7 lbs later...

The holidays are over and I've assessed the damage. I officially gained 7 lbs over the holidays, which is the first time I've gained weight in over 2 years. Needless to say, as soon as I found this out I immediately started kicking my ass. 

Coincidentally, I am in the process of launching a juice cleanse for Raw Generation. So last week I did a 3 day juice cleanse to start off. The reason I didn't write about it last week was because I wanted to see if I could actually complete it successfully before I go and blab about it. 

I spent Monday easing into it by eating a ton of fruit and not much else. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thrusday was all juice and a little bit of fruit to curb the need to chew. Friday was a few juices, homemade guacamole, and a regular dinner. **It's important to ease into and out of a juice cleanse for at least a day before and after. After the holidays were over I felt stuffed and bloated, which pretty much went away after the first day. All in all I lost 5 lbs and felt sooooo much better!

I didn't really have any negative side effects other than that on day 3 I was literally starving all day. No matter how much juice I drank or fruit I ate. I had read that this would happen on day 1 or 2. A few people asked me if I pooped everything out, and I have to admit as much as I was hoping this would happen, it really didn't. I mean the first day was a little more than normal, but other than that it was business as usual. Apparently, the detox magic starts to happen after you reach the point of feeling like you are starving but I wasn't prepared to do it any longer.... so, I'm going to do a 5 day juice cleanse next week to see what happens. 

If you are interested in being alerted when we launch go to www.rawgeneration.com and enter in your email address. You also get a free copy of our new juicing recipe eBook!

Has anyone else done a juice cleanse? Good results? Bad reactions?

Giving thanks that I don't have to cook on Thanksgiving

In honor of the Thanksgiving dinner that I will not be cooking this week, I will present to you some short Mark Bittman videos of some really simple, delicious, and healthier alternatives to mashed potatoes and stuffing. *Disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with mashed potatoes and stuffing. This is what I would be cooking if I was having dinner at my house. One of these days...

Braised Turkey

Herb Stuffed Duck

Layered Vegetable Torte

Butternut Squash Salad (raw)

Braised Artichokes

Walnut Torte

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I love bibb lettuce

Since discovering how much I love bibb lettuce salads with other kinds of lettuce just don't compare. I probably wrote about this before, but the best way to make a salad with bibb lettuce is just add dressing. The second best way is what I'm about to tell you. I discovered it on the menu at my FAVORITE restaurant/bar/nightclub over the summer and I just made it myself.

I'm not exactly sure how they make the apricot vinaigrette so I winged it:

• handful of dried apricots (organic, unsulfured)
• raw apple cider vinegar
• raw olive oil
• water
• bibb lettuce
• Gorgonzola cheese
• walnuts

1. Soak the dried apricots in water overnight (they will take their original shape when done)
2. In food processor, add apricots (including water from soaking), oil and vinegar, blend.
3. Toss lettuce and dressing in bowl.
4. Top with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (organic) and crushed walnuts.

AMAZEBALLS! While the dressing is not exactly the same, it gives a similar sweet effect. This is definitely one of those things I could eat every day.

One thing about nuts. EAT THEM! (unless you are allergic) They are packed with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. There is nothing wrong with eating fat if it comes from the right source! Right source- fruits, vegetables, nuts. Wrong source: hydrogenated oils, fried foods, candy bars, etc. You get the point.  

And I'm eating my second bowl right now. 

It's about that time...

It's the start of Christmas season again. Maybe not for all of you, but we are starting to set up the stands so we can start selling the Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. Just another one of the many random things I am involved in. For those of you who were reading last year, I am extremely busy this time of year so naturally one of the things that falls off is how often I can cook.

I got a little ahead of the game and prepared a few things so that I don't have to eat fast food on the road for the next 8 days. I'm going to bring my handy-dandy green juices along with me, some fruit, and the fruit nut bars that I made!!! I used to get these from Lisa (and if you are in Monmouth County, NJ I highly recommend her if you want raw foods but don't have the time to prepare or don't know how).

