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My Daily Diet

August 17th, 2011

A lot of you have been “bugging” me about what my daily diet looks like.

And that’s cool…

Because I’m happy to share it with you – for the most part.

Although I’m not 100% raw, I do try my best to eat as many raw fruits and veggies throughout the day so that by dinner time I have a little more flexibility.

In this picture, I’m about to eat my favourite treat – Oscar!

So here’s what my day looked like yesterday…

8am – morning jog (can be substituted for family walk or morning workout or yoga)

9am – massive green smoothie

INGREDIENTS: head of lettuce, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 banana, handful of parsley, juice of 1/2 lime, and water

12pm – decaf almond milk latte

1pm – pear

5pm – Moroccan kale soup (one of our Cleanse recipes)

INGREDIENTS: kale, lentils, chic peas, cilantro, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, cumin, cayenne, tumeric, water.

7-10pm – Tennis (my love!)

10pm – 1 liter of water with electrolyte solution (courtesy of my friend Lucas Rockwood)
- pear
- blueberry cereal (blueberries, shredded coconut, organic peanut butter, almond milk)

10:45pm – bedtime

NOTE: Tuesday nights I end up eating a little too much before going to bed thanks to my tennis league. This morning I woke up feeling …not so hot. Just a reminder to not eat a lot before going to bed.

Some people are pretty robotic with what they eat each day. Me…not at all.

The only thing that stays pretty consistent for me each day is a green smoothie, my decaf almond milk latte, and usually lots of veggies at dinner.

I also have a sweet tooth so occasionally I indulge in a local baked treat.

But for the most part, I try to stay raw vegan because that’s when I look, feel, and perform the best.

I also realize that we are all different and that’s why it’s important to really listen to your body and figure out what works best for you.

Another resource that has really helped me add more simple and delicious raw recipes to my diet is my friend Joy Houston’s Rocking Body Raw Food program.

In fact, her “healthy” coffee alternative – MACA Fava – is awesome. That’s what initially got me hooked.

Now, I’m a sucker for many of her smoothies and other really unique raw recipes.

But the 2 things I like best about her program is that since all the recipes come with video instruction, I can actually see Joy making the meals, which is really helpful.

Second, her raw recipes take little to no time at all to prepare and that’s a big thing for me – time is precious!

==> You can learn more about her raw food program here

I would actually suggest you join her 14-day program and try it for yourself. It really is great.

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Healthy Breakfast Ideas

June 13th, 2011

Healthy Breakfast Ideas

healthy breakfast ideasA Raw food breakfast is the ultimate way to start your day. It will kick start your energy, and infuse your body with nutrients. When you start the day with a raw healthy breakfast, then you are much more likely to stick with positive eating habits for the rest of the day.

Quinoa can be the basis of many super healthy breakfast ideas, both Raw and partially Raw.

What is quinoa?

Quinoa is technically a seed (from the Goosefoot plant), although is widely used as a grain substitute. It is gluten free, and is a complete protein source. It is also is a great source of iron, B-vitamins, zinc and copper. It deserves a place as a staple ingredient in every vegan diet, but people are often unsure about how to prepare it. Here is one of my favourite healthy breakfast ideas using quinoa. This recipes use cooked quinoa, which is still incredibly healthy and is ideal for cold mornings, along with an abundance of Raw ingredients. This is a great “Raw transition recipe” for when you are trying to up your intake of Raw food, but still enjoy the comfort and sensation of eating cooked food.

Healthy Breakfast Ideas – Simple Quinoa Porridge

Serves 4
Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa, still warm
2 tbsp soaked nuts or seeds of your choice, chopped (almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower make good choices)
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp dried apricots or figs, chopped
Pinch himalayan sea salt
Pinch cinnamon
1/2 – 1 cup Raw nut milk
Agave syrup or honey to sweeten

Method

Combine all ingredients and leave to stand until nut milk is absorbed. Add more or less milk to achieve the desired consistency.

There are many variations on this quinoa porridge, but as long as you follow the basic principles (nut milk, dried or fresh fruit, plus some nuts, seeds and sweetener), the possibilities are endless.

If you want a 100% Raw recipe, then you can sprout the quinoa and the combine it with nut milk, nuts, seeds and fruit to make quinoa museli.

Other Raw Healthy Breakfast Ideas

If you don’t have time to make a healthy quinoa breakfast, then some other quick and easy Raw healthy breakfast ideas include:

Smoothies (especially green smoothies)
Freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable Juices
Fruit Salad
Raw desserts (which are healthy at any time of day!)

For many other healthy breakfast ideas, check out Eating For Energy, which gives you a complete 12 week meal plan of Raw and healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks.

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Healthy Living For Students

June 5th, 2011

How To Guide To Healthy Living For Students

healthy living for students

Healthy living for students can be challenging.
Money and time are often tight, and long hours spent studying can leave you mindlessly reaching for fatty and sugary snacks for energy.
The typical student lifestyle is often heavy on alcohol, take-outs and partying. All of this can lead to many people gaining significant weight during their student years, which can be very difficult to shift.
To avoid having to go through the pain of trying to lose the weight gained during an unhealthy student lifestyle, why not make a commitment to living healthily during your student years? By incorporating some of the principles of a Raw food diet, you can not only eat economically and prepare healthy foods quickly, but you will also have abundant energy which is bound to have a positive effect on your grades. A healthy, well nourished body will also be able to withstand the rigours of student life much more effectively, so you will still be able to “burn the candle at both ends” whilst feeling the effects far less!
Here are some top tips to living healthily as a student:

Healthy Living For Students Top Tip # 1

Make eating healthily fast and hassle free.
As a student, you have a busy life, and most often need to grab food on the go.
Set aside one afternoon a week to prepare healthy food for the week ahead.
For example, chop and freeze bananas that can be thrown in smoothies later in the week.
Prepare a batch of healthy salad dressing that can be tossed over salads throughout the week. Mix together nuts, seeds and cacao nibs to that you can grab a handful of whenever you need some energy.

