Neat Raw Drink

Here is a good alternative to a cola or wine if you are trying to make the raw transition. It's fizzy and it gives you a slight healthy buzz ;) It's called Kombucha by Synergy. It ususally can be found at your local health store in the refrigerated section in colorful glass jars. They have several cool flavors, but the main ingredient is organic raw kombucha (made by culturing a black tea mixture). It has a slight alcohol content due to the fermentation. Each 20oz bottle costs about $3.75 but contains 2 servings, about 35 calories each and 4 grams of sugar. I find it to be tasty, although I can see how some may think it's an acquired taste. I typically drink 1/2 bottle at night to unwind with my night time snack of a Raw Fudge Brownie (recipe on Blog), although this drink can naturally energize you throughout the day as well. Kombucha has been around 1000s of years, so it must have something going for it, give it a shot.

Raw Fudge Brownies

Here is a yummy raw chocolate fudge brownie recipe that I have for a late night snack while I'm watching movies on the couch. To be honest, I have some every night. It's always made up in my freezer so I don't reach for other unhealthy snacks. It's healthy, stabilizes my blood sugar and excites my taste buds with just a small portion. This recipe is a slight variation from one in Jennifer Cornbleet's book "Raw Food Made Easy", she's awesome.

1 1/2 cups of walnuts
Dash of salt
11 Medjool dates
1/3 cup unsweetend cocoa powder (or carob powder if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of water (or coconut milk, which I love!!!)

Put the walnuts and salt in the food processor using the "S" blade until finely ground. Add the dates, cocoa powder and vanilla and process until the mixture sticks together. Finally, add the water and process briefly. Transfer to a flat tupperware container and pat down into a flat fudge-like form with a spatula. Keeps for about 4 days in the refrig or 2 weeks in the freezer.

Raw Spagetti Recipe

All you need is a food processor (Cuisnart) for this simple recipe. I've been having this for lunch lately. I make it up ahead of time and keep in my refrigerator and I have enough for a few days. First shred 4 good size zucchinni in the food processor and put in a sealed container in the refrig, that is the noodles, they're done! Then with the "S" blade on the food processor blend:

3-4 tomatoes (cut in half and squeeze the juice and seeds out before adding)
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (soaked or unsoaked in oil, doesn't matter)
1 cup fresh spinach
1 red pepper
1/4 onion
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
Fresh basil (or dried) I would suggest buying a few fresh herb plants and growing them by your kitchen window. It makes all the difference in raw food dishes.
Fresh oregano (or dried)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Play with the recipe, you can add, omit, or replace just about anything that you'd like, but try to keep it raw. I don't measure much when I cook (uncook) so hopefully this recipe is right ;)

Note: If you don't have a food processor, it is one of the best investments you'll make as a raw foodist.

The Raw Food Diet vs The Raw Crunch Diet?

I get this question a lot. If you already follow a raw food diet, the Raw Crunch bars are great to add to your diet to help keep you cravings down and stabilize blood sugar. If you are new to Raw Food or trying to gradually make the change, The Raw Crunch Diet book is great for a nice slow transition to about an 80% raw lifestyle. It is not too extreme, and allows some of your favorite foods in moderation, without effecting weight loss and health benefits. Your blood sugar is stabilized so well on the diet and you are so nutritionally satisfied that you don't have to rely on willpower! That's my favorite part. As a fitness competitor and model, I was use to a regimented lifestyle of a perfect diet, however all the diets were too extreme and I couldn't adhere to them for more than a few weeks. Like I've mentioned before, once you've been on The Raw Crunch Diet for a couple months, you'll notice that you begin to choose healthier options for your dinner "Meal of Choice". This is your body responding to the nutrient dense foods that you are nourishing it with thoughout the day. Your body is smart and if it feels better eating extremely healthy foods, it will soon begin to desire more.
I've been on my plan (The Raw Crunch Diet) now for 2 years and it doesn't feel like a diet to me at all. I'm leaner and my body is so much cleaner and efficient, I've retained all my hard earned muscle, and my energy is out the roof, without any stimulants from coffee, etc. Of course, I now long for much healthier foods for my dinner "Meal of Choice", but that wasn't always the case in the beginning. If I was restricted from my favorite foods (in moderation) early on, this transition would never been as healthy or as easy for me. I now consume food, I don't let food consume my life.

