It Feels SOOO Good to be Back!

(Green Lemonade)

Freshman year of college is finally a thing of the past and I miraculously got through it with a decent GPA. I'm kind of going to miss being a college student over the summer but I'm glad that I'll have lots of R&R time in the coming months. I'll also have plenty of time to do some well needed detoxing because my diet can use some real cleaning up. Not having a juicer or blender in the dorm makes my dietary life so much harder and my rigorous class/work schedule doesn't help matters much. The last few weeks especially took a toll on my body because I had been studying for exams anywhere from 3-7 hours everyday and chugging mocha-latte-cafe-machiatto's on the regular (I actually downed a 32 oz latte in about 15 minutes last Tuesday night and was jittery until about 10 a.m. the next morning - Good job Natalie).

Anywho, I have been delighted to once again have the honor of being in the presence of delicious greens, sweet and tasty fruits, and exotic superfoods. I've gotten a chance to spend some quality time with my juicer since my return and it has been the most amazing thing to reunite with it once again. On Sunday morning (the morning after I got back), I made it my first order of business to drive over to the grocery store and get the ingredients for a green lemonade (I have the ingredients listed in this blog post). Green lemonade juice (pictured at the top of this post) is one of the most refreshing green juices that I've ever tasted. I could probably drink one every morning with no problem at all. I remember when I was home for a weekend earlier this spring, I had a pretty bad case of the sniffles and just had an overall sick feeling. That night, I drank a hefty, probably 35 oz, serving of green lemonade and I felt like a million bucks the next morning. I'm not sure if it was just naturally time for my body to get better or if the green lemonade did the trick but either way, that eternally sold me on the power of green lemonade.

Plenty more posts to come since I actually have stuff to write about nowadays. Be sure to keep checking in!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

This Thing is Interfering With My Workouts!!!

(Apparently I'm not supposed to go to the gym because of THIS)

In an effort to improve my cardiovascular health, I've been trying to be more consistent with my workouts recently. I got into the swing of things once again maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago and everything had been going well....until SWINE FLU decided to make a nasty appearance. There are 5 cases of swine flu so far at my University and this has caused a lot of people to get really paranoid when they engage in daily functions. Some things I think are appropriate, such as the University deciding to place Purell hand sanitizer and moist towelettes at the front desks in all of the dorms, but other things are just kind of unnecessary, like not coming within ten feet of your friend who spent spring break in Cancun. I mean, the 5 students on campus who supposedly have swine flu have been quarantined and are residing in a dormitory that is located three blocks from the main campus, so why is everyone still so panicked?

Okay, so maybe I'm a little too laid back and care free about the issue but when an influenza outbreak interferes with my ability to get my workout on, I get upset. A few days ago, I was standing in the hallway of my dorm talking to a couple of friends when I interrupted and told them I had to run because I was heading to the gym. Following this statement, I was immediately scolded and received a somewhat synchronous verbal expression of discontent with my decision to workout. Why were they so concerned? Apparently fitness centers are a breeding ground for germs and any old person walking around the gym could be carrying the virus. Even though I was aware of this, I was still willing to follow through on my plan to workout...but my friends weren't going to let me go that easily. The huffed and puffed and carried on about the danger I would be putting myself in so I just decided to submit and didn't workout.

And sadly, I haven't worked out since.

I think that, subconsciously, I actually listened to what my friends said and started to believe it to a certain extent. In recent hours, I've started to slap some sense into myself and was reminded that fear is a lethal weapon and it can truly hold you back. So yes, I'm going to be safe, but I'm also not going to let this swine scare dictate how I run my day. The perfect balance, right?

Take care all, and be sure to find YOUR balance of safety and freedom...

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

Skinny Bitch/Bastard in the NY Times

(Article about Skinny Bastard that was in the Arts sections of the New York Times)

During one of my recent New York Times adventures, I came across an article about authors Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman and their new book Skinny Bastard. For those of you who've read some of my posts from last spring, you know that two books were heavily responsible for my bodily transformation: Body-for-Life (Bill Phillips) and Skinny Bitch. I have to say though that the latter had more of an overall influence on me because the authors really broke down the effects of animal products on the human body in a manner that was easy for me to understand. Skinny Bitch is the only book in the series that I own but in my bookstore travels, I've also had a chance to skim through Skinny Bitch in the Kitch (their cookbook) and Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven (for women who are pregnant). All of them are excellent resources for anyone who is interested in pursuing a healthier lifestlye and are ready to turn things around; and I speak from personal experience when I say that.

