TOWARD A RAWER GREENER LONGER LIFE

On the first monday after January 1, 2010, I began "another diet" having reached my all-time level of heaviness at 250 lbs. (My ideal weight according to the charts for my height is between 185 and 190 lbs) Even my XX Hawaiian shirts were getting tight.

So I decided to once again "try" Eat Right For Your Blood Type. One attraction of this program was that it pretty much eliminates "white" food if you are type O. The problem with type O diet is that I am supposed to eat beef, and after eating Kansas beef for most of my first 16+ years, I really think I have had enough, and after watching FOOD, INC. I knew I didn't want to eat beef again for quite a while. Watching King Corn http://www.kingcorn.net/made not having corn easier, though I have always loved every form of corn there is. O type also has to give up avocado, melon, most beans, cabbage, eggplant (I love it), strawberries and black berries, coconut, peanut, black pepper, cinnamon and vinegar. That's a lot of things to have to exclude, but I did a fair job of it and lost 10 pounds by my birthday in mid-April.

Around the time of my birthday, I saw an ad on the internet for Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with 'incurable' diabetes switching their diet and getting off insulin.

I had previously lost 20 lbs. in 21 days when I ate fruits, nuts and vegetables only, so the idea of eating mostly raw food was not such a stretch for me.

I also knew that exercise helps dieters with weight loss, so on the morning of my birthday I began walking everyday and this morning I walked the first day of my sixth month in a row without missing a day. Each day starts with doing something for me and my health toward a longer life.

On the monday after my birthday (all weight loss programs start on mondays), I began my journey into raw food. I decided that I would lose 66lbs or one pound for each year of my age. That will take me back to 184 lbs. which is about what I weighed in 1984 when I was in my marathon running days. (Different hair back then, part of the costume).

One of my inspirations was knowing Jenny Ross, as her son's pediatrician, and having visited and eaten lunch at her raw restaurant in Costa Mesa, 118 Degrees

(http://www.shop118degrees.com). I was truly amazed and excited at how good the food tasted; and of course, nothing I make comes even close to her creations but she a professional and I am just a novice.

On the internet, my best friend soon became Kevin Giani (and Annmarie Giani) on the Renegade Health Show on YouTube. Kevin does interviews with experts in the health and nutrition field and they also have a weekly recipe show and answer questions about health and raw foods. http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2010/02/24/how-to-sprout-in-a-jar/

Kevin has a free download e-book available on his blog. In the book he lists five principles of High Raw:

# 1: Eat real food & think like a raw foodist.

#2: Make you health your top priority.

#3: Know your body.

#4: Educate yourself.

#5: Take action!

This became the outline for my process of working my way into raw food and weight loss. Being rigid is not part of it so there have been occasions where I have had a bite or two or the "old stuff", but for the most part I have continued a steady course and at the end of five months have lost 25 lbs or 5 lbs per month.

Another part of eating raw is "green smoothies" and Victoria Boutenko and raw family at http://www.rawfamily.com/

have a ton of information about green smoothies and the health benefits. I start every day with a green smoothie, made from some greens, some other vegetables, green powder, protein powder and water. I started with fruit and soy or hemp milk smoothies in the mornings, but I found that I felt sluggish about four hours later.

I am making a lot of my own salad dressings and sauces, but I also use salsa, marinara sauce and some salad dressings from the market. I have achieved what health advisors recommend in that when I go to a typical grocery store, the only things I need are on the outside isles of the store. The internet has an endless supply of blogs and YouTubes with recipes and demonstrations on how to make them and I am collecting a large folder on my computer of Raw Recipes.

Moving forward, I will blog about favorite recipes and things I learn about the whole rawer greener process.