More Raw

I have been high-raw, i.e., eating over 80 percent raw food, most days 100 percent raw vegan, (but who knows if the nuts are really raw?) for over 40 days.  I have not had coffee for 45 days.  It has been (prepare yourself for a cliche phrase) life changing.  I am surprised at how much I like it and how easy it is.  The greatest challenge, thus far, is social dining.  Despite this, the rewards are great.

My sleep has improved.  Cuts heal faster.  My mood is more upbeat.  I get going in the morning without the two-plus cups of coffee I used to require.  No coffee to grind.  No coffee maker to clean.  No coffee to buy.  I drink a quart of water in the morning (it is dry here in the Southwest Desert) and add juice of a half lemon or lime.  Then I juice a quart of vegetable juice.  I drink one or two pints, whatever I desire.  If I only drink one pint, I save the other in the fridge for later.  If I am still hungry I have some fruit or a salad.  Yes, a salad for breakfast -- or lunch.  And I mean a vegetable salad, although sometimes I add a bit of apple, peach, or nectarine. If the salad is not sufficient, I have some nuts or seeds afterwards.  Be careful not to go nuts with the nuts.  Unless you are breaking them out of their shells, they are too easy to eat.

I generally save my smoothie for lunch or afternoon.  I have been making my smoothies with frozen fruit and greens -- green smoothie.  I freeze fresh fruit, peeled if necessary and cut into pieces, when it is sweet and on sale.  The frozen fruit makes the smoothie almost like a sherbert and I eat it with a spoon.  It is cooling, tasty, thick, convenient, fast, easy, and healthy.  No added sugar.  No added fat. No animals, animal parts, or animal by-products in the blender. Trust me, I never wanted a green smoothie until I tried one during the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge.  Look for my previous posts Is Your Drink Green?, Got Greens?, and other posts from late July for my green smoothie recipes, thoughts, and observations during my raw genesis.  Also link to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 for a FREE easy juice and smoothie recipe e-Book, other easy raw recipes, videos, and info about the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge I completed.

Let me give you a secret ingredient I add to my banana spinach smoothie --- cinnamon.  It adds a new taste and the health giving properties of cinnamon.  I also add 4 to 6 ice cubes because my blender can grind them.  Note that I do not have one of those super-duper  $400 blenders.  Just something better than the old, bottom-of-the-line $15 model I used to have, for years, until the plastic handle broke off the (what is it called?) blender pitcher (?).  To recap:  the secret ingredients are cinnamon and ice cubes.  ;-)

I go to a naturopathic doctor.  After I stopped coffee for several weeks, a noon time slump in energy that would have been boosted by caffeine became pronounced.  The doctor found that my pineal gland was weak.  This has been corrected and my energy is quite sufficient to get through the day and evening.  Had it not been for quitting coffee, I would never have known that my pineal, a master gland, was weak.
I was advised it is OK for me to take vitamin B12.  The naturopath I go to has been a vegetarian since the 1960s!  He takes some B12.  He works long days, sometimes over 12 hours, and goes to the gym to work out during lunch.  We need more role models who practice what they preach and don't do too much preaching.  Also, it is good to have a practitioner you trust who can intelligently support you when you change your diet.  You want to be sure you are getting all your nutritional needs met.

In a previous post I promised to print some quotes from a book I read, Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda! or Sell Your Stove to the Junkman and Feel Great!  Here it is:
    Most people live on an omnivorous diet -- that is, anything that is possible to chew up and swallow      and live long enough to tell about it, they will eat.  But, for one reason or another, many people decide to adopt some restrictions...The great value of the raw food diet is its transformative value. To a great extent, when you take up the raw food diet, you become a new and different and better person.  You don't just stay the same old person, only a little healthier.  You become, to a great extent, a new being, with new interests, a new philosophy and outlook on life, new goals and desires...Such transformations of course are impossible to imagine before you have experienced them.  The raw foods diet doesn't so much "improve you" as "replace you" with somebody better!  -- Joe Alexander c.1990

Wow.  Lofty words Joe.  I could stand to be replaced with somebody better.

