Going to the Tree of Life Rejuventation Center!!!

Much has happened since my last post! The juice cleanse went well and I ended up going 30 days raw! So detoxifying. I never really understood the term "raw emotions"  until I went through my juice fast. Not only did I cleanse physically, but also emotionally and spiritually! By the third day of my juice cleanse, I was in a state of gratitude and beautiful connection with the universe. All these memories were popping into my mind from past experiences that had hurt me or left me feeling uneasy. Instead of dismissing these thoughts like usual and pushing them back down to be buried in my psyche, I confronted them with love and acceptance. It helped cleanse out negativity that was creating blockages on my road to growth. After my juice fast, I permanently healed some of these areas by taking action by rekindling friendships with people that I thought were long gone. It was such an amazing experience to heal this way- I had no idea how much sadness it was causing me to keep all these thoughts and memories buried inside me. 

The colonic went well. I ended up getting two because the second one reaches the smaller intestine. I recommended this to anyone who has fatigue, constipation, gas, or swelling of the lower stomach- actually I recommend everyone to try it. I lost three pounds after mine! I once read: You change the oil in your car every three months... why not clean out your body too? Our bodies are our vehicles to living life and we need to keep it clean!!

Since the juice fast, I have been preparing juice fasts and raw meals for clients and spreading raw knowledge and green living to all who enter my life. I convinced my boyfriend to do a one day juice fast without allowing him to drink caffeine. This helped my boyfriend realize his serious addiction to coffee. He has not gone a day without coffee for two years and he drinks the strong stuff, french pressed! Although painfully on the coach with a head ache and body aches for the entire day, it paid off because now he switched to tea in the mornings (something I never thought would happen.) However, I do not recommend this method for everyone, and I probably won't be so strict about the no caffeine policy when detoxing future clients who are seriously addicted to coffee. They should be allowed to have mild tea in moderation as my boyfriend's withdrawal effects resulted in serious sickness. 

And now for the BIG news..... I have been accepted to work at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona in their Raw Food Cafe for 3 months starting in June!!!!!!! This is going to be a life changing experience for me as I have heard this is a place with such a high vibrational and healing energy. I will be working 40 hours a week in the raw cafe and I am allowed to spend my free time going to free yoga classes and mediation work shops. The Rejuvenation Center in surrounded by mountains and it will be monsoon season so I can enjoy watching the stormy rain clouds roll in over the mountains. I learned from my juice fast that it was difficult cleansing and still being apart of this society. As I drove around for my job, I breathed in pollution toxins from the exhaust from my car and factory fumes from helping my clients at their job sites. Plus, I dealt with unhappy, low vibrating people and I needed to do my best to be the light to everyone I came in contact with so I could maintain my sense of well being. That's why I believe the Tree of Life will be much much more than a raw foods learning experience; I will be in a community where everyone is expressing their spirituality and gratitude for life and the environment. The air will be clean and the energy will by high. I will finally be able to find a place to heal through and through!

Now 8 more months of planning and waiting....



And you know what I have realized? I have not been sick since last February! This was before I started eating raw foods. My boyfriend is ill right now and this will be the test to see how well my Raw Nutrient/Antioxidant packed diet is helping me! And this is from drinking plenty of juice, eating 60-100% raw and vegan (vegetarian at times.) You can do it too! All you have to do is eat a big bowl of fruit in the morning or a big glass of fresh pressed juice and salad for lunch. That's 75% percent raw in one day and then you can eat cooked food for dinner. Easy as that!

<3 Allie

3rd day! Still Smiling

Today is my third day of my juice cleanse and I am scheduled for my first colonic tomorrow!! (sorry for too much info) This morning was tough. I dreamed I ate a raisin bagel and Panera soup?? These are two food items I have not craved in years so it was interesting they came up in my sleep. Panera soup in particular is something I do not want in my body because I have seen how they heat up their soup and what they do is place the soup (which is in a plastic bag) in extremely hot water to heat it up. Think of all the BPA chemicals released into the soup from the plastic melting in hot water! No where close to home made. 

