Some Basics to Include in Your Diet EVERYDAY
I was visiting with a good friend of mine on the phone a few days ago, and he had some constructive criticism for me about the site. He said to me: "Yeah, everything looks great, but what if you were a mom with three kids and no time...what do you do then? Its easy for a single guy to do this diet...what about someone living outside of a big city?"
I have to admit, it is possible that this blog could be seen as promoting a lifestyle which is only attainable by people with extra money and time on their hands. But the more I have learned and explored available resources, the more I have realized that this diet can be done ANYWHERE, and you would actually save money both in the long and short term.
When you eat nutritionally dense foods, your body knows it and needs less of it. You could eat a whole loaf of white bread, or you could eat some sprouted grains and your body would fill up on the grains before the bread. Same with ice cream and junk food. Its so easy to keep eating and eating because nothing is registering with the body...you have to actually get a stomach ache before you receive any feedback to stop eating. So there is money saved there.
Here's an example - For breakfast, I eat three pieces of fruit, maybe 2 with some extra water. Apples, GRAPEFRUITS, oranges, a papaya, a bowl of berries...mix it up and keep rotating as to keep it exciting. You know how much 3 apples costs? 3 organic apples? About $1.50 MAX. I NEVER buy individual pieces...I always buy the 3lb bag and I can't see why anyone wouldn't. You get your organic produce for about half the price. 3 Large Grapefruits? Maybe $2. When was the last time you had a breakfast that cost less than $2? Sure, you could eat a bowl of cheerios and some milk, but remember, you are getting almost no nutrition. Me? I would eat 3 bowls of cheerios to fill me up. All of it just cooked starches and fiber and milk puss. So what are you really paying for? And think about how processed that food is. Factories...businessmen making money...shipping this stuff across the country with fossil fuels to reach our blessed tables. NO THANKS.
Here are the essentials which everyone should have everyday. Eat these, and then fill in the gaps with your other foods...
1. Cucumber - Cleanses the kidneys and the skin. Many Hollywood actresses eat one cucumber a day at least. Chop them up and put dried fruit and a sweet salad dressing on them. Or just break it in half and eat away. It is also a diuretic, so your body will push out excess water that was causing bloating. Forget about putting cucumbers on your eyes...EAT THEM instead! It comes from the inside!
2. One salad or green smoothie. You MUST get green leaves in your diet. We have evolved with green leaves in our diet for millions of years, and ever since we left them behind our health has rapidly decreased. They have more calcium than milk, have the fiber to keep your insides clean and regular, and have so many other great minerals essential for health. Either make a great salad everyday, or blend your greens with fruit (banana mango...pineapple...grapes and figs...apples and prunes) and simply drink your greens. Everyday...no matter what. Get this in.
3. WATER WATER WATER. I cant say it enough. The more you drink, the more your body will realize that it doesn't need to store excess water anymore, and poof! You just lost 5 pounds of water and you are looking more toned than ever before. Alot of times people will mistake water for fat. Its usually water that is stored under your skin. This is what takes the definition out of your muscles and makes you feel heavy. Fat takes time to accumulate, water takes a day or two.
4. Grapefruit. At least one, hopefully 2 or 3. It has an enzyme that breaks down cellulite, and is widely known for breaking down mucus in the body. And they taste SOOO good. Get the Red variety...much sweeter and easier to eat for the newcomer.
5. Avocado. I would say Avocado or a Coconut...but unless you live around an asian market or are able to order coconut oil online, I would go with the avocado. Avocado is a GOOD fat, and RAW fat. That means that the enzyme LIPASE is still alive in the avocado...this enzyme breaks down the fat for you, so its not stored in your body. When you eat COOKED fats like fried oil and cooked animal fat, the body doesn't know what to do with this fat, so it stores it away. Make sense? You are better off eating raw whale blubber than cooked fats from oil and meat.
An avocado will give you a full feeling, and if you blend it with a pear or some other sweet fruit like a peach or an apple, it will combine to make a wonderful semi-sweet pudding. I LOVE these for breakfast...I add nuts and pieces of dried fruit for extra texture. Avocados are very mineral rich, and will give your skin a smooth shiny look that people will notice within weeks.
