Hey POPsters!
I know a lot of us are in search of “the one”. There are many “the ones” I could be alluding to but the one that I am talking about today focuses on the relationship between you and your stomach.
There are so many diets out there…Atkins, Low Fat, Low Carb, High protein, Vegan, Raw Vegan, Paleo, South Beach… I mean the list goes on and on and on. Which one actually works? Well the truth is…our bodies are so unique that not one of these will work for all of us. It begins with getting to know yourself and what foods mesh with you and which ones just twist your stomach.
The reason why I am talking about this today is because last past weekend I took a full day raw vegan un-cooking course. As you all know, I love eating vegan as much as I can because I love fresh fruits and veggies. I wasn’t taking the class to be “converted” or anything but it did inspire my culinary creativity.Take a look at what we made!!
Collard Green Wraps!
These were soooo delicious! Zucchini, carrots, onions, and mushrooms wrapped inside a huge leaf!
I’ve never made fresh homemade marinara before and this below my mind. RIDIC. Will have to share this recipe later.
Mini portabella mushrooms filled with guac and micro greens over Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (soy sauce).
This was so sweet! I ended up drinking a quart of water after my first bite. HAHAHA. That’s raisins and walnuts mashed up as the base. Frosting is just dates and lemon juice. CRAZY!!
This class was very special because the instructor didn’t make anyone feel like they had sinned if they ate meat or anything cooked. What’s even more special though is that she told us…it’s probably not the healthiest to be 100% raw vegan.
Why?
After years of being raw, she developed cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Now she has to eat a lot of meat proteins. She said that had she had known, perhaps 20% cooked and 80% raw may have been the best diet for her.
Going raw doesn’t make you get cancer, don’t jump to conclusions…but if you’re thinking that there is one perfect diet that will help cleanse you and make you lose weight…there isn’t! Every one is so different. We all react differently to what we ingest. And it all depends what our goals are. If you want to be a body builder or fitness model, you’re gonna need more protein than a normal person trying to be healthy. There have been very successful vegan or even raw vegan competitors. We need to learn how to sculpt our diets towards our lifestyles. Don’t go too extreme that your body becomes deficient in something that it cannot defend itself or function properly anymore. And you’ve got to be careful…because you may not feel it now but 20 years down the road…every bit builds up and boom – something could happen.
Look – remember what I said? Food is your medicine and medicine is your food. You need to be careful of what you put into your body and here’s the key thing – PAY ATTENTION to what it does to you and how you feel. You are your best doctor, but you have to be conscious. If it works, eat more of it. It it makes your stomach turn and you go to bed crying, stop eating it, even if it tastes good.
For me…things that make me feel sick from what I can tell so far are milk and wheat gluten (sad because I love it in Chinese dishes).
What things make your stomach turn? Or do you have a mighty digestive system that can take down anything!!???
After much conversation and reading, what I can conclude is that what is healthiest for our bodies are:
- fresh fruits and veggies (organic if you can, but best is garden grown at home)
- water
Everything else seems like people can say one thing good and then you’ll find books and articles saying it’ll kill you. Ha. Did you know you could overdose on superfoods? Like overmedicate yourself on certain veggies etc? It’s nuts but it’s true. There is no perfect diet or perfect food that will work miracles for everyone…you need to educate yourself on nutrition and use your body to test what works and what doesn’t.
So far, eating clean seems to be a very good diet but beyond just losing weight and giving yourself nutrients…you need to pay attention to your digestive health as well. If you take stuff in and you can’t excrete the toxins daily, there is a problem. Western medicine tells you that if you can go once every 3 days it’s normal but ummm…who wants to hold in waste for that long? The toxins could potentially enter back into your bloodstream making you feel sick and sluggish. You’ve got to keep it moving inside and outside. Stagnation is bad in any sense of the word.
Keep exercising, drinkin, water, and eating tons of fresh produce. In what ratios, I cannot tell you. You need to take the knowledge and the tools and apply them yourself!
Eat well!!!
<3 Cassey
Looks delicious, really appreciate sharing the recipes. Great blog.
I wish that woman a full & speedy recovery. There’s really no way to say that any certain thing about her life or diet caused the illness. It could be heavily genetic as well. I think there is a tendency for people to jump to conclusions about people’s diet and lifestyle upon hearing a cancer diagnosis, and honestly, I wonder if just breathing city air could do it.
