Happy, Healthy, Raw

Yoga

Since I’ve come to rely heavily on mental health as well as physical health, I’ve been getting more and more addicted to yoga. 

At first I couldn’t seem to calm down enough to enjoy a form of exercise that wasn’t moving super quickly. However, once I allowed myself to see yoga as a more spiritual and mental activity, I was able to ease into my practice and really begin to benefit from it. 

Here’s a quick list of the main things I love about yoga:

1. It is one of the only things that completely calms my mind. While I’m at yoga, my mind is peacefully within the moment and focused on relaxation rather than worries. 
2. Despite my initial concerns, it actually does provide a good workout! It works muscles that machines at the gym rarely touch. It’s exciting to build and tone muscles in areas I otherwise couldn’t; and yes, I actually get shaky and sore from yoga!
3. Improves flexibility. Flexibility just helps the overall flow of your body in everything you do, and it feels good!
4. It’s relaxing.
5. It’s fun!

triniorchidsoflove asked: Do you still eat mostly raw or vegan?

No matter what is going on in my life I try to maintain a healthy diet, but I’ve definitely been on and off with raw/vegan. I also tried a gluten and dairy free diet for awhile.

Lately I’ve been slacking off a bit, but I think I’m going to get back onto predominantly vegan and gluten free for awhile. I’m just trying to test out which foods agree with my body and which don’t.

triniorchidsoflove asked: When you are on a raw food diet how do you know if you are getting enough calories? Veggies and fruits are low in calories and even when I eat a lot it seems that my calories are still low.

If you are eating completely raw, just listen to your body and it will tell you if you need to adjust your caloric intake. If you are eating tons of fruit and veggies and are still hungry all the time, make sure you add some high calorie foods into your diet. Medjool dates are popular in raw food diets (they are often used in raw recipes and sometimes in smoothies) and have around 330 calories in five pieces. All nuts and seeds (almonds are usually referred to as one of the healthiest) are also high in calories and fat. Avocados also contain around 300 calories (but they are good calories, as are all raw foods!). Also, cold pressed oils (I used to use a lot of hemp seed oil) are a good source of calories and omega-3 fatty acids. 

Sorry I took awhile to respond to this, hope this helps! :)

joshamann asked: Steam rooms are incredible. The helps clear your skin, put color in your skin, detox your body, help your immune system, help with sinuses, and plenty of other things. they are also really relaxing

Anonymous asked: How long have you been raw? Also when you first became raw what were some of the immediate benefits you noticed?

As I said before (and I believe I made a post about this awhile ago, I’m not trying to be misleading! lol), I am not on a raw food diet anymore. I was 100% raw for around 5 or 6 months and was mostly raw for almost a year. 

When I first started raw foods I was in really poor health, so any improvement from my previous condition I counted as a benefit. Weight loss was pretty immediate (not in an unhealthy way, but I started losing weight after about a week). 

Some people begin to feel overall better immediately, but really noticeable benefits take a little longer. Be patient though, because the benefits that take longer are the ones worth waiting for!

Don’t freak out if you don’t feel/look great right away. A raw food diet helps your body detox, so you might actually feel worse at the beginning! You have to learn to love the potential pain and accept that that is your body getting rid of the bad so you can feel better in the long run.

Anonymous asked: How do find the willpower to stay raw? Also are you 100 percent raw vegan? Do you think it is better to eat mostly fruits or veggies or an equal combo of both?

I’m actually not on a raw food diet anymore because I found out that my body can’t handle a lot of the nuts and seeds that a raw food diet needs. (But I was on a raw food diet for about five months before I realized this). For me personally, I had incredible willpower because my health was deteriorating so much that I saw raw food as my only hope for being healthy again. 

As far as fruits and veggies go, it is really up to you. Leafy greens are actually the most nutritious and important part of a raw food diet (some raw foodists put them in their own group separate from vegetables), so you should try to get as much of those as you can (green smoothies are the easiest way to do that). 

Anonymous asked: Do you think 1200-1400 cals on a raw diet and one hour of daily exercises is okay for weight loss? I need to get healthy and lose 70 lbs.

On a raw food diet, your body is supposed to burn more calories than usual because it is actively trying to repair all the damage in your body and cleanse itself; this whole cleansing process can take years to actually complete, but in the meantime you don’t have to worry about calories when on a raw food diet. 

Example: When my mom went on a raw food diet, she consistently lost weight (she had about 50 lbs she wanted to lose) despite the fact that she ate 3-4 avocados per day! (avocados are high in calories and fat, so from a caloric standpoint, she should have been gaining weight rather than losing it)

In short, my point is you don’t even have to count calories with raw foods! :)

Anonymous asked: Does being on a raw diet cause fast or extreme weight loss? I want to be healthier but I am worried about becoming too thin I'm 5'4 116 lbs

With a raw food diet, if you do it correctly and don’t starve yourself, you should be able to maintain the perfect weight for your body. I suggest you read Victoria Boutenko’s 12 Steps to Raw Foods and other books by the Boutenko family. They tell you all about how the raw food diet works to heal your body and why it is so beneficial. Being well informed is a super important part of any diet