I have been meaning to call her (Lisa if you are reading this... I need to order some things from you!!!) but I keep forgetting, so in lieu of her fruit nut bars I tried to make my own. I had a bunch of dried fruit and nuts hanging around. I have no idea how she makes them so I winged it.

Here's what I put in (although I'm pretty sure any dried fruit/nut combination would work):

• raw almonds
• raw cashews
• raw macadamia nuts 
• raisins
• dates
• water

All you do is put the combo in a food processor, chop until super fine consistency, add a little water so the mixture balls up, spread out on a baking sheet into one big square, refrigerate overnight. I'm not sure if you are supposed to score them before or after. I didn't score them before so I'll let you know how it goes. 

Some other ingredients I didn't think about until after: shredded coconut &dark chocolate chips!!!

These are great to-go snacks and you can make a huge batch of them and they last for a really long time when refrigerated.

WARNING: Pickles that can kill

A few weeks ago when I made a HUGE batch of pickles I used a recipe that called for garlic, onions, and dill. This recipe made the best pickles I've ever tasted, however, I was informed by my mom that garlic if stored in liquid can cause botulism. I've heard of this term once or twice in conversation with canning tomatoes, but I never really paid much attention to it. 

Well, now it has caught my attention, since I have to drain and re-jar 7 giant bottles of pickles. I left the garlic in the jars thinking it would enhance the flavor, but little did I know that it could cause botulism.

Botulism, if you aren't aware, is a bacteria that grows on certain vegetables when stored improperly. It is deadly, and will kill you rather fast- like in days.

So, if you made my pickles I'm sorry, but you are going to have to take the garlic out of the jars, just like I did. This is especially important if you are jarring and not keeping them in the refrigerator, or not planning on eating them right away. Here is a warning I found:

BOTULISM WARNING 

Regardless of its flavor potency, garlic is a low-acid vegetable. The pH of a clove of garlic typically ranges from 5.3 to 6.3. As with all low-acid vegetables, garlic will support the growth and subsequent toxin production of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum when given the right conditions. These conditions include improper home canning and improper preparation and storage of fresh herb and garlic-in-oil mixtures. Moisture, room temperature, lack of oxygen, and low-acid conditions all favor the growth of Clostridium botulinum. When growing, this bacterium produces an extremely potent toxin that causes the illness botulism. If untreated, death can result within a few days of consuming the toxic food. 

...WHICH MEANS YOU ARE AT RISK OF GETTING SICK FROM STORING IT THE WAY YOU DO.
STORING GARLIC.

Commercially, garlic is stored near 32 degrees F. However, most home refrigerators are too warm for ideal long-term storage of garlic. Instead, store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place in well-ventilated containers such as mesh bags. Storage life is 3 to 5 months under cool (60 degree F) dry, dark conditions. 

WHICH MEANS YOU CAN SAFELY KEEP IT IN A COOL DRY PLACE AT HOME INSTEAD OF PUTTING IT IN OIL. 

FREEZING GARLIC 

Garlic can be frozen in a number of ways.1. Chop the garlic, wrap it tightly in a plastic freezer bag or in plastic wrap, and freeze. To use, grate or break off the amount needed.2. Freeze the garlic unpeeled and remove cloves as needed.3. Peel the cloves and puree them with oil in a blender or food processor using 2 parts oil to 1 part garlic. The puree will stay soft enough in the freezer to scrape out parts to use in sautéing. Freeze this mixture immediately - do not store it at room temperature. The combination of the low-acid garlic, the exclusion of air (by mixing with oil), and room-temperature storage can support the growth of Clostridium botulinum.  

THESE ARE THE SAFER OPTIONS, BECAUSE STORING IT IN OIL TAKES AWAY ITS OXYGEN(DROWNS IT) AND THEN IT BECOMES DANGEROUS TO EAT.