It’s a good reminder for those of us (often younger) people, who can get carried away with whatever approach to diet we think is best: Anyone can get sick. We will all eventually leave this world. Eating healthy food and exercising improves our quality of life, and reduces the risk of getting certain diseases, or getting them at a younger age. The marathon-running, healthy eating, 40-something wife of my friend just passed away from cancer and left a 10-year-old son behind. She never regretted having taken care of herslef. It’s not time wasted! Eat what makes your body feel good and energized. Enjoy a treat now and then– life is short!
Yes! Thank you. This is exactly what people need to hear. We spend too much time trying to convince each toehr to go carbless because we lost 20 pounds, or to go vegetarian because we lost 25 pounds. We need to understand that we are all different.
I’m glad you addressed how even healthy diets can be bad for you in excess. A friend of my mother’s was an extremely healthy woman–exercised 5 days a week, ate nothing processed, and limited her diet to fruits, vegetables, vitamin supplements, and the occasional lean poultry when she wanted to get crazy. She was in great shape, but ended up being hospitalized several years later because her body had begun to shut down. It didn’t know what to do with all of the excess nutrients she had!! Instead of utilizing them, her body went into panic mode. You CAN have too much of a good thing. Should we eliminate nutrients to avoid this situation? Absolutely NOT! But there’s always the need for balance in ours diets. A well-rounded diet=a well-rounded body.
Great article, Cassey! You’re an inspiration to all of us. :)
Cassey, I would love to see a blog post about the pros and cons of cooking your vegetables! The best way to cook them without zapping out all the nutrients, which ones are better to cook and which ones are best when left raw. I’m sure you would have a great take on this, especially after taking raw classes and all of your healthy food background knowledge. You’re so awesome, keep up the great work!
wow! many thanks for that amazing post. I really beloved it with the main. Hope you keep submitting these types of fantastic article content
Hey Cassie, I’m kind of confused about that person’s health regarding cancer from raw vegan food. I think it’s worse to eat protein during her cancer stage because that actually feeds the cancer cells in the body. Meat is a more toxic form of protein and the cancer cells feed off of that as well as sugar. I hope she doesn’t eat too much meat. Meat and milk should technically be avoided. I agree that each person can find their own diet in a sense cause there is no one size fits all. I like the paleo diet but at the same time while I don’t eat wheat or try not to, I’m fine eating other grains that my body needs as a form of good carbs. Anyway, love your videos! I haven’t done your exercises yet but thinking of give them a try. Followed you on twitter too if you like you can follow me back: @lunge4chocolate
Danielle
the key to having the perfect diet is being able to have food that tastes good but is still good for your body. Even healthy can taste like coconut cream pie or tiramisu. Here are my favorite healthy versions
I actually have them for breakfast :)
http://healthyrevelations.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/coconut-cream-pie-inspired-breakfast/
http://healthyrevelations.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/identical-to-tiramisu-healthy-breakfast/
I was sad to finally conclude, after years of extreme bloating, “not being able to go”, and skin troubles, that dairy and wheat are just terrible for me. I can eat small amounts of dairy if I take a ton of lactaid pills, but I don’t like to do that often, even though it’s just an enzyme (the pills are expensive). However, a few months in, and I’ve discovered so many other delicious, healthier options. I even figured out how to make nondairy, gluten-free vegetable lasagna, which sounds like a punishment, but my friends who ate it didn’t even know until I told them! It’s become a fun challenge, and I don’t miss the misery and basketball stomach.
I can’t eat mushrooms. That’s something that comes out the same way it got in. My stomach does not digest them. And i love eating raw cauliflower but it gives me the most biggest stomach cramps.
I try to eat more protein. I don’t know how you can go wrong with that. I have never heard anyone ever having problems when they focus on eating more proteins. Because protein is good for muscles and muscles are good basically to burn fat and i mean you just can’t go wrong with protein :D It’s good for any situation!
ALL “diets” are a load of crap. The healthiest thing to do is to just listen to your body, what it’s craving, your emotions etc. Expelling a certain food group from my diet has never once made me better. I don’t eat much wheat because I have IBS but I sure as hell could live without my 2 slices of Food Doctor bread I have a few times a week. Just everything in moderation, but this society is so messed up, moderation is like a myth.
Hey! Could you compose a quick 10-15 min workout for those of us that sit at a desk all day that we can do right at the desk? That way we can take a quick break and if we are too tired after the 9-5 we don’t feel too guilty?!
Thanks! Lauren
Ever read The China Study?
Oh my gosh thank you for writing this! It’s great to hear a voice that ISN’T categorically saying don’t eat meat/gluten/dairy/whatever. Everyone is different.