Anyway, this morning I felt super hungry and my stomach ached in a why I thought I might get sick. I felt better once I drank my freshly made beet/carrot/ginger lemon juice! After that I was able to visit some clients and shop for a wedding shower present and go on a walk. I have not had any juice since this morning and it is 7pm now. I am about to drink some green juice. Something I have been working on is "chewing" my juice which I learned helps you salivate so your stomach begins digestion. I have been drinking a lot of water and have not felt the need for more juice. I am now used to the hungry feeling and it is something my mind has accepted. Which is nice because my mind feels it now has the ability to accept other things that occur in my life that I don't have control over. I have only had a couple cravings for solids today. Yesterday all I wanted was buttered popcorn (go figure- my comfort food). But so far this has been a very helpful experience mentally and physically and somewhat spiritually. And a good learning experience too! I would like to help others try this and emotionally make it through!

The dream I had the night before I started my juice cleanse: I kept shoving handfuls of this poisonous berry plant into my mouth that grows in my front yard. I thought the berries tasted delicious but I was concerned because I could not control myself and I knew I would soon die from it... Does this have any connection to me feeling addicted to the standard American diet (SAD).. I think yes... 

Recipe for:

My Morning Wake Up Tonic

4carrots

2 beets ( or 1 and a half if large)

1/2 lemon

Ginger (the more, the spicier) 

sometimes I had a little Sweet Potato (but some people's stomach's can't handle the type of sugar in sweet potato)

Juice all, stir and drink slowly while chewing to activate stomach digestion!

Peace!

Allie

3 day detox/spiritual cleanse

I have started my 3 day wellness cleanse. Earlier this week, my body felt polluted and I was not eating as healthy as I could have been. My mind felt negative and lazy. My house was a mess and I did not have energy to clean it. Plus, I felt my spiritual connection with God/Universe was weakened. I decided to do a 3 day juice cleanse, starting off with two days of smaller proportions and 100% raw vegan food and then into the 3 day juice fast. Those two starter days were more of a challenge than today (the beginning of my juice fast). I think my body was going through heavy detoxification as I was taking many naps and feeling many negative emotions and restlessness with just being. 

Today is the first day of my juice fast. I am taking bentonite clay along with the juice. I am reading Cherie Calbom's "Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life" for inspiration and motivation. I still have to work and be out and about around the community for my job and so far I have not felt the lack of energy that I anticipated. Although my spiritual mind has not been completely enlightened yet... I do feel a calm sense of caring about slowing down and appreciating my surroundings. I do feel more connected and patient and my focus is turning to cleaning up my messy house and organizing my priorities, which I had trouble focusing on earlier this week with my lethargic mindset. Most of all, I have the desire to let go of material things as well as negative thoughts that are not serving me justice. My mind is telling me to live more simply. I plan on going through my house and donating everything that does not have a purpose or I use on a weekly basis. I had this idea when I was hiking in the mountains in Montana a couple weeks ago. However, once I came home, got back into society and my job, my mind became overwhelmed and polluted with things it thought it needed. Once I do my "fall" cleaning I think my mind will feel more organized because I will have less stuff to worry about. How can one 's mind be organized if their environment is a mess?

That's all for now. I will post my thoughts as I continue along with this juice fast. If I can make it through these 3 days and still have the willpower, I might two 2-3 days blended foods.

Allie (Virginia Lilly)

Montana: Red Eagle Lake, cold!!! but the bluest water I have ever seen!!!

Recent Raw Creations

Raw Cinnamon Apple Raisin Cookies... I think I put too much agave and they would have been better served as Granola because they were sticky and chewy... and I did make granola by breaking the cookies up into pieces, putting into a bowl, and serving with almond milk. Delicious :-)

 Raw Cacao/Coconut Cashew Pie for the fourth of July!!!

 Zucchini Noodle Marinara Spaghetti (thanks to Elizabeth for her Marinara recipe!)

  Juice Cleanse with my Friend!!! Mine only lasted a day... but he did his for four days!!

