Raw Crunch Bar

Serious Cereal

2012-01-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

Wanna half your sugar and calories, replace cow's milk with unsweetened almond milk & mix your favorite cereal (like granola) with 1/2 bran flakes (Trader Joes bran flakes are the best tasting). I have this for a snack at least once a day. Of course, I always crumble up Raw Crunch bars in mine too :)

See Yaaa.. Cellulite!

2011-12-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

     Exercise causes oxygen to flow through your veins and speed ups the lymphatic system, sweating and removal of wastes through the skin. We all know how important good blood flow is to the organs and tissues, but proper lymph flow and drainage is also of great importance. The lymphatic system is an important part of the body’s immune system and disposes of toxic cellular waste products. This system pumps lymph fluid through the body several times a minute. Accumulation of fluid reduces the amount of oxygen available and can cause swelling in certain areas. Some experts blame lymph accumulation on cellulite.
     Regular exercise and the cleansing effect of my nutrition plan, keeps lymph fluid pumping through the body like a free flowing river, without running through rocks or debris. If your diet is loaded with processed, non-natural foods, and you neglect exercise, debris can build up and your system becomes sluggish.
     When I was competing in fitness competitions, my body was extremely lean, but because my diet was high in hard to digest meat and not enough plant foods, I had cellulite on the back of my thighs. I was a bit leaner back then (when you would expect me NOT to have cellulite), but I am much healthier now, and my cellulite is completely gone. It really reflects the health of your tissues.
     Have you ever heard of lymphatic massage or lymphatic drainage? It is a form of massage that stimulates the lymphatic system to promote the removal of bodily toxins and waste. If fact all massage has these great benefits. If you can't afford a massage, I have this simple massage product called a Newdle www.renewdle.com which I use in bed to fall asleep faster, but I also sit on it in my chair under my hips or thighs (another one of its uses), and it really helps flush my tissues clean. I lost an inch in my hips from using it and I didn't even know I could lose more in my hips. It wasn't fat loss, obviously, it was swollen tissue. Did you know, guys store most of their tension in their neck and traps, but us ladies store most of ours in our hips. Yoga is also a great way of losing inches in your hips due to edema. Put a lot of focus on hip openers. During my yoga teacher training, there was a lot of crying in class on the days we did mostly hip opening yoga poses. Believe me ladies, we store a lot in our hips and there is a lot of mess to be released in there! All yoga poses combined with a healthy, nutritious diet can help cleans your tissues. In fact any form of exercise will help stimulate the lymphatic system and help the body become more efficient.

UNDERSTANDING What to Eat

2011-04-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

After consuming a typical meal or snack, your stomach feels full, while your body craves nutrients. You see, chances are that meal was unhealthfully processed. An example of processed food would be a typical junk food like a Danish; you can’t just go out to your garden and pick a Danish off the vine, so therefore the Danish has been processed. White bread is less processed than a Danish, but still unhealthfully processed. You can go out to a field and harvest whole wheat berries, but when the fiber, most of the vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and nutritional value is striped away when making white flour; when a token few synthetic vitamins and minerals are added back; when artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and unhealthful oils are added you are definitely talking about a highly processed food! The same goes for white, refined sugar. Fresh whole fruit, on the other hand, which naturally contains sugar yet also contains a whole lot of nutrients (including fiber, which slows the absorption of sugar), is NOT a processed food.
You get the idea.
Processed food is food that has been drastically altered from its natural state. These fake foods distort your appetite too. It’s hard for you to exceed your caloric requirements with fruits and veggies because of the bulk and satiety you get from these foods, but over-eating unhealthfully processed foods like an entire bag of chips is no problem for some.
To further reduce their nutritional value most processed foods are cooked. When foods are overcooked much of their vitamins and minerals are damaged, or destroyed by heat, as well as their fiber. To make up for this, food manufacturers add nutrients back into the food, except these added vitamins & minerals are replicated in a lab. I’m sure you’ve seen the long list of vitamins and minerals on an unhealthfully processed box of cereal or carton of concentrated orange juice labeled “with calcium”. Adding individual vitamins or minerals can create imbalances with other nutritional factors in our body. The reason why nutrients are packaged the way they are in nature is because they require other nutrients in order to work properly in our body. That’s why they say to take your vitamins with food.
Can you imagine how foreign a single vitamin tablet is to your body? They call these added vitamins and minerals supplements. Just think of the word “supplement”. You are “supplementing ” your diet with something you are not getting enough of through whole food. For people who do not eat well, supplements will not make up for that any better
than “devoid of life” energy pills make up for lack of sleep.
Despite all of the modern advances, the best source of nutrients by far is whole food! It’s always better to correct your diet, than to supplement it. The ideal purpose of my plan (listed in full on my blog) to supply all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients one needs naturally in a readily available form enabling your body to function optimally without additional chemical supplements. More to come...
Copyright 2011 By Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

