Closing the Gap

That's my 3 year old son with his face in my carrot juice! He wasn't trying to drink it, he was blowing on it like it was hot. That carrot juice had lemons, kale, spinach, cilantro, and lettuce in it. I've also been drinking green smoothies with bananas, kiwi, kale, and spinach.

On Saturday, I had cooked food. I was feeling very lightheaded while I was at Mystickal Voyage doing readings. I could feel all my energy up in my head and crown. So I got Schezuan tofu and asked them to put vegetables in it. I felt better within 10 minutes.

I hope no one is too disappointed with me for saying that. I used my intuition to decide what I needed in that moment, and that worked. On Sunday, I was right back on the cleanse. I made falafels, with tomatoes, cucumbers and a house dressing.

But I have been REALLY emotional lately. So much has happened in the past two months that I've had trouble processing it all. Some has been wonderful, some not so wonderful. As an intuitive, I witness some pretty amazing stuff. Then when I turn around and look at my personal life, some things are not so amazing. The dichotomy is getting to me.

I finished the fifth round of edits for my Mocha Angels book tonight. Looking at it again, I realize I'm not living all that I've received. Mocha Angels was channeled back in 2005 when I was going through the worst of the drama with my disabled relatives. I mean, they were bringing the noise and bringing the funk, for real. I'd just had a baby. I wasn't getting any sleep, and I had to contend with other folks dysfunctions every day. My house was not a happy place to be. There were days that I hated coming home because I was never sure how my relatives would behave. One thing was consistent though: their behavior was never, ever positive.

Mocha Angels is very much along the same line as The Secret and Ask and it is Given, but in a 365 day Daily Word format. But I channeled my messages before either of those two products were released. I look at the messages and sometimes I can't believe they came through me. The two great messages of the book are:

-manifest the life that you really want with the power of your thoughts

-love everyone you meet, whether they love you or not

That love thing...I've been witholding love from my relatives. They have brought so much drama...worthy of a book as my mother and some friends have told me. But love is the singularly consistent messgage of the Mocha Angels. Love. Just love them, even if they don't love you. Love is the healing balm of all wounds. Love creates miracles. Love is God's first, middle, and last name. Love will heal your family.

(Okay....had to break because I was crying. I'm back now.)

And the other thing is I don't tell a lot of people about what I do for a living. When asked, I say I'm a yoga teacher. I am a yoga teacher, but most of my income comes from doing readings. When I was editing the book tonight, the December 3 message was this:

Fear not your own truth, especially if it differs greatly from the masses. You think you are all alone in your truths. You are not. Your personal truth was given to you in order to heal yourself, heal others, and live out loud. Manifest greatness by being yourself.

When other people read me, they always say the same thing: speak your personal truth. I've been holding back. I speak freely when I'm around people I know agree with me. But if I'm not sure, I hold back and keep quiet. I just need to be myself and live my life according to my personal experiences, which have shaped my truths.

And love my in-laws.

Love,

Althea

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Closing the Gap

What I ate the first two days

Asian-Inspired Green Beans

Hi Ya'll:


Tyrah, one of my readers in Australia, asked what I've been eating. I've been eating cashew nori rolls, kale salad, sesame seed milk, and lots of fruit. I know I need to change this up a bit. Green beans were on sale for 99 cents pound, so I got some. The above dish, Asian-Inspired Green Beans is an original.

The sauce is:
sesame oil
olive oil
ginger
garlic
maple syrup
nama shoyu
red pepper chili flakes.

The sauce is based on Golden Tofu Marinade from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. (I hate I sold that book. It's a great foundation for anyone learning how cook.) Her sauce had brown sugar in it. I changed it to maple syrup, and just went by taste. It's a great sauce for anything. I'd made spaghetti for the rest of the family and poured that sauce over it. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and you've got a meal.

And these peaches I bought at the farmer's market near my house (minus four already eaten). These are called "Seconds." They are cheaper than regular peaches. They may be a little bruised or highly ripe, but still in good condition. I bought ten dollars worth of peaches for $4.50.

And I've gotten bananas at 25 cents a pound at my local grocery store. Again, seconds. The bananas might be open on the top. I saw two of them like that and asked the produce manager if I could get them discounted. She said, "Sure! I've two boxes of them like that in the back!" I got ten of them for 75 cents. Ask, because they won't volunteer the information.