This picture is of me helping out at a Cancer Awareness Event helping Raw Foods Chef Audrey serve green smoothies and educate people on health! It was interesting to see people's reactions from trying the green smoothie. All it consisted of was organic strawberries, bananas, oranges, and kale so mostly a fruit base but the kale made it green!! One woman who refused to try the smoothie had a McDonald's soda in her hand (figures). Some unlikely people were willing to try it (after much encouragement) and they really liked it and brought back their friends to our booth! Many children enjoyed it which was nice because we could promote the drink to their mothers saying all they needed was 2 minutes and a blender and their children would get a good size serving of fruit and veggies for the day. On the contrary, it was sad to see young children spit the drink out because they did not like the taste. (This only happened twice). Along with this behavior, their parent's were stating that their kid would not like the drink. Fruit and smoothies were a treat to me as a kid! Seeing their reactions made me wonder if their parents even give them fruit in their diet... or if real fruit is replaced by apple sauce with high fructose corn syrup and juices with artificial flavoring....

100% PURE Orange Juice!!!

Raw Pad Thai

Just got my Spirooli noodle slicer in the mail!!! The noodles are zucchini. Delicious and so filling!

Quick tips for clearing out system before adding more in!

Hello!

Here's a quick tip... If you want to clean out your system in the morning before adding in more food, here is some advice from Norman Walker (the founder of juicing!) Norman recommended squeezing a whole lemon into a cup of hot water. Drink this on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and wait 15-30 minutes. It should help clear out waste from the previous day. So far it has worked every time I tried it!

Also, you can drink fresh vegetable juice after for a detoxifying cleanse. Try juicing carrots, celery, and parsley. this is my new favorite!

Sometimes I will eat a bunch of grapes on an empty stomach during lunch of afternoon snack. This also helps to naturally clean out my colon.

Try any of these tips out and see if they work for you!

~Virginia Lilly (Allie)

Fiesta for Dinner

 Pineapple Mango Salsa

Not-so-cheese!

 Guacamole

 Corn Chips

I made everything from recipes given to me from the Creative Health Institute. Sooo delicious and healthy too! My boyfriend ate it for dinner with me and he told me that for the first time in his life, he felt full without feeling "too full"- which he described as the dense bloaty brick in your stomach after you eat meat and bread. He said he sometimes likes the "too full" feeling but he admitted that he likes how he can eat a lot of raw food and never fall into the food coma after from trying to digest. 

This is one of the reasons I have come to love about eating raw foods. I can eat a huge raw meal, then still go run a mile right after!

Thai Coconut Soup with Mushrooms (I warmed it in the dehydrator after blending the ingredients)

~Virginia Lilly (Allie)

Strawberry/Cashew Cream Pie!

 This is a Strawberry/Cashew Cream Pie! I added mangoes too because I love the strawberry/mango combo and it added color! The crust is an almond/date/honey/shredded coconut mixture. The filling is strawberry puree and psyllium. The Cashew Cream frosting is made with cashews, agave, coconut water and vanilla extract. This is a recipe by Wendy Rudell and I have been wanting to make it for a very long time!

The aftermath of my kitchen!!!! But don't worry, it did not take too long to clean!!

At one point my blender exploded cashew cream frosting everywhere because the consistency became too thick for my blender to breathe... this is why I need a Vitamix! Anyway, I ended up getting frosting all over my face, eyelids, hair and the kitchen! Its all part of cooking... right?

I had some extra crust mixture since my dessert pan was smaller than the recommended. I rolled the mixture and rubbed it into shredded coconut to put in the dehydrator. I also decided to dehydrate the rest of the mangoes (my boyfriend loves dehydrated fruit!)

Raw Goodness

 Sprouted Garbanzo Beans!! They do not taste like the canned beans and it took me a while to get used to them at first but now I prefer the raw and living natural taste!

 A Raw Smoothie/Juice bar my cousin took me to in Hollywood :-) Best breakfast ever.. I wish they had juice bars in Indianapolis!!

 RAW Hummus- recipe from the Rawvolution uncookbook by Matt Amsden. It was made with Zucchini instead of garbanzo beans and it was delicious! The onion crackers/chips were also from a recipe in Rawvolution however it was supposed to be their "famous onion bread." I think I spread the mixture too thin on my dehydrator sheets but that was ok because they tasted great crunchy and the flavor/texture went well with the hummus.

