Brighten Someone Else’s Day – Don’t Take Everything So Seriously

In one of the most uncommon places to laugh, the workplace, make someone else laugh wholeheartedly. And guess what, you’ll laugh just as hard as them. Change your perspective on working. The more positive associations that you have with your workplace, the less stress and anxiety you will feel while working or thinking about work. And we all know that we can all use a little more laughter and happiness and a lot less stress and anxiety in our lives!

A wholehearted, full belly, long laugh. I try to make it a daily habit. At least once a day. Have you ever laughed so hard that your eyes shed tears? That’s what I’m talking about. Why? Well, why not?

We wake up in the morning to doomsday news, get to work and have to be serious all day, or “professional”, or “grown-ups”. We think about our finances, our futures and what they could hold or not hold for us, media infiltrates every part of our day with messages about not having enough or being enough….so, THAT is why we need to laugh.

I find that laughing helps give us a reality check, it resets us and realigns us with what really matters. It helps clear our minds of all the negative messages that we receive throughout the day and fills our souls with positivity. Chemically, laughter causes the release of Serotonin, a mood boosting hormone, and hey, it even burns some calories!

If you can’t find something funny to laugh about, create it. This morning, I was feeling a bit anxious because I just returned from a long weekend vacation and wasn’t ready for the daily grind. When I arrived at work, the perfect equation presented itself to me, and I took it!

Yes, that is me. And no, that isn’t a unicorn head photo-shopped on my body. I’m wearing a unicorn head mask. I ordered the mask on amazon for two reasons…to wear in a race that I’m in this Sunday and also because my sister and I have an inside joke about unicorns and I thought she’d love to see a pic of me wearing it. Well, now it was going to get an additional use because no one at work knew about this Unicorn Head Mask being delivered to me at work. So I took it out of the box, put it on, and I snuck down the hallway and slowly peaked my head around the corner at a co-worker sitting at her desk…and we both had an amazing laugh. It was the perfect start to our days. We proceeded to take some action shots of me, and I shared them via text with my sister, who also had a great laugh.

That fantastic laugh stayed with me all day and totally changed my day around for the better. Yes, at work you do need to be serious and professional, but have a little fun with your co-workers when the situation presents itself to you and is appropriate. It won’t only brighten your day, but it will brighten the day of someone else too, and who knows…that someone else may just pay-it-forward and brighten the day of another person too!

Go-ahead, laugh a little!

W.O.W. Week 2 – RawFitnessChallenge!

Time for a new W.O.W. (workout of the week)!

This week we will be doing a ‘Time & Rep Challenge’. Again, focus on form first, endurance & strength will follow as you improve in fitness. You will perform the below exercises in a circuit fashion, perform the given # of reps for each move, then move onto the next move until you finish the whole circuit. Then do a 2nd and/or 3rd round. Your goal is to see how many rounds you can complete in 30 – 45 minutes. You choose the how long you want to push yourself for. If you’re a beginner, aim for 20-30 minutes. If you’re advanced, go for the whole 45 minutes. Or you can even up the intensity and just do 30 minutes! It’s up to you and your goals!

‘Time & Rep Challenge’: Warm up for 5 – 10 minutes.

1. Split Squats 30R/Leg
2. Pike Press 30R
3. Donkey Kicks 50R/Leg
4. Dips (Off chair, Dip station, 1-Leg, you choose) 40R
5. 1-Leg Deadlifts 20R/Leg
6. Reptile Push Up 10R
7. Plie Squat Pulse 40R
8. Bicycle 30R (2 twists = 1Rep)
9. Double Straight Leg Circles 10R/Way (Lie w/back on ground for beginners)
10. Toe Touches 30R

Cardio: Do 10-20 minutes of high intensity intervals on treadmill, elliptical, arc trainer, outdoor jog, bicycle, spin bike, etc.

• Do 30 seconds at a 6-out-of-10 exertion level. (Active Recovery Interval)
• Do 30 seconds at a 8/9-out-of-10 exertion level. (Effort Interval)
• Alternate between these two exertion levels for 10-20 minutes.

