Spring Clean with a Juice fast in April

Let's think about April: Spring cleaning.

Everyone should allow the digestive track a time to rest at least twice a year. Spring and fall are two good cleansing points. Until you can work up the mental acuity to cleanse at least once a month, begin the mental work now that you will cleanse once in the spring and once in the fall.
I would like you to consider a spring-cleaning juice fast in April. If you've never juiced before, consider a 3, 5, or 7 day fast.

Tips:
1. Join a juice fasting support group now - don't wait until April.
2. Buy your juicer by the end of March.
3. Check your April calendar and choose the days that have the least distractions: no birthday parties, no girls night outs, no anniversaries to celebrate - be sure the days you choose are STRESS FREE!
My best suggestion is to begin with a 3-day fast in April. You see, I believe in the power of small steps. You don't have to conquer Rome in a day.

If 3 days works for you, in the fall, try a 5 day cleanse. If that works, spring 2016 try a 7 day cleanse. Often times, we force ourselves into these lofty goals, then nothing gets done because we quit - thinking we're a failure. Well, no you aren't a failure, you just dreamed too big. I know that's what all the propaganda tells us: DREAM BIG! Believe it or not, that usually doesn't work when you're transforming your health from poor to optimal. Gradual steps work best.

If you think you will try a three day juice fast in April, maybe use March to try a one day smoothie fast or a one day all raw foods fast.

Start the mental preparation. Take off the racing shoes. This isn't a race. The reward goes to those who make it across the finish line.
Don't be in a hurry. This is why I promote 1lb down a month. I'm not being facetious; I'm being real. I bet you didn't lose any weight last year, so don't scoff at 1lb down. It will take you farther than setting a goal to lose 8lbs a month then eventually binging and gaining it all back.
Stop trying to win the race by coming in swiftly. Make finishing your goal.

So, check out my March suggestions for wellness, if you haven't already. Commit to a wellness goal. Then start mentally preparing for a juice fast in April.

I'm successful now eating fully raw because I gave myself several months to process it. During the fall of last year, I was pretty serious that I wanted to start the new year off being fully raw. Lil' Roadie suggested I start before the new year. I tried. And failed. Most people started promptly at the new year; I wasn't quite ready yet. Finally, I jumped in on January 8th and haven't looked back.
Health is our greatest asset. And as long as I have any influence over your life, I will constantly remind you to take care of your Temple. That's my message. That's my mission.

I love you too much to let obesity and disease overtake you.
Cheers to our health - one small goal at a time.

Love y'all,
Lisa

March Wellness Goals

It's so easy to use a new month as a time to reset. Hopefully, you accomplished your February wellness goals; now it's time to set new goals for March. Here are some suggestions:

1. Replace breakfast with a smoothie.
2. Walk 30 minutes each day.
3. Go to the gym each day (do something - no days off).
4. Eat raw until dinner.
5. Eat raw for 30 days.
6. Follow the Engine 2 Diet plan (Week 1 eliminate dairy; week 2 eliminate meat; week 3 eliminate processed oils; week 4 stay the course).
7. If you are not yet drinking a gallon, increase your goal to 1/2 gallon a day (You can do 96 oz as a goal in April and 1 gallon as a goal in May).
8. Start each day with warm lemon water.
10. Follow the nutritarian diet for a month.
11. Train for couch to 5k or 10k or 15k - wherever you are.
12. Incorporate a fitness challenge: planks, squats, pushups.
13. Try intermittent fasting.
14. Eat a BIG GREEN salad for dinner.
15. Eat plants only until dinner.
16. Eat 1lb of raw greens and 1lb of cooked greens (this is part of the nutritarian diet).
17. Read a wellness book that will strengthen your research base towards healthier living.
18. Lose 4lbs.
19. Eliminate refined sugar.
20.Cook at home - avoid fast food for the month.
21. Learn new recipes to incorporate whole plant foods.
22. Put your children on an all plants diet for the month.
23. If you're married, make sex a priority - get it in (pun intended). No less than four times a week this month. Go for it! (If you don't feel like it, it's only because you aren't eating enough plants - I promise). 

Looking forward to hearing about your wellness goals and your success stories.

I am fully raw today because in the fall I SAID I was going to do it for 60 days. Now, I'm considering 6 months to a year. It's important to do what you say you're going to do. So, choose a goal and commit. Then tell someone so you can be held accountable. No lurking and hiding in the shadows. You've done that before - how's that worked for you? It hasn't.

Are you ready? Remember, choose a wellness goal. Commit. Tell someone. And make it happen.

Looking forward to your stories of success at the end of March.

Stop! Don't Touch That Soup!

