~~~~ NIMISHA REDDY

Juice Feasting - Day 21

2009-07-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

i have completed 21 days of juice feasting so far. 9 more days to go.

I have lost around 10 pounds so far. most of the weight i have lost was during the first few days after that i started to loose weight slowly.

From a detox stand point i have to be thankful as i haven't seen any major detox symptoms - I do feel tired at times and then again energetic at times.
So far i have noticed a slight headache especially when i don't drink in a timely manner guess that's my body's way of saying "feed me", occasional diarrhea/ constipation.

My stomach is now flat. it feels unusual having the empty feeling but in a good way. I do try to take 1 gallon of juice everyday but its more of an effort to me so i decided to follow my intuition and drink as much as i am comfortable its between 3-3.5 quarts.

I had my first colonics on the juice feasting 2 days back, i really haven't seen much solids. she did mention that my colon is quite empty which is good news. what ever little sold fiber i have seen is mostly the ones stuck in little pockets of the intestines. I felt so clean and energetic after the colonic.

I have also been doing regular skin brushing, Probiotics and occasional MSM and bee pollen.

I am beginning to think of solid foods a lot, the thought of guacamole, cucumbers and lettuce makes me tempted. i cant wait to dig in after the fast and of course after the transition diet as well.

Juice Feasting - Day 11

2009-07-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Day 11 yaeeeeee… I can’t believe it’s already been 11 days into my juice feasting.

I feel so much better now with my energy levels. Occasionally I do see my energy dipping low but compared to the first 8 days it is so much better now.

So I finally found a colonics center but its 1.5 hrs away from my house L which meant its going to take me around 4-5 hours for just 1 trip for colonics. I am surprised Dallas doesn’t have a closed system. I can’t wait to have my colonics done this weekend.

During the juice feasting it is very important to get the colonics/ enemas done as it helps with the detoxification and faster elimination of the toxins. Remember the body will throw in all the toxins into your large intestine for elimination and if they stay there for too long they will be absorbed back by the body. And the body will try to look thru other sources for elimination. Your large intestine is just one of the sources the body will try to eliminate. Toxins can also be eliminated thru the skin, breath, eyes and nose.

Dry skin brushing is also helping me a lot in removing the toxins out of my skin. It makes me feel like I had a body pack or something. My skin feels clear. Even if you are not juice feasting try it out. Your skin will thank you. You can get one from any health food stores or from whole foods.

Sleep – I am noticing that I am sleeping more then I normally do ever since I started juice feasting. I need about 9-10 hours of sleep. I normally sleep for around 8 hours. Also I am having difficulty in sleeping. I am easily getting awake taking 3-4 bathroom breaks. I am unable to have deep sleeping. I am not forcing any thing and just intuitively trying to sleep when my body is asking for it. It is very important to have enough sleep during juice feasting as major cleansing and rejuvenating will take place when we sleep. Just waiting for the day when I can - I am having a sound sleep :)

I am glad I worked from home last week, since my energy levels were dipping low. It helped me to stay focused with my juices. Today I am back to work; and I feel so much better.

Daily Intake:

Day 9:

Orange Juice 22 oz

Green Juice 30 oz

Green Juice 18 oz

Green Juice 28z

coconut water 12 oz

Day 10:

Water melon Juice 28 oz

Orange Juice 28 oz

Apple Juice 20 z

Green juice + pure synergy (1 tsp) 16 oz

Green Juice recipe – 2 apples, 3 Cucumbers, 1.5 bunches of romaine lettuce, 1.25 lemon, ¼ inch garlic, ½ C Bean sprouts, ½ C Alfalfa Sprouts (yield – 2Q 16 oz)

Day 11:

Lemonade + sun fire salt 1/4 tsp 28 oz

Lemonade + sun fire salt 1/4 tsp 16 oz

Green Juice 32 oz

Orange Juice 16 oz

Well i look forward for the days ahead :)

Juice Feasting day 9

2009-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

wow i cant believe i am already on day 9, time just flew off so fast.

so how am i doing?
great i must say. finally today i am able to feel so much of energy. my BMs have become more frequent which meant that i am able to eliminate most of the toxins. an interesting thing that i noticed was on the day 1 of my juice feasting, i had hot flashes for 10 min and i was sweating like i was in a sauna. and then my body began to cool down to normal temperature. my skin felt better after that.

Yesterday for my green juice i reduced 1 apple and increased 1 cucumber, and right after having drinking it i started getting BM's frequently within 30 min gaps or so for about 3 hours. and i have noticed 2 thread like things coming out from my body. of course i did read about what mucoid plaque is and what all nasty things can come out from your body when you start detoxing. right after my last BM i felt so energetic. what ever was clogging inside me was just released and i started to feel so much better. Almost all the people who don't eat healthy will normal have the fiber stuck in their intestines, you will notice people who have bigger bellies then their body frame, well its not fat its actually all the stuff that was not eliminating naturally and hence stuck in their.

I believe that the root cause for all the health diseases is directly dependent on a healthy bowel. which is what my focus is on to eliminate as many toxins as possible and benefit from this juice feasting.