Cool Down and pat yourself on the back! Good Work!

Click on the exercise to be taken to a youtube video showing the exercise move if you aren’t familiar with what the exercise is. Make sure to have a nice big bottle of water nearby and write down how many reps, the weight you use, and how many rounds you get done. Then post your results on our 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Facebook Page! Keep a journal of your workout results so you can track your progress!

M.O.W. (Meal of the Week): Perfect light meal that you can cook up on the grill! Sweet potato rounds are my ‘go-to’ when I’m hitting up a cookout. Everyone is throwing on their greasy, artery clogging burgers and hot dogs…meanwhile my sweet potato rounds are grillin’ up and are absolutely satisfying and tasty! Serve w/a side of raw vegan zucchini pasta that you can make ahead of time and bring with you to your cookouts. All the other guests will be jealous of your yummy plate of food!

Raw Vegan Zucchini Pasta

Grilled Sweet Potato Rounds

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. What I write in my blogposts is simply information that I have gathered over the years from reading and researching several health related topics from credible resources as well as personal experiences. I urge you to consult with a physician before changing your diet. The purpose of my blogposts are to share my experiences and fitness knowledge with everyone I possibly can to help others in their journey to improve their state of well-being.

30 Day Raw Fitness Challenge – Exercise Guidelines & W.O.W.

Here we go people! 30 Days to Re-Vamp Your Health!

So, I was hoping to get this post up yesterday, but we experienced ‘hurricane-like’ storms here in my area of Parkville, MD this past Friday. So when I returned from my vacation down at the ocean, I returned to no power, no air conditioning, 93 degrees in my house, all of my refrigerator food warm, and so on…we may not get our power back until FRIDAY which would be 7 whole days. Let’s just say I look pretty fabulous right now…sarcasm… I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET POSTS UP ON RAWFITNESSTV.COM and FACEBOOK to keep this challenge going during this time of challenge due to power outages! I promise:)

BUT!!!!! Let’s get our workout in still. I need your motivation people, in times like this, it’s so easy to find an excuse NOT to get a workout in, but just 10 minutes…start there and see where it goes! So let’s help each other out in this 30 day challenge! The previous post defines the ‘Nutritional Guidelines’ for the 30 day challenge, so please print those out and put on your refrigerator or somewhere you view daily. View ‘Exercise Guidelines’ below.

1. Log in 3-7 workouts per week on our Get Fit with RawFitnessChick Facebook Page
2. I will post a Workout of the Week (W.O.W.) on Sunday for you to do throughout the week. Make sure you give your muscles 24 hours to recover and rebuild. So do ‘cardio’ (run, jog, bike, aerobics, zumba, etc) in between strength training days or the W.O.W. days.
3. If you’re a beginner start with 3 workouts per week as your goal and add 1 additional workout every 1-2 weeks until you reach 5-7 workouts per week. A workout can be as short as 10 minutes. ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. Listen to your body. If you’re exhausted, do something less intense or give your body a break that day. Just try to get at least 3 workouts in per week. And space them out every 1-2 days. Try to get a workout completed at least every 1-2 days.
4. Have a combination of ‘cardio’ and ‘strength’ workouts. If you are already lean and are looking to build lean muscle mass, your weekly cardio:strength workout ratio will be leaning more towards strength training and less time on the cardio aspect. If you want to shed excess body fat, lose weight, slim and tone up…aim to do 3-5 workouts per week that involve strength training to build or maintain lean muscle, and aim to do 3-7 workouts that involve cardio every week. I usually combine my strength and cardio into one workout, I complete my strength training first…then hop on the ‘arc trainer’ or ‘elliptical’ for 20 minutes of ‘cardio intervals’ (30 seconds of all-out-effort, 30 seconds of active recovery). Great way to blast fat & increase your metabolism!
5. If you’re intermediate-advanced. Don’t workout more than 60 minutes at-a-time. WHY??? Because when you workout more than 60 minutes, your body will begin to produce cortisol because it is ‘stressed’. Cortisol is a hormone linked to belly fat. You can get in a great workout in 60 minutes or less, trust me! If you aren’t seeing results from your workouts, don’t increase the duration of your workouts, increase the intensity and take a look at your diet. No matter how hard you workout, if your diet isn’t on track, then you’ll have extreme difficulty achieving your fitness goals.
6. If you’re pressed for time or just plain tired and don’t have the motivation. Get up and do at least 10 minutes of exercise for me! I don’t care what your excuse is…everyone has 10 minutes to spare! And if all you’ve got is 10 minutes, just increase the intensity and give it your all for that 10 minutes…then get on with your day!
7. AGAIN…POST YOUR WORKOUTS ON THE GET FIT WITH RAWFITNESSCHICK FACEBOOK PAGE!
   1. Do the W.O.W. that I post or your own workout.
   2. If you have the time, try to post what you did for your workout on the Facebook Page to help give others ideas and motivation!
   3. Also, post your workouts on your twitter account and use hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge if you wish to:)