Part 1 - "The Perfect Breakfast"

2011-04-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, let’s start with breakfast. I know, you’re not really hungry in the morning, plus you don’t have the time. Hey, that’s fine. There’s a reason why your body isn’t hungry when you wake up. Your body is smarter than you think. Why force concentrated foods into your system. “Hey, but all the other weight loss books tell me that a big breakfast is critical.”
Just listen. The word breakfast means, “breaking a fast”. A fast is an extended period without food. Last night, you hopefully slept a good eight hours . . . yeah right? Well for those eight hours or about that, your body went without food. That’s considered a short fast. When you woke up from that eight-hour sleep and ate breakfast, the fast was broken. In the human body, fasts are used to give your digestive system a break so that your body can devote its energy to cleansing and rebuilding. Problem is, in this day and age our bodies are so run down by excess food and processed junk, that our typical nightly fast is not nearly enough time for the body to digest all the food from the previous day. Plus your digestive system slows down at night; it would probably like a little “shut eye” too. Instead, that 8-hour fast is solely devoted toward digestion, rather than cleansing.
Because of the unnatural cooked and over processed foods we eat, each meal leaves our digestive system sluggish and filled with toxic residue to deal with. We expect it to just cleanse and heal itself, but it has no time! The next morning, we just pour undigested food on top of the halfdigested food still waiting there. Have you ever gorged yourself at dinner and still felt full the next morning? See what I mean. Over the past thousands of years, our bodies haven’t changed much, but our diets have . . . drastically. A light morning meal will help rid the body of these accumulated toxins and restore itself back to health. This morning cleansing process is VERY CRITICAL. Our digestive system needs this short, well-deserved rest in the morning. It will renew your ability to maintain optimum health. I’m going to explain your light morning meal in a second . . . I just need to throw in a quick biology lesson first. I promise to make this painless.
After food enters the stomach it travels into the small intestine (we have around twenty-five feet of small intestines for the slow absorption of plant food), food then enters the large intestine and continues through the colon (which makes up the majority of the large intestine) until the solid waste is finally excreted. Most people on the Standard American Diet (SAD) experience transit times of seventy-two hours or more. That means dinner last night could be chilling in your colon for days. In fact, upwards of eight (8) meals of undigested food and waste material could be sitting there, right now. The longer your body is clogged with rotting food in your colon, the greater the risk of developing various forms of illness. It’s a breeding ground for bad bacteria.
As a natural secretion to protect the surface of your colon’s membrane, the body creates mucus, trapping toxins to escort them out of your body. Dairy products, animal protein, processed foods, coffee and alcohol create the most mucus and congestion (since fruits and veggies are not foreign to the body, they don’t cause much secretion of this sticky mucus). After years of bad eating habits this thick mucus begins building up and lines the colon (like a clogged bathroom sink waiting for a “drano cleanse”). Thank goodness your colon can stretch to five times its diameter; otherwise our colon could be blocked completely by this mess. Unfortunately, water and some minerals must also be absorbed in the colon. Yet this mucus build-up inhibits proper absorption of nutrients and water, as well as slowing our normal peristalsis (uh oh, big word there, sorry). See, your colon is lined with these muscles that contract and send waste through to be excreted, that’s all peristalsis means. If those muscles are slowed-down so is your systems transit time and because of that, wastes just sit there rotting.
Good news though, this "perfect breakfast" and all the meals to come, dramatically decreases the transit time of waste matter avoiding toxic buildup. Besides, as you consume more raw fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds as a staple part of your diet, your body is finally nutritionally satisfied, properly hydrated and progressively it requires less food.
So needless to say a light morning meal is a good idea!
Here’s how it works.
Remember, you want to keep your body in a cleansing mode as long as possible. When you wake in the morning I highly recommend an ultra cleansing, highly nutritious whole food smoothie. Here is the recipe:
In a blender add:
1 banana (When I notice my bananas are getting too ripe, I'll peel them, wrap them in aluminum foil seperately and freeze them so they don't turn to mush and I alway have back-up).
1 handful of frozen fruit for women, 2 handfuls for guys (or fresh and whatever fruit you prefer) Try to eat organically grown fruits in order to cut down on your exposure to toxic fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides. Organic farming also produces more nutrient-rich soil, which nourishes the plants and therefore nourishes you.1 tablespoon Vitamineral Green™ These nutrients are all in the form of whole food green vegetables and superfoods such as whole leaf wheatgrass, whole leaf barley grass, broccoli juice, kale juice, spinach juice, Spirulina, Chlorella, Icelandic kelp, etc.. without any added fillers. I get nothing to recommend this product, just truly believe in it for the past 10 years!
1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds (they grind in blender)
1/4 cup protein powder for women, 1/2 cup for guys (Raw Power™ protein is awesome, and again I am not endorsed by the company)
1/4 cup almond milk or plain greek yogurt for women, 1/2 cup for guys
1/4 cup water (or more to get the best consistency)
Shot of orange juice

Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.Although this green smoothie may not look so appealing, believe me, it's fantastic and your body will actually crave it and your appetite and blood sugar will thank you! YOUR BODY WAS DESIGNED TO RECOGNIZE THIS FORM OF NUTRITION. Need I say more? This is some good stuff.
Continue drinking water in the morning until your next meal. And no, not that artificially sweetened, clear, carbonated, fruit flavored mess. That’s not water, it’s artificial and full of hard to digest chemicals.
This smoothie will keep your body in the cleansing mode, while providing natural bulk fiber that acts as a sweep through your colon. Remember, you always want to increase transit time. We don’t want anything just hangin’ out in our colon, right? We want to absorb the nutrients we need from the food and say goodbye. Since the smoothie help to loosen up old toxins in your colon, you’ll need extra water to dilute them and flush them out. When your body is in a cleansing mode, you are also releasing toxins from your organs and tissues, which release into your bloodstream before they are excreted. If you don’t have a lot of purified water in your system to dilute them, you could actually feel worse before you feel better. If you notice any detoxifying side effects like headaches or weak feelings, drink more water and if they persist, see your doctor. Guys should drink around a gallon of purified water a day and females should drink around three-quarters of a gallon per day, unless otherwise directed by your physician. If you drink too little water on this plan, you can also actually get "backed up" since you are adding so much extra fiber, which expands in the gut, like a soggy bowl of Raisin Bran, and needs a lot of water to push through. Stay tunned for your next meal, Part 2 but try this out for now. No need to make tons of changes all at once.
Copyright 2011 by Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

“Oh, and what about those diet pills?”

2011-04-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Please promise me that you’ll stay away from diet pills! Been there, got a tee shirt. These pills speed up your heart rate and give you extreme energy highs and lows. But, your heart muscle never gets a chance to rest! Other muscles in the body that are tired and overworked can rejuvenate with sleep. Therefore, any damage you do to your heart now, will be there for the rest of your life. Plus, something else, nothing you do to control your weight is more important than keeping your liver healthy. Your liver’s main function is to filter toxins from your blood, so diet pills tax the liver since they are full of chemicals your body tries to reject. This distracts the liver from doing its second job of metabolizing FAT and SUGAR. The minute you stop taking these pills, you’ll pack the pounds right back on and then some. No one wants a sluggish liver. Rather than wearing your body down with weight loss pills, take my well worn advice and follow this nutrition plan to radiant wellness and permanent fat loss. See, when the liver is toxic, it dumps toxins into your colon via bile. Then, if your colon is toxic these toxins get reabsorbed into the blood stream and much of them are sent back to the liver and then back to the colon via bile and then back to the liver, etc. . . but to your advantage, The nutrition plan I am posting on my blog supports both colon and liver health.
Copyright 2011 By Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

Part 2 "The Mid-Morning Snack"

