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Why Raw Food? Is a Raw Food Diet Healthy?

This past year we've been moving more and more towards a raw lifestyle. I think at first it may have been just because it would be a good way to lose weight but now it's because we've learned so much about the benefits of raw food. If you haven't read Never be sick again by Raymond Francis I strongly suggest it.

He was a sick man who discovered how food plays the biggest part in our sickness.


I know you may think that raw food is just vegetables and fruit - I know that's what I thought. But actually raw food is anything that is not cooked over 118 degrees Fahrenheit although I've also seen it at 105.


The benefits of a raw lifestyle are many. To summarize raw, or living food, offers your body nutrients that would be 'cooked out' of cooked food. The food is 'live' so it's essentially going into your body alive and adding to it's health. You have more energy, it's easy to maintain a healthy weight, you body can utilize everything that get's put in - basically everything in your body starts working the way it should.

(By the way a raw food diet for dogs is also great!)

So what can you eat on a raw food diet and does it lack taste?

There is tons to eat and it doesn't lack any taste at all. The only thing that changes is your perception on food. And believe me you will look at food in a whole new (but good) way. There are even raw desserts that will blow your mind. I personally like Ani's Raw Food Desserts: 85 Easy, Delectable Sweets and Treats. We have that at home and made cookies for Christmas that didn't last until Christmas.

If you want to learn the how, when, why, what of raw food then check out this really good resource on raw food:  Eating For Energy. 

This is just a small post on raw food and there is much too learn about it, how it can benefit you, and will you really survive without the overcooked and processed food you eat now...my Italian Mother in Law would have to say you can't but we know that you not only can - you thrive.

Women'sTwisted View Of Weight

I have heard many women talk about how their weight affects every part of their life - as in getting guys, making friends and being succesfful. But I have to say; that is complete crap.

All of those sorts of things are not affected by weight - they are affected by our thoughts and the way we think. 

Because of our messed up view of beauty we associate being boyish thin as what we need to be. The mark that we need to hit and we spend our life being miserable if we have not hit that mark.

If we could change our mind about what we should be striving for then we would be able to move past weight and get on with our lives.

Why are we wasting our time putting all of our energy into our size, shape, and weight. Why don't we put that energy towards being healthy, having healthy relationships, and putting joy into the world.

How many women do you look at, regardless of their size or anything else, and think "Wow they're ugly!"

I'm willing to bet that you are like me and can see the beauty in every single woman out there. So let's start looking at ourselves like that.

Everyday look in the mirror and tell yourself how attractive you are. Remind yourself that other countries don't live like this. They celebrate their bodies and don't obsess over them. They enjoy their life. Remember that a boyish figure is NOT the ideal of sexy.  

A woman's figure should have curves. That's what makes us woman! Otherwise we would all look like men!

Aromatherapy is An Actual Form Of Therapy - It's Been Around Forever And It Works

Aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years. Aromatherapy appeared about 5000 years ago. The Egyptians were the first who used this method. Besides them, also other people like Chinese, Greeks, Indians and Romans had something like that. In Europe, aromatherapy penetrated with the help of Greeks, which borrowed it from Egyptians. With the teasing of Roman Empire, the utilization of aromatherapy, theoretically, disappeared. But one of the places where it was used continuous was the monastery.

For the reappearance of aromatherapy we can thank Avicenna, a famous philosopher and physician. The term “Aromatherapy” appeared in 1937, in a book of Rene Maurice Gattefosse, the chemist which find out the lavender‘s strength after burning his hand.

Aromatherapy is a natural way to help out your body both physically and emotionally.

Essential oils are concentrated extracts taken from the roots, leaves, or blossoms of plants. I love the fact that it is the essence of the plant.

Essential oils stimulate our powerful sense of smell. The everyday odors that we smell have a major impact on how we are feeling. We have the potential to distinguish between 10,000 different smells! That’s why those air freshener commercials show a powerful pleasant emotion with someone ignoring everything else but the smell and being lifted into a state of euphoria because, as exaggerated as it may seem, that’s essentially what smells can do to us.

Smells enter through the fine hairs lining the nose and move on to the limbic system, the part of the brain that controls our moods, emotions, memory and learning. This is why smells can have such a powerful effect on us.

I know most people associate a specific past event or person in our life with a smell. Even if you’ve forgotten about the event or person for years and years, just one whiff of a smell from that time will trigger the memory and feeling of it very quickly.