Workout of the Week: W.O.W.

“Building a Foundation” – This workout will use basic body weight moves, strengthening and toning moves, and incorporate a cardio-endurance aspect. Beginner’s, listen to your body, take your time, and just do your best, shoot for 1-2 rounds and if you get through 3 rounds, WAY TO GO! Intermediate & Advanced – aim to do 2-3 rounds and use alternative or less intense moves when necessary. EVERYONE, I want you to focus on form over ‘just getting through it’. Our goal is to build a foundation of strength and endurance. Push yourself, but when you lose form…that means you hit your max for that move. Take a breather and move on!

Circuit: Perform 1-3 rounds. Do each ‘move’ for no more than 50 seconds. Take a quick 10 second break and move onto the next move immediately. Therefore you will spend 1 minute on each move, including rest. If you perform 3 whole rounds, it will be about a 30 minute workout. I have give you ‘goals’ to hit in terms of # of reps for each exercise. Try to get as many reps per exercise in that 50 seconds. Use a stopwatch or interval timer app on your phone. Perform 1 round straight through, take a quick breather, and perform a second and third round if you can. Remember form is the priority as well as listening to your body.

1. 100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips (Perform high knees while jumping rope/or just high knees if you don’t have a jump rope)
2. 15 Reps Push Ups (Advanced: Feet elevated on chair; Intermediate: On toes; Beginner’s: On knees)
3. 100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
4. 50 Reps Jump Squat (Sit down into a squat with feet shoulder width apart, tap floor, power up and jump up)
5. 100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
6. 100 Mountain Climbers (Get into a push up position, tuck one knee into chest, hop/switch feet, 1 hop = 1 rep)
7. 100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
8. 30-40 Reps Dips off a Chair
9. 100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
10. 50 Reps Plank Jacks (Get into plank position on your elbows and toes, jump feet out and together similar to motion you do with feet when doing jumping jacks, 1 hop out and together = 1 rep)

Click on the exercise to be taken to a youtube video showing the exercise move if you aren’t familiar with what the exercise is. Make sure to have a nice big bottle of water nearby and write down how many reps you get per exercise and how many rounds you get done. Then post your results on our 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Facebook Page! Keep a journal of your workout results so you can track your progress!

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. What I write in my blogposts is simply information that I have gathered over the years from reading and researching several health related topics from credible resources as well as personal experiences. I urge you to consult with a physician before changing your diet. The purpose of my blogposts are to share my experiences and fitness knowledge with everyone I possibly can to help others in their journey to improve their state of well-being.

RawFitnessChallenge – Nutritional Guidelines!!

I updated the ‘RawFitnessChallenge 30 Days to Re-Vamp’ post with new instructions on how to join the 30 Day Challenge & Interactive Community Board. Basically, we switched from using twitter.com as the main interactive community location to facebook.com. Read the post for instructions on how to join. You will go to my FACEBOOK PAGE ‘Get Fit with RawFitnessChick’ and make your commitment statement there as well as any posts related to the challenge, and this will be the main hub to find support and motivation.

