….and loving it!
The Raw Food Revolution – My Experience
Last year after a long illness which depleted my immune system and left me tired and lethargic, I decided to dramatically improve my health and fitness. Knowing I wanted a radical way of doing so I chose to follow a raw eating programme. Quite a few people I spoke to were worried that I was going to be consuming raw meat, existing on sticks of celery and wondered how I’d manage.
It was finding a book called Spiritual Nutrition by Gabriel Cousens that triggered me into taking action, and from this I devised my own programme which I followed for three months. During this time I dropped over two stone (28 pounds, 13 kilos) and within two weeks was feeling full of energy and brimming with life.
Carpe diem…..
They say you shouldn’t suddenly go completely raw, that you should do it in increments, but I’m a bit ‘gung ho’ when it comes to these things and I went from a fully fledged carnivore to raw vegan in one fell swoop – with no side effects or challenges other than a rapid detox that meant I needed to stay close to the bathroom for a few days, as I shed what seemed like gallons of water!
I followed the programme until I went to India, where it was more difficult to stay raw, and then when I came home and it was November and cold and dark, I found it harder to stay with it, and by Christmas had started eating meat again. I still yearned for the supremely energetic and healthy way I felt on the raw plan, and recently decided to adopt it again, after I had another bout of the chest infection that laid me low for so long in previous years.
Raw Radar
Because ”Raw’ had been on my radar for a couple of years, I’d been following some of the UK and US leading lights in the field. More about them in a later post…..
Someone who cropped up a few times, and who was referred to me by my friend Karin Ridgers, of Veggie Vision fame, was Russell James, aka The Raw Chef.
Recently, I met Russell for the first time, at one of his dinner party experiences. We spent the day watching and helping Russell (well, a little bit!) prepare a mouthwatering lunch and dinner.
All the while he was explaining the whys and wherefores of creating top class raw food, and the end results were astonishing. Really fabulous food prepared and served with style that would put many leading restaurants to shame….
Mouthwatering or what?
The pics will give you an idea of the mouthwatering treats we enjoyed, ranging from canapés to caramelised onion and tomato tarts to lasagne and what for me was the pièce de resistance… chocolate torte with ginger cream and strawberry sauce…you’d never know this was raw, non-dairy, non-wheat, gluten-free, no sugar, pure organic food packed with nourishment for the body and soul…..heaven.