If you think a raw food fast is healing, you ain't seen nothing yet. Recommended reading for the month of February is Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Fasting and Eating for Health (pictured in comments below). So many truth nuggets are contained within the 226 pages.

I am a water faster; I believe in water fasting, and one day in the next few years, I plan to check-in to a water fasting retreat to take my healing to another level. Have you ever considered a water fast? Why not?

Did you know that when you are sick, you aren't supposed to eat? It's funny how the American culture does just the opposite. As soon as you sneeze, you're shoving animal noodle soup down your throat. Rethink this. (With knowledge, people thrive.)

How do animals respond in nature when they are wounded? They don't eat that's what. They drink water and find a place to rest; they DO NOT EAT!

We are the only animals on the planet to eat when our body is "unwell."
Listen, if your body is digesting food - whether that be raw food, cooked food, processed food, what have you, it isn't utilizing its maximum forces to heal you.

(To those who have ears to hear, let them hear.)

Only when your digestive system is AT REST can true healing begin. This is why diets that promote eating several small meals a day may contribute to "weight loss," but not contribute to "healing." Your healing will elude you if you eat several small meals a day or if you shove soup down your throat when you're sick. As long as the body is CONSTANTLY using energy to digest food, it CANNOT HEAL you.

Aren't you tired of being sick? Do you know anyone who is sick who isn't connected with me? Read and share Dr. Fuhrman's book this month. Knowledge is your power. Get knowledge and get understanding.

Have I tried it? Yes. The longest water fast I've endured was 7 days (while going to work). I'm considering implementing another water fast here soon to expedite my healing. Keep in mind though, water fasting is not for the faint at heart, and you definitely wouldn't want to try your 1st fast while working. Ease into it. Choose one day this month that you will give it a try. It should be a day of COMPLETE rest and relaxation - stress and drama free. Then in March, try a weekend fast.
Chew on this: Other than the few hours you sleep at night, when does your digestive system come to a complete halt from processing food? I always allow at least 12 hours between my last meal of the day and my next meal for healing purposes. Many of you will eat late at night, and then first thing in the morning. I see the pics, and I'm like OMG, they just ate a huge meal last night! Why the BIG breakfast? Noooo - you're killing yourself and your family (By the way, we eat too much anyway. Research shows that one trait of long livers is they don't eat a lot of food. Two meals a day won't kill you; it will actually extend your life - but that's another post). The few hours between your last meal and your 630a.m. breakfast is not a long time for the body to get a chance to work its healing magic.
If a whole day is too big a jump, start with intermittent fasting. If your last meal is at 7PM then break your fast at noon the next day (if you have a disease you are treating with medication, please water fast ONLY under supervision)

My mission is to raise awareness. That's it. Do with this information what you so please. Just know: We are a diseased and sickly nation because we don't know any better. The next time your child coughs and sneezes, don't give him soup; give him fresh pressed juice.
If you aren't feeling well and a cold is descending, partner with your body and STOP eating - drink instead (water or juice); juicing by the way is also a great way to allow your body to feast on nutrients while still allowing the digestive system to rest, especially if a pure water fast is too challenging for you. I never really understand why people juice to lose weight. You can enjoy raw foods and lose weight. I promote juicing for healing purposes only - never to lose weight. I'm currently enjoying the pleasure of eating while watching my waistline whittle - on a juice fast, I would be struggling a little more. To each his or her own - but for me, I'd only juice fast explicitly to expedite healing. But, I digress.

My advice: Plan to incorporate a water fast or a juice fast into your wellness journey this year. Begin with intermittent fasting. Then increase the difficulty to one day, then a weekend, then a 3 day fast or a 5-7 day fast (fasting is not recommended beyond 7 days unsupervised).

Join a support group and tell your family you won't be able to cook for them during those days.
Love yourself from the inside out. No more focusing on losing weight or building muscles. These goals are nice as I'm reaching for them as well, but you can be thin and sick; you can have big muscles and drop dead of a heart attack.

Buy the book. Google water fasting. Look at youtube videos. Do your own research. Then, if you decide it's right for you, go for it.

I want us WELL - from the cellular level; I want us HEALED.

And you know I love you - for real!
Lisa

From the Depths of Disappoinment *Fully Raw*

Summer of 2012 - The girls and I embarked on our first juice fast. I think we lasted nine days.

February 2013 - We ate bowls and bowls of raw greens - straight - no chaser (that's when I dropped 30lbs in 40 days). We would last about a week before we binged at Pappadeaux, Subway or WhatEVERburger. Then we'd go right back to all greens.

Summer 2013 - I attempted fully raw for 10 days - but it wasn't a true fully raw because I proudly boasted I was fully raw plus chips - found it funny, actually. Oh, the struggle.

Spring 2014 - I completed a 20 day juice fast. The goal was 100 days but my detox symptoms overwhelmed me and I tapped out (check out my youtube videos; I was cute - lol!)

