Juice Fast Days 11-14 and Steps to Raw

Apple-Beet Juice

On the rest of Day 11, I had:
2 carrots/2 celery ribs/handful of parsley juice
1 apple/ 1/4 lemon/handful of parsley juice
2 apples/handful of parsley juice
lots of water

On Day 12, I had:
1 apple/1 celery rib/handful of parsley and cilantro/1/4 lemon juice
2 apples/1 celery rib/handful of parsley/3 kale leaves/5 collard leaves juice
1 apple/1 huge carrot/1 celery rib/1/4 lemon/handful of parsley and cilantro juice
lots of water

Day 13, I had:
1/4 beet/2 carrots/1 apple/1/4 lemon/1/2 inch ginger juice
1/4 beet/3 carrots/1/4 lemon/1/2 ginger juice
2 peaches/2 bananas/5 collard leaves/handful of parsley/ 1 cup water smoothie
lots of water

Apple-Collard Juice

On Day 14, I had:
1 peach/1 banana/4 collard leaves/1 cup water smoothie
1 apple/1 celery/4 kale leaves juice
2 peach/2 bananas/ 5 kale leaves/1 cup water smoothie
3 apples/2 celery/6 collard/ 1/2 lemon juice
lots of water

The only updates I have today is that I am still losing weight. All my clothes are too big. (That's a good thing!) And I feel good energy-wise, but I've caught my children's cold. Blah. I'll be drinking teas along with my juice until I get over this cold.

I found my notes about The Steps on Your Raw Food Journey. I had started this back in June, but I hadn't posted all of them. So here they are! I will follow up on Steps 5-15 later.

1. Know Why You are Doing This
2. Read a Ton of Books
3. Meet Other Raw Foodies
4. Drink Your Greens
5. Learn Basic Recipes
6. Learn How to Sprout
7. Stock Your Kitchen
8. Acknowledge Your Emotions
9. Practice Gratitude
10. Be Kind to Yourself
11. Pay Attention to Your Body
12. Know Thyself
13. Practice Mind/Body/Spirit Exercises
14. Smile & Laugh & Love
15. Lead by Example

This isn't lock-step: step one, step two, etc. They more blend together as one, but taking each piece of your raw food journey and breaking it down makes it easier to do. It can be overwhelming, can't it? Just take one step at a time, and set small goals for yourself.

I was telling my mom about one of my favorite blogs, Dar Kush. Author Steve Barnes writes this blog. A few days ago, he wrote about the power of inertia. When people attempt major life changes, something tends to pop up to get in their way. His advice was to take it sloooooooow.
That post was a big help to me. We don't have to do everything all at once. :-)
Here's the post: http://darkush.blogspot.com/2008/09/power-of-inertia.html

Let me know what you all think!

Love,
Althea

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Juice Fast Days 11-14 and Steps to Raw

Step 4 in your Raw Food Journey: Drink Your Greens

Don't skip this step. Greens are very healing. If you are sick, don't have chicken soup. Drink your greens. Below are quotes from experts:

-From The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore: Chlorophyll is the blood of the plant...it is condensed solar energy. Chlorophyll increases the function of the heart, affects the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus and the lungs. It is a tonic which, considering its stimulating properties, cannot be compared with any other.

-From Your Right to Be Beautiful by Tonya Zavasta: Our blood is very similar to green juice. The main difference between a molecule of chlorophyll in green juice and a molecule of hemoglobin in the blood is the central atom. Hemoglobin, the protein that makes our blood red, has iron as its central atom. Chlorophyll, the protein that makes plants green, has magnesium at its center.

-From Heal Thyself by Queen Afua: Chlorophyll detoxes and rejuvenates tissues, cells, blood, arteries, and nerves. The more we consume chlorophyll, in the form of eating green leaves like salad and herbs as well as green veggie juices and wheatgrass, the healthier our skin, hair, and bones, the purer our thoughts, and the more harmonious and healthy our relationships will be. Chlorophyll consumption brings heaven on earth...I would go so far as to say that if a community, a country, or even the world consumes chlorophyll consistently, we would see an end to world famine, dis-ease and war.

Someone asked me about a Green Lemonade recipe. It is from the book The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose.
1 head romaine lettuce or celery (I use a few leaves of romaine)
5 to 6 stalks kale
1 to 2 apples as needed for sweetness
1 lemon - don't need to peel it
1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger (optional)
Press the veggies through the juicer and drink. The lemon cuts out the "green taste" people try to avoid.

I know that I feel so much better drinking my green juice or green smoothies in the morning. I would also recommend reading Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. Her website is http://www.rawfamily.com/.
Love,
Althea

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Step 4 in your Raw Food Journey: Drink Your Greens

Step 3 in your Raw Food Journey: Meet Other Raw Foodies

I mentioned online social networks yesterday. I think hanging out with and meeting other raw foodies or wannabe raw foodies is paramount. Meeting with other people in person can be a life-saver when you feel all alone.

