Yes...l'm going R.A.W. with my nutrition.
No....I am not eating raw eggs, meat, and other uncooked foods just in case you thought this is what I meant. ;).
And NO......I am not becoming a VEGETARIAN or a VEGAN or even a raw foodie. In part, because I do not find my identity in food, but also because I am not exclusive to others based on my personal food choices. For example, if someone has me over for dinner and serves me something I may not eat in my own home, I will gladly and graciously eat what they serve. Plus, I find that people who give themselves a food related title tend to embody a certain culture surrounding that title. They find their identity in it and base their successes and failures on it. They can become self-righteous "food groupies" and I NEVER want to become that. Although, there is a lot of truth to the saying, "you are what you eat", I sincerely don't want to be who I am because of what I eat.
Nonetheless...who I am lives her life more fully when I am living a R.A.W. lifestyle.
SO, What exactly do I mean when I say that I've gone R.A.W. with my nutrition?
Well, the bottom line is that the foods and the things I choose to put in my body will be
REAL, AUTHENTIC, and WHOLE.
I have been eating healthy for a while and have come to a keen awareness of the foods that make me feel well and the foods that make me feel ill. As a health professional, I also have an educated knowledge and understanding of what happens when I put certain foods in my body, and as a result, a deep and profound conviction about what it means for me to be a truly healthy person. At this point, I have come to conclude that feeling well and being healthy for ME means eating a plant based diet and COMPLETELY avoiding foods that are processed, unnatural, and lacking in nutritional value.
No, going RAW is not a phase. It's not a project. It's not a trial run. and it's NOT a New Year's resolution. It's more of a work in progress and a direction I have been moving over the past year. I've basically concluded that there is only one way of eating that makes me feel alive and clear and focused and balanced and fabulous....and that is a diet full of plants that is only about 30% cooked foods including grains. The rest is fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils. And GASP! I'm doing away with animal products including dairy and poultry.
WHY am I doing away with the animal kingdom??!!!!!
It's quite simple actually. If something makes me feel sick and weak and tired...why would I eat it?
Choosing to eat a plant based diet is not a political or cultural or animal/environmental loving based decision (although I do love animals and the environment). It is a personal and spiritual decision that has been prayed over and considered and well thought through for about a year now.
In essence, yes....I'm eating like a vegan but I am not becoming a vegan. Let's make that very clear.
This is not a challenge I'm taking on. I've already arrived at this place and I've been here for quite some time. The challenge is over. The only challenge I ever really faced was resisting this transformation and feeling guilty for putting things into my body that were making me sick. Not to mention...this "half way healthy" mentality was spilling over into the way that I fed my family. Because I wasn't clear about my nutrition, I was slacking in my nutrition. As a result, I began slacking in my family's nutrition. I hated that.
While I realize that making a nutrition transformation like this might be a mountainous task for most families....for me....it's just not. I already know how to eat completely clean. I have all the tools, a lot of knowledge, and a WHOLE lot of practice....and I am fully equipped to be slightly more disciplined to do what I know is best. I am blessed to have all I need to embrace this so I need to be a good steward of my blessings. That's the way I see it.
Let me be clear on something....
This is PERSONAL. Do I believe that everyone would benefit from eating this way? YES! Absolutely. But I do not think that it is the only way. I do not think it is bad to eat animal products if they are clean and come from a humanely treated source and in fact, I create meal plans that include animal products.
This is a personal nutrition choice for myself. The biggest reason that I am sharing this is because I need to be clear about my nutrition choices as a leader in health. I am a nutrition coach, and it is important for me to be transparent about the way that I feed my own flesh. I love to share my experiences with everyone so that I can help them adopt a healthy lifestyle, and it's important for others to know where I come from.
How did I arrive at this place?
It was a year ago that I tried juicing, plant based eating, and going RAW with my food and products for the first time. Oh my goodness!!! I felt like I could have flown across the world. Plus, I lost about 13 pounds of what was probably toxic waste and managed to keep it off.
After juicing and eating so many plant foods, I was BLOWN away by the healing power of phytonutrients.
Want to see what happened to me in just 2 weeks? Go Here...
http://nostrainnogain.blogspot.com/2012/04/post-juice-cleansethe-results-are-in.html
However, I eventually went back to eating my regular diet that was certainly clean and healthy, BUT it included animal foods.I continued juicing regularly and eating a diet full of superfoods, but I also was eating dairy, meat, and eggs....and it got to the point where I was eating A LOT of them. Over time, I lost my vitality, my luster, and my natural energy. I also noticed a slow transition back toward a "slacker diet".
