restaurant in Lebanon, NJ on my way home… my old favorite watering hole. And to my delight, their backyard garden patio with cement wrap-around out-door bar was still open! Yay!

I scooted up to the bar and ordered a nice big salad and a juicy glass of Australian Shiraz, and lit up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me, wrapping up her meal.

It ended up being a wonderful and satisfying meal on every level.

Eating out can be a frustrating thing at times when one is focused on “jacking up the raw”. But I see it mostly as a challenge to re-wire how we’ve been acculturated through so many generations focused on eating food that has primarily had it’s life force cooked out of it. Just requires coming up with some creative solutions, perhaps thinking out of the box, and definitely getting over the shyness of asking restaurant staff to help out.

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Don’t Know What To Order? Get A Salad…And Have It Blended!

Last summer, I was on a business trip staying at the lovely Radisson in downtown Kalamazoo, and I took in a dinner at this fabulous modern-Italian restaurant called “Zazio’s”. The place had absolutely top-knotch service, which given my background in rarified food service, I really appreciated.

I ordered a salad and an appetizer, but just didn’t feel like sitting there chewing that salad for an hour all by myself (I am perhaps the world’s slowest salad-chewer). The waiter, “Josh”, noticed my inactivity and asked if there was something he could do for me. I asked if the chef had a good blender in the kitchen.

End of story: Josh was charmed and delighted to do something different from his usual routine, and he took that whole salad to the kitchen and had the chef blend it up into a gorgeous smoothie for me, which was presented back at the table to me in a lovely large glass…with a straw!

It was delicious. It had a bit of red onion in it, even a small slice of aged parmesan, which had garnished the salad, and it had been blended with the olive oil dressing it had been tossed with. It was explosively flavorful…and Josh was full of questions to hear about how cool green smoothies are!

I was so glad I’d opened my mouth and asked for what I wanted! Turns out… it was no skin off of anyone’s nose, and both the chef and the waiter were happy to help.

So…don’t be shy. Ask… suggest… see what the kitchen can do to make you happy. And imagine what a relief it will be to the staff to be able to do something creative and out-of-the-ordinary!

I’ll continue to post about raw & living food choices while eating out and about… It’s an adventure to create a new culture of dining.

By now most everyone has heard of Mimi Kirk… a true force of nature and an inspiration to so many. May we all continue to set new standards for what is possible as we accumulate our years and wisdom!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 6, 2009: Amazingly Vital, 71-year-old Mimi Kirk - PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Over 50

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That's Mimi Kirk on the far right...and creative dynamo and raw food guru Markus Rothkranz in the middle.

Mimi Kirk was recently named PETA’s sexiest vegetarian over 50. About a year and a half ago, Mimi was introduced to the raw foods lifestyle, and she speaks here about the changes she attributes to jacking up the raw in her own life!

At 71, she was the oldest contestant by far — a number of the other entrants could have been her children! And yet she is as youthful as many women would hope to be decades younger. Mimi has four children and seven grandchildren, still wears jean miniskirts, and has been a vegetarian since she was 30.

According to this NBC article, it sounds like she’s got enough energy to keep her boyfriend on his toes… who’s 19 years younger. My kinda chica.

May she be the inspiration to many women (and men) to begin jacking up the raw in their own lives!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 6, 2009: The Power of Juicing to Turn Things Around Quickly — Your Energy, Your Health, and Your Mood

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I’ve been into juicing on and off since around the late 80s…a lot longer than I’ve been into Live Green Smoothies. And while I stand firmly in my belief that nothing is easier than adding Live Green Smoothies to one’s lifestyle in order to improve health, energy, and well-being, I have experienced again and again for a couple decades that there is nothing like the power of fresh juice — especially green juices — to quickly break a rut in one’s life.

If I’ve gotten down in the dumps for any reason, or if I’m struggling with motivation, or if I’ve gotten far away from living foods and into a rut of pasta and bread (or worse), if I feel bloated and heavy, stiff or no-energy, all it takes is an intense infusion of some freshly made juices to turn things around and break the stalemate, usually overnight.

I’ve also found that it’s definitely the vegetable and green juices that seem to have the greatest power in creating this rapid shift. While I will always make my juices with some apple or red grapes for sweetness, it’s the spinach, parsley, kale, and beets that seem to carry that magic torch that can snap me out of my inertia and get me onto a new path.