Essential oils can also be massaged into the skin or even taken by mouth. When taken orally any guidelines given should be followed. Whether inhaled, absorbed, or ingested, essential oils are gaining attention as an alternative treatment for infections, stress, and other health problems.

Almost every ailment can be helped with essential oils. For example, a few drops of Lavender or Chamomile added to a warm bath can help with stress. Cedarwood or Lemon added to your cream or lotion can help with oily skin or you can add them to rosewater to use as a toner for your skin.

A common one is ginger or peppermint for nausea or stomach upset. You can massage a few drops into the abdomen or add a few drops to a warm bath or even use it as an inhalation.

Those are just a drop in the bucket of what essential oils can do for us. It is quite exciting to think about using these natural oils to help us with physical ailments and emotional issues instead of reaching for the nearest drug.

And the best part is you can make your own oils, lotions, and balms at home.

Homemade essential oils help in relieving the symptoms of various types of mental and bodily disorders but the effectiveness of any homemade essential oil will depend on the quality of herbs used. So use organic herbs when you can, and also very high quality oil.

When you make them at home you know exactly what’s going in them plus it ends up costing less than having to purchase them. It eliminates any unwanted ingredients, or worse an unknown ingredient. Plus while you learn you get to share your new knowledge with all your friends and family and become an example of a natural therapy.

Tips For Preventing Food Poisoning

What worse way to get sick then from something we should be enjoying. Our food. Here's some tips to keep food poisoning away and healthy eating at bay. I know sometimes I'm quite lame with my cliche's and rhyming.

• Keep food either hot or cold. Leaving food at room temperature encourages the growth of bacteria.
• Keep perishable stuff in your refrigerator.
• Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible. Don't put them in the same containers they were cooked in (I used to do this all the time) - transfer it into clean containers so that they will cool more quickly.
• Never use raw eggs that are cracked.
• Wash your hands before handling food, and after handling raw meat or poultry. (This should just be an obvious one that everyone practices already)
• Don't diddle daddle after the supermarket especially when it's warm out. Get home and put grocery's away. You can go on the swings later.
• Do not use utensils that you've used for raw meat for any reason afterwards. If you don't have more than one utensil you should probably invest in that.
• If you have bulging, cracked, or loose lid cans I wouldn't eat from them. These can indicate botulism. What the heck is that? Have a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism Check under prevention.
• Wash kitchen sponges with a bleach-and-water solution.
• Thaw all frozen foods in the refrigerator.
• When eating at restaurants and salad bars - do not eat food that does not look fresh and clean or from salad bars that do not have 'protective' glass over them. Avoid the following foods when eating at salad bars in general. chicken, fish, creamed foods, mayonnaise food, undercooked foods, soups that are not kept at near boiling point.
• Don't cut off mold from moldy foods and eat. (I used to do this with cheese until I learned it still affects the not moldy part) .Just chuck it.
• Do not give honey to a baby. This can lead to infant botulism. See above. Honey is safe for after one year of age.

I got this list from my trusty Nutritional Healing Book. You can buy it from Amazon and it's stuffed with tons of info like this and for natural healing in general.

Water - H2O - Liquid Ice - Whatever You Want To Call It We Should Drink It

I grew up in a house of Pepsi. Pepsi was what I drank when I was thirsty, sick, not thirsty, not sick - it didn't matter what I was...Pepsi was what I drank because my dad drank Pepsi and it was the 'cool' thing to do for me.

I remember my Mom trying to get me to drink water when I was really sick and I had to choke it down. Wow! That's just crazy!

And even crazier is that my Dad still does not drink a lot of water. Although I do think he drinks more then he did. It's probably because his body YELLS at him to drink it.

I'm not sure how his body functions. In fact I know he doesn't function as well as he could and I think, besides other bad habits, it's in part to not drinking much water.

Lately I've been trying to down a good amount of glasses each day for many different reasons and I'm having a tough time remembering to drink it over my other daily beverages. But I have really good reasons for it.

1. Keep overeating at bay - It is true that sometimes when you feel hungry you are just thirsty. Although sometimes I just feed myself instead of trying the water first which is silly. I mean how hard is it to drink a glass of water. Is it going to kill me? And if I'm still hungry I could seriously still eat anywase.

2. Drinking really cold water is supposed to burn calories - I've read this many places and I have to agree with the logic. The reasoning is if you drink really cold, or hot, water your body has to use energy to adjust the temperature of the extreme temperature.