Without further ado, click here for the ’30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Nutritional Guideline’. Read this and follow the 7 steps. You have 5 days from now until we start which will give you enough time to get prepared!

Will be uploading the exercise guidelines soon!

MacroVegan Sushi? So YUM! & Part of the RawFitnessChallenge!!!

So you’re thinking…’RawFitnessChallenge’??? Am I going to be eating broccoli for 30 days? Well although I use the word ‘Raw’, this challenge is in no way only ‘raw’ foods! RawFitnessTV.com and Raw Fitness personal training use the word RAW to describe the approach to nutrition, exercise and lifestyle habits. RAW can stand for Real, Authentic, Wholesome in relation to food, nutrition and lifestyle. RAW can stand for Ripped Ass Women or Ripped Awesome Workouts when it comes to exercise and fitness. Basically, I want you to be friendly to the environment and use what ‘the good lord gave ya’! Food should be from the earth to your table, unprocessed, unrefined, organic farming practices, wholefoods baby! Exercise should be functional, bodyweight and minimal equipment and machinery. Your body weight is a sufficient amount of weight for your workouts to get you trim, slimmed, lean and toned…and feeling great! Get back to the basics! Oh, and there is more info about how to join the #Rawfitnesschallenge at the end of this post, so don’t miss that!

A fantasticly tasty meal that is aligned with the RawFitnessChallenge is my MacroVegan Sushi rolls made with Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Avocado & Zucchini. SO GOOD! AND SATISFYING!

If there is anything that could help satisfy a sweet tooth craving, it would be the combination of a slice of sweet potato, a slice of avocado on top, and a sprinkle of sea salt or dulse flakes…and if necessary a drizzle of agave…so good. But you put that combo into a sushi roll and you’ve got yourself a pretty delish meal for a warm summer night. Refreshing, satisfying, filling yet light. Remember, your dinner should not be super heavy and filling, you will be sedentary after din din and going to bed soon…so there is no reason to load up on the calories.

Super Satisfying Sweet Potato-Avocado Sushi (Macro-Vegan, RawFitnessChallenge worthy)

Sushi Ingredients: (All Organic)

• Quinoa (1/4 – 1/2 cup per person)
• Avocado (1/2 Avocado per person)
• Sweet Potato (1/4 – 1/2 Medium Sweet Potato per person)
• Zucchini, julienned (1/3 Large Zucchini)
• Ume Plum Vinegar 1 -2 tsp (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
• 1 Nori Sheet per person

Marinade Ingredients: (All Organic)

• A few dashes of dried basil, oregano, dill, pepper and dulse flakes
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ume plum vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

First combine marinade ingredients and put your julienned zucchini into a bowl with the marinade and let sit, to soften and infuse the zucchini. Cook sweet potatoes in a pressure cooker for about 10-15 minutes depending upon how many potatoes you’re cooking. Remove from pressure cooker and place in tupperware on the side/countertop while you make other ingredients. Cook up your Quinoa before or during prep. You should soak your quinoa, then cook in pressure cooker for around 10 minutes. You can use it hot or chilled, it’s up to you. Lay one nori sheet on a sushi mat, shiny side down. Place about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of Quinoa onto nori sheet and spread out over one half of the nori sheet. Drop a line of ume plum vinegar down the middle of the quinoa on the nori sheet. Lay your sweet potato slices (1/4 inch thick slices), avocado slices (1/8 inch thick), zucchini slices down the middle of the quinoa and drizzle the extra marinade over the quinoa evenly. Roll it up, slice it up and plate! I used any extra avocado, sweet potato and zucchini slices to put atop my romaine side salad. Very delicious and satisfying dinner for a warm summer night! Enjoy!

