The Live Green Smoothie Diet

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 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.