STORING GARLIC IN OIL 

Extreme care must be taken when preparing flavored oils with garlic or when storing garlic in oil. Peeled garlic cloves may be submerged in oil and stored in the freezer for several months. Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism toxin (low acidity, no free oxygen in the oil, and warm temperatures). The same hazard exists for roasted garlic stored in oil. At least three outbreaks of botulism associated with garlic-in-oil mixtures have been reported in North America.  

By law, commercially prepared garlic in oil has been prepared using strict guidelines and must contain citric or phosphoric acid to increase the acidity. Unfortunately, there is no easy or reliable method to acidify garlic in the home. Acidifying garlic in vinegar is a lengthy and highly variable process; a whole clove of garlic covered with vinegar can take from 3 days to more than 1 week to sufficiently acidify. As an alternative, properly dried garlic cloves may be safely added to flavor oils." 

SO IT IS SAFE TO SUBMERGE THE GARLIC IN OIL AND THEN FREEZE BUT NOT REFRIGERATE OR LEAVE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. 

Now it says above that it acidify garlic in vinegar is a safe way to prevent botulism, which my pickles are in a lot of vinegar, but I'm not going to take the chance, and you shouldn't either. I read that in order to acidify garlic properly it must be soaked/submerged in vinegar for 3-7 days. (Which I did not.) I'd err on the side of caution and do it for a full 7 if you are so inclined to do this.

Operation-remove-garlic-from-pickles is about to start. 

Featured on the Institute for Integrative Nutrition's blog!

This was super exciting news to wake up to yesterday morning. I wasn't fully prepared to handle the amount of emails and comments I got in regards to this so I spent most of the day replying back to people about Raw Generation- not a bad start to this week!

Here's the blog post featuring me and Raw Generation.

Health Coach Starts a Family Juicing Business
Posted on September 8, 2012 by Dorry Tolson Original Source 

At Integrative Nutrition, we are honored to play a role in helping you discover your passion for healthy living. Each student takes a different path after graduation, and today we are shining our spotlight on 2012 graduate Jessica Geier.  

Jessica’s interest in health and nutrition began when her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. She channeled her nurturing spirit by preparing nutritious, healing meals to help her grandmother through treatment. Jessica has since paired her education from the Health Coach Training Program with her father’s entrepreneurial background, and together they created a fulfilling new business in Neptune, New Jersey!  

What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition? 

I finished my graduate degree in 2007 and immediately jumped into a job as an architectural intern. I knew right away that this work wasn’t fulfilling, but I stuck it out as long as I could. After nine months, I quit my internship and tried out a couple of other jobs. It was exciting at first, but after the learning curve wore off, I was right back where I was before: feeling like I wasn't doing what I was meant to do in life.
After those jobs, I started working with my father. He is an entrepreneur and at the time, he had a few small businesses that I was helped him systematize. I started to get that same feeling again, and realized it was time to find a fulfilling career.  

What led you to explore the Health Coach Training Program? 

Just after I started working with my father, his mother – my grandmother – was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She moved in with my dad and I took over the role of cooking. I started researching everything I could find to learn about feeding her nourishing meals that would keep her strong to get through chemo.  

This is where my understanding of food and health began to change. After she passed away, I realized that I needed to change the way I was taking care of myself, or more accurately, not taking care of myself, so that I could prevent disease in my future. I was scared because cancer runs on both sides of my family.  

How did your life change after enrolling? 

Shortly after I enrolled in the program, I knew I was in the right place. I met people who were on the same page with me, people who believed the same things that I did. As I learned new information each week, I became more confident that I was doing the right thing. I was doing something that I felt proud of, something that would change my life and the lives of those around me.  

For the first time I was incorporating what I love – cooking and food, with something I believe in – nutrition and healthy living. I knew I could create a career in Health Coaching that would allow me to do what I love every single day.  

What are you doing now? 