So with this theory I guess I could go sit in the snow and burn calories as well. Whatever the case it burns calories by taking nothing in and most importantly by doing nothing. That's a winner!

3. Sometimes I just have to go to the bathroom - Constipation is not fun. I've suffered from irregular bowel movements my whole life and I'm assuming that's in part to not drinking water when I was younger and drinking too much other stuff when I was older. But now it's time to get serious.

My grandfather passed away from what began as colon cancer. I want to keep my colon as healthy as I can and water is one way I have complete control over.

4. Energy - I feel more alive when I drink water. My husband always says that when he's fatigued at working out he just needs to drink a glass of water and it gives him his energy back. I find that to be true too. I'm not sure if it's just because he said it or because it's real but it happens either way and that's good enough for me.

5. Well here's some good reasons that you can't argue with - Water role in our body is insane. It plays a part in pretty much every bodily function.

Water regulates our body temperature, water carries oxygen and nutrients to all of our cells, it helps convert food into energy, protects and cushions vital organs and joints, helps to metabolize fats, removes and detoxifies waste from our system, keeps the liver and kidneys functioning properly, and is the basis for all our fluid secretions (saliva, tears, etc.). Crazy as it sounds this is only a small part of the responsibility water has in our body.

No other substance within our body can say it does as much as water does. So if this doesn't make water a priority I don't know what will!

So as I sit here writing about water I've already drank a few glasses. Maybe I should write about it more often. Hmmmmm....I think I will. :)

Using Your Mind To Feel Better and Heal Yourself

I've been doing a lot of meditation and Binaural Beats lately and I know that it works without a doubt for what I'm using it for.

The brain and our thoughts is and are extremely powerful and I know that they can help us overcome illness among every other ailment or upset in this world.

I'll give you an example.

Every time I used to go out to a movie I would get a headache before we even got there. I honestly believed and thought that I would get one and SURPRISE I would. I decided to change the way I think about getting a headache and instead replaced it with I'll feel good while going to the movie. Not surprising the headaches are now gone.

Here's another example of mine that was way more extreme and something that I wasn't manifesting as far as I knew, like my headache, but something that was just occurring for whatever the reason.

I was having really bad lower back pains for years. My back would give out at random times during the day and it would always give out if my husband startled me. It was almost like my back muscles had just given up. I had gone to the doctor many times for the pain and had x-rays and tests done. Every time it turned out there was nothing wrong with me. But I knew that there was. I was the one feeling it and walking around with a rubber back. I was exercising and at a good weight so I didn't know what else there was I could do.

Then I started picturing myself feeling better. I would go to bed a visualize the pain going away. I had a tiny army of men who I would put to work during my visualizations. They would bring wheelbarrows and literally chip out the bad or painful parts and put them in a wheelbarrow then take them away. They would also replace the bad parts of my lower back with healthy and new parts. Well, within days my back pain that I had suffered with for years - was gone. I haven't had it since.

Even though I absolutely believe in the power of the mind it still surprises me that my back is so good considering how bad it was every day of that time.

I now use this method with the tiny little army of workers whenever I feel something coming on or something wrong in my body. It comes naturally to me now.

There are many other visualizations that I use like a green light washing through my body and cleansing it of anything unpure.

If you have a problem focusing and visualizing I 100% recommend Binaural Beats. People also call it Brain Entrainment. I can't say enough good things about them since I use them and know that they work. They can help get you into a relaxed state and help you get your brain to the place it needs to be to heal your body and life.

Relaxation is the key to using your mind for great things.

A Permanent and Natural Cure for Hemorrhoids

By Janet Pfeiffer
Best-Selling Author of Hemorrhoids Saviour

If you have hemorrhoids, you just want to shrink them. It's understandable - the pain can be crippling and prevent you from leading a normal life.

And while it certainly is possible to shrink hemorrhoids quickly - in as little as 24 hours depending on severity - this may or may not offer you a permanent solution.Why? Because all treatments to relieve pain, shrink veins and stop bleeding are generally only treating the symptoms.

Of course, you need these treatments - you need to be able to free yourself from the pain in order to function in everyday life.

And one of the easiest, cheapest, safest treatments for shrinking hemorrhoids and stopping bleeding is better than anything the multi-national drug conglomerates or knife-wielding surgeons have to offer.