And this is what I had for breakfast yesterday. Peaches, bananas, and kiwi. Simple and easy!

I need to do some green smoothies and juices though. I'll let you know what I did over the weekend on Monday.

hugs,

Althea

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What I ate the first two days

Winners of the Book Giveaway!

I asked the question: "what made you interested in a raw food diet?" Two of the responses I got brought tears to my eyes. Here are the winners of the book Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life: drum roll, please......

Tasha Edwards in Alabama

Cindi Hoppes in Illinois

Louis Randall, M.D. in Maryland

Dale Wesley in Georgia

You all are so inspiring! I wanted to share just a little of what Tasha and Dale wrote.

From Tasha:

What attracted me to the raw food lifestyle? The need for clarity, cleansing and consistency.

I believe that I became vegan because I was a part of Sistah Vegan; the pressure was on. I knew dairy made me sick (eventually) but I loved some damn eggs at IHOP. It was a "fad"; I am notorious for that. As so raw food became that way, a fad. The first time I realized that I could eat 2 cups of almonds a day and STILL lose weight, I was hooked. I have done three 7-day raw food fasts in the past couple of months. It was easier than trying to sustain the lifestyle which is where I am now. I cannot tell you that I have experienced the "wonder" of the raw food lifestyle but this is probably because I can go all day and only eat prunes, bananas and almond butter. I just turned 33 last week and I STILL have no clarity or consistency. Now my bowels are all backed up even though I have started taking triphala again. I am taking 5 HTP to sleep at night and will be sipping on valerian tea in about 30 seconds because I am angry and stressed and cannot rest without assistance. I need cleansing. I need ME. That's why I am interested in the raw food lifestyle; getting basic with my living so I can have time to do other stuff.

From Dale

I am a 55 year old woman who became interested in the raw diet because I want to live another 55 years..…..mentally and physically healthy. I see a raw food diet as the way to achieve my goal.

I, like everyone, have had some difficult health issues…..anxiety, depression, raging hormones and gynecological problems, stress, arthritis, and menopause with insomnia and hot flashes. I believe all illness comes from the foods we eat. I didn't know this 20 years ago, but I know it now. I know that what I put into my mouth contributes greatly to how I feel. I am aware and more in tune with my body, and I know how it feels to eat even a small piece of chocolate cake and ride the wave from high to low emotions within hours. I know the dangers of white sugar, white flour, meat, alcohol, and dairy products. I even know the dangers of prescription drugs on the circulatory, digestive and nervous systems of the body.

My personal experiences with illness and encounters with medical professionals have shaped my thoughts about health. Health is not a blue or pink pill for every challenge that occurs. Pills don't cure any illness; pills cover up symptoms but the illness/condition remains. Only raw food can cure disease conditions, because only raw food corrects the imbalances that occur from eating the wrong foods. In my eyes, a raw food diet makes sense. To eat only raw fruits, vegetables, seed and nuts to get the most vitamins and minerals for our bodies so it can operate as God intended seems logical to me….it's a no-brainer.

My determination to tell as many people as I can about the raw food diet is supported by my determination not to develop the usual diseases that seem to occur with aging in this country like acid reflux disease, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, osteoarthritis, heart failure, high blood pressure, and obesity. I believe raw food is the answer and I wish I could get more people to listen. Since I can't, I believe my purpose is to be a shining example of what healthy looks like, feels like and is...for as long as I possibly can.

I am sure that will be until I am 110 years old.

Whoo Hoo! Powerful stuff, huh? You all inspire me too. Thank you all so much for entering.

Love,

Althea

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Winners of the Book Giveaway!

336 Days of Wellness

Hi, Ya'll:
I'm back from Detroit. It was a long and emotional weekend, but I am grateful I got to see so many relatives and friends, so it was all worth it. While I was gone, I got to finish Queen Afua's Heal Thyself, for the hundredth time. This time, I'm reading it with other women over at
Circle of Sisters (http://sistercircles.ning.com/). I'm reading this book and thinking, "You are delaying the inevitable." I love food. I love talking about food. I love making food, but I know live food is where it's at for me. Girl, get on the good foot and heal yourself.