Other fruit and vedge I’ll juice up to help break a stalemate: celery, carrot, cucumber, and even sweet potato. And I’m a big fan of making fresh lemonade and limeade using apples and whole organic lemons and limes, usually adding some parsley to the mix to make it green.

Live Green Smoothies may be the most effective habit to include on a daily basis, because they are just so dang easy… easy to make and easy to clean up. But I know if I want to powerfully and rapidly jack up my health, my mental clarity, and my momentum in a new direction or to a new level, I make it a point to bring in the green & the vegetable juices.

The intense infusion of all that life force and nutrition, not slowed down by any accompanying fiber, is a potent healing agent and energizer!

The instant, powerful shift is worth the hassle of having a juicer to clean up.

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My Breakfast This Morning: Fresh Juice Made From Broccoli, Orange, Red Grape, and Fresh Turmeric Root

I juiced up:

• 1 medium bunch of broccoli
• 1 large bunch of red grapes
• 3 navel oranges
• 1 2-3″ piece of turmeric root (unpeeled)

Delicious and, like… WOW energetically speaking. Not to mention it’s an alkalyzing, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer tonic in a glass!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on April 6, 2009: The Easy Way to “Go Raw”… Take It Slow and Enjoy the Ride!

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Don’t struggle so hard with being “perfect” in your attempts to “go raw”. There’s an easy way to go about it…

I’ve been experimenting on and off with a raw foods lifestyle for over 4 years, at times being nearly 100%, at times slipping way-way-way into the cooked realm. And adding two or three blenderfuls of Live Green Smoothies every day has been by far the most helpful thing I’ve done, the one way I was able to jack up the living foods in my life without creating a sensation of deprivation.

My health, my weight, my energy, and my appearance all changed without “trying”… and so easily!

Just “Add and Substitute”… No Struggle

From the beginning, I’ve believed that the way to go about increasing the raw foods in one’s life is just to ADD… keep adding and don’t engage in a battle with yourself to cut things out. For the unhealthy stuff that have healthier versions, SUBSTITUTE…

Substitute a healthy salt for table salt, a healthy unprocessed whole sugar for white sugar, a sprouted grain bread (like Ezekiel bread) for bread made from flour. Substitute organic foods for foods grown with pesticides. And then just keep adding more of the raw and living foods…

Substitute raw nuts for roasted… raw nut butters for roasted nut butters. Make “Salad Sandwiches” heavy on the greens and veggies, or with amazingly tasty sandwich fillings made with avocado and sprouts and great seasonings.

And just keep adding more of the raw.

Enjoy Your Choices! Every Day is YOUR LIFE, and a Good One.

In between, if you have your pizza, your spaghetti with meat sauce, your birthday cake and brownies… meh… enjoy your choices! Don’t angst over them. Just keep adding more of the good stuff and filling out your life with richly mineralized, wildly nutritious foods. Find new ways to increase your superfoods… and each day your body will crave more and more of these things.

Your tastes and cravings will change. They change on their own — you don’t need to force the issue. What would be impossibly hard today eventually becomes easy of its own accord, because you genuinely crave something different. No forcing is necessary.

So whatever the degree of change you’re making today, whether it’s to have a salad instead of Mickey D’s or to get that third blenderful in of Live Green Smoothies… just enjoy the process. It’s a decision that is leading somewhere good.

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on April 2, 2009: Great Interview of “Raw Glow” founder Cecilia Benjumea

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This morning I listened to a wonderful audio interview of Cecilia Benjumea by Lenette Nakauchi at “Go Raw, Have Fun!”

Personal Raw Foods Story

Finding Relief From Chronic Fatigue, Asthma, and Depression

Cecilia Benjumea is the founder of Raw Glow. She came to the raw foods lifestyle about seven years ago, when she was struggling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that resisted all her efforts to genuinely turn around. She dove into the raw foods diet and never looked back, because the results she experienced were remarkable! Her energy increased immediately, and eventually not only did the Chronic Fatigue become a thing of the past…but so did her asthma, her depression, and even a rash she’d had on her upper arms since childhood!

In the extremely inspiring and informative interview, Cecilia explains how she started Raw Glow so that others interested in raw foods could find friendly support and information…and her site is just that, chock-full of great information, recipes, and photos.

