On August 31st, my project will be finished enough to present it as a
GIFT TO THE ENTIRE RAW COMMUNITY! 

It’s being worked on with lots of love for each and every one of you! Some of my friends have been helping me with it, too! I have a feeling you are all going to LOVE it!

I’m having a small raw potluck gathering here at my place this Friday, August 22nd, at 6:00 pm. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and feel like joining me, please send me an email at WendiDee  @   PureJeevan.com.  I’d love for you to join us!

It’s free—just bring a raw dish to share with everyone!

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

One of our readers, Julie, asked me to update her on what kind of diet I’m doing and why I’m doing it. The last time I publicly made changes with my diet, I received many similar questions. So, I figured maybe it would be a good idea to respond to her question here on the blog for anyone else wondering the same thing.

I did explain, in a long post, about experimenting with my diet being important to me. If you didn’t read that entry, it will answer a lot of your questions. For many of you, I think I know what you are thinking: “Wendi was pretty much morbidly obese, her health was horrible, but she’s now healthy. Why would she change anything with her diet when she has already found what works?” 

Well, it’s true. I am extremely healthy compared to how I was before I started consuming raw foods. Here are some pictures to show the changes, to motivate some of you currently struggling with eating more raw foods…

After only 10 months raw!

After one year raw!

I believe a raw food diet has allowed my body to heal itself of so many ailments—more than I probably ever even knew I had.  I went on the raw food diet as an experiment, to see if it would really work. Well, as I found out (and I’m sure it’s evident to you, too), it works! I’m healthier than I think I ever was, even when I was at a healthy weight when I was younger.

So, the question you have comes up again, right? “Why make any changes if you’ve recovered your health?” The main reason is because I know I don’t feel as good as I could feel. I don’t feel 100% well (even though I feel 1000 times better than I ever did before). I am still not overflowing with energy, my skin isn’t as clear as it could be if I was fully well, my weight is still a bit too much for my height and bone structure (but, trust me when I say if I never go down another pound I am completely happy with my weight!), my menstrual cycles are still not 100% regular (I still spot between cycles), I occasionally still experience some problems with my heart, and my bloodwork still shows that I’m a bit low in iron, B12, and definitely deficient in Vitamin D.

Could I live happily for the rest of my life with just those small issues? Sure! I still feel so much more alive, healthy, vibrant, and filled with even more love than I ever did in the past. However, why not see if I can obtain an even higher level of health? I’d love to clear up all of the small issues I mentioned above, and feel even more alive and healthy! If I didn’t have any of those issues, would I still experiment with my diet? Maybe, but it would be for a different reason.

Currently, my goal for my body is to be as healthy as I can be so that I can live a long, energetic life and experience as much as I possibly can before my time is done here. If my body was 100% healthy, I might experiment with the different versions of the raw food diet, just for some variety. Currently, however, I am experimenting to see if I can get to an even greater level of health. Imagine if I can eliminate all of those small issues that remain—having more energy to do even more fun things with my life will be worth the current experimentation with my raw diet, don’t you think?

Don’t be shy to speak up. If you think it’s wrong that I’m experimenting with my diet, if you are concerned for my health in any way, let me know. I appreciate the love and concern that has been shown to me. I respect your opinions, and I am open to hearing your concerns. I don’t claim to know everything—I am here learning as much about myself as you are about your own self. Life is fascinating—so much to learn and do and enjoy!

I’d like to end my response with a little more about my health and why you shouldn’t be too concerned about my experimentations with my diet. I never experiment with my health without consulting a doctor. I am seeing a fantastic holistic doctor who fully encourages me to follow my instincts on what I feel is good for my body. She monitors my health through blood tests, physical exams, and thorough holistic exams (taking into account all aspects of what makes up who I am—body, mind, spirit, emotions). I figure if I’m experimenting, I may as well document my journey in case I stumble across something that may be helpful for others to know. It’s always good to have some hard scientific facts/results to back up my story.

Thanks for all the emails and comments I receive from all of you. It means a lot to me that you take the time to read my blog and reach out to me.

I love all of you very much!

Wendi
XOXOXO

An email has been sent to those offering help on the project I’ve been working on! If you offered to help and haven’t received an email from me, please let me know. If you didn’t offer help, but would now like to help out, it’s not too late! Just let me know!

Thanks, again, for your generosity of helping with something you didn’t even know anything about! It fills me with such happiness to know that you would help me!

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

For those who offered help with the project I’ve been working on, you’ll be receiving an email from me tomorrow, finally filling you in on everything!

I am overjoyed that even though I never told you exactly what you’d be doing, you still offered to help me! It means so much to me and I love each and every one of you!