(Authors Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman)

I can imagine that the two authors may have had a hard time figuring out how to approach writing this book because dieting is typically thought of as a 'woman' thing...even though having sound eating habits is equally as important for men. The article stated that when it comes to dieting, men are more concerned about health than vanity...so trying to coerce a guy to diet in order to get rid of his 'man boobs' wouldn't be as effective as telling him that the amount of hamburgers he eats can lead to diabetes and heart disease.

I'm going to order Skinny Bastard off of Amazon.com in the coming weeks because I think that it may have some universal information that wouldn't only be valuable for men, but for women as well. One ironic speculation that the article pointed out was that women are probably more likely to buy this book than men...I guess I fall into that pool huh.

If any of you decide to go out and purchase this or any of their other books, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

Still Working on it...

(My makeshift kitchen)

I just got back from the gym and I'm actually sweating on my keyboard as I type. I had a pretty good workout tonight. I kept it simple; 5 minute treadmill warm up, 10 minute run (running at about a 9 minute mile pace now) and a 5 minute brisk-walk cool down. I followed that up by some lower ab work and a couple sets of push-ups. It's amazing to me how much push-ups alone can do for your body. Not only do push-up movements work your biceps, but they are also great for the triceps, chest, abs, and back (to an extent). If all someone did was push-ups, deadlifts, and squats in an intense circuit rotation, they'd probably be in pretty good shape, with no gym equipment needed...maybe I should be that someone! Unfortunately, I won't have the luxury of a free school gym (like I have now) when I go back home for the summer so a circuit much like the one I just described might become a reality for me. I purchased a jump rope off of amazon.com a couple of weeks ago and I can't wait to use it during my workouts. I've been playing around with my room arrangement to see if I can create enough space so I can jump rope inside but that hasn't been working out so well. The weather has been beautiful anyway so I should take advantage of it and workout outside.

I labeled this post 'Still Working on it' because, as you can guess, I'm still working on gaining more control over my diet. I would give myself a B- for my dietary behavior over the past three weeks because although I have come a long way from where I was this winter, some of my habits are still pretty pathetic. I also have to be even more careful now because, ironically enough, when I workout, I get more cravings to eat unhealthy foods. Perhaps this happens because I think that I can simply burn off whatever fatty calories I ate during my workouts. This philosophy really sucks because that would be a huge waste of burned calories. I would much rather burn the fat stores that I currently have rather than new carbs and fats that I just consumed. AGHH!! Sometimes my own thinking can get me really worked up.

Does anyone else agree with me about cravings coming hand in hand with increased exercise? My sister told me that her habits are quite the contrary; whenever she gets serious about working out, she is more apt to follow up her exercise routine with healthy eating. I guess that gene was lost somewhere in between her birth and mine...

I'm no where near where I need to be in order to complete my first 5K of the season but I'm getting there slowly but surely. I think that once I knock the first one out of the way, the rest will be a lot easier. There's a 5K serious that takes place about 5 miles from my house and they hold their races every Wednesday night from April through August. Attending a few of these should make reaching my running goal more attainable. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to scope out their course when I head back home in a couple of weeks.

By the way, Tim VanOrden had a speaking appearance out on Long Island a couple weeks ago not too far from where I live. Did anyone attend? I'm just interested to hear what people thought; he's one of my favorites!

Take care everyone and don't be shy with the comments.

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

One Step at a Time

(I finally made my own food!)

It's no secret that my diet has been super out of whack recently. I've been teetering back and forth between periods of time where my diet is immaculate and even longer periods when I shovel everything in sight into my mouth. I could somewhat get away with this behavior during the winter because D.C. winters allow you to clothe heavily, but the summer is a bit less forgiving. People are already beginning to shed the jackets and jeans and it's a bit intimidating...

My original plan for the winter was to hit the gym on a regular basis and put on as much lean muscle as possible. I was going to keep an eye on my diet, but not nearly as much as I do during the summer. Like I said, the winter allows for some wiggle room in terms of clothing so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Following the bulk of the winter, around March, I wanted to calorie/fat cut a bit and lean out so that by the time I finished school (May 11th) I'd be beach ready (vain, I know). Well, that plan did not flourish and here I am weighing 10lbs more than I did when I arrived here in the fall.