You can also read about Cecilia’s personal story here.

My recommendation: Do not miss this one!

Review of Lenette Nakauchi’s site “Go Raw Have Fun!”

Lenette’s site is great — an excellent resource, easily laid out, full of helpful articles, recipes, and how-to’s on every subject related to raw foods.

Both Lenette’s and Cecilia’s sites are going into my “Blogroll”.

Time and time again, turning to a richly hued living foods diet has helped me to almost instantly break the spell of “over-carbification”.

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The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on March 28, 2009: De-Carbing with a Rainbow Foods Diet

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Carb Overload Adds Dead Weight, Bloat, and Pastiness

After carb-festing a couple days ago, I can feel the effects of it in my body now. Cooked carbs are just completely dead energy in the body, and I can feel an increase in heaviness and stiffness, as if my body is now carrying some dead weight in it rather than the wonderful “lightness of being” that live foods give. As a dancer (hiatus or no), weighing the body down and creating stiffness through diet just seems insane to me — it’s the opposite direction I wish to be going right now! I can instantly tell people who are very big into cooked carbs — their bellies are bloated, their skin is pasty and lacking a natural glow, and they become sleepy very often. It’s just what carbs do. And I don’t want any part of it.

So I’m flooding my system right now with all the great raw foods that I know from experience are potent “direction-shifters” that rapidly break a negative state into one with more energy and lightness. These foods are rich in color — bright orange, deep green, bright yellow, rich brown, and blood-red fuschia. Antioxidants and minerals are intrinsically rich in color, and it’s the antioxidants and minerals that build a body and life force that is dynamic and full of energy! I’ve set the intention that, next time I’m craving a bowl (or two) of pasta, to listen to see if there’s something I could do to satisfy that craving in another way. For example, I’m aware that sometimes I just want to sedate myself with carbs because my energy is just too high. In which case, maybe an intense workout is all that’s needed as a way to use up or redirect that available energy.

In the meantime, I’m flooding my body with the raw foods rich in color… a veritable rainbow.

Easy Raw “Rainbow Foods” Meal Plan for the Today

First off: Polysaccharide-rich foods, which I’m getting right now in the form of raw “Soda Pop” and tea made with Goji Berry, Lemon, and organic raw Apple Cide Vinegar. If I had noni on hand, I’d throw it’s lovely purple-ness into a nice Noni Soda. But alas… am noni-free at the moment.

Next: I’ve got fresh vegetable juice planned for this afternoon, made with Kale, Celery, Ginger, and Apple. Nothing more rapidly breaks an energy stalement or the effects of carb-overload, in my experience, than fresh green juices. Fresh juices in general, but fresh green juices especially.

For main meals I’m making: An avocado salad with red onion, sweet red pepper, garlic, and chopped beets.

As well as: A creamy warm live blended, curried soup with turmeric, garlic, hemp seeds, coriander and fresh cilantro, with shredded sweet potato.

And finally: Am making “hot cocoas” with raw chocolate, raw maca, and raw carob. Not “rainbow pretty”, but earthy, like gorgeously rich soil.

You can’t go wrong if you just think “live foods” and “color” at the same time!

The very latest update on the subject as of January 4, 2010:

Mole One never returned and left no visible evidence of ever existing. It is currently completely unblemished skin where there used to be quite  large mole straddling my collarbone. And Mole Two (a much older, deeper mole) also never returned; and although the remaining skin is just slightly discolored and raised, it has continued to become less visible.

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The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on March 26, 2009: Moles Falling Off: Cool Things That Happen When You Jack Up Your Raw Foods

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Mole One

About two months before I launched my Live Green Smoothie Diet site, my first large mole fell off. I’d had a couple small ones painlessly shuck themselves off, but there was one large-ish mole along my left collarbone that was an irregular shape, and I wanted it gone. Knowing that stories are not uncommon of the body discarding moles as one’s raw and living foods consumption increases, I just set the intention, gave the mole a little talking to (”Sayonara, baybee…”) and left it at that.

It wasn’t too long afterwards that the edges of the mole started to become “itchy”, like they wanted to be picked at gently. So I obliged, very gently. And over the course of no more than two weeks of this gentle manual sloughing off, the thing was gone, utterly and completely, no raised texture whatsoever. I thought that was just the coolest thing, because this was a serious-sized mole and it was painless. There was a tiny bit of bleeding at one point, but no biggee. And now, the skin where it used to be is perfectly healthy!