No....I am not eating raw eggs, meat, and other uncooked foods just in case you thought this is what I meant. ;).
And NO......I am not becoming a VEGETARIAN or a VEGAN or even a raw foodie. In part, because I do not find my identity in food, but also because I am not exclusive to others based on my personal food choices. For example, if someone has me over for dinner and serves me something I may not eat in my own home, I will gladly and graciously eat what they serve. Plus, I find that people who give themselves a food related title tend to embody a certain culture surrounding that title. They find their identity in it and base their successes and failures on it. They can become self-righteous "food groupies" and I NEVER want to become that. Although, there is a lot of truth to the saying, "you are what you eat", I sincerely don't want to be who I am because of what I eat.
Nonetheless...who I am lives her life more fully when I am living a R.A.W. lifestyle.
SO, What exactly do I mean when I say that I've gone R.A.W. with my nutrition?
Well, the bottom line is that the foods and the things I choose to put in my body will be
REAL, AUTHENTIC, and WHOLE.
I have been eating healthy for a while and have come to a keen awareness of the foods that make me feel well and the foods that make me feel ill. As a health professional, I also have an educated knowledge and understanding of what happens when I put certain foods in my body, and as a result, a deep and profound conviction about what it means for me to be a truly healthy person. At this point, I have come to conclude that feeling well and being healthy for ME means eating a plant based diet and COMPLETELY avoiding foods that are processed, unnatural, and lacking in nutritional value.
No, going RAW is not a phase. It's not a project. It's not a trial run. and it's NOT a New Year's resolution. It's more of a work in progress and a direction I have been moving over the past year. I've basically concluded that there is only one way of eating that makes me feel alive and clear and focused and balanced and fabulous....and that is a diet full of plants that is only about 30% cooked foods including grains. The rest is fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils. And GASP! I'm doing away with animal products including dairy and poultry.
WHY am I doing away with the animal kingdom??!!!!!
It's quite simple actually. If something makes me feel sick and weak and tired...why would I eat it?
Choosing to eat a plant based diet is not a political or cultural or animal/environmental loving based decision (although I do love animals and the environment). It is a personal and spiritual decision that has been prayed over and considered and well thought through for about a year now.
In essence, yes....I'm eating like a vegan but I am not becoming a vegan. Let's make that very clear.
This is not a challenge I'm taking on. I've already arrived at this place and I've been here for quite some time. The challenge is over. The only challenge I ever really faced was resisting this transformation and feeling guilty for putting things into my body that were making me sick. Not to mention...this "half way healthy" mentality was spilling over into the way that I fed my family. Because I wasn't clear about my nutrition, I was slacking in my nutrition. As a result, I began slacking in my family's nutrition. I hated that.
While I realize that making a nutrition transformation like this might be a mountainous task for most families....for me....it's just not. I already know how to eat completely clean. I have all the tools, a lot of knowledge, and a WHOLE lot of practice....and I am fully equipped to be slightly more disciplined to do what I know is best. I am blessed to have all I need to embrace this so I need to be a good steward of my blessings. That's the way I see it.
Let me be clear on something....
This is PERSONAL. Do I believe that everyone would benefit from eating this way? YES! Absolutely. But I do not think that it is the only way. I do not think it is bad to eat animal products if they are clean and come from a humanely treated source and in fact, I create meal plans that include animal products.
This is a personal nutrition choice for myself. The biggest reason that I am sharing this is because I need to be clear about my nutrition choices as a leader in health. I am a nutrition coach, and it is important for me to be transparent about the way that I feed my own flesh. I love to share my experiences with everyone so that I can help them adopt a healthy lifestyle, and it's important for others to know where I come from.
How did I arrive at this place?
It was a year ago that I tried juicing, plant based eating, and going RAW with my food and products for the first time. Oh my goodness!!! I felt like I could have flown across the world. Plus, I lost about 13 pounds of what was probably toxic waste and managed to keep it off.
It was during this time
that I was the happiest I'd been in a long time. I experienced a lot of physical, mental, and
emotional healing, and I was more hooked up to God than ever. He was
revealing things to me with such clarity because I was not inhibited by weakened flesh.
After juicing and eating so many plant foods, I was BLOWN away by the healing power of phytonutrients.
Want to see what happened to me in just 2 weeks? Go Here...
http://nostrainnogain.blogspot.com/2012/04/post-juice-cleansethe-results-are-in.html
However, I eventually went back to eating my regular diet that was certainly clean and healthy, BUT it included animal foods.I continued juicing regularly and eating a diet full of superfoods, but I also was eating dairy, meat, and eggs....and it got to the point where I was eating A LOT of them. Over time, I lost my vitality, my luster, and my natural energy. I also noticed a slow transition back toward a "slacker diet".