It's okay though; I have a snapshot of where I am (figuratively and literally) and I'm ready to go forward. I went grocery shopping Friday and today and I was able to load up on some good produce. I got about a weeks worth of groceries...90% of them being raw.

As I learned in past experiences, jumping into a 100% raw diet can be incredibly tough, but for the sake of my trip to L.A. on May 15th, I'm going to go as raw as possible for as long as possible. My one vice will be cooked rice and beans (complete protein) but other than that, I'm staying away from cooked foods.

Also, I commence my new fitness program tomorrow so it should be interesting to see the results of a sound diet and working out during 5 weeks time. Over the summer, when my raw foodism was at its height, I lost a substantial amount of weight with diet alone, so you can imagine what a combination of a raw diet and exercise could potentially do for me...or anyone for that matter.

Pictured up top was my lunch which was, if I may say so myself, absolutely delicious. It was a mix of lettuce, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, corn, and mushrooms which I cooked lightly. The flavor from the sun dried tomatoes could be tasted in the whole salad so I actually didn't need any dressing. It's been awhile since I've eaten something so clean and tasty.

What else did I eat today? I was somewhat of a pig, digging in to my newly purchased groceries, but here's my Sunday consumption list:

(not in the order they were eaten)
1 Grapefruit
2 Oranges
1 Banana
A Bowl of Lightly Roasted Potatoes
1 Avocado
Handful of Carrots
1 Cup of Cranberry Tea

...and it's only 7pm!?!?!

I've got to do something about this unorganized eating thing.

Take care everyone and feel free to drop a comment.

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

No More University Cash?!?!

(Lunch)

At the beginning of the school year, I wrote a post that went into detail about the dining situation at my college. I think that I was sort of content with it back then but now, I just can't stand it. Maybe I'm only saying that because I ran out of money yesterday with more than a month left in the semester...or maybe it really just sucks.

Just to put it out there, I'm actually quite an effective budgeter. I think that the fundamental difference between my spending habits and those of my peers is the fact that I eat healthier, and as we all know, sometimes healthy options can cost significantly more than unhealthy options.

For example: I don't drink cow's milk, which costs $3.49 per gallon at Safeway (the grocery store where most students shop). I do, however, drink soy, rice, and almond milk, which costs, on average, $9 per gallon at Safeway. Now, I maybe drink somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 gallons per week so we're talking anywhere from $4.50 - $6.75 spent on a weeks worth of milk. I'm not mad about this, but I guess I'm just a little perplexed by the fact that my resources are drying up quicker because I choose to be healthier.

So, with the drying up of my funds comes the good and the bad. The bad is obvious; I no longer have 'free' money to spend on food. The good is a little less obvious; now I have the freedom to shop wherever I please since I'm now using my own money. True, I could have shopped anywhere I wanted before but in the interest of saving money, I used the university cash. Now that that is moot, I now have to spend my own money out of obligation and I can finally venture outside of the 9 square city blocks of campus.

First stop? Whole Foods.

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

New York Raw Lovin'

(Raw Enchillada from Raw Soul)

I took a well needed break from DC this past weekend and headed home to New York for a couple of days. My sister had her baby shower on Saturday so other than that event, I pretty much had the weekend to myself. I took an early bus on Saturday morning that dropped off at 34th street and then I proceeded to head uptown to see my mom. She recently started working at a restaurant called Raw Soul which is located on 145th Street between St. Nicholas and Edgecombe (for those of you who are familiar with the city, it is right off of the A/C train stop at 145th street). Since working there, she has really honed in on her raw food 'un-cooking' craft. If you look at some of my posts from last summer, I have a few photos up of some salads and other things she made for me when my leg was broken. Those were good, but nothing compared to what she's able to whip up now.


(Raw BBQ Burger from Raw Soul)

When I finally arrived uptown and saw my mother, she had a couple of raw dishes readily available for me to try. One was the Raw Enchillada which I had never seen or heard of before. It looked really good and it tasted even better. I believe that it is a new addition to the Raw Soul menu so for any of you in the NY area, I would encourage you to go ahead and give it a try. The second dish she had readily available was the BBQ Burger. I've tried this burger before and actually passed on tasting it this time because the last one I ordered from Raw Soul had this Horse Fly in it. I should be over that incident by now but that was all I could think of when I saw that burger.

Unfortunately, this was the only run-in I had with raw food during my stay in the city but I come home for the summer in about 6 weeks and I'm excited to do a tour of many more restaurants and see what new dishes I've been missing out on this year.

