DAY EIGHTEEN - Back to the Program!

I had food orders, as well as company over the weekend, so very little computer time, now to get back in the groove. As I always say, there are NO raw food police around here, just try to add as many raw fruits and veggies to your diet as possible, aim for 64 ounces of fluid daily and MOVE! Recording your food choices, fluid intake AND weight daily will also improve your results, if you are trying to lose weight.  Additionally, I find it helpful to start the day with an intention and to end it by recording your thoughts in a journal at the end of every day.

It is always helpful to make up a few recipes the beginning of each week, so you will have food you can grab quickly when you need to.  I made a BIG batch of salsa last night, something I will keep in my fridge as long as tomatoes remain in season - I LOVE that stuff!

For a little sweet treat, I thought I would share with you today one of my favorites, Chocolate Cherry Truffles.  You will need a food processor, a sharp knife and that's it!

2 c walnuts
½ c pitted dates, packed (I use only medjool)
6 T carob or cocoa powder (I use Valrhona cocoa)
1 t cherry extract (use pure extract from Whole Foods)
¼ c walnuts, finely chopped
¼ c dried pitted cherries, chopped
3 T water

Process 2 c walnuts fitted with “S” blade until the consistency of meal.

Loosely separate dates, add them to food processor.  Process until well combined.  Add cocoa powder, cherry extract – process to mix.  Transfer to a large missing bowl.

Add the remaining walnuts (if the walnuts are not chopped finely, your truffles will fall apart) and cherries to brownie mixture.  Sprinkle with water and mix well with your hands.  Chill at least one hour.

Form into little truffle-size balls and lightly sprinkle with cocoa before serving.

Or . . . you can press the mixture into a 9X9 pan. Cut and serve as is.  Personally, I like to cut and then press a half walnut into each piece and neatly round the corners of each piece around the walnut which actually takes longer than preparing and mixing the entire recipe!

This is NOT an exact science, if you don't have cherries, try substituting raisins or even finely chopped dried, unsulphured apricots.  Use your imagination and see what you come up with!

Today's intention - "Today I will search for my own truth and I will allow others to do the same.  I will value the worth of my own vision and the vision of others. We are all on our own paths, making the decisions that are right for us today."

It's ALL about CHOICES, friends - make the one that's right for you today.  You CAN do it!

Santé, To Your Health!

Sue Ansari, RN
CancerGuide 

Raw Food Chef and Food for Life Instructor
www.santetoyourhealth.org

www.laughteryoga-michigan.com

http://twitter.com/#!/MICancerCoach 

DAY THIRTEEN - Keep movin' the weight to left!

Oh yeah, the little weight on my scale - pushing it off to the left, away from me, means I have lost a little more weight, YAY!  Those half pounds, like this morning, all add up.

This was the first thing I saw when I opened Facebook this morning from Hanna in Finland - 

"I am dieting - not dying! Healthy diet is painless, fun, tasty and good for me. I do count the calories - because I love myself. I am not denying anything from myself, I eat what ever I want, and exactly what I want."  

How could it be said any better....BRAVO, Hanna!

 

 And from an old classmate yesterday - 

"Today is Day 10 for me and this morning I recorded 10.6 pounds lost! This means I'm lower than I've been in years and I have hope to finally go much lower. Thank you, Sue! Am also getting more adventurous and trying new things. Made the chips and salsa last night. Even survived well a dinner out with an old sister-in-law I hadn't seen in 10 years on Saturday. Another "noticing" is that the arthritis in my finger joints seems much less touchy."

Keep up the GREAT work, everyone!  Yesterday I decided to blend my salsa recipe, DIVINE!  My favorite savory drink thus far!  I have about a pint left which is going to be breakfast.

If you want a quick, simple taste treat, how about spreading a little almond butter on a collard leaf, then plop down half a banana and roll it up, YUM! Okay, fine, drizzle a TINY bit of honey on it first, then enjoy every bite . . . no moaning! 

Big IRS day tomorrow, then I can breathe! 

Santé, To Your Health!

Sue Ansari, RN

CancerGuide

Raw Food Chef and Food for Life Instructor
www.santetoyourhealth.org

www.laughteryoga-michigan.com

http://twitter.com/#!/MICancerCoach 

 

DAY TWELVE - A JOYFUL 6.5 Pounds Down, YAY!

Still busy with figures, but just wanted to send an intention for the day, along with well wishes for your happy, healthy journey toward better health . . . it is ALL about the choices we make along the way.  Hopefully, the suggestions you find here will aid in making those more diverse.