Healthy Living For Students Top Tip #2

Make healthy eating the economical choice
There is a popular misconception that eating healthily is expensive. But if you add up the cost of take-outs, ready meals and other convenience foods you will see that eating healthy can actually be much more friendly on your wallet. Buy healthy ingredients in bulk whenever possible to save both money and time. Do some research to find out which stores offer discounts to students, and use price comparison sites to find the best weekly deals. Ordering your weekly groceries online can also prevent you impulse buying and making unhealthy choices. Write out a list and stick to it.

Healthy living for students does not have to be difficult, time consuming or expensive. With a little forward planning and organization, you can eat both healthily and cheaply as a student, by incorporating some of the principles of a Raw food diet.

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Posted in Eating for Energy, Food For Thought, General Nutrition

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Teaching Children Healthy Habits

June 1st, 2011

Teaching Children Healthy Habits

teaching children healthy habits

When it comes to teaching children healthy habits, especially when it comes to eating, most parents feel that they have an uphill struggle on their hands. However, we are born to instinctively make the right choices when it comes to food. It is only when we learn unnatural eating habits that are bodies become conditioned to desire unhealthy foods.
The best way of teaching children healthy habits is of course to start from birth. However, if your children already have unhealthy eating habits, it is still possible to turn things around.

Top Tips For Teaching Children Healthy Habits

Start Early
Teaching children healthy habits should be started as soon as the child begins eating solid food. Naturally sweet foods such as fresh fruit should be introduced, as opposed to refined sugars, which will only start the child off on a unhealthy route.
This way, the child will be automatically inclined to make the right choices and crave healthy foods.

Educate children about where food comes from
It is a sad fact that many children do not know what a fresh fruit or vegetable even looks like, as they are used to eating them only in processed form. For example, many children don’t know that potatoes are used to make french fries! Involve children in the weekly grocery shop, and allow them to assist with choosing fresh, natural foods. This will spark a natural enthusiasm and interest in healthy ingredients.

Get children involved in preparing their food
Children love to cook and prepare food, and are much more likely to eat something that they have had some input in preparing.
Instilling a passion for being creative with food with encourage children to try out a wide variety of foods that they may have not eaten if they were just put in front of them.
Preparing food with your children is a great way of teaching them healthy habits, as well as enabling you to spend quality time with them. You could even get them their own little apron and chefs hat for further encouraging them to participate in food preparation.

Teaching Children Healthy Habits – Conclusion

Teaching children healthy habits does not have to be an uphill struggle. If it is approached in a relaxed and fun manner, then getting children to eat healthy food is easy. Becoming uptight and stressed over a childs eating habits will only exacerbate the problem.

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Raw Vegan For The Whole Family

May 30th, 2011

Raw Vegan Transition For The Whole Family

Raw veganHere are some great tips on how to include more Raw vegan foods into your diet. This is a fantastic way to sneak more Raw foods into your families diet as well, without them even realising! As you become more used to eating Raw foods, and realise how fantastic you feel, you can make the whole meal Raw.

Partly Raw Vegan Recipes

Invest in a spiralizer – this inexpensive piece of equipment will enable you to create Raw vegan pasta and noodles out of vegetables such as cucumber, zucchini and sweet potatoes.
Top the Raw pasta or noodles with your favourite warm sauce. This is an absolute winner with kids and adults alike!

Served warmed pasta or noodles with Raw sauce, which is the opposite of the meal above! Use regular pasta and noodles and cook as normal. Whip up a delicious Raw pasta sauce by blending any combination of fresh vegetables (e.g. garlic, tomatoes, zucchini and bell pepper work well), along with olive oil, fresh herbs and seasoning. Pour over the warmed pasta.

Delicious Raw rice can be made simply by chopping cauliflower florets in a food processor for a minute or two until it resembles rice. Both the texture and appearance are remarkably similar to rice which the whole family will love. Start off by serving the Raw rice with the rest of the warmed meal – e.g. it is delicious with hot curries or any other meal which is served with rice.

100% Raw Vegan Foods That The Whole Family Will Love

The following recipes are made entirely from Raw ingredients, but are so delicious no one will even notice!

Raw salads – one simple way to increase you and your families Raw food intake, is to serve a huge Raw salad with every meal. As well as the raw veggies and salad ingredients you can also maxmimize the flavour and nutrition of the salad by throwing in nuts, seeds, fruit and oils.

Raw smoothies – Drinking Raw smoothies for breakfast is a great way to ensure that your family is getting super Raw nutrition at the beginning of each day. Experiment with different fruit combinations, and increase the nutritional value of the smoothie by adding “booster” ingredients such as wheatgrass, hemp, linseeds or fish oil.

Raw nut milk – Raw milk is delicious and easy to make. By switching from dairy to Raw vegan nut milk, you will be making a huge step forward for your health. If you plan on making fresh nut milk every day then you will get best results using a powerful blender, and some nut mylk bags Experiment with different flavours, such as almond and brazil. Nut milk can be used in smoothies, and also poured over non Raw cereal as a delicious way of incorporating more Raw vegan foods into your families diet.

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