So, if you don’t receive an email from me by tomorrow late afternoon, let me know.

Thanks, again, for offering your assistance! I think you’ll enjoy working with me on this project. :-)  For anyone who’s just hearing about this, it’s not too late to offer your behind-the-scenes help on something I’ve been working on for a few months! Just send me your email address and I’ll add you to the list of helpers (we need as much help as possible—you can offer a little or a lot of time to the project, as you desire).

Lots of love to all of you!

Wendi
XOXOXO

Is low fat more expensive? When I was eating a lot of nuts and seeds, in the back of my mind I kept saying, “Someday you’ll eat less of these nuts and seeds, and you’ll save a lot of money.” I really believed that to be true because organic, raw nuts and seeds are outrageously expensive.

For one hundred days, I’m transitioning to a lower fat raw diet. I’m down to fats only in the evening, and for the next ten days those fats will only come from avocados, young coconuts, and possibly some hemp seeds. If I’m not hungry for the fat, however, I’ll go without it. That hasn’t been the case yet, though. By dinner time I’m ravenous and wanting to eat heavy, dense foods to calm the hungry beast in my belly. Even though I’ve been including some fats in the evening, I’m eating significantly less than I normally would if not doing this challenge. So, I’ve been eating more fruits and vegetables to get the calories I normally received from nuts and seeds.

My fat last night was only 1/2 an avocado. I don’t normally eat only half of one, but I decided to share one with KDcat, rather than eat the whole thing myself. Sharing makes it easy to only eat half of those lovely fat-filled fruits.

What I have been noticing, however, is that I’m hungry throughout the day as well. Salads don’t fill me for too long, so I have to eat a lot of fruit. One cantaloupe fills me for about an hour, or so, and then I’m back looking for something else to eat. I ate a ten-pound watermelon yesterday (keep in mind, as Jim pointed out to me, that the majority of the weight is in the rind which I didn’t eat) and I was hungry about an hour, or so, later. Since hunger is something I have rarely ever felt, I almost like that I can feel that way between meals.

Our weekly grocery shopping, however, isn’t lasting a week anymore. If the people at the co-op knew that all of that produce wasn’t even lasting a week, I think they’d be in shock. We buy *a lot* of fresh fruits and veggies. I’m eating more and more of them, and my skin is feeling softer and smoother as the days are going by (well, except for on my face where I got a bit of a sunburn after being outside most of the weekend in the sun). I had already noticed that when I was eating a high amount of nuts in my diet, my skin would feel less smooth, with little bumps that weren’t overly visible to anyone. So, I figured my skin would get smoother with less fats and it has. My lips are less chapped, too, so that seems to be a positive change by cutting back on fats and increasing fruits.

I’m thinking it’s more expensive, however, to eat lower fat. We’ve been buying more fruit each week, cutting back on the nuts, and our grocery bill has been about the same. However, the groceries aren’t lasting a full week. At this rate, we’re going to need another fridge if we want to continue only shopping once a week. I know it’s better to buy things every few days, but the co-op isn’t very close to our home and it takes not only time, but also gas, to visit it more often. I’m not certain yet, I’ll let you know after a few more weeks, but I really think low fat isn’t cheaper.

For the most part, I’ve been eating intuitively from the very start of my raw food journey (which began over two years ago!). I noticed that I was drawn to different foods for blocks of time, and as my interest would wane I’d find myself drawn to another raw food. Anyone who has followed my story to health knows about my love for young Thai coconuts. My entire body would vibrate with physical excitement every time I picked up another case of those life-enhancing baby coconuts. I felt like a child receiving a much-desired gift—giddy with excitement and unable to stand still. I’m not just saying that, either—it was a very strange sensation, feeling such excitement over a food.

Well, my love for the coconuts faded and I found myself drawn to other foods over the past few years. However, none of them ever compared in intensity to my desire for the coconut. I can’t recall all of the foods I cycled through, but there were plenty of food cycles I went through. Currently, I’m intuitively drawn to the pineapple. I want to eat it at least once a day, sometimes more. I haven’t tired of it in the least bit.

Something happened on Saturday, however. I arrived at the food co-op and one of my favorite store employees approached me and gave me the bad news: my case of pineapples wasn’t there, and he wasn’t sure when they’d be getting them in. At first, my mind wouldn’t register what he was saying. “Did he really just say that I wouldn’t be having my case of pineapples?” my mind was asking. Well, that *is* what he said. No pineapples. I felt the energy in my heart sink quite a bit. It was the strangest thing, but I stood there with a sorrowful, lost feeling. At first I didn’t know what to do, other than repeat it over and over: “there are no pineapples, there are no pineapples.” To say I was near tears wouldn’t be a lie; on a very deep level I was filled with a child-like sorrow because what I desired wasn’t available to me.

