Well, I've lost 30 pounds so far. I've really been struggling with staying raw. So, I thought, "I'll just eat like 75% raw. My son RC cooks like a chef. The meals he makes for Steve and our exchange student, Yukiko are amazing. So I weaken...and suffer. Last Friday I was one of the guest speakers for Daughters of the American Revolution. Talking with my friend Kathi on container gardening. They fed us lunch. As I walked through the buffet line, I piled on the salad. Piled on the green beans and then grabbed one fish thingy. Was a triangle thing with breading. Oh! And COULD NOT pass up A SMALL beautiful piece of prime rib!!!! By Friday night, I was in soooo much pain! At 2am I had chills and flu symptoms. I lasted like this until WEDNESDAY!!!! So, today...it's a green smoothie. My Calli by Sunrider. Sheesh! Maybe I learned this time. Ya think?

Green Smoothie Girl Website

I have now become an affiliate of http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/?AFFID=28311
If you want to start eating better and don't know where to start, Robyn Openshaw's book The Green Smoothie Diet is a great place to start. Green smoothies can change your life!
Please be sure to use my link when you order.

YOUTUBE VIDEO DELAY

Hi! Just wanted to post that the awesome video's I've posted (over on the left) have a delay. :( Grrrr! They either show only the title and no video underneath or they show a choice of 3 video's to watch, but not the correct videos. (The wrong ones have a short haired darker complexioned woman with a guitar as the top first video. Unfortunately, I don't know why it does that, but wait a few seconds, or so, and you will see them change. STICK AROUND! They're very informative and worth the wait, so wait to watch!

XOXO'S

Mel

If At First You Don't Succeed....Try, Try Again!

Ok, so I fell backwards to poor eating!!!! That's why I haven't made any entry's all these months. I gained all my weight back and then 10 more!!! It was the most I've weighed in my entire life!!! Never in my "skinny little dreams" did I ever imagine weighing this much when I got older! I won't say yet how much I weigh, not until I'm down at least half way to where I feel I should weigh. I got all of my symptoms back. ALL OF THEM!!!! So, it was die or live. I chose to live.

Eureka, I found it!!!! In July '09 I bought the book "The Green Smoothie Diet" by Robyn Openshaw, and started back this time making Green Smoothies. So much easier!!! I think if every person trying to "go raw" would start out watching Robyn Openshaw's Green Smoothie demos and buy her book, they would have quick success! ( www.greeensmoothiegirl.com or go to www.youtube and type in green smoothie girl.) What a difference I felt starting out my days with kale, spinach or other dark leafy greens added to my regular smoothies. I felt content. Cravings were gone! Even Halloween was a breeze! I didn't desire any candy, before green smoothies, I couldn't resist! In Sept. I started adding 32 oz green smoothies every morning to my daily foods. The days I don't have a green smoothie, I tend to slip up. Then at the end of October I bought Alissa Cohen's book and the dvd ($55) "Living On Live Food." The dvd is awesome! (The younger lady in it is ANNOYING but it's still worth getting). Alissa shows easy and new ways to make eating raw more enjoyable and so delicious, just by simple preparation steps. www.alissacohen.com They can also be bought from Amazon.com and Ebay.com. At the end of November my super chef son, RC and I took a Raw Chef certification course given by Angelena Bosco, who is certified by Alissa Cohen. My friend, Malia and her husband Troy took the class too. Actually, I learned more from the dvd and book combo I bought because we saw similar preparation in class that was done in the dvd, but I wanted the Raw Chef Certification (which cost $125). Next step will be to take the instructors course in April.

So far, since about October 25th, I've lost the 20 pounds I gained and continue to lose EVERYDAY! Alissa says to stay off the scale, but it's so fascinating. I am so much more aware of how I feel when I put ANYTHING in my mouth that isn't raw. I still slip, and I don't lose lbs. on the days I don't stay 100% raw, sometimes I even add 1 to 2 lbs. I really pay for it when I do slip. By "paying for it" I don't mean the extra 1 to 2 lbs, I mean that I swell up, get gas, get sleepy, my fibromyalgia pain comes back, arthritis too. I find I only slip up when I haven't prepared and I wait too long and I get really hungry.

"THOSE WHO FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL" I feel such a sense of accomplishment eating raw! I feel soooo good!

"PERSONAL GROWTH IS A LIFELONG JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION" Things are terrific! I love this journey.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! As someone reminded me today, "the best gift you can give to your loved ones is your health!" Amen to that!

XOXO'S, Mel :)

Dr. Ben Kim

I like this newsletter he puts out. www.drbenlee.com He talks about everything that has to do with health. Check him out!

Things are changing!

Ok, so now I've lost 15 lbs. Not much and I'm sure if I was alot more strict with my raw food eating I'd have lost probably 20lbs. But this is ok. I do find that if I begin my day with a juice made from my Jack LaLanne's Juicer I feel better throught the day. I still get shakey when I'm hungry, but I don't have blurred vision by evening time if I've juiced to start my day off.

I'm trying not to use too much fruit. But I gotta tell ya! Eeek! Some of the drinks taste pretty nasty! After I've gagged them down, and the taste goes away, I feel pretty good. But what I find really, really has helped me make the transition is Sunriders Vitashake! Yummm. If I have to be somewhere and I didn't juice yet, I grab my tupperware quick shake container, poor some rice milk in it and add a package of Vitashake and I'm good to go!!!! I didn't like the way I reacted to it before I was eating raw. My blood sugar spiked up to quickly after I drank it. But now that I'm eating pure foods, for some reason I level out. All I know is, it works!
Well, we'll see how things go in the up coming weeks!
M

The Raw Divas Website

Oh my gosh!!! I love this site! This site is packed with information for anyone who is thinking about even just eating better. They feature other authors, lots and lots and lots of recipes. All I can say is that it is a great site! You never have to buy any more books on how to do raw. The site is: www.therawdivas.com