By the way, I heard that Jill's Cafe in Brooklyn is no longer?!?! That was my favorite raw food restaurant in the city. Anyone know anything about this?

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

5k Anyone?

(Ryan Hall - Olympic Athlete: Marathon)

5K Anyone? -
And no, I don't mean $5,000, I'm talkin' bout RUNNING. I developed a love for running in 10th grade when I was doing my best to cope with some emotional issues that struck me kind of abruptly. If there was any one thing that helped me get through that tough time, it was definitely my commitment to excellence in running. And by excellence, I don't mean winning the NYC or Boston marathon, I mean doing the best I can and being the best runner I can possibly be. I set out to complete a 12 week running program which, at the time, was the longest commitment I had ever made to anything non-scholastic in my life.

Let me tell you though, my friends thought I was crazy...and perhaps I was a little bit.

I say this because I recently found one of the daily schedules I created for myself during 10th grade and the first activity on it looked something like this: 5 a.m. - Wake up and run 4 miles.

And the thing is, I would actually do it! I'm a bit jealous of my persistence back then. I went on to complete the 12 week program and scheduled a race for the day after the program ended. It was a small race by my house and there were only maybe 15 runners - two of us being females. That race is an experience that I will always remember because it was the product of weeks of hard work. I didn't just up and decide to run the race the day before; I planned for it and took the necessary steps to run a successful race. I ended up with a time of 26:42 and was beaten by the other female racer by 19 seconds --- and this other female racer just so happened to be my sister.

So as I prepare to embark on my next 5k journey, I'm forced to be a bit more careful due to my ankle. I ran a mile the other day for the first time in a long time and I felt surprisingly good afterward. I did experience some pain the following day but overall, I think I felt just as any normal runner would feel the day after extending themselves (yes, at the current time I sadly consider 1 mile extending myself).

I don't exactly have a 8 or 12 week plan mapped out this time around because I don't want to dissapoint myself if I have to skip some days because of pain. I've decided to go on the way I feel more than anything. If I'm feeling like superwoman and want to run 3 miles, I'll do it. If I need to scale back and just do some powerwalking, then so be it...as long as I'm staying active.

I'll do my best with progress updates...Here I go!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

Wait...Before I Go

Ok, so I know I said that you wouldn´t be hearing from me again until I was back in the U.S. but lucky for you all, I had a little something on my mind that I wanted to dish before I go. I wanted to talk about a couple of cultural differences that I noticed during my short time here. As you know, the United States and western Europe are a decent distance away from one another but they are very similar in multiple ways. But...I´m not here to talk about the similarities, I´m here to talk about the differences, and three differences in particular:

1) Being Nice

As simple of a concept as it seems, I don´t often run into very nice New Yorkers, and I´m guessing that there are some other New Yorkers out there who feel the same way. This trend of un-niceness may not be a demonstration of the true colors of many New Yorkers, but perhaps when you get so caught up in your work and you´re constantly rushing from place to place, you can come across as being a bit aggressive. Maybe this is why so many people in the city walk around with their headphones on? To tune out all of the mean people they feel they are surrounded by? I bring up niceness as an example because when I was in the grocery store the other day, a nice associate came up to me when I was walking down one of the aisles and handed me a hand cart. May not seem like such a big deal but...it is. This has NEVER happened to me in the U.S. and if it did, I would probably shop at that grocery store every day. Yes, perhaps this was a tactic to get me to buy more but hey, it worked because I definitely bought more things than I would have been able to hold in my hands.

2) Caring for your fellow man or woman

The picture at the top of this post is of something that I typically see around here; older spanish women holding hands and taking a walk together in the early evening. Let me tell you, I love seeing this. I barely ever see older people here who are accompanied by care takers because most of them are caring for each other...isn´t that a beautiful thing? Wouldn´t it be great if we all, at any age, could partner up with the people we love and make a fitness pact? As a matter of fact, it doesn´t even have to be about fitness, you can merely have an agreement to take an hour long walk twice a week to reflect on the events that have been occuring in your life. Wow, what a difference that would make.

3) Please...stop the music...and the phones

Huge thing that I´ve noticed - people don´t walk around listening to their ipods and talking on their cell phones. The few times that I see someone with an ipod is typically when they´re running in the street but other than that, I seldom see people wearing headphones. This is probably because most often, people are walking in pairs or triplets - typically with their significant other, a friend, or children. Aren´t conversations always better than words in a song anyway? ( although, I´m a huge advocate for audiobooks). Also, cell phone usage while walking in the street is virtually non-existant. I can´t tell you how sick I am of hearing about who gave who the STD in what should be a private conversation between two people. When will the madness stop?? What ever happened to landlines??