Today's intention - "Today I will practice healthy giving, understanding that caretaking and compulsive giving don't work. I choose what I want to give, to whom, when, and how much.  It takes time to lean how to give in healthy ways.  It also takes time to learn to receive.  Balance will come."

"Healthy giving" . . . yes, I am very often an overgiver, always striving to help, to please, in way too many ways.  Yes, yes, I am a woman who will strive for healthy giving!

Have a great day, friends!

Food for Thought

JOY ASKEW

Time marches on.
Too often, joy marches with it.
Dreams vanish. Joy disappears.
DECIDE to dream again!
Be outrageous. Be courageous.
Do the deed, plant the seed and
Let the JOY begin.

~ Sue Ansari, 3/2012

Santé, To Your Health!

Sue Ansari, RN

CancerGuide

Raw Food Chef and Food for Life Instructor
www.santetoyourhealth.org

www.laughteryoga-michigan.com

http://twitter.com/#!/MICancerCoach 

Cuisinart PowerBlend Duet Blender and Food ProcessorCuisinart Smart Stick Hand BlenderVitamixPro 500 Series Blender

DAY ELEVEN - GUEST BLOGGER!

Guest Blogger on 07/16/12 (Sue's focus was on the IRS today, so I offered to blog)

As a sister on this raw FEST journey, I am learning so much. Basically, I classified myself as a flexitarian. For me, that meant mostly vegetarian and meat when I had to have it (e.g., at someone's house). My body paid for eating the meat in unpleasant ways.

Much of what I ate was raw, because I didn't take the time to think ahead to prepare a meal; plus, I live alone and don't have to consider anyone else's palate. My "cooked" meals generally consisted of roasted veggies .... especially sweet potato fries. I could devour several potatoes' worth of those roasted delicacies (EVOO, sea salt, and ground black pepper). I'd eat left-overs cold (too "busy" to even use the microwave) for breakfast, snacks, bed-time snacks, any time!

Taking the leap to full, hard-on, raw (sorry, I do not intend to offend anyone by using that word/phrase, but EVERYthing seems sexual to me, at this stage of my life..... celibate for 6+ yrs and something woke up in me a few months ago and it is RAW!!) food sounded exciting and it gave me a way to channel this new energy that I won't waste Plus, I know Sue, trust her, have witnessed changes in her physical appearance (and life), and love her. Surely, she would never encourage me to do anything that would hurt me.

It is possible that I may be a pound or two underweight (many contributing factors) so I am intentional in managing my weight so that I remain healthy. Consequently, during the past few days, I have nibbled on dark chocolate; savored, almost sucked every flavor out of salmon this past weekend; eaten a few, okay, half box of "healthy" crackers with almond butter in one sitting; eaten almond butter out of the jar - remember, I live alone and eat many nuts (darn, there's a word that can mean many things), etc.

Tonight, I made the Kick Ass Kale Salad and I may end up eating the entire concoction before I make it to bed. It is amazingly delicious in every sense (helps satisfy a deep, inner craving!)!

Reading everyone's comments encourages me and gives me tremendous ideas, which I forget, but hopefully, will recall at some point and write down, and then forget where I placed the written idea..... Oh well, life is! For several years, I've been very curious about green smoothies. The combination of ingredients sounded totally disgusting to me. When I read that a green smoothie was to be made and consumed on a daily basis, I trusted Sue. She doesn't look like green smoothies have harmed her! Now, I LOVE GREEN SMOOTHIES - cannot imagine starting a day without one. In fact, each night before I go to bed, I made sure my blender (which works really well - don't have a VitaMix) is cleaned, assembled, and ingredients are set aside thereby eliminating the opportunity to make an excuse of not having time in the morning.

I am eager to find a dehydrator I want to afford!! I can almost taste the satisfaction (smiley face) of those nachos/crackers & curried cauliflower. Well, I will stop here and go to ebay and Amazon to see what is offered tonight. I am grateful for each of you; you hold me accountable!

Angeeeeeela, in her element!

 Blessings Abound!!

 Angela (my name is pronounced: Ann-GEE-la) <- that is important! 

Thanks so much for helping me out, Angela!

DAY ONE of RAW for 30 DAYS!

Hello Everyone and Greetings from Michigan! 

Okay, we are going to do it again....30 days of RAW or as many days as you can handle.  For those of you who have never done this before, don't panic you CAN do it.  I never thought I could and I confess, I was plenty hard-headed when it came to certain things....like GREEN smoothies and salt water flushes! But you know what?  They are both GREAT, although it took me years of having my brakes on before I realized that!  More on that later....