So why did I stop eating a plant based diet if it made me feel so amazing?
Well, here's the honest truth...
As a trainer and fitness fanatic, I only knew through my education and schooling how to support my lifestyle through nutrition habits that were regularly scheduled and high in lean animal protein. I was following a diet than was the "generalized rule" for people like me. I stopped listening to my own body and started following a method. As a result, I became very disconnected from my body and my health suffered. I began having digestive issues again, my skin began breaking out again, I was more lethargic, my brain didn't work as well, I began struggling with anxiety on a physiological level, and TMI...I'm going on month 6 now with no period. This was the biggest kicker for me. As a healthy woman, my body is not working right. I am determined to journey back to a place of balance in my health because THAT is MOST important...not lifting the heaviest weight, running the fastest mile, or having the tightest physique.
so yes....
I'm going back to RAW.
I am living by the principle....
"If it's not good for me....don't put it in my body."
If it's that way with things like cigarettes and drugs, why wouldn't it be the same case for food and other products?
At the end of my life when I look back over the way that I lived and the way that I impacted others, I want it to be a legacy of healing. That's how I want to help others ultimately and I can only do that if I am really being true to my own body's need for healing.
As a trainer and fitness fanatic, I only knew through my education and schooling how to support my lifestyle through nutrition habits that were regularly scheduled and high in lean animal protein. I was following a diet than was the "generalized rule" for people like me. I stopped listening to my own body and started following a method. As a result, I became very disconnected from my body and my health suffered. I began having digestive issues again, my skin began breaking out again, I was more lethargic, my brain didn't work as well, I began struggling with anxiety on a physiological level, and TMI...I'm going on month 6 now with no period. This was the biggest kicker for me. As a healthy woman, my body is not working right. I am determined to journey back to a place of balance in my health because THAT is MOST important...not lifting the heaviest weight, running the fastest mile, or having the tightest physique.
so yes....
I'm going back to RAW.
I am living by the principle....
"If it's not good for me....don't put it in my body."
If it's that way with things like cigarettes and drugs, why wouldn't it be the same case for food and other products?
At the end of my life when I look back over the way that I lived and the way that I impacted others, I want it to be a legacy of healing. That's how I want to help others ultimately and I can only do that if I am really being true to my own body's need for healing.
I feel very strongly about this as a believer in God too. Yes....we are to put our souls before our flesh, but God has called us to treat our bodies as temples. When he says, "Deny the flesh" ...he is NOT saying....IGNORE and NEGLECT it. I believe that is an excuse many believers use to keep eating like crap...and I spent WAY too many years putting crap in my own body. If I am going to live a full life that lives out God's will and purpose for my life then I am going to eat in a way that nourishes my flesh. I don't want my purpose to be inhibited because I am fighting my physical flesh. I want it to work WITH me....not AGAINST me.
God created the world rich in plants that he wants us to consume for healing and wholesome living. We have moved too far away from this as a society and we are suffering for it. I'm refusing to be a victim of it and I ultimately want to help others find their way out of addiction and dependency to chemicals, processed foods, and conventional medicines.
We were originally created to eat whole foods for healing and I will honor God in that way.
Am I trying to "go back to the Garden" so to speak?
No, I am waiting patiently for my Savior, and until then, I plan to treat my body the way God intended and as a result, live a life that is full and happy and more ready to fulfill his purpose my life.
It's still a journey and a process, but it is such a fun one and I hope that you'll continue joining me as I learn to live a full, happy, healthy, and RAW life.
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I really like the point you make about choosing to eat vegan vs becoming a vegan (or any "food type"). That seems like a really important distinction to make, particularly as a believer. As always, I really like seeing and reading your posts.
ReplyDelete-Sarah W.
Thanks. ..Sarah!
ReplyDeleteYes, I hesitate to classify myself as anything and even hesitated to write this post because I don't want to my lack of animal products to be something im "promoting".
I promote a diet high in superfoods and eating for healing. Food is medicinal. We are all different. For me. .. feeling my best means eating plant foods.
I get asked all the time. ..."so. Are you veg or not? !" I had to finally answer the question. ;)
Thanks. ..Sarah!
ReplyDeleteYes, I hesitate to classify myself as anything and even hesitated to write this post because I don't want to my lack of animal products to be something im "promoting".
I promote a diet high in superfoods and eating for healing. Food is medicinal. We are all different. For me. .. feeling my best means eating plant foods.
I get asked all the time. ..."so. Are you veg or not? !" I had to finally answer the question. ;)