3 Day Smoothie/Juice Fast

I have been reading The Natural Way to Vibrant Health by Dr. Norman W. Walker. This book breaks down the understandings of digesting food on a physical and chemical basis. I have learned that my colon, liver, and many other areas of my body are overworked with trying to digest, rid of toxins, and push through my system the years of build up fried starch and the like from the SAD diet. The best way to give the digestive organs a break so the colon may have a chance to filter out excess waste lining the walls of the intestines is to refrain from eating for a while- fasting, or do a juice fast! I decided to do a 3 or more day juice/smoothie fast where the majority of my food intake is blended or juiced in the liquid form. Eating food in the liquid form makes it easier for food and nutrients to pass through your body and juicing your food helps get rid of the fibers that your intestines need to squeeze constantly to try and get all the nutrients out. I have been drinking a juiced beet/carrot/sweet potato/ginger mixture, along with a blended energy soup, carrot/cucumber/wheatgrass juice, and tons of filtered water! For breakfast, I have been eating as much watermelon as possible. Watermelon helps clean out the system if eaten on an empty stomach. You can also do enimas or colon cleansing if you have the tools or a practiced Naturopathic doctor handy.

 Raw Energy Soup!

1 Cup Spinach

1/2 cup Kale

teaspoon of Raw Coconut Aminos

1/2 cup of juiced wheat grass with cucumber

1/4 cup red cabbage

1/4 cup celery juice or more
1 small apple (or you can juice it)

shelled hemp seeds

2 big cloves garlic

fresh ginger

1/2 lemon to taste

1/2 or whole lime to taste

tumeric, cumin, and kelp to taste

cracked black pepper

Himalayan pink salt

filtered water if needed

Blend all ingredients on high listed above

Add in 1/2 cup or more alfalfa sprout and one avocado and blend slowly

Garnish with alfalfa sprouts, dulse flakes, and soaked garbanzo beans

note: can add soaked garbanzo beans in soup to give it substance to chew on when eating

 My Juicer, wheatgrass, next to my new 9 tray dehydrator!! There are kale chips dehydrating inside!!!

Mistakes along the way, but it's part of the Journey...

It has been a while since I last posted and let me tell you its been an up and down journey when it came to eating raw foods. There was a period of time when I would go back and forth by the weeks from mostly raw, then the next week to mostly the SAD diet. I could literally feel my body being poisoned when I would fill it with processed cheese, milk chocolate, and chips. What's worse is that I could not stop. The food I was eating came from the groceries my boyfriend bought.  I was on a low budget that week and my job was stressing me out. I found myself in an unbreakable pattern of eating more and more when I felt stressed, and in result I lost my connection from my mind to body. I felt bloated, gassy, unattractive, and emotionally unbalanced. I especially felt groggy, tired, and I had a headache. My organs were do extra work to remove all the toxins from the food I was eating! Aaand I could hardly use the bathroom. Thank God I was going to the Creative Health Institute in Michigan for a weekend for Raw Chef 1 courses to earn a certificate in as a raw food chef! 

That weekend was the most positive energy filled weekend of my entire life. I learned about some of the interns there: one who had rare blood/heart disease who had once heard she had 2.5 years left to live, another had multiple sclerosis, one had almost died of lymph nod cancer, and all had healed themselves by a eating 100% RAW & LIVING FOOD DIET. The healing energy there was amazing. The Living Food helped clear out the toxins in my system from my addiction to the SAD diet (although the food we ate was rich in nuts and all nut based, it was harder to digest than a normal raw diet because we were learning gourmet cooking and needed to taste everything as chefs.) When I got home, I focused on eating mostly raw foods with the exception here and there. 

A most exciting event in the history of my life occured yesterday which will mark a new era of uncooking opportunites for me: I receieved my first 9 tray excalibur food dehydrator in the mail!!! Now I will have the pleasure of satisfying my salty cravings with crispy kale chips and the like... I have my first batch dehydrating right now!!

Since I started eating mostly Raw/Living for the past three weeks, I lost my cravings to stuff my face with chips, chocolate, and cheese. I feel more connected to my body than ever- I have a ton of energy and I feel less bloated and more flexible. I still feel the need to eat when work stresses me out but I have more control over the situation now. I hope to continue on this path and journey to help completely detoxify my system and achieve optimal health!