*Intermittently: Too many 3 day fasts to count*

Lessons:
1. Each time I quit, I regretted it. As soon as I ate something off the fast - whether it was a juice fast or a raw foods fast, I had the feeling that I could have kept going.

2. My body needs at least 30 days of raw foods for a basic healing. I choose not to battle with asthma as a runner, so I'm using raw foods as my first line of defense. Goal 60 days.

3. Keep it simply raw. Don't over complicate it. If I don't have time to make a smoothie, grab a few bananas. A salad can be a few cucumbers with avocado dressing.

4. Keep guzzling. Dehydration is at the seat of most diseases - especially those plagued with mucus. One gallon a day or bust.

5. Exercise really does take a back seat to diet. As much as I've run and busted my butt in the gym, without pairing that work with a disciplined diet, all my efforts are in vain. I am now the smallest I have been on this journey I started in 2013, and I owe it all to my commitment to raw foods - no cheating.

When the sun sets this evening, if I shall I rise tomorrow, I will be in unconquered territory. I have never made it to 21 days without "cheating" on any fast I've attempted. I could view all those previous attempts as failures, but I won't. They really were lessons. The Lisa before you today is the Lisa built by said "failures." I am the compilation of all the disappointments each binge brought. I am her, yet I am stronger. I am the fat girl who decided she no longer wanted to live a life of disease and misery so she committed to DO THE RESEARCH: I read Eat to Live, My Beef with Meat, Whole, The China Study, The Starch Solution, Eat and Run; I lived on the words of Dr. Furhman, Dr. Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. McDougall, Dr. Colin T. Campell, Rich Roll; I watched video, after video, after informational video (check out nutritionfacts.org with Dr. McGreger).

Today, I am she who has risen from depths of disappointment to take this wellness journey by the horns and blaze a new path. I'll leave you with the words of beloved poet Eve Merriam, "Of all my atom parts, I am the sum. And out of my blood and my brain, I make my interior weather, my own sun and rain. Imprint my mark upon the world. Whatever I shall become."

Fully Raw. Day 20.

Love y'all,
Lisa

 

You're Too Intelligent to Eat Pink!

You've got your heels dug in so deep against being labeled "vegan" that you're willing to overlook common sense.

For example, you're intelligent. I know you are (or else you wouldn't be on my page - smile emoticon ) Yet, you buy pink meat at the store knowing good and well that animal has BEEN dead - so why in the world is it still pink in that nicely wrapped cellophane package? You don't think about that do you. Blindly as you can be you just parade up to the meat section and look at all the nice and pink and "fresh" meat. . . checking the date to make sure you have the "freshest" selection. Come here. . . *whispers*: Wake up.

See, let's not make this about being "vegan" (for now, anyways) - let me make a logos appeal - reaching for your sense of reason. . . Unless you are slaughtering the animal yourself (God forbid - and another discussion), why have you bought into the idea that the meat you're purchasing is "fresh"?

Research says if meat is UNTREATED (hormones and chemicals,people), it ROTS within HOURS!
But why am I telling you this? You are smart!!! You already know this. So, why are you intentionally feeding chemicals and hormones to your family? And in case you're asking: Are there contaminants in plants? Yes, however, they aren't treated with and exposed to the same number as animals are, nor do they store the toxic substances in the same way. The FDA estimates there are about 500-600 different unnatural chemicals in meat.
(Esselstyn, 2012).

Think about this:

A day in the Life of a farm animal: Bombarded with food containing pesticides, take drugs to make them grow faster and keep them "healthy", and they drink water that has been contaminated with fertilizer and heavy metals (not to mention the stress hormones released from the emotional trauma of living a nightmare while awaiting slaughter).

And guess what? All of this "magic" is stored in their fat deposits (which plants do not have) where it accumulates until meat eaters unknowingly consume it (but you've just read this post so you are now KNOWINGLY consuming it).

What do I want from you? I want you to wake up. I understand walking away from eating dead animals can be a process for some - it was for me. I tried and failed for about three months - then finally, Boom! The compassion I gained for them and the knowledge I learned about eating them was just too overwhelming. Not to mention there is NO standing researched based argument against veganism. None.

When I was walking blindly, I wish I could have had someone like me waving a flag of surrender to the masses. I didn't have me to shine the light into my darkness - but you do - you have me - and I'm waving my arms off for you to wake up.

I love you and I don't like that you're being duped. You're too intelligent to be fooled into buying an animal's decaying body. Hours, folks - that's how long a dead animal is "good" before it goes bad if left untreated. Let that sink in.