So with that said, I decided to do the near-year long purification Queen Afua-style. It's an 84-day cycle of 50-75% raw food, then 100% raw, then a juice fast, and then a mix of all three. I'm doing it for nearly a year. Why not? Here is the schedule, which I've posted on the right-hand side of my blog. I'm doing all raw instead of the percentage in the first 21 days. And July 24 is my Grandma Pearl's 81st birthday, so I thought that was a good day to start.

Heal Thyself 336 Days of Purification to Perfect Wellness
Cycle 1
July 24- begin 100% raw vegan diet
August 12- 21 days
Sept 2- 42 days/begin juice fast & colon cleanse
September 23- end juice fast
October 14 – end 84 day cycle

Cycle 2
October 15 – begin
November 4 – 21 days
November 25 – 42 days/begin juice fast
December 16 –end juice fast
January 6 – end 84 day cycle

Cycle 3
January 7 – begin
January 27 – 21 days
February 17 – 42 days/begin juice fast
March 10 –end juice fast
March 31 – end 84 day cycle

Cycle 4
April 1 – begin
April 21 – 21 days
May 12 – 42 days/begin juice fast
June 2 –end juice fast
June 23 – end 84 day cycle

Did you notice I'll be fasting during Thanksgiving? LOL. That ought to be fun :-). I won't do a day by day, blow by blow of everything, but I do see some good things happening during this time. And the first juice fast I'm doing in September will also combine the colon/liver/gallbladder/kidney cleanse from Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life by Cherie Calbom, which is the book I'm giving away in two days.

Thanks for reading!

love,
Althea ◦

336 Days of Wellness

My Grandpa Passed Away

I'm headed back to Detroit this weekend. My grandfather, James K. Hughes, died on Monday morning. He'd had Parkinson Disease and had been really sick the past four years. I took the news harder than I thought. When me and my children saw him four weeks ago at the reunion, I knew that was the last time. He was in the hospital and could only blink at me. I'm glad he is free of pain and with his parents and his sister that passed before him (there's still six siblings left).

But as I was telling my Aunt Tawana, I'm glad he's pain-free, but I wish he was pain-free and still alive here on earth. That picture above is on my vision board. I'd taken pictures of my grandparents when I was in Detroit this spring, but I didn't want to post any of those again. This picture, with my grandmother Pearl, was taken in 1999 at my Great-Uncle Robert and Great-Aunt Virginia's 50th wedding anniversary party. My grandparents were married for 57 years. (WOW!...I love my husband but whooo, that's a long time.)

The good news is that I get to see my mother for a hot minute when my flight connects to Atlanta. And I get to read "Heal Thyself," "The Secret," and "The Seven Spiritual Principles of Success" while I'm flying around. The other interesting news is that I get to see my father, who I haven't seen in five years. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I will have a story to tell when I get back.

The past month has been very emotional, between Grandpa passing, my cycle, the water main break (which I still haven't told ya'll about yet), and the family reunion I feel like I haven't breathed in 30 days. And bringing this all under the umbrella of raw food, I realized that I've got the preparing of the food down. It's the emotional eating part that I have not mastered. I see it coming together in my mind. I feel like I have training wheels on my bicycle as I'm pedaling furiously down the street. I can ride the raw food bike, but with assistance.

Last night, I looked at my life as if I were outside of me looking in. "What does she need to work on?" I asked myself. "Healing herself," is what I heard. The reason why I've been talking about raw food in terms of a journey, rather than a destination, is because The Hero's Journey is a metaphor for life. I haven't met a person who doesn't have challenges. Our task as human beings is to conquer the very challenges that limit us.

I am meant to conquer emotional eating, my feelings toward my relatives, and the sometimes isolation of a stay-at-home mom. Turning the perceived negatives into positives is the key. Everything is mental. But I feel more mentally positive when I am raw, and it's easier to change your life when you feel good. And feeling good is the primary key of the Law of Positive Attraction.

And when a relative passes away, those left are forced to look at their own mortality. We all have different definitions of success, but I would say if you have a life full of love, then you had a successful life. My grandpa certainly had LOADS of love his life. I'd be surprised if the church isn't bursting with people who loved him. My grandparents are the ones who kept me in the "Hughes Family Loop." As a child, when my dad stopped coming to get me for the weekend, they stepped in. If it weren't for them, I might not even be going to the funeral. They had enough love for me to keep me a part of the family.