My Workout

My weekly workout consists of 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week of the exercises on my Raw Crunch Personal Training Session DVD and a 1 hour Power Vinyasa Yoga class 2-3 times a week. If you have not tried a yoga class, you really should. It does wonders for my strength and flexibility. My husband loves yoga as well. It really makes up for my cardio and strength training, and my diet does the rest. My cardio is better than it use to be when I lifted weights and ran 5 miles a day... of course, back then I was eating the typical hard-to-digest, high protein, fitness/bodybuilding diet. My body feels amazing and more open now, not constantly tight and sore. I am stronger and leaner and staying that way is no longer a constant struggle! So here are your options to lean up: eat like crap and run on the treadmill until you're blue in the face, or eat a very healthy diet and stop stressing out so much about your workout. Remember, "what you eat accounts for 80% of a lean physique", that means only 20% is your workout. Your workout is definetly important, but there is no need to overtrain in a constant effort to make up for a poor diet. After all, it's all about strengthening your body from the inside-out, right? Honestly, this way of life is the only thing I've ever been able to truly stick with. I don't feel like I am dieting at all, although the weight is dropping like crazy....still. About 2 years ago, after many years of overtraining and experiementing with every fad diet out there, I went from my competition weight of 120 to 140lbs, I knew that I couldn't keep that lifestyle up forever and my body was suffering. That's about the time I started my Raw Crunch Diet and easily dropped 20 pounds. Best of all, I have been on The Raw Crunch Diet now for 2 years and I am still leaning up. In fact, I dropped another 5lbs of fat just recently as all the years of stored toxins are slowly being removed from my tissues. You'll see a big change in my physique from The Raw Crunch Personal Training Session Lesson 1 to my next DVD Lesson 2 which is due out in the late fall.
Best of luck, I'm here if you need me,
Kathy

A Better Way to Eat Your Vitamineral Green™

I've found a better way to eat your Vitamineral Green, rather than just mixing it in juice like I mention in The Raw Crunch Diet book (I figured this out after the book was printed). The best way to take the Vitamineral Green is in a smoothie. This is mine and my husband's (pictured here) breakfast every morning:
In a blender add:
1 banana
1 orange (or you whatever fruit you prefer)
1 tablespoon Vitamineral Green
5-6 ice cubes
1/2 cup water
Blend until smooth (about 30 seconds).
I always keep lots of bananas in my fruit basket and when I notice they are getting too ripe, I'll peel them, wrap them in aluminum foil seperately and freeze them so they don't turn to mush. I also keep a back-up bag of frozen fruit just in case I run out of fresh (you can eliminate the ice cubes when you use frozen fruit). Feel free to experiment with any fruit variety you prefer. Some strawberries, a mango, grapefruit or peach replaces the orange nicely. Although this green smoothie may not appeal to your taste buds that much at first, believe me, your body will actually crave it after a while and your appetite and blood sugar will thank you! If you still prefer drinking your greens mixed in a small cup of juice and eating your fruit alone in the morning (rather than drinking it in a smoothie), that's fine too. We personally prefer the smoothie since it's fast and it fills us up much more.

My Own Diet Struggle

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (low metabolism, coupled with weight gain) about 10 years ago, they prescibed me Synthroid (a synthetic thyroid hormone medication) and increased my dose every 3 months trying to regulate me. I felt worse and worse as the years went by. I would sleep 2 hours a day, plus 8 hours at night and felt like hell all day. I was depressed, so they put me on the ever popular zombie drugs...just made me sleep more and feel worse. Some how in all of this I was still trying to find energy to workout, considering I was a fitness trainer and competitor, and of course, eating the typical fitness diet of 6 hard to digest high protein meals a day, mostly chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli, egg whites with oatmeal. I knew that something wasn't right. First off, how could I be hypothyroid at such a young age, secondly, why were the doctors increasing my dose every three months, stating that my levels were still too low? As a graduate in Cellular Biology (with plans to be a doctor, until I realized that I wanted to study preventative methods), I was curious and needed to get to the root of the problem. I studied and read everything about nutrition and hypothyroidism that I could get me hot lil' hand on. It took me about 8 years to figure out that since there are naturally so many hormones in meat, not to mention the “added hormones” and "steroids" in todays factory farmed meats, there was a good chance this could be a major factor in my thyroid hormone disease. Oh, and did I mention, I was also getting small staph infections on a regular basis and I was becoming resistant to the antibiotics, considering I was taking them so often and getting plenty of excess antibiotics in all the animal protein. They pump the animals full of antibiotics these days to try and cut back on disease due to overcrowding, this includes fish farms too guys. My body was sluggish and a breeding ground for bacteria. During that time I developed what is now called The Raw Crunch Diet, after exhausting every diet out there in a struggle to loss weight and feel better. I didn't just want to loss weight and look good on the outside, I wanted to heal my body at a cellular level. Well boy did I ever. Anyway, after being on The Raw Crunch Diet for 6 months, I started feeling like a teenager again. I told the doctor to take me off of synthroid and the zombie medicine completely and monitor me. Thankfully he agreed. Wow, what a difference! I cured myself with a healthy diet! Never again will I have to rely on high doses of synthetic drugs. I took myself off of meat very gradually on The Raw Crunch Diet. The diet allows you to do it at your own pace. It took me 6 months to fully kick the habit. If you are already a vegetarian, good for you, the diet will be that much easier! The Raw Crunch bars became an intergal part of the plan to add convenience and give you a bit more substance throughout the day in addition to all the raw fruits and vegetables. They do wonders at stabilizing your blood sugar and cravings. Well there you have it folks, dieting is no longer a struggle for me and I'd love to make it "a piece of cake" (as long as it's in moderation ;) for you too!