Around the time I enrolled at IIN, my father and I were talking about what business we wanted to develop. We were exploring a few options, but the one that I was drawn to was a fresh pressed juicing company. At that time I was sharing with him everything I was learning about the benefits of food on our overall health, and he was starting to get on board. It didn't take much to convince him that juicing was the way to go. Thus, Raw Generation Juices was born!  

It’s wonderful that you had the courage to start your own business! Did you ever experience any doubt, and if so, how did you work through it?  

I was confident about the growing market for fresh pressed juices, especially with my newfound network within the Integrative Nutrition community. I knew that my role as head of marketing would be something I could really dig my teeth into and enjoy. 

What makes Raw Generation unique? 

Before we started our company, my father was an on again, off again juicer. After a while, he became discouraged with the time it took and the mess it made. He had looked for a company that sold leafy green juices, but there were none in our area! This was one of our motivations to start Raw Generation.  

Tell us more about the products you offer. 

Raw Generation sells leafy green vegetable juice blends. We started focusing on the dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, & wheatgrass) because of the immense health benefits they offer. We currently offer a few signature blends, and we will be expanding our line while keeping all of our juice blends at least 50% leafy green vegetables, including organic wheatgrass juice.  

What do you love about your work? 

I love that I can get up every morning and honestly say that I am spreading health and happiness in the world. I am also helping myself become healthier on a daily basis. I had heard that when you are doing something you love, it doesn't feel like work. I believe that now. 

UPDATE: Liver Cleanse Juice

So a few weeks ago I wrote about a liver cleanse that I came across in my travels. It was basically citrus juice, cayenne pepper, olive oil, ginger, and garlic. Well instead of making juice, I decided it would be faster to smoothie everything. It was rather gross but I pushed through and drank as much as I could for a few days.

I'm not really sure if it actually did anything to my liver, but I assume it was beneficial overall. With all those potent living fruits and vegetables and spices it had to help something.

So this time I decided to juice the citrus fruits, including the garlic and ginger. That made all the difference. This juice version is so good! It's like a spicy lemonade that is a little on the sweeter side because of the oranges. If you have a juicer I highly suggest you try it.

• 3 oranges
• 1 grapefruit
• 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 knob ginger root
• cayenne pepper to taste
• dash olive oil

I would recommend putting the olive oil and cayenne pepper at the bottom of the glass before you juice the fruits, ginger, and garlic. And be careful (!) because you don't need a lot for it to become really spicy.

Enjoy!

Raw Generation Opening in Less Than 2 Weeks

I am pleased to announce that Raw Generation is opening its doors (actually more like website) in less than 2 weeks! Wednesday August 15th we will be making our website live and taking orders. At that time the blog will also become live so I will be writing all about the raw food and juice stuff there. Plenty of Thyme will be more about preventing disease going forward and less about raw foods, although the two do go hand in hand. I am not sure how often I am going to post on either of them, but between the two it will be at least once a day.

So much to do in the next 13 days! If you would like to join our mailing list you can go to Raw Generation  or sign up to the left

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We are going to be launching with 3 products: Recipe #1 (100% dark greens- kale, collards, Swiss chard, spinach, and wheatgrass), Recipe #2 (50% dark greens [same 5 as above plus apple and lemon]), and Wheatgrass Juice Shots! This is straight wheatgrass that we've juiced and frozen into convenient ice cubes that are perfect for smoothies or to thaw and drink straight.

It's been 6 months in the making and I'm so excited that it's finally time to sell our juices! Stay tuned for more updates. We'll be busy little bees for the next 2 weeks! Wish us luck. xoxo

The early bird definitely...

...gets a lot of S-H-I-T done!

Well, I guess all that sleep I got over the weekend filled up my sleep tank, because I woke up at 4 am this morning wide awake, ready to go. But what the hell do you do at 4 am? I had already cleaned my entire house including all of my laundry (yesterday). So I read. For 2 hours. I finished my fourth book in 2 weeks. Don't worry...I'm no speed reader. They were the equivalent to reading gossip magazines. Easy summer reads. Next time (if there is a next time) I'm going to get myself to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Anywho. By 6:30 I was dressed, back from grocery shopping, and cooking breakfast. Since I have all this time today I started planning my lunch. This is my new favorite salad- although it doesn't involve any lettuce.

• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 can artichoke hearts (quartered)
• 1/4 - 1/2 red onion
• olive oil
• sea salt & pepper
• thyme, sage, and/or basil (I used all three)
• feta cheese

Umm, amazing! Just cut everything into big chunks, sprinkle on some feta crumbles, drizzle some olive oil, toss, and you are good to go. I can literally eat an entire large bowl of this in one sitting. And I will this afternoon!

Enjoy!

Benefits of Raw Foods w/ David Wolfe

Quick post today! I am working through some major decisions I have to make this week. Will let you know more about what's on the horizon as soon as I can.

I just came across this short video done by David Wolfe, who is a raw foods and super foods expert. He very concisely explains what we get from raw, living foods, and how it benefits us in the long run. 

What's the key? Well there's two- minerals and enzymes.

I fully believe in what he is saying because I have seen the transformation my body has gone under since I started increasing the amount of raw foods in my diet, as well as eating (or in my case drinking) high mineral foods- dark green leafy vegetables.

Some powerful stuff here!

Flushing My Liver

Throughout my studies I have read of, in many places, the importance of having a clean liver. Ultimately you want every organ to be clean and functioning properly, but the liver is one of the organs that deals with toxins so if it's all backed up it's almost literally full of S-H-I-T.

The liver regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes a product called bile, which helps carry away waste products from the liver. All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The liver processes this blood and breaks down the nutrients and drugs into forms that are easier to use for the rest of the body. More than 500 vital functions have been identified with the liver. Some of the more well-known functions include the following:

• Production of bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion

• Production of certain proteins for blood plasma

• Production of cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body

• Conversion of excess glucose into glycogen for storage (glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for energy)

• Regulation of blood levels of amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins

• Processing of hemoglobin for use of its iron content (the liver stores iron)

• Conversion of poisonous ammonia to urea (urea is an end product of protein metabolism and is excreted in the urine)

• Clearing the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances

• Regulating blood clotting

• Resisting infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the bloodstream

When the liver has broken down harmful substances, its by-products are excreted into the bile or blood. Bile by-products enter the intestine and ultimately leave the body in the form of feces. Blood by-products are filtered out by the kidneys, and leave the body in the form of urine. (source)

The reason I am concerned with this is because I get acne right before and during my period as well as having other horrendous symptoms in general (as some of you well know if you have been lucky enough to be around me). I have read that awful period symptoms happen because your reproductive system needs to drain every month, and when the proper drainage channels are clogged up, you get PMS. 

Now, one of the best things you can do for this is a raw diet. I am TRYING to accomplish this, but have had a really hard time getting close to 100% raw lately. I also know that the more dark greens leafy vegetable juice I drink the less my symptoms are. However, sometimes I just can't bring myself to drink 2 huge glasses of dark green juice a day. Maybe that will change once Raw Generation opens it's doors and we are producing this stuff all day everyday. 

I found something else that I am trying. It's a very potent and pungent concoction that is supposed to flush out your liver. I had to make a few modifications because the original recipe seemed very unpalatable. 

Original Liver Flush

• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 c. lemon juice
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 1 knob ginger root
• 2 c. orange juice
• cayenne pepper to taste

My Liver Flush

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 whole lemon, peeled
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 knob ginger
• 2 whole oranges, peeled
• sprinkle of cayenne pepper
• water and ice
• DIRECTIONS: blend all until thoroughly chopped up and mixed.