2011-04-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Let’s see now, we are only to about mid-morning in my meal plan . . .
Are you hungry yet? Yeah probably, since it’s only been your “Perfect Breakfast” smoothie and water up until this point. Remember, your smoothie digest easily leaving the stomach quickly so you’re probably experiencing an empty stomach about now. It’s because we’re so accustomed to eating concentrated foods these days, which are difficult to digest and stick to our stomach for hours. This light feeling youare experiencing may make you feel that you are not eating enough or getting enough nutrition. Believe me this plan is infinitely superior to your old diet. You get more true nutrition out of one fresh organic orange than you can out of the standard American’s full course meal. Besides, it’s probably only about 10 or 11am and you’ve got plenty more time in your day for even more nourishment.
Speaking of nourishment, it’s now time for that scrumptious Raw Crunch bar. I may sound like an advertisement for my bars, but I can't really list an alternative here because there is nothing on the market this healthy and satisfying with only 5 gram of sugar. Which is why I created the bars for you guys in the first place. Raw Crunch bars contain only whole raw ingredients including: Organic Sesame Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Flaxseeds, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Cashews, Organic Pecans, Organic Macadamia Nuts, Raw Honey and Celtic Sea Salt. Currently they come with either: Organic Wild Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Dark Chocolate, or Organic Goji Berries. Just like my nutrition plan, these are Gluten-Free & Peanut-Free. They stabilize blood sugar and are great for natural appetite control. By keeping your blood sugar stabilized, you are more likely to release stored body fat for energy. The hardest part for people to grasp is that you have to add heart healthy fats to your diet if you want to lose excess body fat. The healthy fats in these bars lean you up like crazy, while lubricating your joints, digestive tract and especially your skin. My husband and I formulated the most nutrient dense antioxidant rich raw ingredients. If you were to look at a chart of prime food sources rated with every vitamin and mineral we know of, you would see nuts and seeds listed at the top. We then added berries and dark chocolate . . . ingredients that top the list of naturally occurring antioxidants. Although we use very little Raw Honey in our bars, Raw Honey is not a refined sugar like “white sugar”; it is a sustaining energy source. This unique Raw Honey we use in our bars is harvested-by-hand and is intensely flavorful. Our beekeepers are passionate about the well-being of their bees. And the Celtic Sea Salt we use contains a natural balance of sodium, magnesium and potassium, which regulates fluid balance in the body. With all of this in combination you’re gonna be so healthy, you won’t know what to do with yourself. Part 3 "What's for Lunch" is on the way.
Copyright 2011 By Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

Part 3 - Lunchtime

2011-04-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

With a typical fad diet, you may look good on the outside for a few days (or weeks if you have enough willpower), but sadly even if the fad diet promoted weightloss, it’s usually achieved at the expense of long-term nutritional health. When eating my plan, your body is fully nourished at the cellular level and it’s reflected on the outside by a sleek physique and healthy hydrated skin. Get ready to experience dramatic initial weight loss coupled by continued healthy fat loss. The initial weight loss comes mainly from the inflammation in your underlying tissues. I know it sounds a bit “out there” but this diet literally rinses your cells and clogged tissues clean. Oh yeah, my stubborn cellulite, GONE! This fat loss is not just temporary either, like those dreadful low-carb diets, so if you have bread at dinner, you won’t blow back up like a water balloon. “So what happens when I get off this plan? This will be the last time you’ll ever ask that question. It’s SO simple and SO satisfying! You’ll learn to dismiss the myth that a healthy lifestyle means never eating a moist piece of cake again. No more worrying about food constantly, you’ll finally enjoy eating! Your friends and family won’t even realize your diet has changed; they will just be dying to know why you’re lookin’ so damn good.

Okay, lets get down to business, you've already had your smoothie, your bar and lots of water (all describe here on my blog) and it's now lunchtime!
You got a few choices here:

A Salad - My #1 choice for the fastest results.
Your salad should contain: - 1/4 avocado for women (1/2 for men) - avocado* is very important in my plan!
- All the cucumber, lettuce (dark green is best), tomatoes, carrots, peppers, celery & onion you'd like.
- 1/2 cup baked sweet potato for women(1 cup for men). This is one of the best carbs you can eat, and if you skimp out on clean carbs at lunch, you are setting yourself up for late night binging!
- 1 Tbs. Italian or oil & vinegar based dressing (these are better than creamy dressing since they coat the salad best with less)

A Sandwich (this option is not gluten-free) - Only have this a couple times a week when you are sick of salads.
Your sandwich should contain:

- 2 slices of sprouted wheat bread (I like Ezekiel found frozen at most grocery stores, I keep mine frozen). Sprouted wheat bread is not like eating typical wheat bread, higher in protein and nutrients and much less processed. It is the ONLY option for a sandwich!