Traveling on The Raw Crunch Diet

When traveling, my husband and I actually pack our blender and make our morning smoothie with the Vitamineral Green. We are so addicted to the way it makes us feel. If a blender is too much, a small shaker botttle and a small container of Vitamineral Green would work fine. Just buy some juice while you are there and mix it in the shaker bottle. I always take a bag of fresh fruit and plenty of Raw Crunch bars. I can always find a nice garden salad on the menu somewhere, and I always ask for my dressing on the side (so I use less) and some sliced avocado to put on top of my salad for some extra substance (high in good fats). Fast food Chinese is also an option for lunch, just order steamed rice and steamed veggies with the sauce on the side (so you only use a very small amount of sauce since it usually contains a lot of butter). Your dinner "Meal of Choice" is easy to find. If you're craving a burger, try a veggie burger, you'd be surprised how good they are these days and most restaurants have them on the menu. If you are lucky enough to be traveling to an exotic location, take advantage of all the exotic fruits and vegetables and try something new.

Growing Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden

I'm growing my own organic vegetable garden in my back yard and I love it. To compose the soil, I use a tiller (or you can use a shovel to mix up the soil, but I would soak the soil with water first to make it soft). I mix the existing ground soil with four 40lb bags of mushroom compost (or you can use chicken, horse, or cow manure) for my 100 squarefoot garden. I prefer mushroom compost because pesticides are rarely used on mushroom crops and the mushroom compost supplies lots of nutrients and increases the water holding capacity of the soil. Then all I do is mix one 5lb bag of Garden Lime to help neutralize the soil and one 5 lb bag of Bone Meal to helps develop sturdy root systems and stimulates plant growth. Both are all natural and approved for organic gardening. I buy my organic plants from my local Ace Hardware store. They are usually about 6" tall at this early stage and ready to plant. You can always start your plants from organic seeds, but I haven't had too much luck with them myself. Every year I buy young tomato plants, yellow squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, all types of lettuce and spinach. I plant everything during the first week of May, after the last freeze (I live in North Carolina, so this will vary depending on where you live). It's not too late to start your summer garden! Then, I just water it everyday and watch it grow. I pick my lettuce and spinach leaves daily to prevent the leaves from growing too big and turning bitter. I pick everything else daily as it is ready and use it for stir-fry and fresh salads. I keep it simple and it's a great healthy hobbie.

Is it expensive to be on The Raw Crunch Diet™?

It costs about $6.00 a day to be on The Raw Crunch Diet, which includes your serving of Vitamineral Green in your morning smoothie and 2 Raw Crunch bars. Just think, that $6.00 is spent on 3 whole food meals a day, not just extra money spent on cheap synthetic supplements products. Six bucks is the cost of one devoid-of-life meal at your local fast food joint. The only thing else that you need to purchase on the plan is groceries to make your fresh nutrient dense lunch (outlined in the book) and whatever you need to make your dinner "Meal of Choice" (or cost of occasionally going out to eat). You save lots of time and money on The Raw Crunch Diet. It's is the most convenient, affordable and healthy lifestyle I've ever known. I'll be on this plan for the rest of my life, enjoying every morsel of it!

How can I eat a "Meal of Choice" and still lose weight?