Pictures of some of my Raw Creations

I have decided to post a couple pictures of raw dishes I have made. The first dish is Wendy Rudell's Wild Rice Salad. It was so delicious with the hint of ginger and garlic and I used flaxseed oil instead of olive oil. The Second dish is a Gazpacho Soup and also a recipe by Wendy Rudell. It was fun to make a raw soup since I have never tried or seen one before. It tasted a bit like salsa, and the presence of papaya really brought it to the table. You can either blend all the ingredients together to make it more soupy, or blend most and leave some chopped veggies out to make it a crunchier soup (which is what I did). 

My diet was almost completely raw last week and I plan to continue the flow this week as well. Not only did I have an abundance in energy, I also felt more positive and more connected to the earth. My mind also felt more in sync with my physical body.

I went to a FREE Raw Foods for Chakra Healing/ Meditation for the Chakras/Vinyasa Flow Yoga class last week which helped build my mental strength as well as humbled my appetite. I feel like Americans are so concerned with eating enough food, getting enough protein, etc. What most do not understand is that eating high nutrient foods and just enough to supply our body with what it needs is all we need to survive and maintain optimal health. In the Raw Food Chakra class, we discussed food addiction and why our body feels confused and crave processed and refined foods that have a shelf life for years and years. Imagine this: the food you ate has chemical preservatives in it that help it retain its freshness in your cupboard for 2 years... So how can your natural body try to break down these unnatural chemicals? Don't you think this particular food will be difficult to digest and will try to live in your body for years? Do you think these chemicals will sit near your cells and build a wall of toxins, leading to cancer? Something to think about before you make that turn into the junk food isle at your grocery store...

Here is a picture of a chocolate cake I made. I got this recipe from the raw foods chef that hosted the Raw Foods for Chakra Healing class. I also attended a preparing raw foods demonstration that she hosted at Whole Foods and got to try two of her dishes. I found this chocolate cake recipe on her web site. I really like the middle part and surprisingly it is made with avocados! The crust is good but I am not a huge fan of carob powder and that is one of the main ingredients.
www.beofbliss.com/

Peace & Inspiration!

Virginia Lilly

Raw Pudding!!

I used the Chocolate Pudding Recipe from Sarma Melngailis' uncookbook Raw Food Real World. This is the second time I have made the recipe and my boyfriend and I love it when we feel like devouring something sweet/chocolatey. This time I made it with banana and strawberries. I also added a little bit of coconut flour and less coconut water to make it thicker. The first time I made it, it was a little too runny for a pudding texture.

I do not own a meat cleaver- which is what is used to open the young Thai coconuts. However, the hatchet I got for my boyfriend for Christmas works great!

This recipe is delicious and fast! (minus the time it takes to open the coconuts and scoop out the meat)

"Think about how all that cooked grease so stubbornly sticks to the pans.What does it do to the inside of your body?" ~ Sarma Melngailis

Monster Raw Nutrients Salad

This is the recipe for the salad I have been eating every night this week for dinner. Not only am I getting enough iron, but its ingredients supply the essential B vitamins, protein, nutrients from sea vegetables to protect the thyroid, and it tastes great! :-)

Monster Raw Nutrients Salad
Kale,
Mixed Greens,
Carrots-chopped,
Red Cabbage, lots of it for color and crunch!
Sprouted Radish, Chickpeas, and green peas,
Tomato,
Nutritional Yeast Flakes,
Kelp, sprinkled,
Shelled Hemp Seed,
Sunflower seed,
Fresh Dill,
Fresh Cilantro
Flaxseed Oil

Dressing: Green Goddess Dressing (WholeFoods.com recipe) *Note: This dressing is not completely Raw because it requires soft tofu to thicken, but it is absolutely delicious with its ingredients avocado, oil, lime, celtic sea salt, and green onion. It is a VEGAN recipe and I added cilantro for that extra flavor. It tastes great on the salad recipe I have provided and it works great for dipping veggies too because of its thick texture!!