Mole Two

So after a few weeks, I turned my attention to a neighboring mole, which was just two inches lower than the first one, and which is actually very nicely placed. Could be considered a bonafide “beauty mark” the way one on the cheek sometimes gets that reputation. But, I figured… let’s say farewell to all these little bits of blemish. Why not? And that’s the next mole I set my sights on.

This time, the mole did not “speak to me first” with itchiness. I played with it a bit in the way that the first one seemed to respond so well to. And I couldn’t believe it, but it started to respond. I’d had this one I think since I was a teenager, so I guess it’s deeper? That’s my theory… I’m no expert on moles. But it’s about 3/4 gone, and it’s been about a week.

Moles Three and Four

At the same time, there are two flattish moles on my back, one rather large, both of them new in the scheme of things. And they’re also working themselves off!

The pattern is that the mole scabs a bit from the manipulation, and after a couple days of healing the scabbed portion can be worked off, and part of the mole naturally goes with it. As this process progresses, the mole recedes. It’s gentle, although there can be a bit of blood. And the skin healing itself nicely is an obvious part of the progress.

Maybe it’s gross, I think it’s cool. Renewal. That’s what it’s all about, in my book. Renewal.

“The Holidays”… a favorite time for many people, filled with lots of festivity, party-going, family gatherings, and favorite once-a-year treats. It’s also the number one time for most of us to put on extra weight and elevate our stress levels! Every year, gym memberships radically increase in January and February as droves of people don their exercise gear and vow to lose the weight they put on between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

No one wants to be dieting over the holidays. But what if I told you that you could radically increase the raw and living foods in your diet, increasing your energy and your ability to cope with stress, delivering you into the new year with a host of new habits and a fresh and positive outlook… and without giving up your favorite holiday treats?

That’s my “Jack Up The Raw” program in a nutshell! It focuses entirely on how you can easily and dramatically add lots of fresh, high-water-content, nutrient-packed, low-fat foods into your diet, without focusing on eliminating your favorite foods. You can enjoy adding Live Green Smoothies to your diet in such a way that increases healthy fruit, vedge, and greens to a level you’ve never experienced before… and still, when you attend your favorite parties, you don’t have to feel obligated to avoid enjoying yourself.

How is this possible???

My approach to “jacking up the raw” is all about ADDING the good things, and not focusing resistance or any negativity on what doesn’t fall into that category. It doesn’t add pressure or invoke guilt or stress. Instead, my approach focuses on radically (but comfortably) increasing the raw and live foods in your diet.

On my program, you will never wake up a single day with the mindset of having to force yourself to give up the foods you love when you’re not ready to do so. At the same time, as you add more and more of the Live Green Smoothies and other raw foods into your diet, your tastes and your preferences are going to change. Quite naturally, you will start craving different foods. You will start wanting more living foods.

And your appreciation and enjoyment of your favorite cooked meals will also increase… often resulting in your desiring less of them. Why? Because when you remove taboo and increase pleasure, you tend to feel much more keenly when “enough is enough”.

Make This Your Holiday Present To YOURSELF

You do NOT have to wait until “after the holidays” to make this change! You can start tomorrow, and keep all your party plans the same, all your family traditions the same. With my Jack Up The Raw program, it’s so easy, it’s not going to stress you out or give you “yet one more thing” to worry about over the busy holiday season. The changes I’ll ask you to make take very little time and, with a little willingness on your part, are not at all difficult to incorporate.

And just think… when January comes around and you hop on that treadmill at the gym, it won’t be with a heavy heart and an extra 10 pounds. You’ll feel lighter, more energized, and proud of yourself for having taken action to give yourself what you wanted most of all for the holidays: better health, less stress, and more youthful energy.

Sign up for my Jack Up The Raw 6-Week Coaching today for an inexpensive one-on-one six-week support relationship over the holiday season. You will not regret it!

To register, click here. To read more about the program, click here and here!

And be sure to read my article Food Addiction, Eating Disorders, and Living & Raw Foods - The “Nonresistance” Way of Living Stress-Free With Food, which describes the inner spirit behind my Jack Up The Raw program!