Now that's love.

I love you Grandpa and I will miss you.

Love,
Althea ◦

My Grandpa Passed Away

Stay Inspired

From the Creative Health Insititute Newsletter:

The biggest challenge any of us face with we change our lifestyle to raw and living foods is staying inspired. Here are some suggestions:

Read a book - http://creativehealthinstitute.com/catalog/
Here's a free one - http://chidiet.com/books/whysuffer.pdf

Watch a video - http://chidiet.com/ http://youtube.com/results?search_query=ann+wigmore&search_type=&aq=f
and
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=raw+living+food&search_type=&aq=f

Listen to testimonials and interviews -http://www.chidiet.com/blog/

http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/testimonials/index.html

Try a new recipe -http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/raw_living_food_recipes/index.html

Read inspiring articles from Backslider's Corner -
http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/backsliders_corner/index.html

Go to a lecture or potluck - http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/regular_meetings_and_events/index.html

Go to a hands-on training program -
Creative Health Institute in MI,
The Living Foods Institute in GA,
The Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico,
Hippocrates Institute in FL
or Optimal Health Institute in CA.

Subscribe to Jinjee's Daily Raw Inspiration - http://thegardendiet.com/

Subscribe to Victoria Boutenko's newsletter - http://rawfamily.com/

Jim Carey

P.S. Raw Living Foods is a Lifestyle, not just a Diet. There's a lot more to it than just eating lots of fruits and veggies. For more information, the Dr. Ann Wigmore Home Study Program is available again - chiDiet.com. ◦

Stay Inspired

Deadline for Book Giveaway

I forgot to give a deadline for the contest. The deadline is Sunday, July 20th. And I will announce the winners on July 25th!

So the contest question is:
What made you interested in a raw vegan diet?

Email me at mochaangels@aol.com!

love,

Althea

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Deadline for Book Giveaway

Win This Book!

Hi Everybody!
Where have I been? To a family reunion that was awesome, but too short. And dealing with no water in the house (The underground water service line to our house broke. It's fixed now, but that is a story into itself). I learned a lot, but first...

I have a book giveaway contest!

I received a copy of Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life by Cherie Calbom from her publisher. I've read it, highlighted it and have decided to do a colon cleanse, then liver/gallbladder cleanse, and then a kidney cleanse. All of that should take 4 weeks. I will document it all when I start.

Mrs. Calbom is Nutritionist with a degree from Bastyr University, which is one of the few naturopathic medical colleges in the country. What I loved about the book was not only her science background and obvious knowledge about food, but that she emphasizes vegetable juices and soups, rather than fruit. I have one of her other books, Juicing for Life, and she said that in the past she focused too much on fruit juices, which can make the body acidic.

Like my aversion to salads, I've definitely had an aversion to vegetable juice. I'll admit to avoiding them. My juices and smoothies, if you remember from my 14 day fast, had a lot of fruit in them. I felt great, but I'm willing to go to the extra step to veggie juice with 1/2 an apple or pear or lemon or lime as the sweetener.

The book is divided into:
-The Secrets of Vibrant Health
-Juicing for Life
-Fasting for Life
-Detoxing for Life
-Colon Cleansing for Vibrant Health
-Liver, Gallbladder, and Kidney Cleansing
-More Detox Programs (Skin, Parasite, Candida, Lymphatic, Heavy Metals)
-Mental and Emotional Cleansing
-The A to Z Guide to the Nutrient Content of Foods
-Recipes for Fasting and Detoxing

So there's four copies of the book available to win! Trust me: this is a keeper. If you've got any health issue from chronic exhaustion to diabetes, this book will help you. So the contest question is:

What made you interested in a raw vegan diet?

You can be serious, funny, inspirational...whatever you like. You don't have to be 100% raw, just interested. The entries will be judged and I'll notify the winners. If you're okay with having an excerpt of your entry on my blog, please let me know when you email your entry to me at mochaangels@aol.com.

Next time, I'll talk about the water main break and I'll get back to the steps in your raw journey.

hugs,

Althea

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Win This Book!