In some cases, direct shrinking treatments may cure a hemorrhoid attack permanently. This is generally so in cases where the condition was caused by a temporary condition such as lifting a heavy object or prolonged sitting (such as long road trip), etc. However, the majority of hemorrhoids are caused by more complex issues than this.

That's why many sufferers of piles wonder why their hemorrhoids continue to return after using creams, suppositories or even undergoing surgery.They may be free from piles for a few weeks or a few months, only to find they suddenly return to inflict more pain.

The only way to cure hemorrhoids is to address the root causes - this cannot be achieved by any other means than making some small - but amazingly effective - changes to your eating habits and lifestyle.

No special diet as such is required, just a few modifications - not so much what you eat, but how you eat. This makes all the difference to your body's digestive and immune systems.
When you treat the actual causes, you can achieve life-long freedom from hemorrhoids.

For more information see Janet's website at Hemorrhoids Saviour

Hemorrhoids - Symptoms, Reasons, and Cures

Anyone who has suffered from internal or external hemorrhoids knows how annoying and uncomfortable they can be.

Blood on your toilet paper? Itching in your anus area? Pain during constipation? All of these are likely signs that you may have hemorrhoids and it's no laughing matter – because although common, they can be irritating and embarrassing.

External are painful and embarrassing. There comes a point when you think they are never going to go away - and it's only been a few hours!

Internal are scary and surprising. No one wants to see blood in their stools. And unfortunately TV has made us think the worst when we see it although it is commonly a hemorrhoid.

The biggest thing I find that helps is staying hydrated. In fact within a day of drinking tons of water I notice an improvement. But there's more to it to keep them away and help them disappear.

In the more severe stages, they can fall out like a lump outside your bottom! There are common mistakes that many people make which help earn themselves the pleasure of hemorrhoids.

Even if you have these already, avoiding the following 3 mistakes can start relieving the problem gradually.

Mistake #1: Eating too much processed food

This can be a toughie for some people. However, it's known that processed foods create harder stool and troubles in digestion. This creates constipation and other issues which can lead to hemorrhoids. The key here, especially when you are suffering and trying to cure hemorrhoids, is to lower your intake of processed sugars and foods.

Mistake #2: Sedentary lifestyle

A lot of long term sitting can create additional pressure on the bottom area and this invokes the perfect environment for a hemorrhoid to occur if combined with a sharp force such as constipation or pregnancy (in women). The solution is to make sure you do not sit for over 1 hour at a time, and remember to do stretches that promote healthy blood flow.

Mistake #3: Intake of processed medication and creams

This creates the same potential problem as processed foods. Even many of the fiber supplements contain processed and artificial elements that can create side-effects elsewhere… and lastly they are not even attacking the root of the problem here.

The other downside of these creams which do no benefit is that they waste one's time and the hemorrhoid can get worse over time if the root problem is not reversed.

So try to avoid these 3 mistakes and you will not be contributing to any worsening of hemorrhoids. It's very important to understand these in our modern lifestyle of sedentary office work and processed, convenient diets.

I seriously recommend checking out Hemorrhoids Saviour.

There's tons of information and that can help you.

I know going to the doctor can be embarrassing and the next best thing is learning from people who have had them and conquered them. They are the ones that know what works and what doesn't because - believe me - when you have them you figure it out pretty fast.

Eat more and Do Less Cardio to Lose that Unwanted Weight

Is the above statement too good to be true? That’s what Rory DeLuca thought. The 42 year old New Jersey resident, husband and busy father of 3 couldn’t believe what I was telling him when he came to see me in January 2006. Like most people, after the holidays, Rory was frustrated with his increased weight and was even more frustrated that his previous “weight loss” efforts were not providing any results. He told me he was trying to eat less and run 4 miles every day, but every time he tried to stick to that routine, his back would hurt because of the running and he would end up starving at the end of the day. You can imagine his surprise when I told him that he would have to eat a lot more and do less cardio to achieve the results he was looking for.

Now, 3 months later, Rory has lost a total of 30 pounds and 9 inches off his body. His back no longer hurts and he is not starving. He eats tons of food all day and exercises less than an hour 5 days a week. So what is the secret to his success? Three very important weight loss principles that we can all incorporate.

