The Truth!

Wow.  I'm a big believer in educating yourself.  I like to read a lot, and constantly try to learn new things about my health.  Over the past hour I can honestly say my eyes have been opened in a way that they have never been open before.  I have seen the light, and I have decided to make a quick transition to veganism.  I know, that's a major life decision, and it shouldn't be taken lightly.  I just spent about an hour reading half of the book, "Skinny Bitch: A no-nonsense, tough-love Guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  It was on the #1 New York Times Best Seller List.  I had already decided to become a Raw Foodist before I came on this trip, but didn't know if it could be a lifelong lifestyle.  I thought that I may go more into a 80/20 diet eventually.  I know that eating Raw is important because of the health benefits and the enzymes that clean your body.  Feeling great and looking great, and staying slim and forever young sold me.  I'm only half way through the book, but in the past hour my eyes have been opened to practices of slaughterhouses in America and as I was reading the book I was in tears.  It was making me sick.  There were quotes from slaughterhouse workers that I rather not get into.  They were so graphic, descriptive and violent that right then and there I decided (about 20 minutes ago!) that I would never touch animal flesh again! O man, it is so horrible to read.  I give the authors credit.  They definitely accomplished what they set out to do.  That's to turn you vegan.  I have recently been reading all sorts of books on Raw.  They tell all about the benefits of the Raw Diet.  But this book.... it's so powerful! I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a swift kick in the ass to get their diet on track.  I highly recommend it to anyone who ever felt the least bit of regret eating an animal.  I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, just to have the knowledge and not be ignorant of what the food industry is all about.  It literally moved me to tears! And I do NOT cry.  I felt so moved by the book Skinny Bitch, that while I'm sitting here in my bathing suit on my Nicaraguan porch in a rocking chair, I demanded the laptop from Sean so that I could tell everyone about it!
The book was not at all what I expected.  I picked it up about a year ago in Barnes and Noble and just had a quick peek.  Then I heard someone (I think on Dr. Oz) mention that it was actually a pretty good book; that it was right on.  I thought it would be funny, and just be your basic healthy diet.  Lean meat, lots of veg and fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.  You know, that average health book.  Boy, was i wrong! I had no idea it was a vegan book! You must read it! And now, I must go, so that I may continue on my reading.  Please check it out.

Dinner in Nicaragua

It's been difficult to be on vacation in a foreign country and stay on a clean diet.  The menu options are very limited! I haven't been able to eat all raw, but I have made the best food choices that I could.

When Sean returned from fishing today the restaurant grilled up the tuna and mackerel.  I had a large garden salad with a small piece of mackrel.  It was nice to know that it was as fresh as could be!

After lunch, the hotel asked us to switch villas.  They said that there was a problem with our electricity in our villa.  I hadn't noticed any problems but we said, "No problemo."  After viewing two villas that were available, we chose villa 17.  Then we hung out by the pool for an hour or so.  After the pool we headed back to our villa to find that it was infested by large carpenter ants! There were all over the walls and floors, although not so much in our bedroom as compared to the downstairs living room and kitchen, but there were a few in our bed! :( Frown!!

We were about to head down to town for dinner when the tremendous downpour started.  It was coming down really hard! 9 of us went to the Bamboo Beach Bar.  There weren't too many choices for my diet, practically none! I think I got the healthiest thing on the menu.  It was actually a special.  Chili Orange Mahi Mahi with veggies and a glass of red wine.  Una copa de vino tinto.  It was absolutely delicious.  The chili orange sauce was a little spicy and a little sweet.  I'm sure that means sugary.  Once again I was glad to know a little bit of Spanish.  It really helps! They don't seem to kmow much English here.  They know a little bit, enough to get by, but I'm really glad for what I know and I'm disappointed that I don't know more.

I was kind of dreading coming back to our villa because of our ant problem and then I heard at dinner that you are supposed to shake you sheets out before you go to bed in case of scorpions! That's the first thing we did when we got back! And I'm happy to report that I haven't seen too many ants.  I did hear a couple of horror stories about bugs at dinner, but I don't want to say, because I don't want to attract that kind of vibe!