I drank one this morning. It was intense. I'm not going to lie. I almost gave up. If I had put any more garlic I wouldn't have been able to drink it. But I am going to try it once a day for as long as I can stand it and see if I notice any differences. The one thing I'll tell you I noticed this morning was that about 10 minutes after I finished it I had to go #2. So maybe it does move things along and force your liver to dump the toxins into the intestines. We'll see! Only time will tell. If any of you are interested in flushing out toxins I suggest starting very slow. One of the side effects of the juice cleanses that are so popular now is getting very sick (a topic for another post- maybe tomorrow)

Wish me luck!

SUCCESS! 1st attempt at raw crackers

sprouted red wheat berries

I have found a new obsession. Raw crackers! I tried making (and eating) them for the first time yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were super simple and really tasty! This is definitely something we can (and will) make and sell at Raw Generation because they are completely raw.

Creates 1 tray in dehydrator, about 10 flat bread crackers

• 1 c. hard red wheat berries, sprouted
• 1/4 c. flax seeds
• 2 tbsp. raw honey
• 1/2 c. warm water

• To sprout the seeds, you need to put them in a mason jar w/ sprouting lid or in a nut milk bag. Soak overnight, drain, let sit. Rinse every 6 hours or so for 24 hours. 
• Mix raw honey in warm water until dissolved.
• Put sprouted seeds, flax seeds, and honey water in food processor until thoroughly mixed.
• Spread mash on dehydrator tray w/ sheet.
• Dehydrate for 16 hrs.

The reason you want to sprout seeds is because it turns them from dormant to living. Sprouts are very nutritious because they contain all elements a plant needs for life and growth. The endosperm of the seed is the storehouse of carbohydrates, protein, and oil. When the seed germinates, these become predigested amino acids and natural sugars upon which the plant embryo feeds as it grows to maturity. When used as food, the life force is released and supplies the energy which is capable of generating healthy cells in the body and supplying us with new vigor and life. (source)

Double YUM!!! I am going to start testing other recipes for these crackers. I want to get these going for Raw Generation asap. 

The calm before the storm...

The last few weeks have been eerily calm. Although I have been working on what I've needed to do for Raw Generation's opening, I feel like I have been really stress free (very unusual for me). I guess this is the calm before the storm.

I just got word that our labels should be finished printing this week, which is one of the last things we've been waiting on. We are working out our shipping issues, last few edits to our website, and we should be up and running! 


Also, we are going to start sending out our newsletter shortly, so if you are interested in getting updates from us on the launch of our juices, new products when we develop them, lots of info on the benefits you will get from eating raw foods, and tips on how to eat more raw...


<------  SIGN UP!! 


(I promise we won't be sharing your email address, nor will we be blasting you with a ridiculous amount of emails.)

I just want to thank everyone for all of the interest in what we are doing. We are excited to be able to offer a
REAL nutritious product that people can use to make themselves healthier! I feel like it's been a long time coming, but we are in the final stretch now.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

RECIPE: Summer Salsa

This is a simple summer salsa that can literally be used with just about anything you are making right now. A cold pasta salad, as a salsa w/ corn chips, as a side with grilled chicken, as a topping for fish, whatever!

• 2 peaches
• 2 ears sweet corn
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 Vidalia onion
• 1 mango
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• juice of 2 limes
• salt & pepper

It's so refreshing! Try it out for the 4th of July. Just these few items above makes a pretty large bowl whhich is perfect to bring to a barbecue or picnic.

Happy 4th of July! 

My New Favorite Thing

So last weekend my family was over for dinner and my mother told of something that one of our Ecuadorian nannies made during their stay with us as kids.

ONIONS MARINATED IN LIME JUICE!

As soon as I heard it I had to try it. SUCCESS! I cut up 1/2 an onion, juiced 12 limes (probably could have gotten away with 8), and let it sit all day. O-M-G people...O-M-G! haha so amazingly good. I put them on steak fajitas I made and was amazed at how tasty they were. I was literally eating them plain after we were finished.

This is one thing I am going to make all the time because it is that good. I'm about as obsessed with this as I am with mint.

Try it this weekend people! If you like onions but aren't to hot on eating them raw this is a great alternative that doesn't give you stank breath. Enjoy!