Just start there. Start waking up little by little and making sense of what the hell you're putting into that precious magnificently designed body of yours. And later, you can choose the lifestyle that comes with being "vegan" - compassion for animals, but for now, you can't argue that the meat you're eating isn't injected with CHEMICALS (are you good with that?) Chemicals to keep it fresh. Chemicals that expose you to cancer. Plants don't do that. They don't have the fat cells to store the toxins like animals do.

I love you enough to let you make your own choice, but if I have anything to do with it, you will make an informed choice. You'll no longer eat dead animals without willingly accepting the chemicals they inject to keep it pink and pretty for your purchase.

Saying Grace Means Nothing!

I am always thankful, however, I no longer say grace before a meal. Can you believe before I transitioned to a whole-foods-plant-based diet, I would bow my head in prayer over a piece of fried chicken and say: "Lord I thank you for the food which I am about to receive for the nourishment of my body for Christ's sake. Amen."

Absolute Tom-Foolery!!!

Oh, I said it before I ate Hamburger Helper (ha!), shrimp, macaroni-n- cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, buttery corn, and three cheese pizza. . . before I ate my Big Mac, or my chili-cheese fries, or my meatball sub. . . oh yes, I said it. 

Now, don't get me wrong: I do believe there is a God. And I believe He loves me. However, I think He has to think it is slap-your-knee hilarious for us to ask Him to bless a Shipley's donut - or to even present to Him a corndog that I assumed was providing me nourishment.
(Shaking My D*MN HEAD!)

To say the absolute LEAST: I. Am. Embarrassed - I'm embarrassed that I was walking so deeply in darkness that I never questioned saying grace. Momma said to say it, so I said it. Bowing over a plate of pigs feet, and chitlings, BBQ ribs, sausages or bologna "sammiches". . . yep, I said it. 

But that's not why I'm writing this post. I'm writing it, because I suspect YOU'RE still saying grace over the foolishness you're calling nourishment - over the foolishness you're serving your family
[Aside: I don't use words to BLESS my body; I use action - heck, eating a bowl of raw greens with avocado dressing IS nourishment for my body - why pray for that? My lifestyle is my prayer. You better wake up!]

I'm gon' bet all I have that you said grace today over some processed food, didn't you? Over a dead animal didn't you? Thanking God for the slaughter - Yes!!! Let's all line up to do that. 

Please don't take this message the wrong way: I'm not judging you - I'm NUDGING you. Nudging you to THINK about what you're doing. You're actually praying over carcasses and things, yes, THINGS you bought in bags or boxes . . . What are you doing? Not thinking. That's what you're doing. Just doing what the elders taught you - not questioning "nothing." (Probably still drinking cow's milk too, but that's another post). 

Insulting YOUR God's intelligence - that's what you're really doing.
All I ask is you consider that my words could possibly be true. Just maybe. 

Love y'all,
Lisa

No, You Weren't Born This Way!

How about Obliterative subsumption? Defined: Meaningful learned material CANNOT be recalled in the PRECISE form in which it was originally learned due to the subsumption (absorption) of the new material under a newer broader context.

Case and point:

When you were a child, you loved animals. All of them. You did not think of them as food. You didn't. Trust me. Someone forced their view of "animals-as-food" upon you before you were old enough to decide for yourself. You were brainwashed to believe you were supposed to drink cow's milk. Today, when I suggest, perhaps, you should rethink drinking the milk from another beast's breast, you MOCK me and carry on about your business only to buy another gallon of milk for your family - probably 2% if I'm correct. Ignoring the blatantly obvious: Cow's milk? Let that sink in.
This "present-day" older you absolutely cannot recall ever loving ALL animals in that way. Yes, you may "own" a dog or a cat or a hamster or whatnot, that you love, but when you were TWO or THREE you loved ALL animals: cows, fish, rabbits, chickens. Your eyes would light with wonder with animals. They were even introduced to you as friends on the cartoons you watched or the alphabet books read to you. Go figure. Animals as friends? Ha! The notion!

Did you know you would TRAUMATIZE a toddler - and maybe even an elementary aged child - if you were to be an HONEST parent? It's funny: Some of you don't promote Santa because you refuse to participate in lying to your children, yet you aren't forthcoming with the truth about meat. Isn't this hypocrital? Why not tell your toddler the truth? Tell him/her that McDonald's chicken nuggets are actually made from slaughtered chickens. Ouch! Too violent, huh? Well, really? Then perchance, we finally agree upon something.

Here's what's funny, but not funny: You no longer think that eating chicken is violent, do you? And to think you once were that THREE year old.

What happened? Obliterative subsumption. That's what happened. Wake up. You weren't born this way!
‪#‎TheMoreYouKnow‬ ‪#‎GoVeganAlready‬ ‪#‎YouWereBornVegan‬

*photos taken from the internet*