Raw Juicing

I have been working on a raw food diet these past three weeks. When I first started I weighed 196 lbs. My heaviest has been 216 lbs. so I had already worked on getting about 20 lbs. off but my energy level was not increasing. I was waking up dizzy and exhausted.

On iTunes I found One Radio Network (ORN) out of Austin, Texas and learned a lot about a raw food diet. So I decided, since I still have my trusty 23-year-old VitaMix, to try this raw food diet out.

Well, 3 weeks later I dropped to 170 lbs. More importantly, I have experienced a new vitality in life. I have more energy now than I have had in years and, yes, the inches are coming off. Who knew I had a neck. You should bear in mind that all this weight has been on a 5' 3" frame, so I still have quite a way to go.

Without getting too detailed on all of the benefits, I would like to take you through my raw food breakfast / lunch.

IT BEGINS WITH RAW VEGETABLES

Although I plan on adding many more vegetables and I am open to any or your suggestions, this is what I made this morning. And you should know that given my personality, I'm going to include way too many photographs so that if you should decided to try this style of food choices, there will be no "doubt" about how to do it.

The first thing I do is get a paper plate and the knife I will use to pare off my pieces.

Not very fancy but it works and makes clean-up a cinch!

As you can see, I am limiting the amount I could eat because once you start blending (I have yet try to juice), it's real easy to make too much.

Yes, I use raw broccoli and have learned to really appreciate the freshness this adds to my juice mixture.

I must tell you, as I increase the number and variety of raw vegetables to the mix, the flavor profile become more varied and pleasing. This is raw zucchini. And before this raw food diet, I would never even consider eating zucchini raw. But it's flavor to the mix is outstanding.

I have come to love cabbage over these past 3 weeks. It is surprisingly sweet and adds a mellow sweetness to the palate when I grab some and eat it as is.

I don't pretend to be and expert by any means when it comes to a raw food diet and so I invite anyone to give me tips as to how I can reduce the fruit juices in the mix. The fact is, I could add water and perhaps as time goes by, I shall.

I use these three juices to assist the drinkability of the vegetables. It is simply too thick without adding these.

The first is 100% grape juice and I add about 3 ounces to the chopped vegetables. Then I usually add Dole 100% Paradise Blend or my favorite, Strawberry and Kiwi which is more apple and peach juice than anything else. The total is about 5 or 6 ounces.

Finally, I add unsweetened soy milk. Flavored soy doesn't taste good to me so why add it? Westsoy seems to be one of the leaders in untreated soy milk.

http://www.westsoy.biz/products/organics.php

As you can see, Welch's 100% grape juice is not a "Cocktail" or "Punch", which are red flags that indicate sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, etc. has been added. If I want to eat sugar, I will choose it in chocolate form and not have it for breakfast.

All of Dole's juices are not 100% juice and not all containers of juice manufacturers that claim 100% Natural are sugar-free. This is one that is all juice.

I can't say enough about this product. Although I don't use very much of it, I do drink it every day. Although I have great things to say about Pacific Natural Foods out of Tualatin, Oregon, to my knowledge they don't have a product so purely soy milk.

NOTE: I accidentally picked up a box of Westsoy Unsweetened Vanilla Soy Milk. This was a mistake. I usually get the unflavored variety.

This is the original crushed Flax seed I tried. I got it from Costco but they sometimes don't have it in stock. It should be refrigerated to avoid the oils going rancid. Now I just use this container and get my flax seed from Vitacost online.

http://www.vitacost.com:80/Spectrum-Organic-Ground-Flaxseed

I think the ingredients are fantastic:

http://www.vitacost.com:80/Spectrum-Organic-Ground-Flaxseed#IngredientFacts

It comes vacuum packed and ready for refrigeration.

In the Summer, getting melons into the juice is wonderful. Here is some of the last melon I could find in the first week of October. Cantaloupe and Watermelon are my favorites.

It is the usual practice to spoon out the innards of the cantaloupe and toss the contents. But not me! I once saw a demonstration of the VitaMix before I purchased it. And the demonstrator included a few cantaloupe seeds into his juice samples and explained that cantaloupe seeds contain vitamin A.

Well, it is actually amazing what these seeds contain by way of life-giving and life-promoting elements. Check out what cantaloupe seeds contain:

           1. Phosphorous              9. Thiamin                    
           2. Sodium                   10. Riboflavin
           3. Potassium                11. Niacin
           4. Vitamin A                12. Vitamin B6
           5. Vitamin C                13. Pantothenic Acid
           6. Vitamin D                14. Choline
           7. Vitamin E                15. Selenium
           8. Vitamin K                16. Fluoride
    

So what do you think I do with all of this jam-packed goodness designed to make me healthier? You guessed it! 

It goes right into the juice! And what pharmaceutical can create such a substance with all of these qualities? Yet these occur naturally and in a for that is easy for the body to assimilate it! I ask you, if you don't feel good, would you rather take drugs or natural sources of life-sustaining and life-healing and life-bolstering elements?

And, of course, the cantaloupe goes into the mix. What a great tasting juice!

And I go a bit overboard on the Organic Cold-Milled Golden Flax Seed. Hey, what would you expect? So in it goes! Here are the ingredients as they sit in my VitaMix:

Yum Yum Eat 'Em Up! Now it's time to turn the VitaMix on without increasing the speed:

And there it goes! The speed is on low! And now, my secret ingredient! Bet you can't guess what it is. Hint: It's not Tequila, ha ha!

It's Raw Beet! But I don't use it all. Instead, I keep it in sealable plastic bag:

It's easy and I use it every day. Finally I add a teaspoon of honey. I'm not particular about what kind of honey. Perhaps I should be but at this point, I'm not.

So maybe one day I will go whole-hog organic but for now, I am making such drastic improvements on my diet. Instead of eating entire quarts and half-gallons of ice cream, I am now eating vitamin-, mineral-rich foods.

One I put the beet chunks into the VitaMix, the color changes:

As you can see, it is now a vibrant reddish color. Time to increase the speed to break up those cantaloupe seeds. Still, I don't have to turn on the higher gear.

As you can see, it pours nicely so if you have a problem with drinking thick liquids, this will not be a challenge for you. And given the fantastic taste, you will be drawn to drink it all. In fact, I have made quite a bit:

So I am almost able to fill two large styrofoam cups (20 ounce). 

There you have it! My juicing habit has become so pleasurable that I look forward to it every morning. And it is so packed with energy that it sustains me till mid-afternoon and sometimes into the evening.

So share you own experiences in juicing and let me know what you think!