I am new and improved, or replaced...,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011






 

 

Dry Monsoon

Temperatures have been hovering around 110 degrees in the afternoons.  We are trying to have a monsoon but it has been a dry year.  The clouds rolled in this afternoon.  The sky got darker.  The wind kicked up and was gusting vigorously.  A few drops fell but the wind dried them quickly.  Then the rainbow formed.  For a while, there was a double rainbow, but the outer second rainbow was faint.  I stood out in the gusting wind, and the few sprinkles of rain the wind blew in, to watch the rainbow.  The sky turned red.  It was almost biblical.  The red sky was within the rainbow.  That passed.  The show went on for the better part of an hour. 

The dog was a bit nervous about the wind.  He couldn't understand why I was standing in the rain, what little there was of it.  Rain is so rare here we sometimes stand in the rain just to experience and enjoy it.  The box turtle came out for the rain, as she does.  The gusty wind blew away the monsoon insects.  It was a perfect time, although we could use some more rain.

Hope you see a rainbow.
Sincerely,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. c(2011)

Mercury Retrograde

I see a note on my calendar that says "Merc Retro."  This is my shorthand for Mercury Retrograde.  It is an astrological term that refers to the illusion that the planet Mercury is going backwards, instead of forward in it's orbit.  Actually, I believe the Earth is just passing Mercury; thus, there is the illusion of Mercury going backwards.  This typically happens three or four times a year.

In astrology Mercury may be associated with communications and transportation.  Mercury retrograde may be a negative indicator for issues relating to communication and transportation.  For example, negotiations may not go smoothly, communications may be delayed, the check in the mail may be lost, there may be misunderstandings, etc.  Your flight may be delayed, but that could happen any day.  Some astrologers suggest you not sign contracts if you can avoid it during Mercury retrograde.  On the other hand, things that were previously lost or delayed may show up now to be completed.  For example, a lost object may be found, or an unfinished project may surface for completion.  Some say it is a good time to clean out closets.  Hint.

Mercury retrograde ends August 26 this year.  I don't know whether all this astrology stuff is the real deal or just a bunch of bull (sorry Taurus), but I plan to play it safe.

Going to clean out a closet,
I AM Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011 

Got Higher Prices?

I generally make one weekly shopping trip to the member discount warehouse I lovingly refer to as "Costlo" (costs low?).  I get my 10 pounds of organic carrots, a pound or two of organic spinach, a pound of lettuce, and maybe some bananas.  I might pick up something seasonally available, especially if it is organic.  I might occasionally make an impulse purchase or get something useful if it is on sale.

This week I noticed that the price of my bag of carrots increased 5 percent.  It is still a good deal, but I know the price went up either earlier this year or late last year.  I cannot say that all goods have increased across the board, but certainly, some of them have.  I believe my bag of coffee beans went up 10 percent over the past year.  I quit coffee so this is no longer an issue for me.  I no longer follow the price of coffee.  Seems the price of bread has gone up over the past few years and the quality has gone down.  I quit buying bread.  I quit chips -- potato, corn, pita.  But, I still eat vegetables.

Seems the price of cabbage has gone up.  Luckily I don't eat much cabbage.  I could give up carrots,  or . . . I can cut food costs by fasting.  If I fast one day every 10 days, it should cut my food costs 10 percent.  I wonder what that would do for me?  I have read that Patricia Bragg fasts one day a week, as did Paul Bragg.  That would cut food costs by 14 percent.  *Note: This is not medical advice, nor is it intended as such.  *Please do not try this without consulting your health care professional first.  I am just considering what others say they have done for health purposes and pointing to the economic impact of such behavior.  Apparently, the Braggs believe that their protocol has been (Paul is deceased) / is (Patricia is still alive as of this writing) healthy for them. 

I like food.  I have lost 30 pounds this year and my food bill is not lower than it was a year ago.  Interestingly, several folks have noticed that raw food consisting of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, costs more than other food, such as canned food or foods processed in some ways.  Granted, some processed foods are expensive such as gourmet frozen foods, deli prepared foods, and even processed raw food, i.e, food processed or "cooked" at low temperatures such as "raw" crackers.  (The exact temperature at which a food is still "raw" varies per source.  Some say as low as 104 degrees; some say higher.  The consensus seems to be that the temperature should be below the temperature that kills enzymes.  This begs the question: Do all food enzymes die at the same temperature?)

