Organic: What Does that REALLY Mean?

This post is long overdue…

The BIGGEST thing that has made my nutrition journey (which I will get into later) so difficult was shelling out extra money for quality foods. That means organic fruit and vegetables, Non-GMO soy products, and free trade goods whenever possible.

Now, I am SUUUUPER frugal, but I know that the investment I put in my food now will only make me stronger and healthier later. I cringe when buying organic kale for $2.49 a bunch instead of $0.99… Talk about painful.

The key to saving your pennies is to know WHAT you are looking for, the lingo and requirements, and to only buy what is most important.  I composed a quick list of terms to keep in mind:

 

Raw Food Lecture Notes

These are some of the notes a gained from the Raw Food lecture I attended a few weeks ago...  I definitely learned a lot and have followed the eating recommendations since his speech.

He also talked about detoxing with the use of coconut water in order to restart the body. Below are some of his YouTube videos decribing the key points of fasting and eating raw. Enjoy!

• The Art of Fasting
• The Art of Fasting Part 2
• 5 Keys to Becoming and Staying Raw in 2012

The End of My 7 day Raw Cleanse (… or is it?)

I have learned a lot this past week. Raw veganism is a strange new path I think I want to embark on. The potential for optimal health is endless. The only things I worry about is getting enough nutrients I need to maintain a moderately vigorous athletic schedule.  I love challenges and I think I just found my next one!

Below are a few things I learned throughout the week:

Books Reviews and Other Rants

I hope everyone's long weekend was spectacular ;-)

I am sitting at work a little confused about what to do first... so of course I decided to write a post (Shhhhh don't tell on me!).

Since I am a fan of short, concise, explanations of things (i.e books, research articles, relationship arguments... I digress) I will doing brief book reviews of some of the stuff I am or have already read. My opinion of course will be intertwined in the book's content, interesting quotes, and hard facts while also presenting some food for thought... Gotta keep you thinking!

So stay tuned for my book reviews in the near future...

-----------------------

In other news, my raw diet is going well. Still eating my salads, fruits, and nuts... but I had DUN DUN DUNNNNN hummus last night. It is technically roasted which isn't raw but whatevs. That is the hardest thing about this detox- finding packaged raw foods = HARD! So I guess I will dust off my juicer (an old Juice Man for the 1990s) and continue with my smoothies I guess.

Le sigh... Have a great Tuesday!

I like it RAW (EW for the nasty minds!)

So resolutions kind of piss me off… wait for it.

I really don’t  understand why people have to wait for a specific day to change their life around. Starting as soon as you have the resources is always best. Immediately implement your game plan and don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work out. Stressing over failures isn’t worth the mental strain and physiological changes your body goes through. I am reading a book right now called When the Body Says NO: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection by Gabore Mate, MD.  More about the book later…

In an attempt to reset my body for the New Year, I want to eat uncooked, unprocessed, clean foods for one week. If all goes well, I want incorporate 3-7 days a month of complete raw eating.

BUT (there is always a but) I wanted to attempt 7 days of raw eating for the 1^st week of Janurary. That means nothing cooked over 112-115 degrees.  Now I am already vegan, so eating raw really means not cooking things to death. The only problem I foresee is not being able to make my grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, etc.). But for a week, I should survive.  I will supplement my protein with hemp protein and nuts mostly.

Today I bought my ingredients for the week which included salad stuff, my smoothie stuff (my Vitamix is my baby and a lifesaver) and snacks. After spending $70.00…

I KNOW RIGHT!!!

Yeah $70 is a lot of money. My normal weekly food budget is $40, so I swallowed my pride and paid. My plan is to eat 1-2 salads a day, 24-48oz of green smoothies or 24oz of raw vegetable juice and snack on fresh and dried fruit. And finally, I will be clearing everything out with about 100oz AS MUCH water a day that I can tolerate (ambitious, I know).

SO I will check in again later in the week for an update. Stay tuned and HAPPY NEW YEAR!