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

A Very RAW Christmas

Much like myself, my sister has taken a liking to the raw side of things so I decided to give her a little nudge for Christmas and picked up a copy of Natalia Rose's The Raw Food Detox for her (there was also somewhat of a selfish motive there for me too :-). So far, she has really been enjoying the book and she read it almost cover to cover in one night.

The morning after she did that heavy reading, she went to the grocery store and stocked up on a whole bunch of raw food goodies...avocados, ginger, celery and mangoes just to name a few. For one of the detox programs in the book (#2 - which is the one my sister is doing), Natalia calls for the consumption of two Green Lemonades per day - one in the morning when you get hungry and another more towards mid-day. My sister made the two Green Lemonades in the morning and she let me have a taste of it. I was surprised by how good it was given the combination of foods it calls for. Following is the recipe for it. Give it a try if you have the chance...it's well worth it.

Makes 1 Serving

-1 head romaine lettuce or celery
-5 to 6 stalks kale (any type)
-1 to 2 apples (as needed for sweetness - I recommend Fuji)
-1 whole organic lemon (you don't have to peel it)
-1 to 2 tablespoons fresh ginger (optional)

I copied this from the book verbatim, so the suggestions in parenthesis are Natalia's own words. I'll throw in my two cents and say that if you are going to take the plunge and decide to make this, go ahead and add in the ginger. It curbs the taste away from the heavy greenery that's in this juice.

As for the second book in the photo, Rawvolution by Matt Amsden, my oldest sister (different from the one I talked about above) purchased that for my mom. My sister had asked me a few days before Christmas for some raw food book titles because my mom expressed to her that she wanted a raw cookbook for Christmas. Rawvolution was the only one that I could remember off of the top of my head and apparently after I told her that, she wasted no time going out and buying it. My mom is extremely content with her gift and she already has plans to whip up some amazing raw meals in the next couple of weeks. Actually, when I got home this evening, there was a nice portion of a raw tabouli salad sitting on the kitchen counter.

If you can't afford raw food books, there is a tremendous amount of information on the internet as well. The books are definitely a great resource to have around, but I certainly understand not being able to just pick up a $32 copy of Rawvolution.

Supplement your raw education with the many resources that are out there. You'd be amazed by what you can find if you look hard enough.

Raw. Love. AND BOOKS!!!
-Natalie

O Holy Wheatgrass

I'll keep this short and sweet since I'm sure that most of you out there are familiar with the amazing powers of wheatgrass. I picked up this little info sheet from the juice bar located upstairs from my school's fitness room. I barely ever eat or drink there, but I bought something a couple weeks ago and came across this while I was there.

Wheatgrass juice...

-is immediately absorbed into the bloodstream and gives immediate energy.

-energizes and reduces fatigue.

-is an appetite suppressant.

-improves metablosm.

-improves digestion.

-enriches the blood, removes blood disorders, and lowers blood pressure.

-is antibacterial.

-helps cleanse the liver.

-prevents tooth decay.

-is good for skin problems; it improves complexion, treats acne, and removes acne scars.

-keeps hair from graying and removes dandruff.

-boosts the immune system.

-calms the nervous system.

-promotes regularity and fights constipation.

-washes drug deposit from the body, neutralizes toxins in the body, helps purify the liver, and prevents aging.

-stabilizes blood sugar levels.

I'll add in some commentary of my own an say that wheatgrass shots can be pretty expensive (depending on where you go) and taste pretty gross. The cost and the ill taste are probably more than worth it in the end though because I bet you are going to slash some future medical bills by supplementing your diet with healing foods like wheatgrass.

So don't hesitate to drink up!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie

It's Almond Butter Jelly Time, Almond Butter Jelly Time

(The extent of my fridge)

Back in September in one of my posts, I wrote about the outrageous amount of money that I paid for almond butter from Safeway ($10). I mean, maybe that's the going price for almond butter these days and perhaps my reality is just a bit skewed. In any case, I think I speak for many when I say college students don't have the luxury of buying something like almond butter for 10 bucks on a weekly basis. I will say though, that the same almond butter that I bought back in September is still sitting in my refrigerator. I maybe used it three or four times back in the beginning of the semester and then completely indulged in my 'eating out' compulsions. So, long story short, I've still got a lot of almond butter left.