For the RawFitnessChallenge starting on July 1st read the blog post ’30 Days to Re-Vamp’. Additionally, we will be chatting with eachother over the world wide web to keep each other motivated not only on Twitter.com but you can join the conversation and interactive community directly on Tweetchat.com too using the directions below. Remember, if you want to join the challenge you must post your ‘commitment statement’ on Twitter.com using hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge now…do it now…the instructions are in the ’30 Days to Re-Vamp’ post. And any tweets you make in reference to this challenge on twitter.com use the hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge.

Get Involved in the Interactive Online RawFitnessChallenge Community:

1. Go to tweetchat.com
2. Sign in using your twitter account on tweetchat.com
3. Enter rawfitnesschallenge as the hashtag to follow.
4. It will take you to a ‘wall’ with all the posts related to rawfitnesschallenge so we can share our experiences and keep each other motivated, share exercise routines and recipes, and do a little Q & A.

See you there! Make your commitment statement now!

Take 30 Days & Re-Vamp Your Wellness…weight loss, fitness & well-being!

Alright…it is SUMMER! Today is the first day of summer. So much to look forward to, getting out and about with friends and family, the beach, enjoying the city you live in, taking in what nature has to offer and much more.

We also will be faced with more temptation. You will face temptations at cookouts, there are more gatherings centered around drinking alcohol, people will be indulging in frozen treats and drinks everywhere, like ice cream & pina coladas…you’ll be tempted to skip a workout either because you went out and had a little too much to drink the night before…or the view of the pool is calling you away from your workout shoes…

Enter…the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge. Coming July 1st, 2012. Take the month of July to re-vamp your wellness. Work towards 3 health, fitness & lifestyle goals. This challenge is for you, you will customize it to what you want to get out of 30 days in relation to your health. Be it mental, emotional, physical health and so on. I will provide each RawFitnessChallenger with a template and you will customize it to your individual needs and goals. You can do this challenge from anywhere in the world. If you happen to live in the Baltimore, MD area…you will get the opportunity to take part in my local wellness meetups I hold for this challenge. If you live elsewhere, you can do this challenge on your own…or invite friends/co-workers/family and hold your own meetups…the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community will provide everyone with the workouts, nutrition guidelines, motivation and accountability to keep you going for 30 days! I will explain how you join (free) the interactive community for the RawFitnessChallenge below.

What will the challenge be?

• You will do 3-7 workouts per week (depending on your current fitness level and goals). The 30 Day Fitness guidelines will be posted on RawFitnessTV.com blog for you to read, print and post on your refrigerator or somewhere you visit daily.
• You will follow ‘clean eating’ practices that include wholefoods that are unrefined and unprocessed for 30 days. The 30 Day Nutritional guidelines will be posted on RawFitnessTV.com blog for you to read, print and post on your refrigerator or somewhere you visit daily.
• Each Sunday, I will post the W.O.W. (workout of the week). You can choose to do the W.O.W. or your own workout you design but must log your 3-7 workouts on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board as an accountability factor and to help support others & keep each other motivated as well as provide ideas.
• Each Sunday I will share a new M.O.W. (meal of the week) breakfast, lunch & dinner recipe to test out and include in your week’s meal plan. You can choose any ‘clean’ wholefoods, unrefined/unprocessed ingredients and recipes that follow the 30 Day Nutritional guidelines. You are encouraged to post your recipes, success w/avoiding temptations, experience, and questions on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board!
• You will join the challenge by posting your commitment on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board on Facebook. Also you can post on your twitter page (if you have one) and your own facebook wall, as well as email close friends/family so that they are aware and able to empower you and keep you accountable. You must state this on the Facebook Page: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. (State your 3 fitness goals you want to work towards/achieve in 30 days if you feel comfortable doing so)”. Make sure you use the hashtag #RawFitnessChallenge when posting on Twitter so that your post is logged in the twitter RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board!!!!
  • Example: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. Lose 5 lbs, go vegan, apply myself at work.”
• Email Friends/Co-workers/Family: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. Lose 5 lbs, go vegan, apply myself at work. If you’d like to join me, let me know! Go to RawFitnessTV.com for info on the challenge.”