It's time for bed, it's 11:34 pm.  Breakfast is at 8 am and yoga is at 9 am.  Other than that I don't think we have anything planned.  It seems to rain a lot.  I would like to go for a walk tomorrow.  Maybe read a book.  Goodnight! Buenos Noches!

Nicaragua Continued....

In the middle of my little "in villa circuit", (push ups, tri push downs, kickbacks, and obliques), I heard a knock at my door. It was James' (the groom), mom. She asked if I wanted to go into town with her and her husband and James' Grandad. So I decided to go! When we got there, it was down pouring. We walked a couple of blocks and got completely soaked! We went back to Big Wave Dave's Bar and sat there to dry off til our taxi was coming back. I read my O Magazine and had a glass of Merlot. I'm glad I had a bathing suit on because I was so wet from walking around the town with no umbrella and barely any overhangs to duck under. Sitting at the bar was a welcome activity compared to walking the wet muddy streets of San Juan del Sur. James' Dad said that he saw a guy run into a pole on his bike rubbernecking me as I was going by in my Pango Pango Swimwear... that's hilarious!

I guess I'm going to add another food group to my diet on this trip. Red Wine. There isn't a lot of food that I want to eat here. I had a red wine earlier instead of lunch. At least I know that red wine is good for me. When I get back- it's organic sulfate free Sardinian wine all the way! (Dr. Oz mentioned that Sardinian wine is the darkest red with the most health benefits.)

After the taxi picked us up, we stopped at the grocery store. It was pretty cool that I was the only one in the taxi that knew Spanish so I could do my best to communicate with the driver who spoke no English. I don't know nearly enough, but what I did know really helped out!

So I'm 2 weeks almost all RAW today, but what a challenge trying to find something to eat around here. At the grocery store I bought 3 bananas and 2 apples. They said the fruit with the protective peel on it like bananas would be safe to eat, and that the apples were imported. It cost me about $1.30. Of course it was in Cordobos so I had to try to do some quick math at the register which I am not the best! 20.5 Cordobas for a dollar.

Back at the villa, I just finished my glass of wine from town, had a small banana, and I'm waiting for Sean to come back from the fishing trip. I wonder what the caught. I wonder if there was a canopy on the boat to protect them from the rain or if they got as, (or wetter!) that I did.

Another great reason to stay RAW and tight this week, I have a photo shoot in less than a week in the Bahamas. The only problem about trying to be RAW in a foreign country is that there is some bacteria on the fruits and veggies, and you need to cook them to make it healthy for consumption. At least I can be vegetarian I guess. I hear we are going to a Mediterranean restaurant tonight in town.

I'm so glad I brought my portable Bose speakers. There are a definite MUST for any trip! It finally stopped raining. Maybe I'll take a dip in the pool soon. Or a nap!

Day One of Nicaragua

We arrived in Nicaragua at 4:15 in the afternoon yesterday. Then it was a 2.5 hour ride from the airport to our resort, Los Palermos in San Juan del Sur. I'll tell ya, it was not a relaxing ride! You know how it is in a foreign country. They're always passing cars in front of them, so you can never relax, because you're on the edge of your seat the whole time. There were people on bikes, there was a family of 3 on one bike! A dad, a mom sitting on the bar right behind the handle bars, and a baby being held by one arm in front of the handle bars. There were motorcycles. There were pickups filled with 20 people. There were people riding horses. There were cattle walking along the road. There were dogs everywhere. One ran out in front of us. Finally, after 2.5 hours we arrived at our resort. It was dark and we couldn't see anything. One thing we could see in the distance was a Jesus statue on top of a mountain all lit up. I heard people saying a man had cancer and then he was cured so he placed a statue of Jesus on top of a mountain.

Dinner last night had me worried. There was a Pig Roast! They literally had the whole pig, head and all laying on the buffet table. I was hoping they would have something for my diet. Thankfully they had some healthy options. Lightly steamed veggies consisting of cauliflower, squash and carrots. It didn't taste buttery at all and were only lightly steamed, so that was excellent. I had a little rice too. There was also a salad with delicious tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers and onions. I had two plates! I was starving!