Strapped for cash, I've had to resort to some real penny pinching lately. As you can see in my fridge photo, I'm down to the bare minimum as far as groceries go too. After I finished classes yesterday, I was thirsting for a meal but I told myself that I had to gain some control over eating out. I headed to the store and bought two pieces of toasted wheat bread, which ran me $.80. I took the bread back to my room and spread my almond butter and (organic) jelly on it. I had a few containers of applesauce left in my fridge too so now I had something to accompany my sandwich.

I ended up eating in my friends room because we were discussing our anticipated Chemistry grades. As soon as I walked into her room she said 'peanut butter and jelly? What are you, in fourth grade?' I didn't take the comment to offense...maybe that was compliment regarding my youthfulness :-)

The sandwich was good, the applesauce was good, the company I ate with was good, and most importantly, I successfully satisfied my hunger. Reverting back to basics isn't as tough as it seems. Whether I like it or not, it looks like I'll have to start again at square one next semester because food money management didn't go so well this time around...

Raw. Love. and Almonds.
-Nat

Mango-Avo Goodness

(It doesn't get much better than this)

As expected, I headed home over Thanksgiving break and had the opportunity to enjoy the raw pleasures of being in New York once again. Having a blender and juicer at my disposal is priceless, really. I'm thinking about purchasing a magic bullet (which I talked about in a post from the spring) but hopefully, someone in my family will take a hint and put one under the tree on Christmas...I won't get my hopes up though. The magic bullet is small enough (and I think quiet enough) to store in my dorm room and I don't think cleanup would be too bad. Having smoothies every morning would be ideal and with a mini blender, I have no doubt that I can make that happen.

On to my food adventures while on break...I took full advantage of my blender especially while I was home. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend an awful lot of time at my own house but when I was out and about, I made sure to hit up my usual smoothie bars or vegan spots. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I took my dad to this vegan restaurant located on 135th street and 7th avenue. I would definitely suggest it to anyone who lives or is visiting New York - the name of the place is Cafe Veg. I also went up to Raw Soul (145th between St. Nicholas and Edgecomb) a couple of times but I feel like each time I go there, I become more and more disappointed with their menu. Hopefully, I'll do a formal review of one or two of their dishes when I get back home. My mom is cool with the owner of Raw Soul and I think that they have a great mission, so I try to support them as much as possible by eating there whenever I go home. They're staff is really nice and I recently had a conversation with one of the waitresses who was very kind. Check it out if you're ever in NY - I recommend the Barbecue Burger, the Wrap, and the Soup of the Day (the corn soup is the best).

So when I wasn't eating out, I was trying to prepare healthy meals for myself at home. I was most excited about making my favorite pudding; Mango Avocado. Sounds like and odd mix, but it brings together a great combination of flavors that work well together. You'd really be surprised by how amazing this pudding tastes. When I used to make it for myself over the summer, it had the consistency of a smoothie but now, I prefer to have it in more of a pudding form. The recipe is basically:

1 Mango
1 Avocado
Water
Sprinkle of Cinnamon to Taste




And that's it...simple as that. The amount of water that you add is all dependent on whether you like your pudding/smoothie thick or not. I prefer a little bit of thickness, so I put in just enough water so that the blender is able puree the mango and avocado. Let me tell you, I had one of these the day before Thanksgiving at around 10 a.m. and didn't get hungry again until around 5 or 6...and I wasn't laying around the house all day either, I was out and about. Now, this was a rare and extreme case for me, given that I have a large appetite, but nonetheless, I was able to go that long.

Give the pudding a try. What have you got to lose? Make it unique and add some variety to the basic recipe I posted above. The possibilities are endless with raw food.

Raw. Love...and Mangoes
-Natalie