What was on your raw 'thanks-giving' feast menu this year?

My daughter and I were grateful to share our feast, friendship and gratitude with good friends and a menu of:
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With spring warming up the Arizona environment, I decided to go for a hike today. Unlike 99% of Arizonan's, I enjoy hiking when it's warm... or better yet, hot, so today's higher temperatures and sun made it a perfect day to head to one of my favorite hiking spots, South Mountain.

Now, I haven't been hiking for about 4 months, partly because of the lack of heat as I mentioned, and expected to take a leisurely hike to 'break' myself in to a new season.

Well, it wasn't a leisurely hike, and not by choice.

You see, as soon as I started up the mountain, I had an urge to move quickly. I felt light on my feet and ran in parts up the mountain. Then it happened.

As I passed a group of hikers one gentleman who was trudging along mentioned that I resembled a 'billy goat climbing up the mountain without hesitation'. We all laughed and I continued on, like a 'billy goat'.

Then I got to thinking. 

Never in my 13 years of hiking had I ever felt this energentic. Especially after taking the winter off. I mean, there were times today when I felt I was gliding up with energy that didn't stop. I'll say this... it was near effortless. And this is 13 years after I starting hiking regularly.

I ran up many parts on the way up, and all the way down. I wasn't tired and felt I could continue after the hour long excursion up and down the mountain. Here are some pictures and video:

So why am I telling you this?

Well certainly not to impress you, but instead to impress upon you what is normal for a person that eats a natural diet and stays active. A raw vegan diet mainly consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables and a small amount of nuts or seeds. A low fat raw diet. I say this because there has been controversy within the raw community lately on which is better. More about that in another post coming soon.

You see, the longer I've followed eating simple whole foods and stayed active regularly, the more benefits I experience. Not a 'hollywood' style raw diet, or the gourmet raw food diet, or a high fat raw diet, or the raw junk food diet. Mainly simple fruits and vegetables, leafy green salads, and smoothies. This goes along with the theory I uncovered in Arnold Ehret's Mucules Diet Healing System and in Paul Nison's talk 'The Formula for Health' that the less obstruction you have in your body, the greater the power and more importantly, the vitality you experience. You see, the fewer obstructions you 'put' in your body, ie, cooked and processed foods, stress and toxins in the form of mucus, the more vitality you experience. And after almost 5 years of being 100% raw, with many adjustments, tests, trials and errors, I've finally and clearly experienced that greater vitality. It's been sneaking up on me the last few months and none clearer than today.

Another factor was conditioning. Although I hadn't hiked during the winter, I stayed active working out at least 6 days a week. Normally 30-45 minutes a day including running and body weight exercises. I do and recommend the two exercises fellow raw vegan coach Roger has put together, and added my own twists to expand them and create a quick routine where I can exercise at home fast or at my local park. No equipment or health club expenses, just a quick daily workout routine.

You can learn more about what I've learned, what I recommend, get regular and exclusive meal recipe videos, meal plans, shopping tips, eating tips, your questions and answers and much more at our new site, Learn Healthy (Raw) Meals. This makes transitioning to a raw vegan diet straightforward with a plan and gives answers to your questions.  Check it out while the free trial is available. The feeling is incredible, share in this amazing experience with me!

To your best health!

Mark (aka the billy goat)

P.S. If you liked this post, Stumble it and share it below to help others learn more.

• Learn Healthy (Raw) Meals

Here's a brilliant example of what happens when you've been eating healthy, choosing a vegan raw lifestyle and then decide to eat 'normal', like most of America does.

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When transitioning to a raw food diet, meeting others that are raw or transitioning can be quite helpful. In fact some will say it's essential to thriving with raw food living.

Where do you find link-minded individuals interested in raw foods in your area?

One of the better places is at a raw food potluck dinner. I just attended my first potluck here in Phoenix, AZ and not only were the dishes delicious, those that I met were interesting and a pleasure to get to know. One of the important, although often overlooked parts of transitioning to a raw food lifestyle is the social aspect. You needn't be alone. Meeting others that share a passion for better health and whole, living foods is not only fun, but helps many stay with the lifestyle, answer questions, share personal experiences and make friends that are like-minded.

A great place to find raw food events in your area is at MeetUp.com. Just look for your city and then search for either raw food or vegetarian/vegan events. MeetUp.com lists thousands of events for all sorts of interests and hobbies, and they're adding more every day.

Go find a potluck in your area and enjoy the raw delights!

Mark
Vegan / Raw Diet

Recently I noticed a lively conversation over at Kevin Gianni's Renegade Health Blog about thoughts on a complete 100% raw food diet.

Kevin mentioned since he wasn't 100% raw, he couldn't comment on some aspects of the diet and invited others to share their thoughts.

Being 100% raw for over 3.5 years, I thought I could share some insight. Basically, here's what I wrote.

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In the beginning, before fire, there was raw! In 1931 a team of Swiss medical researchers proved that the body's immune system treats dead, burnt, factory food (cooked food) as a disease and raw living foods as an ally. The cooking process removes the water and ruins the nutrients in food leaving a toxic, indigestible, addictive and ultimately fatal substance. The words "alive" and "living food" mean that the food has THE POWER OF PRO-CREATION! A SEED! Every piece of fruit and every leaf further contain an active, functioning immune system, a life force & according to equipment designed to look at brainwaves, a consciousness as well! Where living food has intricate readings, processed foods & flesh have no reading at all, a complete flat line (dead)! (You are what you eat!)

Long after fruits have been picked, sit at the market and then in your fridge, it's still alive! ... it continues to possess a life force, water still pumping through its veins, one of its tiny seeds still able to pro-create more then billions of giant fruit baring trees! Dead foods are dead, and they spoil and rot deep in your guts, finally becoming some vicious mold (cancer) which in a delivery of excruciating pain eats you from the inside-out! just like you're going to be if you eat it!... but not before. Imagine what we would be like on a diet of life and perfection!

This is an introduction to Juliano's 'Raw In Denver' video where he demonstrates preparing raw dishes as well as the benefits of raw foods. Insightful piece. You can see the video online at 'Raw Food How-To'.

Be Rawsome!

Mark

You may know that I've been vegan for over 12 years. I had success with losing weight... in fact, in addition to the obvious health benefits, it's one of the reasons I decided to transition to a vegan lifestyle.

When I decided to transition further to a raw diet, something interesting happened... I lost more weight! 12 pounds in 2 weeks to be exact. This was interesting because I actually ate more food than when I was vegan. There is a reason for this and I'll it share with you in a future post.

Here are some interesting and very rewarding benefits about transitioning to a vegan/raw food lifestyle:

• You can eat as much as you desire and not gain weight
• Your body will find it's optimal weight naturally
• You can choose from a wide variety of delicious foods and never get bored
• You'll have abundant energy
• Your taste buds will come alive
• You'll lose as much weight as you need naturally
• You will become more aware of what your body wants (and needs)
• Your thoughts will be sharp and clear
• Most if not all your aches, pains and irritations will go away
• You'll lose taste for unhealthy foods and crave fresh, living foods

These are just some of the benefits I've experienced recently. I feel blessed for this experience and will share more in future posts.

If I can help or answer any questions, feel free to email to: vegancoach(AT)gmail.com (replace the AT with @).

Blessings,

Mark
http://vegandiet.blogspot.com

Looking for convenient, organic and raw whole foods? I highly recommend Whole Food Farmacy!