- 1/4 avocado* for women (1/2 for men)

- 1 slice soy cheese or cheddar cheese (dairy is not the best choice and I will blog about why, later)

- lettuce, sprouts, tomato & cucumber

- 1 Tbs. Vegenaise or light mayo
- Mustard (all you want)

Spagetti - I have this meal 1-2 times per week.

Made with spaghetti squash instead of unhealthfully processed noodles. Spaghetti squash is a yellow oblong squash ranging from 1-4lbs. Throw one in the oven and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes and yes you can make this up ahead of time. When the squash is almost finished baking, cut up some fresh broccoli and carrots, red peppers, any veggies you like with some marinara sauce and cook on the stovetop until hot. The longer you cook most veggies, the more nutrients escape . . . you just want to barely break down their outer cell wall. When the squash is ready, slice it in half, remove the seeds (like a cantaloupe) and rake the pulp of the squash out with a fork. This creates strands of squash just like pasta noodles. It’s pretty cool and tasty.

Stir-fry - Once again a salad is preferred but your can have this 1-2 times per week.
- Cook your any veggies you like (as much as you'd like) in a pan with 1-2 Tbs. olive oil or coconut oil and a dash of Celtic Sea Salt, some fresh garlic, onion or ginger, only until the veggies begin to soften (about five minutes). The longer you cook most veggies, the more nutrients escape . . . you just want to barely break down their outer cell wall. However, some nutrients are actually better absorbed when they are lightly steamed, like those in asparagus, green beans, broccoli, spinach & brussel sprouts. Cooking also increases the energy available from starchy foods such as sweet potatoes & squash.
- Serve with 1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa (1 cup for men). Quinoa is a great low calorie, gluten-free grain that is loaded with fiber and nutrients to balance blood sugar.

Just think for a second how nutritious these foods are for your body. Everything you’ve eaten so far is easy on your digestive system and essential to your body. Bet you can’t say that about your previous diet. So how’s your blood sugar, how’s your cravings and how ‘bout that increased energy. You’re gonna love this new lifestyle! Part 4 - Mid-afternoon snack is on the way.

*Avocado – I usually buy a few firm organic avocados and a couple

slightly softer (more ripe) ones, not too soft though, then

the pulp will be brown instead of tasty and green. The firm

ones will be ready to eat in a day if you leave them out on

the counter. Refrigerate, if you want them to ripen more

slowely.

Part 4 - The 4 O'clock Slump Snack

2011-04-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

It’s time to review our day. You’ve had your "Perfect Breakfast" Smoothie, a "Raw Crunch" bar, a Healthy Lunch (options under "Part 3 - Lunchtime" on my blog).

Now just grab another "Raw Crunch" bar or almond butter on sprouted wheat toast to get you through that 4 O'clock Slump. Your dinner meal will greatly reduce in size and you well get an energy boost by having a snack between lunch and dinner. Remember, all meals/snacks on this plan should be within 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours apart. If you wait longer than that your blood sugar levels will drop and you will bing on crap later. Don't miss any meal or snack that I have outlined on the plan!!!

It’s almost time for your "Dinner Meal of Choice". Pretty darn easy, huh? Here’s just a few helpful hints:

1) Keep a container of purified water in your car at all times! You gotta stay hydrated and keep those toxins flowing out of your system. If you think you’re hungry, evaluate your water intake so far, you may just be low on fluids, so have a big glass of water and then evaluate your hunger level. Add a few squirts of lemon juice if you need it flavored.

2) Keep additional fresh fruits around since they act as good filler foods in case of emergency. Their water content and bulk fiber also helps to calm the appetite.

3) If you are having trouble with constipation in the beginning increase your fluids!!! You are adding all this extra fiber to your system and imagine fiber like a "soggy bowl of Raisin Bran" if you don't add water to the expanded fiber in your gut, it will have the opposite effect and clog you up. You can also increase your Vitamineral™ Green a bit.

"High Protein Diets Suck!"