Where do I find the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board?

• Log on to your facebook account.
• ‘Like’ Get Fit with RawFitnessChick.
• Every time you workout, need motivation, hit a roadblock, have questions about the challenge or need support, eat wholefoods, want to share a recipe, achieve one of your goals or to log the results you’re experiencing…basically, ANYTHING related to the RawFitnessChallenge….YOU WILL compose a new facebook post ON GET FIT WITH RAWFITNESSCHICK’s page - this page will be the interactive community board.
• You can also log on to your twitter account. If you don’t have a twitter account you can choose to open an account with twitter, or just log your posts on the ‘Get Fit with RawFitnessChick’ Facebook page.
• Once logged onto twitter follow @RawFitnessBmore
• Your first tweet will be your ‘commitment’ tweet as explained above.
• You can also tweet your questions, motivational quotes/pics, recipes, achievements, experience, workouts on twitter using hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge. You can then do a search on those posting about the #rawfitnesschallenge on twitter and get support and motivation on twitter as well. But the interactive community board is FACEBOOK.
• Log on to your pinterest account. If you don’t yet have one, sign up on www.pinterest.com.
• ‘Follow’ the following boards on ‘RawFitnessChick‘s’ pinterest page: Wellness, Amazing Vegan Desserts, Vegan Meals & Snacks, Raw Delicious Meals & Snacks, Raw Desserts, Exercise, Nutrition (or just follow all my boards if you wish).
• These ‘boards’ on pinterest.com will be a good resource for recipes, motivation, and workout ideas!

Your resource for workouts, recipes, nutritional advice and guidelines, motivation and support will be mainly Facebook, RawFitnessTV.com, and pinterest.com AND if you wish to use it, Twitter. If you live in the Baltimore, MD area and want to join in on the wellness meetups…join us on meetup.com or listen for updates on meetups on facebook and twitter!

The 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge will provide you with exercise and nutritional guidelines as well as the support, motivation and accountability needed to stick to the 30 day challenge to empower you to achieve your 3 health & fitness goals. After the 30 days, you will incorporate what you’ve learned and the habits that you’ve maintained into your new life for a healthier and happier new you! Let’s do this together, start preparing now, join the challenge now on twitter and facebook. Get committed early so that you can learn what you’ll need to do for the challenge and when July 1st comes you will be 100% ready to go!

Join us now…#RawFitnessChallenge…make your commitment statement now on twitter and facebook, let it be heard!

What are YOU Allergic too? Could it be making it difficult for you to lose weight?! Want flat abs?

Post 30 Day Challenge. I’m still vegan/macro and let me tell you a little story why! This past weekend was my first weekend since my 30 Day Macrobiotic/Vegan challenge. So, I tested the waters a bit and went out to dinner with my fabulous boy-partner.

Friday night we hit up a local authentic mexican joint that I had been dying to try. Beforehand, I checked out their menu to make sure they had food that fit my preference. This is always good to do so that you aren’t caught in a bind when you are already seated and everyone’s ready to order…and there is nothing on the menu for you, been there and done that!

Above pic is from fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.com – good recipe for veg fajitas!

I heard some great things about this restaurant (Los Amigos) AND it had vegetarian dishes that I could easily ‘make’ into vegan (if I wanted to). I ordered the vegetarian fajitas which came with rice and beans and a little bit of guacamole and lettuce. This was a ‘celebration’ dinner for making it the WHOLE 30 days without cheating, so yes…I allowed myself two corn tortillas lol…this is the thing about life, enjoy yourself! If you’ve been consistent with exercise and nutrition for 4 weeks, IT IS OK to include SOME things in your meal that aren’t usually part of your diet (such as the 2 corn tortillas). Just don’t go out to McDonald’s and get a 1/4 pounder with cheese…

I ate correct portion sizes and it was for the most part a pretty well rounded meal, as well as very tasty! I even had a corona light! HOLY S**T! It is 2012, so I’m trying to enjoy myself a bit before the zombie apocolypse… ANYWAYS, I felt good after the meal, meaning I digested it fine. I was worried that after 30 days of VERY clean eating, mexican food might be a bit too much to handle… BUT I WAS GOOD TO GO! Basically, this macro/vegan thing is fantastic because it has really helped heal my digestive system. Before the challenge there was no way that I could eat a mexican meal and feel fine after. So 1st test night…check!