So here's my daily juice intake:

Day 5:

lemon juice

orange juice 24

water melon juice 24

green juice 32 z

chocolate drink 8 oz

Day 6:

lemonade 20z

O.J 30z

water melon 16z

Day 7:

water

O.J 20z

apple strawberry 24z

apple strawberry 8z

watermelon juice 30z

green juice 24z

Day 8:

green juice 20z

green juice 32z

O.J 22z

Water melon Juice 30z

Currently this is the recipe i am using for my green juice:

Nimi's basic Green juice:
Fuji Apples 3
Romaine Lettuce 1 bunch (or green leaf lettuce)
Cucumbers large 2
lemon large 1
ginger about 1/2 inch

yield - about 2 Quarts and 10-16 oz

But now that my taste buds are adjusting to the greens i have reduced 1 apple and increased 1 cucumber.

Apart from this i have also been skin brushing my self from yesterday for about 5 min.
I also take Probiotics. for the first few days i was taking 1/2 tsp per day since my digestive system was poor and needed help. from yesterday (day 8) onwards i have reduced it to 1/4 tsp coz now my eliminations are working with little help.

(over the last couple of months i wasn't eating much raw and was eating unhealthy foods and my digestive system got weaker, so i am really looking forward to benefit from juice feasting in strengthening my immunity and better digestion)

Yesterday i went for angela and matt monrach's talk they came to dallas and i was so excited to meet them and hear their speech. it was a blessing for me coz i needed the healing energy from people who are so connected with mother earth. And i am also happy that i was able to buy the juice feasters hand book written by her.

you can check out more about angela at rawreform her story and how she lost over 200 pounds by going raw.

Jucie Feasting Day 4

2009-07-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today's intake:
probiotics with 1/2 c water
water till afternoon
mid afternoon green Juice 30 oz
later afternoon Coconut water 24 oz
evening water melon Juice 30 oz
night green Juice 32 oz

Total juice intake: 3 qt 20 oz

I dint feel very hungry. infact normally i can down 30 oz of drink in 1 sitting but now i was feeling very heavy doing that. from tomorrow i will reduce the amount of juice intake per sitting. emotionally i feel much better and normal. my energy level feels normal. i was able to go to work today and perform all the day-day activities. i must say the 2nd and 3rd day were the hardest but today it looked much better.

For those who are curious about juice feasting you can check out the FAQ's section here:

About Juice feasting - click here
Juice feasting FAQ's - click here

There is also a forum for juice feaster's to talk about their journey. and there's already so many people who did the juice feasting. there's more then 1000 people in the forums. you can check it out here.

To keep me inspired i decided to read some of the juice feasters blogs of folks who already completed it.

http://juicefeasting.blogspot.com/ --- David and Katrina
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/10/juice-feasting/ --- Steve Pavlina
http://courtneypool.blogspot.com/2007/10/92-day-juice-feast.html --- Courtney pool

Juice Feasting (day 1, 2 and 3)

2009-07-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Its official. I am juice feasting. today is actually my day 4, and i am so excited and happy that finally the time has come and god has given me the opportunity to do it.

time..god huh? what's she talking about.

let me explain. For over a year i have been thinking of doing a juice feasting. Some how things were not going the way i needed them in my life last year, i went through the most emotional challenges which i have never faced before, it has made me emotionally week and i went off the raw wagon. i was yo-yoing between cooked and raw food, some time worst foods. i was struggling to keep up. it is so important for one to be in a happy environment, which is key to health as well. so i abandoned the thought and decided to do it later. fast forward to this year i have again thought of doing it. having the emotional and mental support are key, which was what was difficult at my home with my DH being a meat eater.

so over the long weekend, i prayed to god and decided to keep the fast for him. (this is a common practice in India, where people fast for god for his blessings or if they have a wish to be fulfilled in return for which they offer to fast). I said to myself "i will keep it for god will be strict even if i have support or not". I prayed to god and started my fast for 3 days. but something happened. the next day my hubby saw what i was doing and decided to join me. and instead of 3 days we decided to do 30 days together. what a blessing it is from god, giving me not just the opportunity but also all the support i need. Its always fun to do it with another person rather then doing it alone. which is why i thank god for showing his love and encouragement.

I started my fast on July 3rd and planning to do it for 30 days. i may probably extend it but at this point i will feel glad if i can do the 30 days. 1 step at a time.

I will start blogging about the day to day experiences so it will help me. wish me luck :)

DAY 1:

morning coconut water 16 oz
afternoon Green Juice 32 oz
afternoon Orange Juice 24 oz
night Green Juice 32 oz
Today's water intake - 64 oz approx

Total Juice intake - 3qt, 8 oz
Total liquid intake - 5 qt, 8 oz

I slept in the late afternoon. i was feeling very tired. After i woke up i was watching TV and suddenly i started to sweat. i initially ignored and i realized that i was sweating as if i was in a sauna. that when i realized i had hot flash for about 6-7 min continuously my whole shirt got wet. i finally had to change my clothes later. well lets say that's the first interesting detox symptoms that i have noticed. I really dint feel very tired or lethargic. and haven't noticed any other major symptoms.

DAY 2:

11:00 - Lemonade - 32 oz
2:00 - Pineapple Juice - 24 oz
4:30 - Green Juice - 24 oz
5:30 - Green Juice - 8 oz
10:30 - water melon J - 28 0z
11:30 - Green Juice - 26 oz
Today's water intake - 64 oz

Total Juice intake - 4qt, 14 oz

I was feeling very tired and weak today. so i pretty much rested most of the time. emotionally i felt really sad for no reason. it was like something trying to come out and i am trying to force it back. but other then that i haven't seen any major changes.