1. Rory started strength training 3x’s a week. The key here is Rory was doing the right kind of strength training for his weight loss goal. He was not going from one machine to the next, doing 3 sets of 10 reps on each one. His strength training routine incorporated exercises that used his whole body so his heart rate was up the whole time. Try doing 3 exercises, back to back, using only free weights, stability balls and your own body weight, and you’ll see how quickly your heart rate goes up. No sitting on a bench and chich chatting in this workout. We keep the intensity high the whole time and the workout is complete in 45 minutes.

Incorporating strength training and reducing the amount of aerobic cardiovascular training was integral to his success. The ONLY tissue in the body that burns fat is Muscle. So the more muscle you have in your body, the more fat you’re burning at any given time during the day. The amount of muscle you have in your body also greatly affects your metabolism. So someone with more muscle mass will have a higher metabolism (This is why most men can eat a lot more than women). For example, one pound of muscle in your body requires approximately 50 calories per day. So if I had two people, both weighing 150lbs, but one was comprised of 100lbs of muscle while the other was comprised of 120lbs of muscle, the one with the more muscle mass is burning more calories all day long. That means that this person can eat more during the day and still maintain their weight and will also have an easier time losing weight. Aerobic training does burn calories while you’re doing it, but it does not do anything to increase the amount of muscle in your body, thus it does not help you to continue to burn calories when you’re done

2. Rory only did aerobic cardiovascular exercise using interval training. This concept could encompass a whole article unto itself, but basically, your body becomes accustomed to anything that you expose it to for long periods of time. Aerobic cardiovascular exercise makes your body more efficient at burning fat. But that’s exactly what you don’t want (If your car was more efficient at burning gas, you’d use less of it). Same with your body. If your body becomes efficient at burning fat, you burn less of it for the same amount of work. So instead of burning 200 calories for your 2 mile run, you may burn 150 calories for the same distance in 2 months. So you’ll have to increase the distance and continue to do this, just to burn the same 200 calories. This can eventually turn into running for an hour just to burn the same number of calories! I don’t know about you, but this is exactly what I don’t want to do.

Interval training refers to a series of intense activity separated with short rest periods. You want to make sure that you are constantly changing the intensity of your cardio workout during the whole workout, alternating from high intensity to low intensity. So a typical workout on an elliptical machine would be 5 min warmup, 1 minute at a high intensity (level 9or 10), then 2 minutes at a lower intensity (level 3 or 4). You would repeat this 3 minute round 3 or 4 times, gradually increasing the intensities once you feel like it’s getting easy. Cool down for 5 minutes, and that is a total of 19-22 minutes of cardio, not 1 hour! Keep your body guessing the whole time and it will not become accustomed to the same cardio workout.

3. Rory ate a lot of food all day long. Rory couldn’t believe his meal plan when I laid it out for him. He was going to be eating more than he was currently eating and couldn’t believe this was actually going to help him lose weight. The biggest difference would be what foods he would be choosing. Every meal was comprised of a healthy protein, carbohydrate and good fat. Lots of eggs (whole organic eggs, not whites), poultry, meat, fruits, whole grains, vegetables, olive oil, and raw nuts and nut butters. In order for his body to burn fat, it had to believe it wasn’t starving and the only way to do that was to feed it well.

So what can you do to achieve the same great results?

1. Incorporate both a good strength training routine and interval cardio routine to your workout regimen. Don’t just do one all the time. Your body needs muscle to keep your metabolism high, and it also needs cardio to keep your heart strong, so find a good balance between the two.
2. Incorporate a strength training routine that focuses on whole body movements. No sitting on machines, please. Unless you are rehabilitating an injury, you want to keep your body moving the whole time. What do you think burns more calories, a squat with a shoulder press combination or sitting on a leg press? Just try to squat and raise your arms overhead a few times and you’ll see how quickly your heart rate goes up. Keep your body moving through the whole workout and you’ll be sweating just as much as during your cardio.
3. Eat consistently throughout the day. We’ve all heard it before: Eat five meals a day to lose weight. Well, guess what? It works, as long as those meals incorporate healthy food. Eat a protein with each meal. That is the biggest mistake I see. People are not feeding their muscles with enough protein. Remember, you want to keep your metabolism cranking all day and the best way to do that is to feed your body and to keep your muscle mass high.

Hopefully, this will help you to reduce those countless hours on the treadmill and stop starving yourself to lose a few pounds. I don’t know about you but if eating all day and doing less cardio is going to keep me at a healthy weight and in shape, I say AMEN to that!

Stop your weight loss struggles once and for all with these Fat Burning Meal Plans.