Good question. Here's how The Raw Crunch Diet works. The Vitamineral Green smoothie for your morning meal, combined with the 2 Raw Crunch bars (1 before lunch and 1 before dinner) and a nutrient packed lunch help to drastically stabilize your blood sugar throughout the day. By keeping your blood sugar stabilized, this keeps your cravings at bay and improves your energy levels. By the time you are ready to indulge in your dinner "Meal of Choice", you are so nutritionally satisfied from your previous mini meals that your appetite is "chill". You'll cut your dinner portions in half without even having to access your "Willpower". Keep in mind, your dinner "Meal of Choice" is "all you", so don't deprive yourself. Of course, in the early stages of The Raw Crunch Diet you may desire really dense foods like pizza, but as your body get accustomed to less concentrated foods, your dinner choices will gradually improve. There is no need to force it, your body is smart, and regardless you'll be dropping pounds throughout your journey! Just remember how nutritious the foods on this plan are for your body. Everything you’ve eaten up until your dinner "Meal of Choice" are incredible nourishing, easy on your digestive system and essential to your body. Bet you can’t say that about your previous diet. How can you not love you new lifestyle?

Raw Crunch Diet "Dinner Meal of Choice" Idea

Those of you who are on my Raw Crunch Diet are often asking what I have for my dinner "Meal of Choice". Well, the first 6 months that I was on The Raw Crunch Diet, my dinner "Meal of Choice" was not always what you'd call "healthy" at all, although I continued leaning out and feeling better. If you are not familar with the Raw Crunch Diet, you basically eat extremely healthy (raw fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds) every few hours throughout the day in order to keep your cravings down and blood sugar stabilized, so that you can eat your social evening meal of whatever you enjoy in moderation, without all that horrible GUILT! What I was doing in the first 6 months of the diet was conditioning my body to eat less condensed foods and hard to digest animal protein, and developing healthier eating habits slowly. After the first 6 months on the plan, I actually began really craving healthier, lighter fare at dinner in addition to all the healthy raw food I ate during the day. If you are new to The Raw Crunch Diet don't rush this process, you get WHATEVER your body desires for your "Dinner Meal of Choice". It will naturally improve as time goes on. Your body is smart and will begin to crave the foods that make it work and feel better. If you've been on the plan for a while and you are craving healthier dinners, check out the recipe below. After 6 months on the plan, this became on of mine and my husband's regular "Dinner Meals of Choice" (hard to believe ;)

Quinoa and Veggie Stir-fry
Rinse and drain 1 cup of Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa, one of the lowest calorie, highest in protein, gluten free grains, found in the bulk food section of healthfood stores. It is pictured here dry). Add 1 tsp olive oil to skillet on med-high heat. Add 1 cup quinoa and dry roast quinoa for 3 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, then simmer until the water is absorbed (10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, saute 1 small finely diced red onion and 1 finely diced clove of garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, on high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add fresh sliced zucchini (or green beans), bell peppers and cubed Tempeh (pronounced tem-pay, it's a chunky, tender cake of whole soybeans and found in the refrigerated section of the health food store. It tastes great and has a wonderful texture, not to mention it’s high in clean-burning protein. It is pictured here sliced). Stir-fry for about 5-7 minutes on high heat. Spinkle some cayenne pepper, black pepper and Celtic Sea-salt over top. Finally add fresh spinach leaves and fresh tomatoes wedges. Cook for another 2 minutes on high, then stir in 3 tbs balsalmic or red wine vinegar and serve over quinoa.

Simple Sprouting

Ever thought of growing your own sprouts for salads and stir-fry but thought it would be too much of a hassle? Me too, but I finally gave it a shot, and it's actually very easy. Just buy some seeds at your local healthfood store in the bulk food section. I like alfalfa seeds and broccoli seeds (although broccoli seeds can be quite expensive. Mung bean sprouts are great for stir-fry and Asian dishes (they are the big thick sprouts). All you have to do is soak the seeds overnight in a glass of water, but be aware the seeds will expand. The next day, place them in a inexpensive sprouting tray, mine is called a Sprout Master. Every morning and night you just run luke warm water over the seeds, and the water drains out into the sink. The sprouts stay covered and grow without any light, so you can grow them year round in your kitchen. After about 2-4 days they are ready to eat. Just store the unused amount in your frig. They are great fiber and living nutrition. Try it!

The top photo is after 1 day of sprouting and the bottom photo is after 2 days. You can eat them after 2 days, but I usually wait 3-4 days.

New Raw Crunch Blog

Hey Guys,
It's me, Kathy, manufacturer of the Raw Crunch bars and author of The Raw Crunch Diet. Wanted to make myself available for any questions you may have. I'm here if you need me!
Much Love,
Kathy

Here is a picture of my baby pound puppies, Conan (the destroyer) and Hooch