Home Stretch

So my oldest and I are in the home stretch of our 21 day cleanse and we have never felt sooooo good!  I highly recommend purchasing Crazy Sexy Diet, by Kris Carr.  Not only does most of the book guide you through all the reasons to eat more raw, plant based foods, but towards the back she gives you a 21 day cleanse that includes daily advice to keep you motivated.  She also offers a few recipes at the end to get you started.  Of course, you can also purchase her Crazy Sexy Kitchen cookbook that she collaborated with Chef Chad Sarno to create which gives tons of amazing recipes.  Her website, http://kriscarr.com/products/crazy-sexy-diet/, is another superb resource for anyone curious about getting their butts, pun intended, back into shape.

We have been so happy with the change we see and feel in ourselves that it's motivated us to eat more raw foods.  I've had my dehydrator out so much that it now has a permanent home on the counter top.  Our bodies, skin, cells, tissues and organs are so in love with us and with all the daily fresh juicing, salads loaded with fresh veggies and raw dressings, steamed veggies, dehydrated burgers, fruits, breads and crackers, fresh smoothies and, of course, the raw desserts!

I'm not sure what we would be classified according to raw standards, 80/20 or 60/40, but we eat raw all day until dinner, then we have a steamed dish.  The flavors of the foods and drinks are amazing and so fresh that it actually has me craving more and more fresh food.  Eating raw can seem daunting to some and boring to others, but I promise, the recipes we have been creating are nothing short of fabulous!  Just as you would any foods, adding spices, healthy fats, garlic and onion to foods is encouraged.

We thought we ate pretty healthy before, but now, we see that you can up the ante even further and why not?  By eating a variety of fresh veggies, whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oats), nuts, seeds and beans, you will be giving your body everything it needs, it's like having a pharmacy in your fridge instead of in your medicine cabinet.

Anytime you cleanse, know that your body is literally detoxifying.  It has to get rid of all those nasty heavy metals, environmental toxins, cleanse, heal and repair the blood, cells and tissues.  With all this change it's normal, especially at the beginning, to experience fatigue, break outs or headaches.  I know this seems unpleasant to many, but once you've flushed all the toxins out you are left with crazy energy, glowing skin, healthy organs, balanced blood sugar, less inflammation and less disease.  Bottom line, a few days of discomfort to fix the damage you created vs. a lifetime of in and out of the doctors office and pouring more chemicals down the hatch to camouflage the problem and thus create more toxins, it's a vicious cycle you really want to break.

Ultimately everyone needs to decide what works for them.  Going 100% raw isn't something we plan to do anytime soon.  We like the comfort of warm meals during cold winters and allowing ourselves a sweet treat every now and then will still be on our list.  The goal for us once we've finished the cleanse is to continue having fresh green juice every morning, huge fresh salads for lunch and veggies and whole grains for dinner.  We also plan to limit fried foods and refined sugars to once in a great while and to re-visit the cleanse quarterly.

With all these incredible raw recipes, I felt it would only be right to post raw recipes over the next few weeks, be sure to check back so you can test them out for yourself.