2011-04-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Most high protein diets suggest that lean animal protein is “our most powerful ally when attempting weight loss” since it has twice the thermic effect of either fats or carbs. Thermic effect means that protein ingestion heats your body and helps you burn more calories than if you ate fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. It does this because animal protein is so much harder for your body to digest! Protein makes you feel full longer because it sits in your gut trying desperately to breakdown. Well yeah, sure your body burns more calories to break it down, but at the expense of your kidneys, liver and digestive health. Fiber (bulk) also makes you feel full longer on fewer calories, but it actually enhances healthy digestion. When your body tries to break down animal protein in the gut, it generates ammonia which is extremely toxic, especially to the liver and kidneys. To protect itself from this toxic substance, your liver converts it to urea, which is less toxic than ammonia, but it’s still a waste product and needs to be eliminated. Your kidneys remove urea from the bloodstream and eliminate it as urine. Once again, this creates more stress on the liver and kidneys. It requires a large amount of water loss in the urine to dilute and flush these compounds from our body.
These high animal protein diets don’t tell you to “drink like a fish ”, but they should with all this excess protein they’re prescribing. But hey, you lose lots of weight on those diets, right? Yeah at first, by becoming dehydrated, making your next high protein meal even harder on your system. Because excess animal protein consumption produces an acid load on the kidneys, another problem is created. The body has to neutralize the acid. It does this by stealing vital alkaline minerals, like calcium, potassium and magnesium from the bloodstream, muscles and bones. No wonder we need so much extra calcium these days. Raw plant foods are alkaline-based, not acidic. They not only prevent excess calcium loss; they also supply calcium to build strong bones while providing a good source of clean burning protein. Clean burning simply means, that raw plant foods release only carbon dioxide and water as byproducts when they are converted to sugar, which causes very little digestive stress. As you can see, eliminating carbs from your diet and replacing them with excess protein is not only absurd it’s dangerous. If you want to burn more total calories, while keeping your liver, kidneys and digestive system healthy and strong, just keep reading my blog, I’m here to help!
Copyright 2011 by Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

"Do We Really Need All That Meat?"

2011-04-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Let me fill you in on some basic secrets about our human system . . .
It’s no coincidence that plant food contains just the right amount of protein to build and maintain the human body. Plant foods are where some of the strongest animals in the animal kingdom get their protein. Everyone thinks that it’s close to impossible to build muscle without eating masses of animal flesh, but check out the muscular physique of a horse. Talk about horsepower! Gorillas are vegetarians too and they could show us all up in the gym. Besides, ever looked at a tiger’s teeth? How ‘bout a horse’s teeth. Now look at your own teeth. What do you think humans were designed to eat? Sure, meat is the staple of a tiger’s diet, but our body’s design and our nutritional requirements are very different from the tiger. Plus, their meat in the wild is raw and it’s hasn’t been contaminated with growth stimulants, hormones and antibiotics. When we look at other mammals in nature, we don’t see any incidence of degenerative diseases. Hmm, wonder why? Our gut also has more trouble breaking down flesh for absorption in our twenty-five (25) feet of small intestines. On the other hand, raw meat eating animals have a much shorter gut for easy digestion. We are the only mammal in nature that cooks our meat, but understandably we have to do something to kill all that bacteria from our massively overcrowded animal production facilities. I always thought that I was a “natural” fitness competitor. Prior to my fitness competitions, I always passed the lie detector tests as “drug free”. Glad they didn’t do a blood test, huh? I had all kinds of growth hormones and steroids in my system just from the excess meat I ate. I strongly believe that my typical six (6 ) (yes, six) high protein meals a day lead to my thyroid hormone disorder at such a young age. There are naturally so many hormones in meat not to mention the “added hormones” in todays factory farmed meats and “hunny, you don’t mess with a woman’s hormones”. I’m leaner and more muscular now than ever before.
There is no essential nutrient in meat or dairy that is not also available in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and in a form that is much easier to digest. However, THERE ARE MANY ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS THAT CAN ONLY BE GAINED FROM PLANTS. Fruits & vegetables not only contain sustainable amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat, they have them in the quality and proportions that are optimum for human health. We’re not talking the 40-30-30 ratios, like some popular fad diets, we’re talkin’ Mother Nature’s ratios. I don’t have to teach your body to eat this way, it already knows and prefers it. It’s your mind I have to convince.
Besides, I still give you plenty of protein in your plan and even protein powder in your “Perfect Breakfast” smoothie. If you still must have your meat, buy organic and save it for your dinner “Meal of Choice”.
Copyright 2011 By Kathy Feldman. All rights reserved.