So, I spoke to my body on an internal level. “It’s okay. Let’s see what else you are drawn to eat until you can have the pineapples again.” I looked at every single fruit and vegetable available. Maybe others thought I was a bit strange to be putting so much time and thought into looking at the produce, but I was waiting for my intuition to guide me. There was nothing strongly pulling my attention, however.

I finally selected some extra nectarines, which I’ve been enjoying a lot. I also found myself picking up a lot of tomatoes. I tried to reassure myself that maybe those would work. For the past two days I’ve gone without a pineapple. I stare at the fruits on the counter, and into the fridge, a bit too long looking for something I’d like to eat. Then, I settle on something that isn’t really filling me with an inner happiness as much as a pineapple would.

Last night Jim picked up two nonorganic pineapples for me. I just had one for breakfast and I’m feeling a bit happier, a bit more balanced and focused. When intuitive eating can’t happen, I think we are missing out on an opportunity to truly help our bodies reach and maintain a necessary balance. It looks like I’ll be consuming nonorganic pineapples all week long, but I really feel the need to eat them because they are what I am most drawn to at this point.

Have you ever eaten intuitively? What kinds of foods are you drawn to? Do you sometimes have to compromise when you are desiring a certain food and it’s not available to you? 

This is our final call for some behind-the-scenes help (as mentioned in an earlier post) on a pretty amazing project we’ve been working on. You can give as little or as much time to the project as you desire. Although we aren’t stating what it is, until it’s well under way, those who are offering help will be learning all about it VERY SOON!

Your help is greatly appreciated and I think all of you will love the project!!!! So, if you haven’t already told us you’d like to help (and sent us your email address to contact you), now’s your last chance! We don’t have a limit on how many people can help with this, so join the others in lending a hand! You’ll be happy you did!

I’m super excited about this project and sharing the information about it with all of you who are going to help out! Send your email address to me at WendiDee at PureJeevan.com.

Lots of love to all of you!

Wendi
XOXOXO

I’d like to talk with you about diet and experimenting. I’ve been learning about natural healing and foods/health since I was a very young woman. Somewhere along the line I knew that what I was eating was either making me feel better, or worse, and that food was related to health (it was more than just to fuel the body). It was with this knowledge that I stepped into the realm of natural healing and stumbled around for most of my life. I’ve learned about vegetarianism, herbs, the negative effects of dairy on the body, veganism, essential oils, Ayurveda, harmful chemicals in and around our foods, and so very much more. I don’t claim to be an expert on any of these topics, they are just part of my overall bank of knowledge and experiences from which I pull to live as healthy as possible.

I’ve never been the kind of person who takes others’ beliefs and adopts them as truth for myself. I need to investigate, try things out, find out what does and doesn’t resonate with my own set of beliefs and experiences. Well, the same goes with my diet. When I first started eating raw foods, I didn’t eat them because I knew they would cure me of my overweight and other health problems. Sure, it made a lot of sense and seemed like it would work, but I needed to try it out for myself. It turns out that there’s a LARGE amount of truth in what is being written and taught about raw foods.  However, there is quite a bit of conflicting information about raw foods being shared by “experts”, as well, and it can get confusing.

I think experimenting is very important. Even though we are all made the same, there are still small enough differences to make us unique. One size does not fit all the same way—right? Maybe if we were all born with identical DNA, we would all have similar experiences as far as diet goes. However, that’s just not the case with most people. Think about it. You either know someone, or have heard of someone, who lived to be close to 100 years old who smoked, drank alcohol, hated vegetables, ate meat and heavy fats his/her entire life and was never sick or overweight. That person, my friends, had some good DNA! His/her ancestors were healthy, and they’ve been mating with other healthy people, producing some lucky people who don’t have to worry all that much about what they do to their bodies. Who knows how long those people could have lived, however, had they eliminated all of those harsh things from their bodies! Maybe they would have been closer to 200 years old when their bodies started to age and break down.

For a majority of us, we weren’t blessed with such fantastic DNA. Some of us may actually have some pretty harsh things we need to think about regarding our health and what we’ve inherited. I’m thankful that cancer isn’t something that is prevalent in my family (even though my mother died from cancer), but I do have other things that I need to pay attention to, or else I could end up not living as healthy or as long as I’d like.