So...Cucumber (50 cents), Green Smoothie ($2-3) , Grapefruit (50 cents), Avocado ($1-2), and lots of Water.
Thats easily two meals, and it totals $5. Who says you have to eat three meals a day anyhow? What animal in nature eats three square meals a day? Are we slaves to tradition STILL?
To all you parents out there...just keep giving the kids fruit. Honestly, from what I know now, I would have to HATE my child to give them a soda and a candy bar. It would be like cutting them or punching them. I value the internal health as much as the external. To give a child junk food is not only negligent, but its lazy and forms addictions that are very hard to break later on. My mom let me drink soda when I was really young, and I still have a sweet-tooth to this day.
If prices are too high at your grocery store, look for a local farmer's market or even better - a local farmer - to get better prices. I try to get as much as possible from the farmer's market now because I know about the life-force of food...and shipping organic produce from California is VASTLY different from buying it direct from a farmer that harvested it the day before or the morning of the market. You just cannot beat it, plus the money is going directly to the organic farmer, not some agri-business. A little leg-work goes a very long way. And think about the oil saved. Shipping a head of lettuce 3000 miles costs much much more than 100 miles. HIDDEN COSTS.
Even better? GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. Nothing beats this. Seriously. When you love your plants, and give them the energy they need, you are creating something magical. Please look into the method called Square Foot Gardening. Its for all people, but especially those with limited space. You will get more produce from this method than any other. If every household had two of these for sustenance and fun, we would be a completely independent country, both nationally and personally. Check it out - www.squarefootgardening.com. This method could end world hunger, and the death grip that industrialized nations have over the third world.
Think about this idea too - not only would the grocery bill be less, but you won't be using electricity for the oven, microwave, and the stove-top. You and your kids won't suffer from the same illnesses as before. The illnesses caused by dairy and processed food consumption will go away. Think about the money saved on doctor's visits and co-pays! No pots and pans to scrub...no dishwasher either...I just rinse off my dishes with a little soap in the sink and put them on the rack to dry. No energy needed.
There are so many costs that we never think about...the real costs of our diet. How much is your health and vitality worth anyways? If you had prostate cancer or breast cancer, how much would you pay to eradicate it? Why not pay for organic whole fruits and vegetables NOW and save yourself countless thousands in the future?
I would gladly pay twice as much for organic now, because I know that standard vegetables are pretty much genetic hybrids made for shelf-life, not nutrition. You get what you pay for, and you are fueling your #1 possession, your body.
And you are also fueling your REAL #1 possessions...the bodies and minds of your children. I'll state it again, I would have to despise my child to give him or her processed junk food or dairy or meat. It would be like putting little drops of poison in their water...not enough to kill them, but enough to make them sick over the course of time. Unthinkable. I see kids walking around with some mystery blue liquid in their bottle while their fat mother sits on the subway. Obesity isn't genetic, but poor lifestyle habits certainly are.
Get the essentials in (Cucumber - Avocado - Grapefruit - Greens - Water) and love your kids and yourself enough to eat the BEST FOOD EVER. Invest in yourself and your health. Forget the mutual funds and the stock market...if you have cancer, none of that will mean anything to you. You are the money...you are the asset. Invest wisely.
The Rawmodel
I have to admit, it is possible that this blog could be seen as promoting a lifestyle which is only attainable by people with extra money and time on their hands. But the more I have learned and explored available resources, the more I have realized that this diet can be done ANYWHERE, and you would actually save money both in the long and short term.
When you eat nutritionally dense foods, your body knows it and needs less of it. You could eat a whole loaf of white bread, or you could eat some sprouted grains and your body would fill up on the grains before the bread. Same with ice cream and junk food. Its so easy to keep eating and eating because nothing is registering with the body...you have to actually get a stomach ache before you receive any feedback to stop eating. So there is money saved there.
Here's an example - For breakfast, I eat three pieces of fruit, maybe 2 with some extra water. Apples, GRAPEFRUITS, oranges, a papaya, a bowl of berries...mix it up and keep rotating as to keep it exciting. You know how much 3 apples costs? 3 organic apples? About $1.50 MAX. I NEVER buy individual pieces...I always buy the 3lb bag and I can't see why anyone wouldn't. You get your organic produce for about half the price. 3 Large Grapefruits? Maybe $2. When was the last time you had a breakfast that cost less than $2? Sure, you could eat a bowl of cheerios and some milk, but remember, you are getting almost no nutrition. Me? I would eat 3 bowls of cheerios to fill me up. All of it just cooked starches and fiber and milk puss. So what are you really paying for? And think about how processed that food is. Factories...businessmen making money...shipping this stuff across the country with fossil fuels to reach our blessed tables. NO THANKS.
Here are the essentials which everyone should have everyday. Eat these, and then fill in the gaps with your other foods...
1. Cucumber - Cleanses the kidneys and the skin. Many Hollywood actresses eat one cucumber a day at least. Chop them up and put dried fruit and a sweet salad dressing on them. Or just break it in half and eat away. It is also a diuretic, so your body will push out excess water that was causing bloating. Forget about putting cucumbers on your eyes...EAT THEM instead! It comes from the inside!
2. One salad or green smoothie. You MUST get green leaves in your diet. We have evolved with green leaves in our diet for millions of years, and ever since we left them behind our health has rapidly decreased. They have more calcium than milk, have the fiber to keep your insides clean and regular, and have so many other great minerals essential for health. Either make a great salad everyday, or blend your greens with fruit (banana mango...pineapple...grapes and figs...apples and prunes) and simply drink your greens. Everyday...no matter what. Get this in.
3. WATER WATER WATER. I cant say it enough. The more you drink, the more your body will realize that it doesn't need to store excess water anymore, and poof! You just lost 5 pounds of water and you are looking more toned than ever before. Alot of times people will mistake water for fat. Its usually water that is stored under your skin. This is what takes the definition out of your muscles and makes you feel heavy. Fat takes time to accumulate, water takes a day or two.
4. Grapefruit. At least one, hopefully 2 or 3. It has an enzyme that breaks down cellulite, and is widely known for breaking down mucus in the body. And they taste SOOO good. Get the Red variety...much sweeter and easier to eat for the newcomer.
5. Avocado. I would say Avocado or a Coconut...but unless you live around an asian market or are able to order coconut oil online, I would go with the avocado. Avocado is a GOOD fat, and RAW fat. That means that the enzyme LIPASE is still alive in the avocado...this enzyme breaks down the fat for you, so its not stored in your body. When you eat COOKED fats like fried oil and cooked animal fat, the body doesn't know what to do with this fat, so it stores it away. Make sense? You are better off eating raw whale blubber than cooked fats from oil and meat.
An avocado will give you a full feeling, and if you blend it with a pear or some other sweet fruit like a peach or an apple, it will combine to make a wonderful semi-sweet pudding. I LOVE these for breakfast...I add nuts and pieces of dried fruit for extra texture. Avocados are very mineral rich, and will give your skin a smooth shiny look that people will notice within weeks.
So...Cucumber (50 cents), Green Smoothie ($2-3) , Grapefruit (50 cents), Avocado ($1-2), and lots of Water.
Thats easily two meals, and it totals $5. Who says you have to eat three meals a day anyhow? What animal in nature eats three square meals a day? Are we slaves to tradition STILL?
To all you parents out there...just keep giving the kids fruit. Honestly, from what I know now, I would have to HATE my child to give them a soda and a candy bar. It would be like cutting them or punching them. I value the internal health as much as the external. To give a child junk food is not only negligent, but its lazy and forms addictions that are very hard to break later on. My mom let me drink soda when I was really young, and I still have a sweet-tooth to this day.
If prices are too high at your grocery store, look for a local farmer's market or even better - a local farmer - to get better prices. I try to get as much as possible from the farmer's market now because I know about the life-force of food...and shipping organic produce from California is VASTLY different from buying it direct from a farmer that harvested it the day before or the morning of the market. You just cannot beat it, plus the money is going directly to the organic farmer, not some agri-business. A little leg-work goes a very long way. And think about the oil saved. Shipping a head of lettuce 3000 miles costs much much more than 100 miles. HIDDEN COSTS.
Even better? GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. Nothing beats this. Seriously. When you love your plants, and give them the energy they need, you are creating something magical. Please look into the method called Square Foot Gardening. Its for all people, but especially those with limited space. You will get more produce from this method than any other. If every household had two of these for sustenance and fun, we would be a completely independent country, both nationally and personally. Check it out - www.squarefootgardening.com. This method could end world hunger, and the death grip that industrialized nations have over the third world.
Think about this idea too - not only would the grocery bill be less, but you won't be using electricity for the oven, microwave, and the stove-top. You and your kids won't suffer from the same illnesses as before. The illnesses caused by dairy and processed food consumption will go away. Think about the money saved on doctor's visits and co-pays! No pots and pans to scrub...no dishwasher either...I just rinse off my dishes with a little soap in the sink and put them on the rack to dry. No energy needed.
There are so many costs that we never think about...the real costs of our diet. How much is your health and vitality worth anyways? If you had prostate cancer or breast cancer, how much would you pay to eradicate it? Why not pay for organic whole fruits and vegetables NOW and save yourself countless thousands in the future?
I would gladly pay twice as much for organic now, because I know that standard vegetables are pretty much genetic hybrids made for shelf-life, not nutrition. You get what you pay for, and you are fueling your #1 possession, your body.
And you are also fueling your REAL #1 possessions...the bodies and minds of your children. I'll state it again, I would have to despise my child to give him or her processed junk food or dairy or meat. It would be like putting little drops of poison in their water...not enough to kill them, but enough to make them sick over the course of time. Unthinkable. I see kids walking around with some mystery blue liquid in their bottle while their fat mother sits on the subway. Obesity isn't genetic, but poor lifestyle habits certainly are.
Get the essentials in (Cucumber - Avocado - Grapefruit - Greens - Water) and love your kids and yourself enough to eat the BEST FOOD EVER. Invest in yourself and your health. Forget the mutual funds and the stock market...if you have cancer, none of that will mean anything to you. You are the money...you are the asset. Invest wisely.
The Rawmodel
3 comments:
I think it's great that you offer so much information about raw food, and what has worked for you on your blog. Thanks for the insight!
Re: "Who says you have to eat three meals a day anyhow? What animal in nature eats three square meals a day? Are we slaves to tradition STILL?"
The reason why we have so many unhealthy eaters in America is because we lack a culinary tradition and because most people do not eat three meals a day.
Some of my family is from Korea where most people still sit down with their families to eat three meals a day. These are large affairs involving rice, soup, kimchee and other lightly cooked vegetables. After dinner the whole family sits in the living room to talk and share fruit like apples and persimmons or yams.
Unfortunately, things are changing in Korea. The younger generation has moved away from eating three meals a day, and most of them are eating on the run. Children prefer Big Macs to yams. For the first time Korea is seeing a rise in childhood obesity.
America is a young country and has never had a settled culinary tradition. We love novelty and are always on the go. We invented the idea of smaller meals and eating inside of cars. Grazing can be done healthfully, but Americans would be better off eating three meals a day for social and psychological reasons. A large family breakfast fuels the body and the spirit for the 8 or 9 hours of the day we have to spend apart from each other in a world without intimacy. A large dinner restores the body and the spirit.
Because grazing is mostly solitary eating, it offers none of the pleasure and restoration that a real meal offers. The result is that people never feel completely satisfied which leads to undereating or overeating. It is in America (where people eat on street corners, in cars, or at desks) that people suffer from obesity, anorexia, and bulimia. In European and Asian countries where traditional mealtimes are respected you see fewer weight problems and health issues associated with a poor diet. This is because traditions help you to feel like a real person, and not just a machine that needs fueling.
I am so glad I found this post Anthony, excellent work! Ditto on everything you said. Invest wisely!
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