Part 5 - Dinner "Meal of Choice"

2011-04-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

Since the bulk of my plan is made up of raw, unprocessed fruits, veggies and nuts and seeds, which are so nourishing and cleansing, you can afford the luxury of having a dinner “meal of choice“, without all the guilt. Your body does not have the added burden of trying to eliminate all the filth we eat and can run at optimal performance.

The main reason why I have chosen dinner for the meal of choice is because I’m assuming it will consist of some cooked and processed foods, which typically create digestive stress and exhaust the body. So the evening dinner is the best time for this to happen. You may wonder if you can just exchange your dinner meal of choice with lunch. Not a good idea . . . besides lowering your energy levels, consuming these non-natural foods early in the day can make your cravings get out of hand. Plus, you will have more time in the day to make bad food choices, as opposed to an evening meal of choice. Occasionally, I may replace my dinner meal of choice with lunch. Maybe once a month, I’ve even made breakfast my meal of choice. Then the hard part is maintaining the willpower to stay on the plan for the rest of the day. “But remember you consume food, you don’t let food consume your life, right?”

My nutrition plan leading up to this daily dinner option is crucial for your assured fat loss and radiant health gain. You must eat the way that I have outlined up to this point during the day, because if your body goes for an extended period of time without food or water, it will assume there is a shortage and it will retain every ounce of fluid you’ve drunk (leaving you bloated) while retaining every morsel of food you’ve eaten (resulting in weight gain). Now with that said, I can tell you the motivating stuff!

I feel it’s important to take some time to draw pleasure from your dinner meal rather than shoveling it in while filling your mind with guilt. Food is an entertainment as well as a process of life, shared in a relaxed atmosphere with friends and family. Keep in mind, the first few weeks you’ll be day dreaming of really dense foods, but as your body becomes more nourished and your soul becomes more balanced, your dinner meal will get progressively healthier. Soon, dinner will be so nutritionally satisfying that you won’t go bonkers. Your dinner will become lighter and lighter ensuring a blissful sleep. My husband and I take pleasure in preparing a healthy (most of the time) delicious dinner. Yeah, sometimes we fall victim to those late night pizza commercials instead, but we don’t over indulge and the majority of our diet is incredibly healthy and nutritious. We even occasionally have a dessert after dinner. This simple act of mindful eating works for us like meditation; food shouldn’t be a main contributor or source of mental stress. Diet books are so extreme these days, no wonder we are all so overwhelmed and mentally conflicted when it comes to food. My plan is not about what you can’t have, it’s about developing a healthy attitude toward food slowly. Enjoy this life and all it has to offer. Oh, and by the way, enjoy your personally selected dinner choice!

Baby Nutrition

2011-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Obviously my 16 month old, loves the Raw Crunch bars, (check out the old wrapper design :). In fact, due to some luck, what I ate during pregnancy and what I fed her as an infant she prefers healthy fare over sugary junk. Some of her favorite foods include: avocado, hummus, edamame, cheese, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrots, tofu, eggs and almost every variety of fresh fruit especially strawberries, mango, bananas and peaches. I do my best to buy all organic for her, especially her strawberries, potatoes, green vegetables, beets, carrots, free-range eggs and avocado. I peel the peach skin on conventional peaches since the fuzz hold a lot of pesticides. Ever since she and my son turned 5-6 months old they have had a this smoothie for breakfast. Here is the recipe (feel free to add or remove any ingredients):

2 tablespoons organic baby oatmeal (in box, I use Earth's Best)
1/2 cup whole milk organic yogurt, plain
1/2 banana
2 pieces each of fresh/frozen pineapple, peaches and/or mango

1 teaspoon whole flaxseeds (brain food for babies and helps with digestion)

1/4 avocado (brain food for babies)
1 teaspoon wheatgerm

1/2 tsp. Vitamineral Green (optional)
Dash of water and/or orange juice

Blend all ingredients in the blender or baby mixer until smooth and make sure the flaxseeds are ground very well. Pour it in the sippy cups with the straw attachment if your child is able to sip from a straw. If not, make half the recipe use less water and/or orange juice so it is a bit thicker and you can feed it to them with a spoon. This should be used as a staple in their diet. Avocado, by the way, is one of the healtiest foods for you little one, especially during their brain development, considering the brain is made up of mainly essential fatty acids.
If you have any questions on baby nutrition, I'll be glad to try and answer them. There is also a good book called "Super Baby Food" that you may want to check out.
Kathy

Eat REAL food!