Back to fasting, let's see . . . How long would I have to fast, one day a week, to afford a new pair of running shoes?
Still wearing the same old shoes,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011

Heat Sink

Summer has hit the point of entropy*.  Nothing much is happening.  Everything is hot.  The water is hot.  The air is hot.  The breeze is hot.  The nights are hot.  The mornings are hot.

Whoever can get out of town is away.  No one wants to come down to the desert to visit in the summer.  The traffic is sometimes noticeably light.  That is nice.

It has been a dry summer.  Maybe the monsoon will be back this week.  We could use some more summer rain.  In the Southwest Desert a dry summer generally means a dry year.

*Entropy may be defined as a measure of the amount of energy in a physical system not available to do work.  You don't want to do much in this part of the summer.  There is yard work to do -- clearing out dead brush, dead leaves, and dead cacti.  Trim the oleander.  There are house chores.  The kitchen floor can stand a mopping.  The car could use a washing, but the wind will blow dust on it soon enough so I will wait until the end of summer to wash the car. 

I'm still eating that raw food.  Why waste energy cooking?  I got a dozen ripe peaches, peeled them, cut them into pieces, and froze them.  I took about two cups of the barely frozen peach pieces, added just enough water to blend them in the blender and created a sweet, thick, sherbert-like peach dessert.  It was cold and smooth.  That was the most interesting part of today.  For some nice, clean, and easy smoothie recipes check this link http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 and get the FREE recipes e-Book.        

Sometimes I see a lone coyote when I take the dog for a walk.  Sometimes I see a hawk looking for prey.  There are rabbits, quail, doves, and little lizards.  Sometimes clouds roll in.  But, like the song says, "the skies are not cloudy all day."

Entropically yours,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c) 2011

Back in the Saddle Again

I was a holy rollin' raw vegan for 10 days.  Then I tried some cooked food.  It tasted OK.  Each day for the next 4 days I had some cooked food.  Just some.  I was still eating mostly raw food and drinks.  By the fourth day I had a cooked dinner with salad.  It was too much.  It tasted good.  I enjoyed it.  But I missed the feeling of the lighter raw food, so I have returned to the high-raw (i.e., mostly raw and most days all raw) life.

I went to the store I will lovingly call Holy Foods.  It is a very expensive health food supermarket.  I wanted some interesting fresh greens, organic lemons, and ginger from Hawaii.  I strolled around the produce section where there is both organic and conventional produce.  I found the most perfectly ripe, large avocado.  It cost $3, but the little organic avo's I had been purchasing at the grocery store cost $2, and they were small.  I purchased the large $3 avo.  It was the tastiest avocado I have had in a long time.  Just divine.

I also found some large leaf rainbow chard.  I juice the chard, stem and all, with carrot, celery, cucumber, a little beet root, and a small piece of ginger root.  Basically, I juice what I have in the fridge.  Usually I add one or two stems of chard per pint of vegetable juice, so as not to have the green overpower the other vegetables.  In lieu of chard, I may use lettuce (romaine works well) or spinach.

The avocado, chard, one lemon, and a generous amount of ginger root cost me over $10.  It was a small amount of food, but I am enjoying the quality.  This organic food could become one expensive habit.  Maybe I will be so fortified by the organic produce that I will be able to eat less. 

I read a small book about raw food by Joe Alexander.  Joe is an artist and claims that his art changed after he became raw.  The colors became brighter and the style of the figures was more elegant and beautiful.  The name of the book is Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda!  How could I resist that title?  It was hiding in a used book store.  Although the book is copyrighted 1990, Joe encourages quoting the book so that others may learn of these ideas.  I hope to do that in future blogs, but now I want to go to Holy Foods and see whether there are any more of the wonderful super avocados.

Back in the Saddle Again,
Southwest Desert Blogger  P.S. check out this excellent link for raw vegan info, FREE juice and smoothie recipes e-Book, videos, and a super 7 Day Raw Food Challenge and 10 Day Juice Feast.  I have learned so much from this info.    http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344
C. (c)2011