We were the first two to leave dinner. It was outside on the patio by the pool. The pool looked soooo inviting. I really wanted to go swimming. After the 2 hour airplane ride and 2.5 hour car ride I felt like I wanted to move around a little bit! When we got back to your villa, I laid on the bed for a minute. Then I decided all I really wanted was to go to sleep!

We had to wake up at 7:30 am so Sean could go fishing with the rest of the guys. We headed down to breakfast. I'm so glad I study Spanish. I'm definitely not fluent, but knowing what I did know is really helpful. It just makes me want to study even more. I have so many goals I want to accomplish, but Spanish has always been one. I never seem to get past the level that I'm at though. I wonder what the best way to break through that would be. I have the Instant Immersion CD's that I can play along with on my laptop, but classes seem like the best way for me to absorb and understand it. A tutor would be awesome because then I could go at my own pace.

They had exactly what I wanted for breakfast among other things. They had a huge fruit dish. I had 2 plates of watermelon, pineapple and cantaloupe. It was so delicious!

I brought along with me on my trip my Raw Protein powder, Superfood powder, and Barley Carb powder. I also brought 100% Organic Go Raw Simple Seed Mix. It's Sprouted Organic Pumpkin Seeds and Sprouted Organic Sunflower Seeds. There were sprouted and dehydrated under 105 degrees so they are alive as any sprout, according to the package.

When Sean gets back from fishing at 1:00 we are going to ride into town and check out the little grocery store. I'm also going to check out the rest of the activities around here. I hear yoga is really big around here. I'm just going to hang by the room and do a couple of exercises and read my books til they get back.

We are here for a wedding and unfortunately the bride's father has suffered a heart attack. She had to fly to PA before everyone came to Nicaragua. She might not even make the trip, but is planning on trying to come tomorrow afternoon. We pray he comes through.

Oh! I just had a knock at my door. They were bringing a 5 gallon container of water for our villa. Yay!

So at breakfast I had to ask, "Are there monkeys around here?"

And the answer was, "Yes!"

I knew it! We heard several times last night a "AH, AH, AH" so loudly that it sounded like it was somewhere in our house!

Ok, I'm going to do a few exercises and head down to the pool! Push ups are in order, followed by the resistance band for a few triceps exercises. Gotta stay in shape!

Hasta Luego!!

The Reason Why I Became Interested in Raw

Good Morning! I'm sitting outside again on this beautiful Florida morning. It's 82* F in the shade but the weather channel says it feels like 88* F. It doesn't feel that warm yet, but I can tell, it's gonna be a hot one!

I'm having my breakfast. One scoop of Sunwarrior Protein Powder, A tbsp on the carb barley powder, a tbsp of the supergreens, half a bag of spinach, a half cup of blueberries, a half banana, carrots, and ice and water blended, topped off with cinnamon. Breakfast of champions! Actually, I should say, Breakfast of Athletes! Before I found the protein powder on Day 5, I was feeling extremely week at the gym, and didn't think I was going to be able to make it! Now, I feel GREAT!

Ever since I moved to Florida 6 years ago, I really became interested in my health and anti-aging, and how to be beautiful from the inside out. It was really great to meet my friend Jillyn who lives in Colorado, because she's really into health the holistic way, I'd guess you'd say. Even though I considered myself really healthy, I ate a lot of protein bars and drank a LOT of coffee, and used a lot of Splenda. (I switched to Truvia about a year ago, but lately haven't needed sweetener since I kicked the coffee!) Other than that, I ate an overall healthy diet. I was always into GIANT salads, wheatgrass juice, fruit smoothies etc. Anyway, when she came to visit for my birthday, she brought a book called 12 Steps to Raw Foods. I started reading it while she was here, and then asked if I could borrow it when she left. The more I read it, the more intrigued I became about this Raw way of life. It just seemed to make sense.

When I was about half way finished the book, an episode of Dr. Oz came on called Supermodel Anti-Aging Secrets. One of the guests was Carol Alt. At the end of her interview she said she was on a Raw Diet. She said, "I've never looked or felt better." She said that it was life changing and it's a whole new amazing world. After seeing her, and hearing how amazing she felt, I decided, I want to try this!