Anyway though, I think I have done enough ranting for the last week and it´s now time to settle down a bit and get back in the school mindset. I´ve got an economics exam waiting for me on Monday...how so very exciting...

Take care everyone and expect another post in the next few days.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Almost Time to Go

Once again, I´m plagued with limited time and a keyboard that seems to have honey stuck in between the keys so I have limited time to do a post....we have to learn to work with what we´re given though right?

I got back from the movie theater a little while ago and my friend and I ended up watching the movie Underworld 3...it was mad weird. We couldn´t see the Almodóvar movie because it had already started and we didn´t feel like sitting around and waiting for the next showing to start. I had some popcorn and water while we watched the movie.

For lunch today, my host mom made this really tasty mix of rice and garbanzo beans but I could have done without the copious amounts of olive oil she put in it. Whatever though, I still enjoyed it. My host dad seems to have lost a lot of weight since I last saw him two years ago so I guess they´re doing something different with their cooking nowadays.

The picture above is of me and my host parents daughter Candela. They´re going to name their second daughter Raquel - I like that name.

I had to do a double take when I saw that picture through the LCD screen because I can see my winter weight gain clearly...especially in my face. My trip to California is quickly approaching (2 months away) so it´s time for a bit of a turnaround. Gym anyone?

I have a list of about 20 or so goals that I carry with me everywhere and one of my fitness goals is to run 15 5k´s between now and February. I better get cracking though because as of right now, I can´t even run a straight 10 minute mile without huffing and puffing. I ran my last 5k (3 years ago) in 26 or so minutes and that didn´t even scratch the surface of my potential, so I´ve really got to work hard, especially with my broken ankle.

I´ll try to put up the video in my next post...which will be from the U.S. Until then, take care everyone.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Some Photos

(New bike trail laid all throughout the city)

(Apartment complex where I lived)

(Roman ruins)


(Average city block)

(Average Cathedral)

(Pilar Basilica - Biggest attraction in the city of Zaragoza)

(Bell tower situated next to a Cathedral)

Above are some pictures I took in the past couple of days but unfortunately I can´t go into details about all of them because I only have 10 mins left to use the computer. Life in my host parents house has been good. They have a daughter who is almost two years old and she is absolutely adorable (my host mom was still pregnant with her when I left). I finished up with my siesta about an hour ago and now I´m out and about trying to take some more pictures. Tomorrow, a friend of mine ) that I made a couple of years ago here) and I are going to see the new Almodóvar movie starring Penelope Cruz.

Anyway thought, it´s the food you´re interested in right?

For breakfast: orange juice and an apple.

For lunch: something my host mom called "frita" (I think). It was a mashed mix of onions, zucchini, and potatoes...accompanied by bread and stewed tomatoes and we had water to drink.

Okey dokey, must get going but I´ll try to do another post before I leave for the U.S. Take care everyone.

Raw. Love.

-Natalie

Update

Hello all, was I missed?

My sincere apologies to all 5 of my readers out there. I got slammed with exams over the past two weeks and I´m just now on the upside of recovering from them. I´m on vacation right now in Spain and I´ll be heading back to the states on Friday. The weather here is great (compared to DC) and if I didn´t have to finish my bachelor´s over the next few years, I just may have thought about staying (I make it sound like getting a visa is so easy).

I just finished up with my stay at a hostel in Zaragoza. I´m heading to my host family´s house this evening and I´ll be staying there until Thursday, at which point I´ll head to Madrid and either overnight in a hostel or get to the airport super early. The hostel I stayed in was nice, and probably as good a room as you can get for 36 euros per night. I recorded a video two days ago of some of the food that I bought upon my arrival so as soon as I get back to the states, I´ll create a youtube account and post the video on my blog.

One thing I have to mention about the food here is that when I eat, I don´t have that heavy, brick-like feeling in my stomach when I finish. For some reason, that feeling is inevitable when I eat cooked foods in the states but it´s like a world of difference here. In the video I´m going to post up, I talked about some fruits and vegtables that I bought here that were super cheap and tasted pretty decent. I´m going to head out and buy some more today that´ll hopefully last me until I leave...I just have to be careful not to offend my host parents by bringing my own food into their house. Maybe I´ll hide it?