Today we need to get started and I like to start the day with a BIG cup of hot water, the juice of half a lemon and a shake or two of cayenne.  Sip it slowly and I will tell you about the health benefits later.

To set our intention for the day, I am pulling from the deck, "WISDOM for Healing Cards" by Caroline Myss - "Identify one area of your own life where you're angry at yourself or where you've yet to forgive something you've done.  Healing requires forgiving oneself as well as others.  Your goal: LOVE YOURSELF enough to HEAL."

Love yourself up today.  Look in the mirror and say with gusto, "I LOVE YOU!"  Go ahead, kiss the mirror if you feel like it! Don't forget to LAUGH every chance you get....and for no reason.  Food is medicine, but laughter is the BEST medicine....they walk hand in hand!

Make your smoothie. Measure out your water....I know if you are at a job, this might be difficult.   Adjust to your various situations.  Try walking on your lunch break.  Take the stairs, instead of the elevator....and remember to BREATHE!  You CAN do this!

Have a GREAT day!

Santé, To Your Health!

Sue Ansari RN

MICancerCoach
www.gogreencleanse.com

www.santetoyourhealth.org
http://www.livestrong.com/article/164077-what-are-the-benefits-of-lemon-water-with-cayenne-ginger/

The Beginning of a New Month...and I'm doin' it RAW!!

February 1, 2011....I must say living alone changes things, many things, preparing food is just one of them.  My cat, Dora, and I have spent most of the day in my bedroom.  It's comfortable, spacious and the way things are right now, the only warm room in the house, other than the laundry room and I don't feel like hanging out there!

I ventured out a few times to make fresh juice and a small batch of Chia Pudding...that was about it.  Still very tired today.  The "big" event of the day, other than my car battery being dead, was the 30 minutes I spent on the treadmill...and the BIG news, of course, is the impending blizzard.  Snow was predicted to start at 7PM and like clockwork, it began falling at 6:45.  Amazing, huh?

February 2, 2011.....And the snow continues to fall!  I find it amazing how weather can be so easily predicted which is what I was thinking about last night when I was overcome with sleepiness and had to stop writing. Weather is predictable, just as is our behavior.

I have been hiding behind 30-40 extra pounds ever since my last child was born and she was 28 years old two weeks ago.  Despite having invested massive amounts of time and money in various programs over the years, knowing the science inside and out, as well as believing it fully,  my brain was not in the game.  Consequently, my predictability for success was nil.  Being raw for the month of January was my choice.  I was ready to commit, willing to be realistic, but I knew I needed support in order to stick it out.  Rosemary was that support and I thank her deeply for participating in the program for the entire month. Everything that I now need to continue on this path has been put in place....I have not even removed the Vita-Mix from my counter, imagine that!

For me, hiding behind my weight was a result of sagging self-confidence and my excuse for not putting myself out there to be seen.  Fortunately, as I have said so many times before, laughter found me, but even more importantly, with the laughter came the most beautiful group of loving, caring souls who have supported and buoyed me up during some pretty dark times.  Family, obviously, should be there, but for me, to be remembered and thought of by a myriad of friends outside my family unit, something I had never before experienced, had a profound impact.  All of it, including getting through breast cancer treatment, boosted my confidence level to the point where at last my brain was ready to think and believe, "Yes, I can....and I will!"  and I did!

I believe it's all about self-confidence which equals self-love which brings me to the lovely Lubbock lady who has started a "30-Day Love Yourself Up" page on FaceBook, so here's to Carla, The Confidence Queen!   I needed that boost during the mid-point of last month, but I need it not just for 30 days.  Let's keep loving ourselves up every day from now on!

Daily reminders...

• Amaze yourself by doing something you never thought you could
• Treasure your health - walk for at least 30 minutes every day, drink at least 64 oz of water, and stick to a primarily plant-based diet
• Never leave home without lipstick...or at least gloss!
• Look at your least favorite body part, caress it tenderly and say out loud, "I love you,_______!"
• Remember, skinnier girls cannot do some things you can do!
• Refuse to be invisible ever again!
• Even if you are a bit inflexible in the yoga studio (or at Zumba!), thank your body for what it can do...and do it!
• Whatever your capabilities, NEVER stop moving!
• Stop obsessing over how you look - appreciate and love your body as it is
• Focus on what you can do and don't compare yourself to others
• Stop worrying about yourself.  Focus on others and how you can make them at ease and happy

My prediction is if our thoughts and behavior are channeled in this direction, the pathway to health and happiness will be a piece of cake....raw, of course!

Santé - to your health!

Sue
www.laughteryoga-michigan.com
http://twitter.com/#!/MICancerCoach