2011-04-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

Processed food is food that has been drastically altered from its natural state. These fake foods distort your appetite too. It’s hard for you to exceed your caloric requirements with fruits and veggies because of the bulk and satiety you get from these foods, but over-eating unhealthfully processed foods like an entire bag of chips is no problem for some.
To further reduce their nutritional value most processed foods are cooked. When foods are overcooked much of their vitamins and minerals are damaged, or destroyed by heat, as well as their fiber. To make up for this, food manufacturers add nutrients & fiber back into the food, hence the term "enriched", except these added vitamins & minerals are replicated in a lab. I’m sure you’ve seen the long list of vitamins and minerals on an processed box of cereal or carton of concentrated orange juice labeled “with calcium”. Adding individual vitamins or minerals can create imbalances with other nutritional factors in our body. The reason why nutrients are packaged the way they are in nature is because they require other nutrients in order to work properly in our body. That’s why they say to take your vitamins with food.
Can you imagine how foreign a single vitamin tablet is to your body? They call these added vitamins and minerals supplements. Just think of the word “supplement”. You are “supplementing ” your diet with something you are not getting enough of through whole food. For people who do not eat well, supplements will not make up for that any better than “devoid of life” energy pills make up for lack of sleep.
Despite all of the modern advances, the best source of nutrients by far is whole food! It’s always better to correct your diet, than to supplement it. The ideal purpose of my plan is to supply all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients one needs naturally in a readily available form enabling your body to function optimally without additional chemical supplements.

Strength Training Increases Water Weight at First

2011-03-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

So you finally started working out, but after working your tail off for the first week, you hop on the scale and.....YUCK, you've actually gained a couple pounds. Relax, let me explain: Strength training naturally causes microscopic tears in your muscle membrane allowing muscles to grow back stronger and that is normal (as weird as it sounds). Whenever your body undergoes trauma as with these microscopic muscle tears, it sends blood and fluid to those areas to heal the tissues. This causes the puffiness, and it is one of the main reasons people get so discouraged when beginning a training regimen. As a fitness competitor, I would have to stop all leg training ten days before my competitions, to reduce fluid build-up in my legs. Otherwise, I would have a smooth look rather than defined leg muscles. Stick with it guys, eventually your muscles will get stronger and the swelling will drastically reduce (because your muscles will not grow as much as they did in the beginning). After about a month or so of working out, you will look in the mirror and be amazed at your transformation!
-me & my momma

My Workout

2011-03-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

Right Now my weekly workout consists of PX90. I just had my second baby 3 month ago and the PX90 DVD's give me no excuse not to train...hard! It's like having a personal trainer in your den. On weight days I lift as heavy as possible and still keep the reps between 12 and 15. Also, as a yoga teacher myself, I am quite impressed with the "Yoga X" DVD in the series.

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. More Diet advice is on the way!

Best of luck, I'm here if you need me,
Kathy

You gotta watch this adorable Eagar Eater!

2011-01-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

Raw Crunch bars are in Purely Delicious Magazine!

2010-08-31T18:25:00.001-07:00

We are mentioned in the Summer issue of Purely Delicious Magazine under the section "Raw 101". Thanks so much for Rebecca Carlson for suggesting our bars to the editors!

Our Little Farm

2009-05-15T12:49:00.001-07:00

Here are our 6 week old baby chickens, Shadow, Daisy, Bubbles, Toodles and Ming Ming. In 12 more weeks they will each lay 1 unfertilized egg per week. Thanks goodness, because Kira loves her eggs. Their droppings, mixed with the pine shavings in their coop, are great for our organic garden as well. The chicks are very docile and eat kitchen and garden scraps right out of Kira's hand. All we need now are some goats to keep the yard mowed ;)

Neat Raw Drink

2006-08-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Growing Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden

2006-05-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Simple Sprouting

2006-05-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

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.