Disappointments, Overtraining, Raw Foods, Success, and Staying on the Right Road

Sorry for the delay. It’s not easy writing fresh relevant posts week to week and for me I only want to deliver something that has some well rounded information or comes to some kind of conclusion. That said, I want to highlight what’s been happening on my self healing journey and see where the road takes us.

First, as a student of self healing I am finding some strange events around my internal martial arts and yoga practices. It seems my body is craving low impact cardio. You may or may not know that I was serious about weight training for many years (1986 to 2002). I believed that all problems with the body could be solved with light to heavy workouts with weights.  After I learned I couldn't solve every problem in the gym, I began hiking, walking, and stationary biking and the weight was just not going down.  Well muscle has memory and it will be close to a decade before my muscles think like a yogi instead of the Hulk.

The problem was I allowed stress and lifestyle to dictate my dietary concerns, thinking, and breathing.  I needed to learn more and so here I am.

So my body is craving low impact cardio. Why?

Lately after a solid qigong or yoga session my body began feeling low. The energy felt a bit sapped. So after my last yoga session, I put on an old Tai-Bo video from YouTube and did it for 15 minutes. I found I could easily do the exercises and the energy was lifting me out of a rut.

I did the same thing after an arduous qigong session on Sunday and found I felt great. What is going on? Does anyone have any idea why this would happen. Can too much internal buildup of energy occur so you get a different type of overtraining going on?

Second, Xocai disappointment but positive on eating raw cacao. I told all of my readers about my 30 day challenge with Xocai Healthy Dark Chocolate. I am here to tell you my experience only and how it is not for me. This product did not meet my diabetic goals. Using the product alone, I found a buildup of too much sugar for my own good. The blood sugar readings were good at first but not down to normal levels then they began to rise again. The only thing I can think of is the sweetener in the chocolate is sugar and I am very sensitive to it. This is not a cure and it never was touted to be.

The cost of this product as a treatment is not expensive when you consider a single raw smoothie is $5-$7 depending where you live and the chocolate is $3.50 per day. I wrote articles and provided the latest information on healthy dark chocolate which I delivered to 1,000 people. I verified the stats on statcounter.com. I created ads about diabetes in 40 possible sets of keywords so people began reading about diabetes and healthy chocolate and then end a couple of pages later with info on buying Xocai. Only a handful asked me for samples. Lots of people told me my information was spot on. They just didn’t believe it.

The conclusion on Xocai, for me, is if I am not going to use it, I have no intention of representing it. I believe this product has benefits and I hope they continue with success. As for me, I have two boxes of Xocai and I will eat it as a sweet replacement in moderation.

Will I give up raw cacao?

Never, I am continuing to make my chocolates for $1.75 per day using organic raw ingredients I can see right in front of me. I also make a great raw chocolate shake that is thick, cold, and delicious.

Chocolate Pudding Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Vanilla Almond Milk 
• 1 cup Coconut Water
• 4 heaping tablespoons(T) Raw Cacao powder
• 1 Banana Medium
• 4 T Raw Agave
• 2 Rounded T Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1 Avocado medium
• 1 cup of ice.

Blend for 3 minutes until thick and smooth.

Makes 4 9oz servings or your could make into a frozen treat. You will think you are eating pudding.

My later serving I blended in a leaf of kale for the green and it was really good. I will be making future posts on how I feel the avocado is such the perfect super food to replace the base in hot fudge sauce, pudding, shakes, pesto, etc.

Third, raw foods learning , learning, and more learning and why I think vegetarian as a term is almost obsolete.

This is where time is consumed because you learn something and you want to share it and then you turn the page and learn something else and so on. My delay is I have been living and learning the lifestyle and it is empowering to know when you are on the right track. Between lunch and dinner yesterday, I had a glucose reading of 116. The lowest I have seen it in a long time. This is progress.

Moving forward I realize I will have to make the raw food jump as complete as possible with a few exceptions. I must have good protein sources and that may include whey since it mixes so easily into smoothies and juices. Bread is something I am eating in very small amounts. I will not make raw bread often but I know how amazing it works in your system. I do not have a problem eating the best baked bread possible and there are a lot of substitutions for white and wheat flour. I will be cancelling out dairy and cheese 99%.

Do you think, with all that we have learned about breads, dairy, etc that being a vegetarian alone is worthwhile anymore?

Fourth, Taking care to divide carbohydrates into fibers and not fibers. Kristin Leigh Fagan who is the proprietor of Elements For Life helped me jump start this journey into raw foods with an article from a friend of hers Dr. Mercola M.D and Dr. Ron Rosedale called Insulin and Its Metabolic Effect. This article is very informative. The gist is there are many chronic diseases of the body from aggravating to fatal. Both doctors hit the point home that most treatments like surgery and pills only treat a number other doctors have discovered and are shutting off important functions to lower that number. The root cause of these diseases are not being treated and over time the man or woman will develop them again or never make them go away. Again both doctors believe the root cause is insulin and the article will inform you of several case studies, the root cause, and the treatment or change of lifestyle that worked.

David Wolfe and the Juice Man. Do you know these men?

David has really been inspiring to me through his friends, lectures, and interviews. The other man cured his cancer with juicing and has been an advocate ever since. Please listen to them. This is a great interview to watch:

Fifth, making good friends and sharing my passion. A funny thing happened on the way to being a raw food-ie, I started making a lot of new friends that share the same passion. They all have something in common, their lifestyle keeps them lean and beautiful. Not a bad set of traits to follow. To me it is very simple, just look at the cover of a yoga video or the people in a vegan, raw food restaurant, or smoothie shop and they are in shape. Ask them what they eat and how they do it.

Sunday, May 17th, I had my first glucose reading of 117. No drugs, no Xocai chocolates, no supplements. Just Vegan and Raw Eating. Yes!!! (time of day was 3pm-2hrs after lunch and 2hrs before dinner)

Today, May 19th, I had a glucose reading of 134 but 1 hr after lunch. Not bad when you consider that most healthy sandwiches give a person spikes of 150-200. But my lunch was a mango, peach, raspberry, kale, almond milk, vanilla, coconut water, protein powder, and agave smoothie. 16 wholesome ounces worth. These are very filling and tasty.

Oh and finally I have a confession. I ate a hamburger last night. Grilled on a slider bun. 1/2 pound of goodness. I know it’s terrible but it is the only red meat I had for the last 7 days plus I did have a raw white radish, tomato, avocado salad with a dressing made up of virgin olive oil, tamari, and fresh wasabi horseradish.

Please let me know your favorite raw recipes that you make quickly for lunches and snack so I have more variety.

Thank you for reading and commenting often. This is your place as much as mine. Let me know what you would like to see, suggestions on meals or restaurants to try. Have your best week ever!