Are You Happy?

I’m currently re-reading Raw Food Life Force Energy by Natalia Rose (http://www.therawfooddetoxdiet.com/about_rawfoodlife_book.php). The entire book is enlightening—both to the mind when you read it and the body when you implement the ideas.

Far from a diet book, this is a resource that invites you to “enter a totally new stratosphere of weight loss, beauty, and health.” And in that stratosphere you’ll find joy.

Within a section entitled, Happiness Is Our Naturally Intended State, Natalia Rose writes, “When you live in a body flowing with abundant Life Force Energy, you are filled with a natural contentment … Westerners today are so far removed from natural sources of energy, sustenance, and joy that we are inclined to believe that depression is normal. Joy is something extraordinary in our society—only a very few among us walk through life joyfully.”

A quick tangent: I love Yogi Tea (http://www.yogitea.com/). Since 1991, this US company has been on a crusade to use only the best organic ingredients. Plus, each tea bag comes with a fortune. Just after I read the Natalia Rose passage cited above, I went to make myself a cup of Yogi Simply Decaf Green Tea. And this was my fortune:

“Happiness is every human being’s birthright.”

It was one of those moments when you can hear God (whichever God you believe in) whispering in your ear. And here’s how I know for sure that God has a sense of humor—as I poured the hot water over the tea bag, it burst and green tea went everywhere. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Since embracing the raw food lifestyle back in November, and spending most of this year making small (green) changes to my home and wardrobe, I have felt an undercurrent of joyfulness. Last night, for example, I found myself smiling widely as I drifted off to sleep.

Question of the blog: If you’re not happy, what’s standing in your way?

Like it Raw?

Back in November, I began incorporating raw organic food into my diet. Now, I start every day with fresh juice made from green vegetables, ginger, and lemon followed by a fresh fruit smoothie. I also have a salad for lunch and lots of dried fruits and nuts—and carob—as snacks.

Two women were my inspiration to go raw and get healthier: Kris Carr and her documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer (www.crazysexycancer.com) and Natalia Rose and her book The Raw Food Detox Diet (www.therawfooddetoxdiet.com). Since November, I lost 20 pounds, but have since hit a wall. I’ve been searching for a means to break through that wall (I want to lose another 20) and I think I found it with a third woman who recently turned my inspiration duo into a trio: Bunny Berry (http://bunnyberry.blogspot.com/).

Bunny is currently one third of the way through a 100-day raw food challenge. In her words, she’s “37, fat, fatigued, and ready to change [her] life.” She has been keeping a blunt blog about her journey with pictures, video diaries, and terrific stories documenting her highs and lows. Bunny lets us all the way in, showing raw emotion (excuse the pun) and not holding back. Also, I adore her style. She’s funny, slightly sarcastic, and whimsical and she has big plans. I can relate.

I’ve been toying with the idea of conducting my own all-raw food challenge. Even though I eat a lot of raw food now, I never have a raw dinner. My only hesitation with going all the way is that I’m married to a guy who could eat a dozen Snickers a day and somehow lose weight and so I can’t ask him to go raw with me. I’m afraid he’d waste away . . . he’d also tick me off as I saw the pounds shed off him and cling to me like body paint. But that creates a challenge on top of a challenge: Preparing a cooked meal for Mark every night and preparing an uncooked meal for me. It’s not the extra work that concerns me. It’s having to sit opposite him while he devours steaming spaghetti while I pick at my mock hummus. In other words, I don’t want to be green while being green with envy.

Why do it, then? You might be asking yourself. Well, I do believe that eating raw is great for the environment and great for me. Eating raw most of the day has already transformed my life and I really want to break through and see all of raw food’s benefits. At this point, I don’t want to eat exclusively raw for the rest of my life, but I think I need a boost to break through the wall and never look back.

Thanks for the boost, Bunny.

Question of the blog: What’s your favorite raw snack or meal?