DAY 3:

morning coconut juice - 34z
2:30 - Orange Juice 24z
5:30 - water melon Juice 30z
8:30 - Green Juice 28 z
10:30 - Green Juice 16 z

today again my emotions went on a roller coaster ride, i was feeling sad for no reason, and for a small argument with my DH, i started crying as if i have lost someone. hmm interesting i never cried over a silly argument like this. but because of that i started getting headache and puffy eyes, i had to sleep and take rest but still my head feels heavy. i had couple of short BM's through out the day. i do feel mentally and physically drained of my energy.

Fajita wrap with smoked jalapeno cheese

2008-08-15T16:57:00.001-07:00

I made Fajita wrap with smoked jalapeño cheese posted at RFT. Big Thanks to Honeybee Joy for coming up with this recipe.

This is really delicious, I crave for savory food and i really liked this one. Although i cant really tell the smoky part in the cheese. But its very tasty in itself. This recipe is a keeper in my favorites. I can see myself making it often, I might try some other creative alternatives as well.

I Slightly modified the original recipe to suit my taste buds. I used my chatpata mix in the end and it gave the right spice level.

For the filling:
2 Portabella mushrooms [chopped] (or any mushrooms) ( next time i would add more)
1 each of red, yellow and orange bell peppers (chopped) [ next time i will add more red peppers]
1 Banana Pepper chopped
4 jalapeno peppers (sliced thin rings)
3 Tbs lemon juice (=1 medium lemon)
1 Tbs Nama shoyu/ Tamari
4 TBS olive oil
3/4 Tsp chilli powder (i use Indian chillies which are very hot)
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp sea salt (dissolved in water)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix it, and dehydrate for 2 hrs @ 110 degrees. If you don't have a dehydrator you can skip this step. and let it marinate for a couple of hours

Smoked Jalapeno cheese:
1C raw cashews soaked for 30 min to 2 hrs
1 Jalapeno
1/4 -1/2 C water depending on the thickness
1 Tsp salt

Add the ingredients in Vitamix and blend to a fine cheese.

ASSEMBLE:
Take Romaine lettuce leaf (bigger the better), Spread the cheese to cover the entire leaf, then add the fajita mix in the center starting from one end to the other. Then sprinkle a pinch each of chilli powder, salt (you need to powder the sea salt) and pepper powder.

Pictures:
The Fajita Mix
Before going into the dehydrator:
After dehydrating for 2 hours:
Jalapeno Cheese:
Finally the fajita wrap:

Note: The above fajita wrap picture does not have the chatpata mix on top of it. (i added it after taking the pictures)

Raw Guacamole

2008-08-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today i made Anna tipps Guacamole. It came out really good. Very tasty. and i loved it.

I had to make it a quarter of a recipe, as its just me who was having it, So i modified the recipe to suit my taste buds and the ingredients available in my kitchen.

Here is the modified recipe from the original one:

1 Avocado
1 Tsp red onion minced
1 Tsp Cilantro minced
juice of 1/4th medium sized lime
1/4 th tsp red chilli powder
2 pinches garlic powder
2 Pinches salt

Preparation:
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mash it.
I Stored it in a small container so its completely filled, which leaves very little room for air, meaning more storage time.

Here's what i prepared as a meal:
(Guacamole with flax crackers and veggies - cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce)

Tips:

Make sure the lime is medium sized, if you have a large one, make it to a quarter but only use about 70% of the juice from that quarter wedge, as a little bit more it can become too lemony.

Cucumber wraps

2008-08-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

3 words - Yummy yummy yummy

So I decided to make bunny berry's cucumber wraps, and boy they were so tasty, and simple to make. These are the type of recipes i was looking for, no fancy ones but simple easy to make recipes, that help me stay raw. Of course i would like to make other recipes that are time consuming, but i can see myself going for the easy ones at least for now.

Here's the recipe below that i made. Its slightly modified version.

Ingredients:
1 Extra long seedless Cucumber (1/2 of it long slices to make the roll, other 2" thin chopped
1/4 th red Pepper (2" thin chopped)
1 Avocado
handful mixed baby greens
few drops of lemon juice

Avocado cheese ( mix the avocado with few drops olive oil, 2 pinches salt, few drops of lemon juice and 2 pinches garlic powder)

Preparation:
Take one of the cucumber long slices, spread the avocado cheese, towards one end, add about 2 cucumber pieces, 2 red pepper pieces, and another 2 cucumber pieces, spread some more cheese on the top add about 4 mixed baby green leaves, few drops of lemon juice (optional). And roll the cucumber slice. Repeat the same for other slices and voila you have the cucumber wraps.

Note: I normally like more of lemony taste , So you might want to taste the cheese to suit your taste buds.

Yoga - Interesting Links

2008-07-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting links to Yoga:

http://www.sivananda.org/index.html -
http://yoga.org.nz - Free yoga video download

Others:

Solar Healing --- Hira ratan manek, was on sun and water for 400+ days
http://www.sungazing.com/ --- Sun gazing

Menstruation and Raw Foods Diet

2008-07-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is a really interesting Discussion thread on Give it to me raw site.
Menstruation and raw food diet

It Just tells me how many people are seeing improvement in the cycles that they have, and also cramping.

Here is the Question that was posted by nycgrrl :

Curious as to other women's experience with their menses after having been raw for a while. I have been like 95%+ raw for 4 months and each month my period gets shorter. This month it was just 2 days.

Can others share their experience? Thank you!

