Posts Tagged ‘diet’
Have You Heard About \”Eating for Energy?\”
Monday, February 8th, 2010Welcome back!
Have you head the buzz about the raw diet? It\’s gaining popularity and buzz, and for more benefits than simply losing weight, but a \”new and old\” way to eat for a long and healthy life. We eat so unhealthy these days, always unwrapping and cooking away nutrients, that we don\’t even consider what we\’re putting into our bodies, and how far we\’ve fallen away from our healthy and all-natural roots.
Eating for Energy means consuming food in its natural and untreated form. There are several street-smart reasons for why this is so necessary for health. Processing and cooking food can take so much of the basic nutritional value from the meal. Consider some of the conventional wisdom you\’ve heard about during your lifetime, such as: If you cook pasta just to the al dente (or medium) stage, it will have more calories, yes, but it will have more of the nutrients in it than if you cooked until it was soggy. Or you probably remember hearing not to peel carrots or potatoes so deeply, because most of the nutrients and values are just under the surface.
When you use the \”Eating for Energy\” system, it means eating unprocessed, raw, organic, whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc. It requires a diet that is at least 75% raw! Cooking takes out flavor and nutrition from veggies and fruits. Eating for energy means eating more the way our ancient ancestors did. They didn\’t cook often, and certainly didn\’t cook or can fruits and vegetables. They ate them whole. Their water wasn\’t from a tap; it was natural spring water. Maybe they drank some coconut milk on occasion.
Think of all the grease trapped in grease traps, under every restaurant in America alone. Imagine that\’s your heart–gross! Is a heart attack a part of your retirement plan? Cancer? This isn\’t some scare tactic, just pick up a newspaper and read about the rising cost of healthcare, and ask yourself if there\’s a correlation to our diet. Do you think there just might be a link between obesity, diabetes, cancer and all the other dire statistics–and our diet? Think of \”Eating for Energy\” as a way out of the mad feedback loop…a way out of the cycle of unhealthy family trees.
Doesn\’t it just stand to reason that this is how our bodies were created to eat? It\’s a way of eating that\’s in harmony with our better nature and in harmony with our own common sense. Our bodies were meant to work, and need to work to be efficient. That means exercise, certainly, but it also means eating natural, raw foods that require more energy to metabolize them.
Looking to find the best way to be healthy? Eating for Energy can show you how, or visit James B. Hussey\’s recommendation to find the best advice on eating to live healthy.
How to Order a Delicious Vegan or Raw Meal at Any Restaurant
Saturday, December 27th, 2008
Have you recently resolved to eat a primarily vegan or raw-vegan food-based diet and are now wondering how you are going to dine out at regular food restaurants? This can definitely be a challenge following this sort of diet and lifestyle, especially if you want to maintain and hopefully grow your social life! Dining out at restaurants and in other peoples homes is definitely going to happen to. In fact-dining out is the most popular social activity of our culture.
Rest assured, it is definitely possible to eat a healthy, raw, satiating meal while out to eat with friends or family. The key here to maintaining your new healthy diet, as it is while traveling, is planning ahead and packing some food with you!
Most likely you’re going to be ordering a salad at the restaurant. Perhaps it will be a chicken salad without the chicken, a shrimp salad without the shrimp, or an order or two of the simple house garden salad. If the restaurant offers an organic or local salad–even better for you!
Options for customized salads are almost limitless. It’s easy to create your very own salad simply by scanning the restaurant menu for the salad ingredients and entree side vegetables. Now that you know what you have to work with, don’t be afraid to ask your server for a salad to be put together for you. Start with the greens of your choice and then for a variety of vegetables. If you usually have avocado on your salad, scan the menu for guacamole or extra avocado as a side. Even if you have to pay the extra money, if avocado on your salad is going to make your meal more pleasant, go for it.
It’s always a good idea to be as kind as you can when asking your server for special requests. They will most likely be more than happy to make sure you’re happy with the food. When your salad comes out, you might have your company turning their heads in your directions complimenting you on your choice and wondering where your dish was on the menu. For your salad dressing, healthy vegan options are olive oil and vinegar, the house vinaigrette, or some plain extra slices of lemon squeezed all over it.
Now, you may not get enough protein, fat, carbohydrates, or calories from this salad and this is where a bit of planning comes in handy. In your purse or pocket, you might want to bring along a handful or two of nuts or seeds, dried fruit (can be your dessert!), a raw food bar, or a whole grain bar, in a small plastic baggie. You’ll be glad that you did.
One of the worst things when eating out with friends and family is to still be hungry and thinking about eating while there is great conversation being made all around you. You want to feel comfortable and happy enough with your meal that you can be in the present moment and not give a second thought to what you just ate. This is probably the most important social aspects of succeeding with a special diet–to do whatever it takes to be happy and satiated with our meals out!
You could also supplement your salad with super-nutritious foods such as hemp seeds and sea veggies but be prepared, as this could definitely turn some heads. It depends on how comfortable you are around the party you’re with. There is a well-known raw foodist in Chicago who does this to her salads at cooked-food restaurants and swears by it. She knows it raises the vibration of the food before it reaches her mouth.
Some additional tips for vegans and raw foodists eating out at a regular restaurant:
Candied nuts and seeds often are added to salads and are coated with sugar so beware if you’re avoiding sugar or excess oil. Watch for cheese or dairy-based salad dressings that come automatically on the salad if you don’t ask for them to be held. A date or some dried fruit and a small piece of chocolate is a great idea to bring with you for your own personal after meal dessert, especially if everyone in your party will be ordering dessert after the meal. Plain steamed vegetables make a great side or entree to your salad if you’re not on a 100% raw food diet.
If you’re confident, comfortable, and relaxed about your meal options, your friends or family may not even notice what you’re doing. But if you’re feeling uncomfortable and ashamed about your diet then they’re going to be a lot more interested in you. Most likely, if you’re nonchalant, you will get some comments on how amazing your food looks at the very most!
If and when people ask about your diet, have a simple definition planned and memorized that you can give them. If you don’t want the entire dinner conversation to focus on your new diet, just say its how you prefer to eat right now or you’re trying something new out for a while. In a nutshell, choose your line and deliver it in a positive and confident way.
If going out with a larger group of people, you can always eat beforehand as well. Telling others that you just ate due to a late lunch usually fares well. If you’re going to be out and about for a while after the meal, you may want to bring some sort of snack or trail mix with you though just in case end up getting hungry later.
With all these tips under your belt, you will be able to eat out at any type of restaurant with your friends, family, co-workers, etc. Your diet should never hold you back from your social life. It’s just not sustainable or fun! Perhaps you could invite your friends to dinner at one of your favorite restaurants for the next gathering. It could be a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to a healthier way of eating and to show them how delicious and beautiful the food can be!