The difference between eating raw foods, cooked foods, and processed foods.

Since experiencing many days of eating all raw foods over the past several months, I've had some time to reflect on the differences between eating raw foods, cooked foods, and processed foods. There are a few.

Raw means not cooked at all- fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts.
Cooked means when I cooked my own food using whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and spices.
Processed means I bought it at a store, restaurant, or fast food.

The first difference that I realized was that when I eat 100% raw foods I have zero problem with overeating. As soon as I am satisfied I am able to put the food down and I NEVER overeat. This is the same when I am eating salad, veggies and dip, or nuts. So the composition (carbohydrate, protein, fat) doesn't seem to make a difference. As long as it is not cooked I have no problem with overeating. When I cook my own food this is a little more of a problem, especially when the food is highly spiced. When I eat out or eat fast food (it's been months) I find myself never being satisfied and always want to eat more- especially when I ate Mc Donald's.

The second is that I don't actually feel the raw foods in my stomach. This is a weird thing to try to describe but when I am satisfied on raw foods I don't feel anything. When I am satisfied on cooked food I can feel the food in my stomach, and forget it with fast food- my stomach is varying degrees of upset.

The third thing I notice is that when I eat raw foods I don't have that it's-2 pm-just-ate-a-huge-lunch-and-now-I'm-ready-for-a-nap-feeling. I have so much more energy when I eat raw foods and even when I eat mostly raw with a little cooked or processed mixed in. When I eat a meal of all cooked foods I get a little tired afterwards, and when I eat heavily processed foods that is when I feel like I need to take a nap.

And probably the best response I have noticed is that when I eat mostly raw I consistently lose weight. When I eat mostly cooked/processed foods I gain weight. It's like flipping a switch.

RAW- lose weight
COOKED- gain weight

So, I'm still constantly trying new ways of eating raw, and trying to be as raw as possible as often as possible because I definitely feel a difference. But sometimes life gets in the way, and I feel the need to eat like a "normal" person.

Slow and steady wins the race!

I miss cooking

oh mussels... how I miss you!

I recently realized that with all of this juicing and eating as much raw food as I can, that I haven't been cooking or even preparing anything worth blogging about. As much as I love juicing... I'm over it! I know I said I was going to try to juice majority of my diet for 30 days, but I'm done. Like 1 or 2 max per day. I need to eat real food. I don't know how people do this longer for a week. Maybe that's why all of these juice cleansing companies are popping up. Well, I'm in if for the long haul so I'm going to just drink juice in the a.m.

On the "cooking" front, I came across a wonderful gal, Blythe Metz, and her online raw cooking show, Blythe Raw Live, a while back, but I hadn't really taken the time until the past week to actually watch her show from beginning to end, 10 in a row to be exact. I had contacted her to get her permission to put some of her shows on our Raw Generation website because she talks all about why it's so great to include as much raw in your diet as you can, and BONUS! raw food recipes that are simple and fast.

I was bummed for a while because when it comes to raw food "cooking" I draw a blank. Put a pot on the stove, show me where the pantry is, and I can create anything. So, I am going to use her shows to inspire a new side of my cooking abilities. AND! My dad bought a dehydrator so I'm going to be testing out a bunch of raw snacks for myself.

I'll keep you posted! 


And P.S. don't burn yourself out with a juice cleanse. It's much better to be consistent and drink one everyday than to go APE S-H-I-T for a week. It's all about slowly adding healthy things in to improve your lifestyle.

Smoothie or Juice?

(Source)

My humble opinions about whether to juice your fruits and veggies or whether to smoothie. Some people say that juicing is better because you can consume more poundage in one shot so to speak. Others say that smoothies are better because they contain the whole fruit and/or vegetable. 