I quickly finished 12 Steps to Raw, but that book was more like the philosophy of Raw. I needed more of a guideline. Like what to eat, when, why, etc. I needed more rules!

The next day I went to Barnes and Noble and bought 5 books, one of them called Eating In The Raw, by Carol Alt, herself!

While reading these books, I never had my beloved eggs for breakfast since! That was on May 10th. And you know how much I love eggs! Sometimes I would have them 3 times a day!

The first week was very difficult. I started out my day with a kale and veggie juice that I would blend up, but that wasn't hearty enough to get me through my day at the gym. Especially if I was lifting weights. Something that none of the books seemed to address was protein for an athlete. When I lift weights at the gym, I lift as heavy as I can for 10 reps, so I need something serious besides a veggie juice to keep me going! I was getting frustrated because from Monday to Friday when I worked out I felt very weak and out of it and tired and not myself. I was thinking maybe this isn't going to work for me, I gotta bring my eggs back!

I joined a website called GoneRaw.com. I posted a forum about being a raw athlete. Lots of people wrote to me to suggest and support. Some people said you get all the protein you need from veggies. Some people recommended hemp and pumpkin seed powder. Some people ate 8 bananas for breakfast! That day at gym, I almost couldn't finish my workout. I felt so dizzy!

I was told by some employees of Publix Greenwise, there was a nutrition store a little south of there, where they specialize in Raw foods and sprouting so I decided to go there after the gym. I almost didn't go because I was so tired, but boy am I glad that I did. I met a great guy named Seth there and he has been Raw and Vegan on and off for about 7 years. He said I HAD to get the Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein Powder, Barley Powder and Superfood Powder. He also helped me with buying a sprouting jar and guided me on how to sprout chickpeas. (Which I later made into a raw hummus!)

Now that I have my protein powder, not only do I feel as good as I had felt before, I actually feel better! So now I have no problem being Raw and I'm not hungry at all! I want to report that as of Wednesday I think I have hit a turning point after 10 days. I feel that I don't need as much food and I don't feel as hungry. I am trying to listen to myself before I eat and ask myself, "Am I really hungry?" I've been waiting til my stomach growls. I've been forcing myself to chew longer. Usually I'd take a really big salad to work and work on it all night because I was bored, hungry or both. Now, I haven't even been finishing it because I've been getting satisfied half way through. I wonder if this normal. I'm still trying to figure things. My dehydrator is on the way! And 5 more books. My skin looks amazing. Now, I feel great. I love that I'm getting so many fruits and veggies into my system. I kicked coffee! I want to feel amazing everyday and do the best thing for my body while keeping my mind sharp, my soul energized and body tight! I want to treat my health like an investment for my future! I want to be forever young! That is why I'm going RAW!

My very first blog!

Welcome everyone! Thank you for stopping by. I felt compelled to write a blog because I wanted to journal my experience with the RAW food diet and fitness. I wanted to chronicle how I felt as weeks, and months went on. I've been almost 100% raw for almost two weeks now. I hear that you have amazing energy, beautiful skin and feel wonderful. I decided to give it a try! I'm always looking for ways to become more healthy, and I'm always interested in anti-aging. I'm sure I'll cheat here and there, or may find it difficult to follow when I'm traveling or on vacation, but I'm going to give it my best shot!

I hope to meet some other raw foodists along the way, get advice, learn new things, and evolve my lifestyle into an enlightened one in every way.

I enjoy fitness very much, especially lifting weights. I lift weights 3 or 4 days a week and do cardio 5 days a week. I would love to get into yoga and pilates too!

Not only do I hope to meet some wonderful people who share my interests in health and fitness of body and mind, I also plan to use this as a journal so I can see what I have been up to, what foods I've been eating, new recipes that I've tried and liked (or disliked), and post ideas that I have so I don't forget them! I'll also post some tidbits of info that I gather from my magazines, the Dr. Oz show, friends, and all the health books that I have. Please feel free to comment; I always like to learn new things!

The longer the days go on, as I continue to eat raw, the more I want to be around nature. I'm sitting outside right now! Does anyone experience that? Eating the way nature intended making you want to be around nature more?