Steamed Aloo curry (potato)

2008-07-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is my All time favorite among all the Steamed food that i have done so far. Its soft, tasty and with the right amount of spices, tastes just like the regular dish, but steamed :)

Ingredients:

2 Potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
1/4th Onion (long thin)
1 Tbs Olive Oil
3 Green chillies (long slit into halves)
1/4th stick of Curry Leaves
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Ginger garlic Paste

Instructions:
Mix everything in the bowl, in the steamer bottom area, add 3 Cups Water, in the steamer basket add the above mix, and steam it for 30 Minutes.

Tips:
After steaming, do a taste test, and add ingredients as needed to suit your spice levels, it should be done within the last few minutes of steaming, so it mixes well.

Its been a long time

2008-06-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Boy its been such a long time that i have blogged. i have been of the blogging scene for a while. well, now its time for me to start blogging again. although i wont be able to blog a lot, i thought at least i will try to when ever i can.

some of you might be wondering what happened so far. i am excited as i have my mom here visiting me. she will stay with me for a couple of months and we get to do so many things together. I went to Miami, Florida few weeks back and it was fun. I visited my sister who currently lives there. went to farmers market and had tons of coconut water almost everyday. went on cruise to Bahamas. I loved the coco cay island perfect vacation spot. and the best thing is the buffet in the cruise you can choose so many fruits and delicious salads.

A little background on my mom:
My mom is a cervical cancer (stage 3B) survivor, she had a surgery, chemo and radiation around august of 2006. Unfortunately there were indications that her cancer might have passed to the lymph nodes. we don't know how long she has to live. I told to my mom about raw food and how people are healing themselves and maybe she can try it too. Maybe it wont heal her completely but at least it will make her immunity stronger to deal with any future illness.

Initially she was hesitant and she had her own doubts, in fact when i went to India few months back, i was listening to loads of lectures on how thin i became and i should stop this raw foods and start eating normally. not just her but all my cousins, aunts, uncles and everyone were telling on how i should stop this raw food. it was a little frustrating to deal with but i know time will come and it will turn the coin slowly, so i started to give her more of fruit juices while in India she immediately noticed how energetic she was becoming and able to do things by herself. i convinced her to come here and stay with me to experience more things. and now here she is.

She immediately fell in love with green smoothies, thats her breakfast now. she is having it almost everyday. And just last week she started wheat grass juice too. well, lets see how the coming months go for her. she is definitely lot more healthier then before when she came here. Its been close to 2 months and she has lost weight, became energetic, healthier, her face is glowing. She is still not 100% raw but has increased the intake of raw foods its mostly green smoothies, lots of fresh fruits and fruit juices and steamed veggies. and smaller portions of regular lunch and dinner which is typically rice and curry or other Indian appetizers.

Pregnancy resources

2008-01-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hello
This post will be an index page for all the useful links/ resources with regards to raw pregnancy and child birth. I will keep updating it on a regular basis. If you know of any great resources, do let me know.

CHILD BIRTH:
http://www.un assistedchildbirth.com/ --- a very interesting site
http://www.birthintobeing.com

INFANT PARENTING:
http://www.dearmamma.com/ --- A guide for natural parenting

Pregnancy experiences of others:
http://www.thegardenbaby.com/
http://sherahsjourney.blogspot.com/ ---Sherah
http://www.rawveganpregnancy.blogspot.com/ --- Raene
http://melsmelange.blogspot.com/ ---
more stories --- From the nest baby
http://zingbabies.blogspot.com/ -- helen rose/ jeff from Natural zing store on babies
http://www.nudefood.com/nutrition-for-your-blissful-pregnancy/ -- from courtney taylor, Dallas

OTHERS:
http://www.vaccinetruth.org/ --- All about vaccines
http://www.thinktwice.com/ --- vaccines

Around Texas:
http://www.allenbirthingcenter.com/ --- Midwives

Feeling sick

2008-01-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

I am feeling sick today, and nauseated. is it the detox?

Today i had:
8:30 AM - Water 32oz
9:30 AM - 1 cup tangerines
10:00 to 11:00 - Carrot juice 16 oz (i had to take it slowly)
12:45 PM - vegetarian meal

Raw chili

2008-01-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today i made the famous chili recipe from cousins book: Rainbow green. This recipe was posted in RFT. yum it was really good and i am quite impressed with this recipe, this is going to be one of my favorite recipe from now.
Notes: Next time i will fine chop/ grate the veggies.

Today i had:
9:00 AM - Water 32oz
10:00 AM - Green smoothie 16oz (Mango, pineapple, strawberry, kale)
11:00 AM - 1/2 cup of raw chili yum!!!
2:00 PM - Coconut water 16oz
5:30 PM - Almond Vanilla milk 16o
10:45PM - 1 large apple, 1Cup cantaloupe
01:00 AM - bites of chili, 3TBS

I was feeling a bit tired so slept in the evening and got up at 10:00PM!!! now i wont be able to sleep till late night hmmm. But i was feeling very energetic once i woke, guess my body needed that sleep.

not the right time

2008-01-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

Ok i really want to do the challenge but its getting difficult in this month. My project at work has started hitting me badly, I am having to work 10-12 hrs every day, including most of the weekends for the next 3 weeks to provide support for this high profile project. I am working in IT so this is not new for IT folks, wish thats not the case. oh my poor body!!!
So i guess this is not the right time for me to start a 100% raw challenge, instead i decided to go with smaller achievable goals even with this buzy schedule.

I am very much inspired by victoria boutenko's "green for life" boook. A lot of things make sense and one common mistake most raw foodits do is not having enough greens. They are your protein source apart from nuts. I have been having regular smoothies, but also there are days i dont have enough greens. I have also observed the amount of energy i was having when consuming greens. So i want to make it a habit to have a green smoothie everyday. I have a sweet tooth, so want to have more of fruit/ green combo rather then veggie/ green combo.

This is my all time favourite grren smoothie:
6 slices mango,
6 cubes pineapple,
6 straw berries,
handful spinach and 2 kale leaves. (agave optional if you wnat it sweeter).
i Think i should call this the 666 fruit kick gsmoothie !!!

Give me raw

2008-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

So now that i have been doing close to 75% raw i felt that i am ready to go to the next level of going 100% raw. I have decided to do a 30 day raw challenge to see if i can do it. I will update my blog with what i eat on a day to day basis. wish me luck

back home

2007-12-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

Ok now i am back to Seattle. now what?
energy level: very low. where are my greens i miss my babies!!! anyways its been less than a week that i came back, still fighting with my jet lag.

I had some kind of eye irritation after eating chicken at my cousins place for Christmas. strange i never had such kind of irritation before to chicken. the next day (which is yesterday) i went to work with blood shot eyes scarring my friendly neighbors next to my cube. i got wonderful concerns and advices about using some kind of medication/ antibiotics etc. i thanked them for the concern they had for me. i decided to use natural cure instead. i went and in the evening made a green juice and boy i felt so much better after that. and within 1 hour i started to see the irritability going down and today i have very little of the red eye. and i feel much better. its amazing what green can do to your body.

need to pull myself up

2007-12-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

I came to India on a trip for my sisters wedding. its so exciting cause i can get to try all the fruits which i don't normally get back in USA. lots of coconuts, seetaphal, mosambi, chiku (sapota) mmmm

anyways i am unable to stay as much raw as i thought i would like to stay, with so many occasions and gatherings that i am being a part of and also i was being on the road so much, that it was hard for me to make a meal and take it with me. almost everyday I used to wake up in the morning go out and i only come back late in the night after a hectic day of wedding activities.

to sum it up: lot of traveling etc, lack of my raw equipment, get together's and parties etc made it difficult for me to stay raw. now that the wedding is over, i am able to relax. but still, i don't have a good juicer or my vitamix to make green smoothies or juices, also not much of an access to lettuce/ greens for making good salads, even if i have other ingredients like cucumber/ tomatoes i don't have a good dressing for them. i still have 2 weeks of my vacation here in India and i want to use as much as i can to benefit from eating the local produce. even with all this chaos, i managed to stay 50% raw with fruits and juices. but the other 50% had a mix of unhealthy foods. its just been 2 weeks i came and i already noticed a difference in my energy levels going down due to my new eating habits.

I believe even if you are not able to stay 100% raw, the other non raw meals should be steamed/ lightly cooked so that the nutrients are still there. and avoid the typical unhealthy, deep fried, broiled, oily foods

So for the next 2 weeks of my vacation i need to make a change.
I went and bought a sprout machine. so now at least i can pack some sprouts with me when i go out. I have also decided to eat as many fruits as possible (my major raw sources for now). If i crave for juices i will have coconut or mosambi juice. for the cooked food part i will try to have steamed/ slow cooked food. This way i am not making my poor body stressed out.
I need to come up with some creative recipes to have veggis and salads with local produce.

On a side note: I had a blast with the whole wedding episode and i love India!!! Its so exciting to see my darling little sister get married. So many beautiful clothes to try, food to eat and exciting people to meet :)

Raw survivors !!!!

2007-12-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

Below is a list of people who cured themselves from various illnesses by including raw food in their diet. Please read their stories. This shows that raw CAN CURE ILLNESSES. you just need to give it a shot.
Apart from being raw; regular colon cleansing, yoga and alternative medicine will help in easing the pain and faster recovery!!! If you know of anyone who has cured themselves from any form of illnesses by following a raw diet, please send their information, each persons story will inspire others who want to give it a try.

CANCER

Dr. Lorraine Day - cured herself from advanced breast cancer her website http://www.drday.com/ has lots of information on cancer. Please check the tumor Pictures
Somsak Shinawatra (63, Thailand), LIVER Cancer and tumor, was able to shrink the tumor size and cancer cells. Details
Has information about people who healed themselves with various illnesses. http://www.gerson.org/default.asp I recommend checking this site.
http://www.circle-of-life.net/NaturalHealth.php --- Jill Schneider Cured cervical cancer stage 5 with no surgeries
Mary Lou Sackett --- Had a stage 2 Breast cancer.
Vernon who cured cancer with baking soda - http://phkillscancer.com/

DIABETES:

Ricki -- overcame diabetes

OTHER TESTIMONIES:

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/raw-food-before-and-after-photos.html stories
http://www.hacres.com/testimonies/testimonies.asp This site has tons of people who cured themselves from various illnesses.
http://www.chidiet.com/blog/category/success-stories --- Raw sucess Stories
http://www.chidiet.com/blog/success-stories/tanisha.htm -- Tanisha

I was reading a recent post from Tanisha Marshall, and there was one specific paragraph that resonated with me, here's the paragraph, and you should check out her amazing before and after testimonial:

" One powerful lesson I’ve learned from my wonderful coach Tami, is that you should never let money run your life, money should be working with you to provide the life you want. I know some of you out there are chasing money yet feel so empty inside, I know what that is like and I decided it’s time to start living "

I can visualize myself getting more and more closer towards doing what my heart desires. waiting for the right time to come :)

Stories of individuals:

http://www.thegardendiet.com/shannon.html --- Shannon the brave heart
http://www.raw-food-health.net/RawFoodLifestyle.html --- Andrew perlot, Cured Colitis and lives on 80/10/10 diet and using this website to encourage others to eat more fruits and veggies

Raw meal plan

2007-09-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

So most of you must be wondering what i typically eat on a day-to-day basis. currently i am having 75% raw foods and 25% lightly cooked food. My eventual goal is to have 100% raw food.

When i first started raw, it wasn't easy for me to shift overnight into raw. instead i worked out a transition plan, which worked out for me. I know few people who changed overnight successfully ( lucky them :) But there's catch point, if you keep telling yourself that you will do it gradually you will tend to loose focus and do less of raw and more of non raw, instead i told myself that i will do as much raw as i can but will not fall below my goal list. well i did go down sometimes but was able to stick to it most of the time. So you see its the mind game. only when you keep telling yourself you will try to do 100% raw, you will tend to fail lot of times in the beginning but as time progresses you will get more control over your eating habits and there will be less pitfalls and eventually the grand prize of ecstatic happiness on 100% raw food. So its the mind you need to start training !!!

So on a typical day here's what i currently have:

Do water therapy first thing in the morning. (To consume about 1.25L/ 40 oz approx of water). This helps in hydrating your body which is very much needed.
Around 10:00 AM, have Fruits like 2 bananas/ 3 Apples etc
Around 12:30 PM- Green smoothie 16oz / Orange Juice 16 oz/ Smoothie/Salad/ Raw meal
Around 3:30 PM - snack on more fruits/ Sprouts/ Nuts etc
Around 5:30 PM - have some kind of Raw Meal/ Cooked Meal
Around 8:30 PM - Fruit Juice 16 oz/ Green-vegetable juice 16oz/ Green smoothie 16oz

Quantities vary based on my hunger level. After trying different ways to consume raw, the above pattern worked best for my lifestyle and work schedules. Eventually i might change the pattern, currently my last meal is something i am using to heal myself.

Most of the people think that doing raw is difficult, well think again, go to Google and check out the amazing raw dishes that people prepare. For almost every non raw dish, there is a raw version made by so many amazing chefs and they taste so good. yummy!!!
If going 100% raw is difficult for your taste buds and your mind (the main controllers) Try doing at least 50% raw, try to have lots of juices, Fruits and sprouts for Breakfast and afternoon snack instead of some junk food. Slowly your taste buds start to like them and over a period of time you will start craving them. Most of us knowingly/ unknowingly were having raw food in the form of fruits and juices, so this is not new. The only new thing now is you are more aware of how much you are having and how frequently. See, now who says raw is difficult, you have been doing raw. now just speed it up :)

Useful Raw Links

2007-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Below is a list of raw links. I will keep updating this post regularly.
Note: (if R* is indicated it meant a site recommended to visit)

ONLINE STORES - and/or resources guide:
http://rawguru.com/index.html --- Online Store food, equipment; training, catering, workshops
http://www.rawfood.com/ ---- online store (David Wolfe)
http://rawfoods.com/ ---- Online store, and a one stop place for all raw information, resources, articles etc
http://www.living-foods.com/index.shtml --- same site as above with different name
http://www.gtskombucha.com/ --- for kombucha
http://www.superfooduniverse.com/index.php ---- To buy super foods
http://www.live-live.com/ --- Raw organic foods and natural skin care products, recommended by Natalia rose
http://therawfoodworld.com/ --- by Matt monarch & Angela Stokes
http://radicalhealth.com/guide/ --- Radical health, chocolate health
http://rawfromthefarm.com/default.aspx --- for raw almonds
http://www.rawgaia.com/ --- Earth friendly beauty products
http://www.naturalzing.com/catalog/index.php --- inspiring story about Jeff and his site

COMMUNITY/ FORUMS/ NETWORKING:
http://www.rawfoodchat.com/
http://goneraw.com/ --- To share and discuss raw recipes, forum (Lots of recipes)
http://www.soystache.com/ --- An educational site about plant based diet.
http://eat.rawfood.com/ ---- Raw food community, social networking, forum
http://www.rawwashington.org --- raw Washington

FAV COMMUNITIES:
http://www.giveittomeraw.com/ --- something like face book. profile/ forums/groups/videos
http://rawfoodtalk.com/ --- of Alissa Cohen, forums, discussion board, blogs
http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/ --- from Carmella

Magazines:
http://www.fresh-network.com/ --- Raw food magazine
http://www.purelydelicious.net/ --- Raw food magazine
http://www.livingnutrition.com/index.html --- Raw food magazine
http://rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com/ --- Raw foods magazine
http://www.livingnutrition.com/ --- living nutrition

OTHERS:
http://www.rawfoodplanet.com/ --- Worldwide raw food lifestyle directory
http://www.allrawdirectory.com/index.asp --- ALL RAW DIRECTORY

RAW DOCTORS:

http://www.drbass.com/ --- Dr. Stanley Bass, Books, Articles (Recommended)
http://www.fredbisci.com/ --- Dr. Fred Bisci
http://www.doctorgraham.cc/ --- Dr. Douglas Graham
http://www.drday.com/ --- Dr. Lorraine Day
http://www.lifefood.com/ --- Dr. David Jubb
http://rawdoctors.com/home.html --- Dr. Jim, Dr. Steve

RAW FOOD AUTHORS/ EDUCATORS/ RESEARCHERS/ PIONEERS:
http://www.thegardendiet.com/ ---- My favorite. Jinjee, Storm and their family. make sure to check out jinjees before and after pregnancy photos.
http://www.shazzie.com/ --- Shazzie - speaker, books, chocolate bars and super foods
http://www.rawreform.com/ ---- Angela stokes, author, speaker check out her amazing before and after pics, she has inspired a lot of people on the raw diet as well as 92 day juice feasting.
http://rogerhaeske.com/?page_id=179 --- Roger Haeske
http://renegadehealth.com/blog/ --- kevin Gianni and ann Marie
http://learnrawfood.com/ --- Jennifer Cornbleet, author, raw food made easy for 1 or 2 ppl
http://www.rawfoodchef.com/default.html --- Living lights culinary arts
http://www.beautifulonraw.com/ --- Tonya Zavastava, 50yrs, but looks like 30. Author, Speaker
http://therawfoodsite.com/ -- The official site for Master cleanse

RAW FOODER'S/ recipes:
http://www.rawandjuicy.com/index.html --- Shelly, Book - Dying to get well
http://harmonyhikes.com/index.html --- Sergei boutenko, hiking, wild edibles
http://www.therawtable.com/recipes.htm --- Anna tips, Houston, Good recipes [raw food cooking classes]
http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/RawRecipes.htm --- Michelle reeves, good recipes
http://rawfoodchef.web.officelive.com/default.aspx --- April from Atlanta
http://www.rawliberation.com/index.html --- Maureen veto-slater, from drugs to raw, 50yrs but looks like 35!!
Belivelight.com --- Brian Lucas, catering, chef
Raw glow --- Cecilia, cured chronic fatigue syndrome

RAW CHEF'S:
http://www.purejoyplanet.com/ --- Elaina Love

ARTICLES/ Information Resources:
http://www.rawfoodchat.com/ --- lots of articles
http://radicalhealth.com/av/ --- articles
http://cocopura.com/coconut-oil-healing-benefits.html --- Coconut benefits

SPECIFIC ARTICLES LINKS:
enzyme therapy for cancer prevention and treatment - great article which explains about enzymes and cancer, the author herself is a breast cancer survivor

RAW - EDUCATION/ CERTIFICATION/ COURSES:
http://www.therawvegannetwork.com/ --- by jinjee and storm

RAW BLOGS:
http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/ -- Kristen
http://crazysexycancer.blogspot.com/ --- Kris Carr
http://www.debbietookrawforlife.blogspot.com/ --- articles, recipes and news on raw food
http://pullingdaisies.blogspot.com/ --- Raw pregnant mom Annalise’s blog
http://destinationraw.blogspot.com/ --- useful links for local produce
http://rawketscience.blogspot.com/ --- Robin 'Keiko' Gregory
http://raw-foods-rawk.blogspot.com/ --- Lissa [fajita wrap]
http://freshtopia.net/vlog/ -- V logging Tanja and Oscar
http://vegannosaurus.com/ --- Links to other blogs as well
http://www.heidishealing.blogspot.com/ --- Heidi from South Africa, diaognized with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), non-invasive breast cancer, stage 0. Is a Trained Homeopath and documenting her Journey to heal herself
http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/ ---

http://www.radiantonraw.typepad.com/ --- Alina, her story resonated with me (attended karen knowlers class)

RETREAT CENTERS:
http://www.journeysforthesoul.com/index.htm --- Eden springs, Arizona
http://www.circle-of-life.net/ --- Delrey beach, Florida
http://www.hippocratesinst.org/ --- West palm beach, Florida
http://www.stewartmineralsprings.com/home.htm --- Stewart mineral Springs, CA

RAW FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS:

http://www.omarsrawtopia.com/index.html - Salt lake city, Utah

CANCER RELATED:
http://www.cancertutor.com/ ---- [R*] a very useful site for cancer patients. i like the grape cure. interesting article on raw foods and cancer.
http://www.cancer-success.com/ --- Bob Davis has a lot of useful information, cancer survivor
http://www.healingcancernaturally.com/ --- here's an interesting article from their site
http://www.new-cancer-treatments.org/index.html --- Check their links section, they are independent cancer research team
http://www.curenaturalicancro.com --- Dr. Simoncini's baking soda treatment to cure cancer, and his book cancer is fungus. check out Dr.simoncini's interview in candida international blog
gersens therapy
http://phkillscancer.com/ - Vernon who cured his prostate cancer with baking soda

http://www.positivehealth.com/article-list.php?subjectid=50 --- case studies for different sicknesses by Dr. Pat Reeves

Although i have done my best to present information, some mistakes might crop up. So please feel free to let me know and i will update it accordingly. Also If you have a raw website that you would like me to add , please mail me at nimishareddy@gmail.com

Rawsome BOOKS

2007-09-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some books that support the raw lifestyle.

"Raw Food made easy for 1 or 2 people" - By Jennifer Cornbleet

About the Blog

2007-09-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I will soon update the blog with a lot of raw information, articles, interesting websites, inspirational, raw food creations etc. At this point i am thinking of updating once a week and more if possible. So keep coming back to check for updates.

Alternatively you can also subscribe to this blog. Let me know if anyone needs instructions on how to subscribe.

I personally use http://reader.google.com, you can use this reader if you have a gmail account.you simply log into the above website. subscribe to as many websites as you wish. and you can view all the updates in one place.On the left hand side you will see all the URL's you have subscribed to. when you click one of them, you can view all the updates, recent posts on the right hand side.

I hope others will benefit from this blog and get inspired to stay raw!!!

A little about me

2007-09-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Early this year (march) I came across raw food. From then I started going through different raw articles/ information and tried to understand about the lifestyle changes involved in it. From the day I started reading about raw foods I knew, this will make a difference in my life. My intuition was telling me i finally found answers.I was excited when I saw the testimonials of so many individuals who went raw and the amazing results each of them benefited from. Like any other SAD (Standard American Diet) eater I had my own problems that I had to deal with, like lack of energy, feeling low, sudden mood swings, giddiness, lack of remembering things, chronic fatigue, sleeplessness (insomnia), dark circles etc. and of course a little weight of about 10 pounds. I have gone to so many doctors for treatment, every time I go, I am assured by taking the medication I will be able to completely get rid of this. But I wasn’t. I was getting frustrated and angry that doctors were not able to help me. I decided to do my own research on my health. I was always interested and fascinated with science so it was easy for me to stick with my research. Anyways when I stumbled upon raw I was excited. Deep inside, my heart was telling me that this is the cure for all my sickness. I have made-up my mind to stick to raw eating.

Right from childhood, I remember my mom and other family members telling me to eat good food, and how healthy it is. I remember them saying "Eat fresh fruits and vegetables and your face will glow". I also remember how much of fresh fruits and veggies were a part of my daily intake as a child, but my diet also had other Indian foods like rice and curry, roti’s and other delicacies mostly home made and occasional eating out. So I was a healthy child while growing up with lots of energy. Little did I realize how this simple truth missed me during my later part of life. My childhood was filled with all those glorious memories I spent at the farm house; animals and trees being my friends. I have always loved nature and to this day I can’t imagine staying far from it. But as life went on I went with the flow. It is during my late teen years, after 17 or so, my health went on declining; and last year until this year my health started declining very steeply. I could not even handle simple day to day chores without exhausting my self.

Life was not so easy when you are the sick person, I was never severely sick but small things like lethargic, tiredness, chronic fatigue took its toll, especially when I go out with friends and I have to drag my self to match up with their energy levels. It was not so easy. I gave up on explaining to others and simply had life, take its toll. I still had plenty of questions though. I slowly started researching on diet, nutrition and medical aspects online. But nothing had any information on raw food, which surprises me so much, after knowing how much better I am feeling now, after having all my questions answered, I feel angry about how such simple and beautiful information has been suppressed for the general public. More and more people are getting into raw foods, and its catching up like wild fire through word of mouth.

Now I have rediscovered the beauty in eating like this. Although my childhood diet had a mix of lots of fresh fruits as well as cooked food, It didn't occur to me that eating 100% raw is the best food. In the last couple of years I have been eating bread, subways and other kinds of food like packaged and processed food. I did not have any idea that these were maybe not the healthiest of the foods. But now being in the raw and experiencing how beautiful I am feeling on it, I now realize how beautiful life is again.

Now i have so much energy and glow. I was healing inside slowly, people began to notice my skin and how it was glowing, and I was getting compliments on how my skin glows. I no more have dark circles. I was loosing weight. My hair is shining. My eyes were bright. I also started to become more calmer, less frustrated, no more mood swings and I am happy all the time (I don't know why I keep feeling happy most of the time, but I am loving it) and I even received a compliment saying it’s not just the glow but I look very healthy from inside too which shows on my face. Now I am thinking, wow!!! I only asked god to heal me and look, he showed me a path to be happy and to live my life again. I mean think about it how many of you get cold, flu, headaches, nausea, stomach cramps, sleeplessness, tiredness etc and think that it’s normal. Well, it’s not normal. Wake up guys. Ever since I have been in raw all these little annoying things also seemed to vanish. I started getting more and more energy as time went by. Just 2 days back during the weekend, I worked the house chores, went to a b'day party, arranged everything for my friends surprise b'day party, cleaned everything, came back home still felt energetic as if the day has just started. I finally slept at 2:30 am. Not because I was tired, But because I was sleepy. There is a big difference between tiredness and sleepiness. Now, I go to sleep within 5 min. and not struggling to sleep.

After feeling so amazing, I began to start thinking to myself how life would have been if I discovered raw foods few years back, how many things and relations I could have improved in all those years? How much fun, I would have had with my family and friends and How much I would have lived my life and not drag along. Then I also began to think just like me, there might be so many others who are still waiting to get that awakening call. So I have decided to let others know what I know about and what I have researched about. Even if 1 person is able to benefit from the information then I will feel blessed :) you may have lot of problems too, and if you wish to change your life, It's time to do it now and Please don't hesitate to contact me. I will help you as much as I can. I will be happy knowing my loved ones, friends and everyone else is as happy as i am on raw foods.

And you can see that this is the fountain of youth. And I am loving having this fountain. You must be wondering what I eat typically on a day to day basis on raw foods. I eat everything that's made raw like lasagna, pizzas, pasta, raviolis, noodles, bread, crackers, chips, pates, smoothies, juices, fruits, salads, nuts, cheese everything. And all these are made raw. Meaning no cooking at all!!! Once you know how to make them you can enjoy these beautiful creations too. I love my raw food. Slowly now my family is also getting tempted to try them and now they eat so much raw food that I prepare for my self. I am glad that my family members are also seeing improvements in their health. I thank god for showing me the right path!!!

This is my journey, a journey to good health, and to live life happily by practicing healthy ways for the body, mind and soul!!!

"Every healthy meal eaten, counts to your health" - Nimisha
" Eat Healthy, Live Healthy"
"Your body is like a temple, Worship it and you will be blessed!!!" - Nimisha & Nitisha

my first blog

2007-05-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

hey all,

This is my first blog :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NIMISHA REDDY ~~~~~~~~~~