To me, if you are doing one or the other or a little bit of both you are way ahead of the curve. Most people don't eat ANY fruits or vegetables. So if you like a smoothie in the morning, DO IT! If you don't like the consistency of smoothies but you want to juice, DO IT! If you want fresh pressed juice but you don't want to make it yourself, PATIENTLY WAIT A FEW MORE WEEKS UNTIL WE (RAW GENERATION) CAN GET OUR S-H-I-T TOGETHER AND OPEN FOR BUSINESS! (PS. you can sign up for our newsletter on our homepage)

But in all seriousness, smoothies are good because they are LOADED with fiber and you can literally add in a whole day's serving of fruit in a blender. They are also more filling than juice because of all of the fiber. 

Juices are also good because you can get A TON of dark greens in one glass, where as it would be almost impossible for most of us to consume that many dark greens in one day. Maybe if we weren't addicted to McDonald's and potato chips. In one 16 oz glass of juice that I make myself I can get 1 whole head of kale plus some apples and lemon to sweeten it up. And I promise it tastes good. I wouldn't drink it if it didn't. 

Dark greens are literally the one thing that I tell everyone to increase in their diet- usually by adding them to smoothies or juicing them. 

So... smoothie or juice...doesn't matter...get it in your mouth!

To cleanse or not to cleanse

ahh Natalie Dee how I've missed you!

This seems to be the new fad diet- CLEANSING. There are companies popping up all over the place that offer very expensive all juice or part juice/part raw food cleanse programs. While I totally believe in the benefits of juicing and drinking juice everyday, cleansing is a short-term diet outlook. It implies that you can undo the damage of an unhealthy lifestyle in a few short days, and then when you feel good and have lost a few lbs. you go back to your old habits.

This will prevent nothing. It's a diet mentality.

What would be better is if you were to drink 1 glass of juice a day for the rest of your life. And in addition to that slowly replace the junk with whole foods (fruits, veggies, nuts, whole grains like rice and quinoa, beans, etc). And then increase the amount of fresh juice you drink- especially containing dark green leafy vegetables.

It's all about making small changes over time that you can stick with. That is what makes people healthy.

Hope you all have a fun weekend and get some much needed sleep....like I will be doing- still recovering from last weekend :)

What is the best juicer to buy?

I've been getting this question a lot lately. I thought it was a complicated answer because of opinions of people in the juicing field. (OPINIONS ARE LIKE A**HOLES, EVERYONE'S GOT ONE) I've been hemming and hawing over which juicer to buy for myself. The one's we are using for Raw Generation are not one's that I want to use for myself every day because they are big and slow and messy. Yes, they produce the best quality juice, but I am more concerned with getting the juice in my mouth everyday than having it be the very best quality.

Types:

• Press- uses a hydraulic press to extract the juice
• Auger- uses gears to masticate the produce and release the juice
• Centrifugal- uses a spinning filter that grinds the produce and filters the juice 

So 2 days ago I realized that, unless I am terminally ill and need the very best (a press), it doesn't matter what juicer I buy as long as I will actually use it. Just get the juice in my mouth.

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I went to Walmart and found a $50 model from GE. It has 4 pieces that are extremely easy and fast to clean. There are other brands like the Hamilton juicer that are in the same price range that are also as easy to clean.

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If you are seriously ill, my suggestion would be the Norwalk. It is a 2-step process that first grinds up the produce into a cloth bag, and then the hydraulic press presses the juice out into a cup. It is quite expensive ($2500), but if I were dealing with a serious disease that is the first thing I would buy for myself. But for now, I'm happy with my $50 Walmart juicer.

30 Day Juice Update: After 2 full days of juicing 4 - 16 oz glasses of various fruits and veggies I feel great! I worked out yesterday for 90 minutes and didn't feel fatigued more than normal. I feel thinner and lighter and my head is really clear. Also, my skin is clearing up right before my eyes. It's amazing how fast it works! BONUS! It is making going #2 a lot easier and more frequent. You know you love when that happens. I'll have to wait until the end of the 30 days to see what effect it's had on my EPISODE!




Any questions hit me up with a comment!