If I get to another internet cafe in the next few days, I´ll post some pictures from my camera (which I don´t have at the moment). I´m often so easily blown away by the beauty of this city, its people, and its architecture which is the reason why I feel I need to share it with you.

Take care everyone and more updates to come...promise. And sorry about the survival guide thing. Maybe a reflection instead?

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

It's All About What You're Comfortable With

(Today's Lunch - Garbanzo Stew on a Bed of Lettuce and Onions)

I know that last time I said I'd talk about survival tips today, but I felt the need to write about another topic that I think is relevant to many. I'm still putting together the Spain Survival Guide and I promise that it'll be up soon enough.

On to today's topic...

DIETS DON'T WORK -
and I don't think that's a massive revelation.

As much as I dislike the term 'Yo-Yo Dieting,' I guess I could have been classified as a 'Yo-Yo Dieter' up until I fell into veganism. Just like you hear all too often in infomercials, I hopped around from diet to diet with short-lived rewards each time. I went from The Zone Diet, to The Atkins Diet, to Body-for-Life, to Skinny Bitch, to 100% raw vegan for a period of time. Given the title and theme of my blog, you can clearly tell which route I decided to take as far as my diet goes.

What I've heard, seen, and read repeatedly and believe whole heartedly is the fact that vegetarianism, veganism, and raw veganism are not diets; they are lifestyles. I do not have my copy of Skinny Bitch right in front of me so this statement is not repeated verbatim, but the authors stated that with a vegan diet that stuck within certain parameters, you could literally eat whatever you want. It took me awhile to understand this point and eventually apply it to my life, but I slowly got it. After awhile, I didn't WANT hamburgers or milkshakes and I was no longer CRAVING sugary snacks or soda. Eventually, I craved those nutrient rich foods that were doing my body good. I ultimately felt like I was doing my mind and body an injustice by not feeding it raw, organic foods often (especially greens). Sure, I have my slip ups here and there and my diet isn't squeeky clean, but I'd say that 60-70% of the time, I have that feeling of 'I can eat whatever I want' because I'm not wanting anything harmful, and let me tell you, that's and amazing feeling to have.

What I am currently working on is that 30-40% of the time where eating whatever I want does mean a burger and fries or ice cream. Battling that yearning for something harmful has been rocky, but I get increasingly stronger with every setback. For the past week, I've been bouncing back from a traumatic 3 days of junk food binging and I can't recall a time where I've been cleaner for a seven day period. I'm feeling really good right now and veganism with an emphasis on raw is treating me very well. I don't see myself being plagued with another setback anytime soon but if I am, I'm sure I'll bounce back in a strong manner once again.

It's all about what you're comfortable with...

I gave the post this title because this is a very imporant idea and principle to go by. Be sure not to breach your comfort zone too quickly or too drastically. Transitions take time and I personally prefer easing into things. When you take it slow, you have the opportunity to step back and really take note of the positive changes that are taking place in your life. I'm at the point where I am actually having a lot of fun with my diet and fitness because I experiment as often as I can and I have come to the realization that I have the freedom to create the body I desire.

If you're not comfortable with being a vegetarian, don't do it. If being a raw vegan gives you discomfort, make a change. I learned in my business class recently that if we do not get energy from engaging in a specific activity, we will not experience success with that activity. I get energy from being a vegan and eating lots of raw food, but maybe that's not the thing for everyone. This is the same reason why so many diets fail...you commit for 8 weeks and then what? If you truly got energy from that activity, the commitment would be indefinite.

Think about this, and see if you can apply it to all facets of your life.

Raw love folks...
-Natalie

Time to Engage in Some Travel

(oh how I miss the days of Spain - Fall 2006)

Two nights ago, I gathered up enough courage to finally purchase some round trip tickets for Spain. As a nervous flyer, it's never easy for me to actually go through with the act of buying plane tickets but I forced myself to do it given how reasonably priced the tickets are nowadays. I'll be leaving in mid-March and I'll stick around for a week. I'm really excited about going and this trip has been the theme of my journal writing for the past week or so. What excites me most is the fact that this time around, I have a different challenge facing me than my last tour there...

If you've read some of my posts from either the spring or summer, you'll come across some mention of when I spent a school year in Spain. I was situated in a mid-sized city called Zaragoza where I lived with a pair of wonderful host parents and was able to become proficient in the Spanish language (however, my proficiency has surely declined). I call my host parents every once in awhile and I send them cards and packages whenever possible. Keeping ties with them is super important to me because they took amazing care of me while I stayed in their home. My host mom always tells me that I'm welcome to stay at their house whenever I visit Zaragoza but I may actually opt to stay in a hostel this time around because she is expecting a baby around the time of my arrival.

(My host parents and myself--that's not their baby by the way)

The challenge that I mentioned above will be largely related to my diet. When I stayed with my host parents, they provided me with two meals per day - breakfast and dinner - and lunch was provided by the school that I attended. Spanish cuisine was very new and different for me; it definitely took some getting used to but I was very appreciative of the opportunity I had to experience such a vastly different style of food first hand. Some examples of a typical dinner my mom would cook are: Seafood Paella, Blood Sausage with a side, Rabbit meat with grilled, sliced potatoes, Lamb with potatoes, and Pasta with Clams and Mussels.

Two things that I didn't realize about the Spanish is the quantity of food that they eat and how late they consume their food. I probably would have been fine during those nine months if I kept my portions small and ate 3-4 hours before I went to sleep, but I was under their roof and thus, their rules were the only one's that mattered.

I ended up heading back to the U.S. with an extra 6-8lbs on me and, I'm sure, a great loss in muscle mass due to my lack of exercise.

This time around, even though only for a week, I will keep close tabs on my eating habits. This will be more of a practice of self control rather than a fear of weight gain while I'm over there. The trip has also motivated me to shape up a bit before my departure...I want to look DAMN good upon my arrival.

I'll discuss my Spanish Eating Plan in further detail next time and I'll also see if I can come up with some survival tips for myself.

Raw. Love.
-Nat

Larabar Shout Out in the NY TIMES

So, as odd as it may seem, I enjoy reading the Thursday Styles section of the New York Times. As you can probably guess, I am back at school after a nice, long (could have been longer) winter break and we get the Times in my dorm for free every morning excluding the weekends. The only catch is that my dorm houses about 100 or so people and they only give us about 8 papers...what a rip. This means that every morning, I have to get myself up around 7, whether I have an early class or not, and run downstairs to grab a paper before they're all gone.

The paper options we have are: The Washington Post, USA Today, and the New York Times...but honestly, which do you think most of us want to read?

Alrighty, on to today's topic. The Thursday Styles section this week gave a shout out to my favorite snack bar - Larabar. They also reviewed another bar that I'm not too familiar with, it's called Raw Revolution Organic. I'll have to check that one out next time I go to a health food store.


Here are the write-ups for both Larabar and Raw Revolution Organic.

Larabar, $1.69, 48 grams, larabar.com
Larabar has the largest selection of all bars reviewed, with 16 dessert-inspired flavors. Ms. Bingham's (sports nutritionist) clients judged Larabar and thinkFruit (another bar) as tied for the best tasting of the new bars. Larabar was also a dietary leader, said the nutritionist, who was impressed by the fact that its three flavors made with walnuts provided omega-3 fatty acids, good for heart health, along with a moderate amount of fiber and protein. "Everybody really liked Apple Pie," Ms. Bingham said. "It actually tasted like apple pie but was low in calories and saturated fat and had one full gram of omega-3s, which is a significant amount."


Raw Revolution Organic, $1.99, 2.2 ounces (62 grams), rawrev.com
Raw Revolution, as the name suggests, is directed to customers on a raw foods diet, or those who eat foods not cooked above a certain temperature in the belief that they are richer in nutritional value. While traditional science has yet to find verifiable health claims to the diet, Raw Revolution's organic line can be beneficial to anyone on a raw regimen, Ms. Bingham said. "Raw Revolution was the biggest bar - 2.2 ounces each, compared to 1.6 to 1.8 ounces for the others - but it also had the most calories, fat, and protein, which can be good for people on restricted diets," she said. She also liked that the bars were lower in sugar and moister in consistency than the other brands (probably because their fat content is higher).


So if you haven't yet tried a Larabar, please go out and do so as soon as you can. They are amazingly delicious and well worth the $1.69 that they cost (I think you can buy them in bulk off of amazon.com for cheaper). As for those who are going to go after the Raw Revolution Organic bar, I'm right there with you. I'll hit you guys up with a review as soon as it passes my lips.

Take care everybody and Happy oh-nine.

Raw. Love.
-Natalie