So, I observe what others are doing for outstanding health. I read what I can find that feels like it has some truth in it. Once I found the truth in raw foods, I knew I had stumbled upon what may very well be the final piece of knowledge that I need for a truly vibrant, healthy, long life. However, I’m finding that the subtle differences in the raw food diet aren’t really all that subtle. It’s not only about just eating raw foods.

BIG PAUSE HERE FOR THOSE JUST BEGINNING A RAW JOURNEY

Go ahead and read what I’m writing, but don’t try to follow what I’m doing. It’s very important, I feel, in the beginning of learning about raw foods to have your diet simply be about JUST EATING RAW FOODS. This is even more important if you come from a background of a Standard American Diet (SAD). If you aren’t suffering from an extreme life-threatening illness, then I firmly believe that slow is better for most people. When we switch to a raw diet, it’s not just a change for our bodies. It’s a change that eventually touches every aspect of who and what we are. So, please take it slow. Learn to love including more and more raw foods into your diet. Observe how it feels to eat vitamin-, mineral-, and water-rich foods. Notice how your body and mind feel different on raw than they do on cooked foods. Enjoy the journey you are on. What you read from time-to-time about various alternative approaches to the raw food diet should simply be stored away for future reference. Once you are comfortably living a 100% raw lifestyle and it’s second nature to you, without any thought or problems, then at that time you may want to evaluate your health to see if there is room for further improvement.

BACK TO EXPERIMENTING

So, I’ve learned that simply eating everything and anything, as long as it’s truly raw, doesn’t bring with it automatic ultimate health and vitality. Don’t get me wrong—it brings me pretty close to it compared to the spiraling pit of disease that I was in when I was consuming cooked foods. Since one of my main goals in life is to achieve ultimate health and vitality, I don’t want to simply stop where I am with the raw food diet that I’ve been consuming. I want to step up to another level of health.

That’s where the experimenting comes in. The not-so subtle differences in the raw food diets are mostly about balancing different things (fats, carbs, protein, greens, fruits). Since there is conflicting information available about what a truly healthy raw diet is, I’m going to experiment with the information that fits with what I’m currently drawn to (fruits!)—The 80/10/10 Diet, by Dr. Douglas Graham. Mentally, I’m actually drawn to Gabriel Cousens’ theories on an optimal raw food diet—The Rainbow Green, Live-Food Cuisine—but, lately I’ve been drawn to so much fruit that I want to follow my instincts for this next dietary experiment.  

So, that’s the long version of why I’m currently experimenting with the 80/10/10 diet. I know a lot of people are opposed to the diet, but since my instincts are drawing me to eat more fruit I’m going to experiment with 80/10/10 to see what happens with my body and health. So far, I’ve seen an increase in weight. That’s not exactly a positive thing, right, when I’m not underweight. However, according to 80/10/10 my body needs to have a much smaller intake of fat in order to gain the benefits of the diet. So, I’ll stick with it to see if that’s the case–for the rest of this first ten days (out of 100), I’m going to be cutting back my fat intake at my evening meal. For the second set of 10 days, I’ll possibly cut fat back a significant amount to see how that feels.

For those who don’t know much about the 80/10/10 version of a raw diet, it is set on the beliefs that our bodies perform best on 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat. Dr. Graham states that insulin resistance (which I have inherited) is caused by fat in the bloodstream when sugar (fruit) is eaten. If that’s the case, then it could explain the weight gain. In my body, since I have insulin resistance, when I have too much sugar it is converted to fat. It’s all quite brilliant why the body does that, as a form of protection, but I won’t go into it here (plus, I’m no expert on it, anyway). Suffice it to say, my body doesn’t handle sugar well (which not only causes weight gain, but also causes irregular menstrual cycles), but according to Dr. Graham if I limit my fat intake my body will—for the first time since I was very young—be able to handle sugar properly. So, I’m experimenting with his theory and I’ll let you all know how it works.

AGAIN, FOR THOSE NEW TO RAW: Please take things slow, be kind and gentle with yourselves. Experimenting with adding raw foods to a previously cooked diet is a HUGE experiment you are currently undertaking. Please don’t think about making it harder than it already will be, unless you have an extreme personality and like to go for the hardest goal.

Lots of love to all of you!

Wendi
XOXOXO

This experiment isn’t looking so great, right now. I’m gaining weight. 