Meetup.com (http://www.meetup.com/) is a great place to find if other raw foodies are gathering in your area. You can start a meetup if there is not one where you live. You can also just have a raw food potluck at your house and invite your friends.

And of course, there's the latest in social networks, which is http://www.ning.com/. You can find a group for anything on Ning. Here are the raw food-related networks I am a member of:

Give it to me Raw: http://www.giveittomeraw.com/
SoulVegFolk: http://www.soulvegfolk.com/
Circle of Sisters: http://sistercircles.ning.com/

That last one, Circle of Sisters, is, in the moderator's words, "The Ultimate Sister Circle Network created to help women of Afrikan Descent who want to change their lives using the Queen's methods." The Queen being Queen Afua.

This goes back to my point yesterday about reading a ton of books. You are going to find authors that resonate with you. I am totally feeling Queen Afua. I've had the pleasure of meeting her twice, and it was obvious that this is a woman who practices what she preaches. Her books, Heal Thyself and Sacred Woman are considered classics in the holistic healing movement. All of her three children are adults and she has to at least be in her fifties, but you can't tell by looking at her. She is a passionate advocate of healing all people, but particularly African-Americans because we die at ridiculous rates of preventable and treatable diseases.

I remember when I read the original edition of Heal Thyself in 1999. I was like, YES!!! Every word made sense to me. Rom, my then-boyfriend, now-husband, said at the time, "I have never seen you read a book so fast." I was all over it. Fasting, cleaning out the body, healing diseases, yes, ma'am, it all resonated with me.

So when I was invited to join Circle of Sisters, it was a no-brainer. Now the moderator is working on getting us to meet in person in 2009. And that is my point. You never know when an online connection will turn into an in-person connection that will benefit you.

Until next time.

love,

Althea

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Step 3 in your Raw Food Journey: Meet Other Raw Foodies

Step 2 of your Raw Food Journey: Read a Ton of Books and....

Hi All! This may seem obvious but to be a successful raw foodie, you gotta read! And read more, and read some more and read even more.

And just when you think you are done reading, read even MORE.

In other words, build a raw food library. I don't think you can have too many books. Books show you the endless possibilities with raw food.
And reading includes online resources!

Create a separate email account for your raw food newsletters and social networks and blogs. I have four email accounts. One is general, one is for raw food, one is for homeschooling, and one is for writing & Mocha Angels. If I didn't separate them from each other, I would never get through my emails.

Sign up for all newsletters. If your favorite blog has a subscription service, sign up. If it doesn't,write the owner and ask her to add a feed or subscription button. Read, read, read!
This step is a life-long step. Never stop reading and learning from other people!

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Step 2 of your Raw Food Journey: Read a Ton of Books and....

The Start of Your Raw Journey

Step 1:
Have a large, huge, bigger-than-yourself WHY!
(And having a 900-year-old Jedi Master as your teacher, in this life and the afterlife, wouldn't hurt either.)

If you are a subscriber, go to my blog url www.therawmochaangel.blogspot.com and see my WHYs at the right side of the screen.

You cannot be raw vegan if your WHYs are not huge. You are making a life-changing choice: to buck the societal trend of eating high-fat, high-cholesterol, artery-busting, processed, tastes fantastic, but is ultimately causing insert your disease here food. Food is everywhere and you are saying NO to all of that?
-You are giving up your grandmother's blackberry cobbler? Are you kidding?
-You are passing up the Dunkin Donuts at the office? I thought America ran on Dunkin. (Don't get me started.)
-Are you prepared to explain to your family, at every function you see them at (Christmas, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, family reunions, Thanksgiving, funerals, weddings, and births) that not only do you not eat animal products, but you don't cook your food either?

This is larger than willpower. Write down your WHYs. Take your time. Post them in places where you can see them everyday.

And have a mission statement. When someone asks you why you are raw, you can roll that statement off your tongue as quickly as your name and address. That's on my blog as well.

Step 1.2: This is for the sister who wrote me about the same PMS/DMS issues I was having.
(send me your email address)
Don't make any changes until your cycle is over. I tried while I was still on my period and it didn't work. It was like trying to fight Mike Tyson in the ring. I would lose. So I waited until it was over, and I did EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). www.emofree.com I mentioned it before, and I am a believer as you can see. I did EFT on the following:
-baked cookies
-baked cakes
-baked pies
-potato chips
-meat
-dairy
-pasta
When you download the free manual, you'll see how Gary Craig says to be specific as possible while you tap on the meridian points. I don't even eat meat any longer, but I threw it in there anyway.

And as a bonus, I made this smoothie yesterday and it ROCKED!

RawDawg Rory's Peanut Butter Smoothie
http://www.giveittomeraw.com/video/video/show?id=1407416%3AVideo%3A270310

More tomorrow.

Love,

Althea

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The Start of Your Raw Journey