PAZO’s

My second test night, Saturday, we went to a spiffy little joint called Pazo’s that serves tapas and entrees. I stuck to somewhat vegan/macro tapas plates with the exception of some CHEESE in one dish (zucchini ‘no pasta-lasagna’) and I ate a few scallops…and maybe a little crabmeat lol. Again, I felt reasonably good after the meal and was pleased to see that eating seafood wouldn’t disrupt my balance.

Things that I’m ‘Allergic’ too: Tofu & Cashews (Nuts). Not seeds. Every time I include tofu in a dish I notice that afterward I just can’t digest it properly. It may either make my stomach hurt, cause a little heartburn or indigestion, or a ‘sour stomach’. Same for nuts, cashews especially. After eating just a handful of cashews I will immediately feel bloated, have ‘sour stomach’, indigestion and so on. Seeds however, I can handle in small amounts…thank god! Because I love me some hemp seed. Also, almonds are okay with me to.

I’m rambling on about this so that maybe you can identify and start becoming aware of different foods that you may be ‘allergic’ to. I use the word ‘allergic’ and define it as an unwanted, negative body/mind reaction to the consumption of a food or beverage. When you have a negative reaction, when a food makes you feel crappy, this is your body telling you, STOP EATING THAT FOOD!

It may cause an acidic response in your body that you just can’t tolerate, and we don’t want high acidity in our body. Read post about pH level, acidity/alkalinity here. It may cause some of your organs or bodily systems to work in overdrive which makes them not able to perform their important daily functions (ex. alcohol = liver overdrive = liver can’t metabolize fat at normal capacity). It may cause inflammation, and more specifically inflammation in your digestive tract, which we really don’t want! (inflammation of intestines = inability to absorb nutrients from food). It may cause a ‘back up’ or better known as ‘constipation’ in which we will hold in a lot of excess waste, you will feel crappy because your full of it (barf!) Read this:

(Constipation) “This leads to weight gain problems, because of poor nutrient absorption. When sludge begins to line the colon walls it becomes harder for nutrients to be absorbed into the body, as the body must now try and extract nutrients through this wall of fecal matter.

When this occurs, guess what happens?  Your body tells you that you must eat more!  You are not getting the right nutrients so you continue to eat in a vain attempt to get what the body needs!  Cravings kick in because of a lack of certain key nutrients.

Further. colon or bowel blockage results in several bodily problems. As the colon becomes impacted, just like an old rusty drainpipe, the hole in the middle becomes smaller and smaller.  The more impacted the colon becomes, the more weight you carry. Not only does weight become an issue, but diverticulosis (herniated bowel pockets filled with trapped fecal matter and caused by constipation), colon polyps (a tumor that rises from the colon’s surface and then protrudes into the inside of the colon), and cancer can be down the road.  This is a progressively degenerative disease where eventually you end up with total colon blockage, cancer and even death…. regularity will help to give you that flat stomach that doesn’t bulge out, and it will aid you in losing weight and keeping it off.”

Well, I’m so glad we had this talk…probably the last thing you wanted to hear! BUT it is important. You’ve got to start eating clean, do a 30 Day Challenge like I did (heck, even two weeks will help!). Then after your 30 days of clean eating, you will be able to slowly add in foods you used to eat to see what you may be ‘allergic’ to. And eliminate these foods you’re ‘allergic’ to because they only cause your mind and body harm! As well as your waistline!

Yours Truly,

RawFitnessTV.com: Teaching others how to fuel & condition their mind, body & soul towards optimal wellness.