I’ve cut fat out of my diet until my evening meal. Here’s what I’ve eaten over the past few days:

* one banana; mixed green salad with sweet peppers, tomato, cucumber, lemon, salt; beet pasta with 1/2 cup alfredo sauce; 2/3 of a pineapple, 2 bananas; 2 tiny pecan balls

* 2/3 pineapple, 2 bananas; juice (carrot, celery, apple, lemon); broccoli, carrot, celery, nama shoyu, lemon; 1/3 Thai coconut, vanilla bean, 1 banana, 1/8 cup hazelnuts

* 2 bananas, 2 nectarines, 1 pint blueberries; 1/3 pineapple, 1 banana; lettuce, tomato, red pepper, cucumber, lemon, salt; 1/4-1/2 cup nut dip (cashew, macadamia, red pepper, lemon, salt), small piece sunflower seed “bread”, lettuce tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper, 1/2 avocado

The final day’s meal did have a lot of fat in it, but honestly it’s probably not more than I was eating in an entire day prior to cutting back the fat to only evenings. I don’t think my calories have increased, but I can’t be sure since I never counted calories.

I’m up about seven pounds(!) and not liking that very much. It’s not just from the past three days, however. I think it’s been creeping on since I’ve been eating more fruit (pineapple, in particular). Is it because I’m still eating fat, which is may be what Doug Graham (80/10/10) might say? Or, is it because of my insulin resistance? I guess there’s a chance that including more fruit has upped my calories, but wouldn’t that make me feel fuller than normal? I don’t feel any different as far as fullness goes with eating more fruit.

I’m not sure what’s causing it, but I’ll keep an eye on how it’s going. I can’t claim that 80/10/10 is causing the weight gain, since I haven’t fully transitioned to 80/10/10, yet. I’m still consuming more fat than is recommended with that diet. I don’t want to bring a bad reputation to the diet, when I’m not even following it the right way, yet. So, it’s best to not assume it’s completely from the increase in fruit.

I can’t decide if I’m going to cut back the fat to half the amount at dinner for the second ten days, or if I’m just going to go without it to see what it does (maybe having a small amount only every few days, or so). I’ll finish out this first ten days with only fat at dinner, first, and then decide.

It’s all so fascinating to me, how the body responds to what we are eating. Even though we are all made the same, isn’t it remarkable that our diets affect us differently? My husband, Jim, can eat just about anything and never have an upset stomach. That’s not the case for me. He can eat endless amounts of fruit, mixed with fats and veggies and spices and never have a digestive upset. For me, fruits like melon can only be eaten on an empty stomach with nothing else added for at least an hour.

What would you do if you found yourself all of a sudden putting on weight after you were stable for so long? I feel a bit disconnected from it, as far as feelings go–I’m just observing and continuing with the experiment. Would it freak you out? Would you immediately revert back to the way you were eating?  

Okay, my Raw Fu 100 Day Challenge is set!

I’m going to transition to the 80/10/10 version of raw. I’m doing it gradually, however. For the first 10 days, I’m eating no fats before dinner. Then with dinner, I’ll eat as much fat as I desire, but I will be conscious of how much of it I’m consuming. For the second 10 days, I’m going to continue the same as the first week, but I’m going to reduce my fat in the evening to half of what I normally would eat. I haven’t made set plans for the final sets of ten days, but I want to be following 80/10/10 by the beginning of the final week.

Why 80/10/10? Because when I read about it, and I talk with others who follow it, it seems to make sense and work for others. After almost two years of raw foods, I am doing great with 90 pounds left behind, but I’ve been stuck at a weight that isn’t really my ideal (I’m currently 137 pounds and I’m only 5′4″). I’m happy with myself, but my goal is to be as healthy and vibrant as I can be, to live a very long, fulfilling, energetic life.

Currently, my energy level isn’t all that great. I am deficient in iron (because my body doesn’t produce enough stomach acid). Before anyone points out that it’s from raw foods, I was low in iron before raw, as well. It’s a life-long problem with me, but I’m very optimistic that raw foods will get my body balanced and healthy so that I’ll have a proper amount of stomach acid and be able to absorb iron as I consume iron-rich foods.

Anyway, I’m not truly a follower of what others map out before me. However, I want to try 80/10/10 to see what it feels like. I like to experiment and take away things that work for me, and leave the rest behind. I’ll let you all know what I think of 80/10/10 as the days progress.

My body is insulin resistant. I’ve been that way my entire life and it’s what caused me to have irregular menstrual cycles ever since I was a young teenager. According to the 80/10/10 diet, insulin problems are cause from too much fat in the bloodstream. So, we’ll see if that’s the case. I’m really interested in seeing what this way of eating can do for my body. I’m not too proud to say it’s not working for me and go back to my normal–eat whatever you intuitively want as long as it’s raw–way of living and eating.

Best wishes to everyone else who’s currently starting the Raw Fu 100 Day Challenge, as well!

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO