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Question #1: What are some rawfood staples in your current diet? B) Are you 100% raw? C) How did you start? Raw staples for me at the moment include: LOTS of fresh greens, avocadoes, spirulina, maca, raw tahini, wheatgrass juice, bananas and apples and a few seasonal oranges. Yes, I am more or less 100% raw at the moment, aside from occasional small divergences such as nutritional yeast flakes or un-raw carob powder. I
started my raw journey through my desire to lose a lot of weight
quickly and healthily. Before I went raw I was morbidly obese,
weighing nearly 300lbs (21stone) at my biggest, but had no interest
in dieting. Since adopting a raw lifestyle I have lost more than
half of my body weight, coming down to a healthy 138lbs (9st 9lbs).
The event that triggered me into going raw was a friend lending
me the book ‘The Raw Family’ by the Boutenkos. I read
the whole book in one night and was completely amazed at the transformative
power of raw and how much sense it made to me as a lifestyle and
a healthy way to lose weight. I went 100% raw the next day, which
was quite a challenge for my highly toxic system :) In the first
year I lost around 100lbs (7.5st) and this has continued into
an incredible journey for me on all levels – physically,
emotionally and spiritually. My e-books spread my message of hope for natural recovery from obesity and overeating. ‘How to go Raw for Weight Loss’ is my first book and is a beginner’s guide to examining dysfunctional patterns around eating and learning how to deal with those issues with a healthy raw food lifestyle. By taking an honest look at the patterns that cause us to overeat, we can begin to change those patterns, leading to healthy, quick and sustainable weight loss. Through a mixture of proven self-help techniques and a mainly raw eating plan, my book helps people to release themselves from self-destructive patterns, lose weight and move towards vibrant health. My second book ‘RawReform: Recipes’ is a very accessible recipe book containing over 150 simple, practical ideas for raw dishes. It is an excellent resource for beginners, as it covers all the raw food ‘essentials’ in a down-to-earth manner, the aim being to help the reader easily create a new tradition of raw foods in their own kitchen. People often feel daunted at the start of their raw journey, as it can seem like there are so many new things to learn - this recipe book is written with that in mind, to ease the journey. This book is a great supporting volume for those who read ‘How to go Raw for Weight Loss’ and want access to tasty, simple recipes to begin a new lifestyle. I was motivated to write these books to share my experience and message of hope for others for natural recovery from obesity and overeating. Obesity has been declared a worldwide epidemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and most solutions that people seek, such as crash diets, ‘miracle’ powders and pills, surgery and so on, are not sustainable and do not support genuine health. I want to promote the raw lifestyle as a wonderful solution for healthy weight loss. It also concerns me greatly that overeating as an addiction is not well acknowledged in our society. Most obese overeaters who approach medical professionals for help are simply advised to ‘eat less and exercise more’ - they do not receive the message that they may benefit from addressing the underlying causes of their overeating. I want to support people in taking a look at their patterns around eating and choosing healthier alternatives. When I started out on this path, I did not have much support or guidance – now I have written these books to share all that I have learnt so far with others who wish to follow this path – to help them avoid the major pitfalls along the way. Question #3: What advice would you give to overeaters and what transition food would you recommend? I believe it is very important for people who are overweight/obese to take a good look at their patterns surrounding overeating if they want to make changes. So often, people only consider the excess weight they carry physically and do not consider the underlying causes of that weight gain. My books help people to understand that the excess weight is not ‘the problem’ in itself, rather it is a symptom of overeating which is itself an addiction. As people start to use the tools and exercises outlined in my book to address their behaviour, they can free themselves from emotional eating and self-destruction. Weight loss follows naturally and especially so with a mainly (or wholly) raw food diet, which always works to bring the body to a balanced weight. In my opinion, addressing overeating issues while adopting a mainly raw food diet is a remarkable combination for successful, sustainable weight loss and I highly recommend it to any other overeaters wishing to change their patterns. I recommend ‘heavier’ transition foods to my clients to help them with the often very big steps they are taking away from diets rich in fats and calories towards a cleaner lifestyle. I tend to recommend things that helped me a lot, like cooked brown rice, steamed vegetables, cooked quinoa, rice cakes, rice pancakes, rye bread and so on. I also recommend that overeaters going into a raw lifestyle take things slowly, or at the pace that feels comfortable to them – we are coming from a highly toxic place and it is so much more sustainable in the long-run to start out 50% raw, for example and build up from there rather than to try to dive head-first into 100% raw, experiencing huge detox effects and then potentially giving up on being raw altogether. Slowly, slowly and with a great amount of care for you own body is the most nourishing approach, I believe. Question #4: How do you come up with a recipe? I tend to travel a lot, so the recipes I use tend to be dictated by using the ingredients I find to hand. I love to eat local, seasonal produce, so wherever I am, I try to get hold of plenty of fresh greens and a little fruit and get inspired, with whatever equipment might be available. I tend to eat quite simply at the moment and am really enjoying that – it feels very clean and kind to my body to make my meals uncomplicated. Question #5: Can you share a favorite raw food recipe with us? One of my favourite raw dishes to prepare is a delicious fresh muesli blend for the mornings. I like to make something that is rich and sustaining and carries me through until lunchtime. The following is something I would typically have for breakfast: ‘POWER BREAKFAST’ RECIPE 1 banana, thinly sliced 1 apple, cut into small chunks small handful of soaked sunflower seeds small handful of soaked pumpkin seeds small handful of soaked sultanas 1tbsp maca powder 1tbsp hemp protein powder 1tbsp carob powder ½ tbsp yacon syrup/agave/honey ½ tbsp hemp oil small handful of goji berries a little almond milk to blend Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, adding in fresh almond milk to desired consistency. ENJOY. Question #6: What are some quick tips or hints for raw newbies? Be very kind to yourself during the early stages of transition – this is a big change for most people and you will benefit enormously from getting plenty of rest and also seeking support from others who are on a similar path. You are not alone and you do not have to do this on your own – read literature, visit web forums, find or start raw pot-luck gatherings, attend events – you can gain so much from sharing with other people and it is such a gift to be able to bypass major pitfalls in the raw lifestyle yourself by learning from the past errors of others. A small investment now in a book, seminar or retreat may save you immeasurable time, energy and money later down the line. Try to find a good overall balance between having a lot of alkalising greens, plenty of good fats and a little fruit – this is the pattern that seems to work well for most people. Be aware, however, that there really is no ‘perfect’ raw diet that is suitable for all – our bodies are all different, so take what seems most true for you from all that you read and hear and simply enquire into deepening your connection to your own body’s needs. Try not to combine too many different foods at once in your meals – there is a tendency to get very excited and experimental with recipes at the beginning of going raw, which is great for creativity, but can often be very hard on the stomach when people combine many different foods in one meal, creating a lot of gas and disturbance. Be gentle and try to tend towards simpler combinations of things - your digestion will thank you for it and your ovcrall health and vitality will be much stronger. Question #7: Do you have any dental problems on the raw diet? I have always had impeccable dental health. Since going raw I have noticed that one of my wisdom teeth seems to be developing a small hole and is sensitive to sweet foods. I suspect this is attributable to the amount of dried fruits I consumed at the start of my raw journey, without taking much care to clean my teeth after eating. These days I eat very little dried fruit and pay more attention to the messages my teeth give me when I eat sweet foods. Question #8: Do you take any raw supplements or super foods? I take a lot of kelp, in both pressed tablet and powder forms, to support my thyroid gland, which is under-active. I also take a probiotic to support my digestive system. As for superfoods, this is something I have really become interested in over the last year or so while working with Raw Living – a UK raw food supply company (www.rawliving.co.uk). Now I normally have spirulina and goji berries most days. I also often have raw cacao nibs, aloe vera and maca. I find these foods to be wonderful supplements to the more ‘standard’ raw foods I was eating before – i.e. fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, seaweeds and so on. I think we live in a time when we are truly blessed to have access to these kinds of amazing foods that really help to ‘join the dots’ in raw diets. With superfoods added into my diet, I feel assured that I am getting all that my body needs, in the most assimilable (and tasty) form possible. I also am really thankful to have rich green powders available to me to mix with water for when I’m on the road and don’t have a juicer always available – this is a real lifeline for me in terms of alkalising my system. Question #9: Where do you see the raw food movement heading? I think this is such an exciting time for the raw foods movement. More and more people are awakening to the idea that a raw lifestyle can bring amazing health benefits. There are such incredible resources available to us now in terms of raw food supplies and I see the raw foods movement spreading ever-wider as people realise the benefits. People do not need to be 100% raw to feel the effects – just eating more raw foods than cooked will be enough to tip the balance in favour of better health and well-being for all. As raw foods become more and more mainstream, obesity trends will be reversed, the general health of our populations will increase and the massive shifts in consciousness that we can already see operating will be accelerated, bringing changes to society on every level. Needless to say, I see raw foods as a major potential catalyst for change and improvements in quality of life. I also look forward greatly to the day when it will be easy to find a really nice raw salad when you’re out somewhere, when raw snacks will be widely available and people will be growing goji berries in their gardens. ;) Question #10: Can you please tell us about some of your current projects you're working on and/or developing? I am so excited to be coming out to America between March and May this year to do a series of talks, mainly along the west coast and hopefully in Hawaii too. Most of my readers are in the States, so I feel delighted to be coming in person to share this message. My schedule details will be posted to my website soon. I am also working on the next volume in my series of e-books, which will be entitled ‘RawReform – the Physical Changes’. Many people with a lot of weight to lose undergo enormous physical changes on raw foods and this handbook will help people to understand better what they are experiencing. In England, I am co-creating a very exciting event for June the 4th in Brighton, on the south coast, called the ‘Food of Life Festival’, which is going to be an extremely vibrant and magical day, incorporating raw foods, sacred sounds and healing therapies. There are so many inspiring raw ideas flowing in the Brighton area right now, as we strengthen the community here, with Raw Living’s presence, weekly raw potluck gatherings, press coverage, a raw café, shops stocking raw produce and so on – there is a great energy building here around the raw lifestyle and it feels wonderful to be co-creating that. My website is also currently due for major reconstruction to make it more user-friendly and dynamic, supporting the ever-growing online community of people interested in raw food weight loss and transformation. Other than that. I’m busy broadcasting love, taking care of myself and working on manifesting my dream home of a yurt on beautiful, fertile land, somewhere warm… :) |