Peace & Love,

Virginia Lilly

Trouble with Staying Raw when Traveling

After this weekend, I realized how hard it is to travel and stay Raw Vegan. I traveled to my birth home for a family get-together for my grandpa’s 80^th birthday (whoohooo!!) The members of my family are BIG meat eaters so much of the meal is focused on the meat rather than the sides of vegetables. The way I maintain a Raw Diet comes from my excitement about the nutrition of my food choices. However, when eating in a group family dining setting, there are not many selections that pertain to my diet and eating only fruit for dinner is very difficult when everyone is loading their plates high with all the cooked food selections. I found it very tempting to eat the eggs but I beat the temptation, however I did give into the breakfast bread. The setting of the traditional family dining, where we all gather around the table, shook my Raw Diet. At the table, I was the minority because of my preferences of food and it was easier for me to follow my cravings and eat food that I would not normally eat in my own home. How could I deny having my grandpa’s birthday cake? I wanted to take part in group family activities, and I conformed my eating so I could take part.
And now that I am back at home and eating Raw Vegan, I am still having trouble! After my large dinner salad of a variety of colorful vegetables, kale, and other leafy greens, I craved sugar after my meal- probably from eating birthday cake after meals two nights in a row! So I made myself of bowl of mint ice cream and while I ate it, I felt good inside and I came to realize that family tradition is comforting to me. I missed my family and eating the ice cream brought me back to that memory of us all sharing cake and ice cream. Food is a powerful substance when connected to emotions. I know that if I maintained my Raw Vegan Diet this weekend, I would have been showing lack of respect for the effort it took my family to pick out, purchase, and cook the meals.
I could have said no to the cake, right? But I did not want to feel left out from family tradition and being a part of everything right then and there, meant more than eating for optimal health.


Aside from the difficulty maintaining the raw diet at a family gathering, traveling in general makes it difficult as well. Airports usually have fruit on the go, but many of the salads are loaded with chicken or cheeses. Also, there are thousands of fast food restaurants conveniently on the side of the highway, but wheres the organic diner when you need it!?! Then, once you made it to your destination, the city may be foreign to you which causes difficulty in finding the healthier restaurants. This is something to be aware of when traveling because you want to keep your immune system strong, but with less choices of food, you don’t always end up getting the foods high in vitamins that you need as a Raw Vegan. This is a topic I will revisit and ponder over until I can get down a method. But for now, I will focus on regrouping my thoughts so I can mentally prepare myself to restart eating for health AND do my best to shake out the sugar cravings!!

Sto Lat, Dzia Dzia!                      (happy birthday, Grandpa! in Polish)
Virginia Lilly

First Entry- writing for positive awareness

3/16/11

I created this blog to help me maintain a VEGAN RAW and LIVING foods lifestyle. I have been a vegetarian for about 4 years and now I have been trying to improve my eating habits further by eating raw and living foods. It has been a huge transition for me to go from Vegetarian to not only Vegan but Raw and somewhat Living. At first it was not so difficult since I was reading some inspiring books including The Raw Food Lifestyle by Ruthann Russo, and a couple cookbooks by Ann Wigmore, Sarma Melngailis, and Wendy Rudell. But now the "honeymoon stage" has past and I am suffering withdrawals from the SAD-CRAP diet (Standard American Diet- Carbohydrates Refined And Processed). I decided to detoxify by fasting for three days. I only lasted 1 day and broke down and ate some kale and young thai coconut juice. However the next couple of days I could not stop stuffing my face with chocolate and chips. I read that it is good to keep a journal to help change a lifestyle so I am starting this blog to write down my excitement from trying new recipes, foods that work for me, struggles and breakdowns, as well as spiritual aspects that intertwine with the lifestyle for me.
I know most of us struggle with our eating habits and we consciously feel bad about ourselves and our bodies when we don’t eat mindfully. I hope this blog will be helpful to people who are on the same path as me, for inspiration and guidance. I want people to know that they are not alone when dealing with the struggles of saying no to all the fast food, refined junk and sugars that our society produces and calls “food.” Majority of Americans have grown up eating the SAD diet and we think it’s normal because everyone around us eats it, which tempts us even more when we are trying to abstain and create a new path. Believe in yourself and know that we make mistakes, but it is how we rebound from those mistakes that can set our minds to strive even harder to make ourselves better.

Peace and Love,
Virginia Lilly