I love cooking and will often use Paleo and Vegan recipes as well as the ones I grew up with (British) and ones I learned in my current location (Southern). Over the years, I have adjusted my diet – less sugar, a little more protein, sometimes almond milk instead of cow’s, etc. – but I don’t see the need to cut anything out. I’m a healthy weight, I have good hair/skin/nails and I’m rarely sick. So when people start harping on at me about how it’s sooo unhealthy to consume meat or dairy I just roll my eyes.
However, I do have some considerations with what food I eat: cost and expiration date. I absolutely could not do the Paleo diet because food is very expensive in my town – I simply do need to stretch out my food with grains. I’m also reliant on other people to take me to the grocery store, which means I batch cook and freeze a lot of meals rather than just eating fresh all the time. On another note, I grew up drinking tea with (cow’s) milk, and that’s a cultural tradition I just can’t let go of.
In talking about the “perfect” diet or what is “most healthy”, the conversation often forgets those who are NOT privileged. It’s great that we all want to reach for optimum health, but I would love to hear more about how to help those who struggle to eat well on a small budget.
Jodie,
Just read your post and I just think it’s fantastic on so many facets. I completely agree that your diet is your own. I’m a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and have been for 6 years. It’s not for health, it’s because I believe animals have a right to live. I always leave my meat-eaters alone because I believe diet is a personal choice as much as politics or religion. However, it seems everyone has an opinion on my living style and has the right to make their own criticisms about how I eat. It makes me uncomfortable. Always the same comments. The same jokes. “Hey don’t eat that doughnut! It has bacon in it.” -___-
Also, I have my blood tested yearly. It covers glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, protein, B vitamins, red blood cell count, and a lot of other medial jargon I can’t remember. Medically, there’s nothing wrong with my diet. My protein sources vary from nuts to seeds to dairy to eggs to plants (whereas most people just assume soy, soy, soy!). My friends and acquaintances can comment all they want, but I’m not really worried as long as My Diet > Average American Diet.
My budget for food is very, very small. About $100-150 a month. I know what it’s like to really have to be careful on what to spend. Veggie burgers? Once every few months. Almond milk? Even less. Fresh veggies? I’ll take frozen. Almond meal? Coconut flour? I’ll pass. I try to avoid anything sold in a can., but I’ll buy a soup here and there. Lots of fresh fruits. Lots of eggs. I switch between kefir, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese (all of which spoil like 4-6 weeks after purchase). I’ll spoil myself with hummus and nuts. But I definitely agree that eating well on a small budget is hard.
You know, I become very sick of people who eat super-healthy, all-organic, “don’t buy oreos, buy organic non-gmo oreos” type of people. I agree with them, but come on get real. Not everyone can afford all-organic, non-gmo, raw, blessed-by-monks almond butter.
Lastly, I’ve never had milk in tea.
“I always leave my meat-eaters alone because I believe diet is a personal choice as much as politics or religion.”
It’s funny you should say that. I’ve had two friends with with fairly aggressive views on vegetarianism. One was a vegetarian herself, and always insisting that vegetarians are automatically healthier than anyone else because there are so many hormones in meat. The other was against vegetarianism on the basis that vegetarians “just eat cheese and bread all the time.” I always wanted to introduce them to each other because they argued in the exact same way about opposite points.
I respect those who do not eat animals or animal products due to their beliefs. However, I have a quibble with this. This isn’t an attack on you/vegetarianism by any means, just food for thought (ha), but I think that the food industry’s ugliness does not stop at meat. I’m thinking of crop farming which destroys wildlife, unfair trade practices for milk and the price of products going up for developing countries when they become more popular in rich countries. Barbara Kingsolver talks about some of this in “Animal Vegetable Miracle”, although her solution to eat seasonably, grow/raise your own and patronize farmer’s markets obviously doesn’t work for impoverished communities.
Sometimes I feel like there is just no way to be entirely moral with your food choices, especially when money is a factor. I think it’s important for all of us to do our best within our means but not to judge the choices that other people make.
As for the tea – if you ever go to England, remember to ask for it WITHOUT milk. People will do it automatically!
when is the march calendar gonna be here?!
Mmmm those look so good! Maybe I will be able to make one some day :). My parents don’t really like the whole clean eating thing, so their is constantly candy, cookies, and other stuff in my home. I ignore it however! There might be cookies sitting on the kitchen table, but I would rather opt for carrots.
Over the last couple years, I have discovered that too much of ice cream, candy, chocolate, cookies, cheesecake, chips, and a lot of other icky stuff like that makes me feel sick. So, I treat myself to them every once in a while, but I avoid them most of the time! I wish I could eat more veggies though
I really need help to adapt your workout calendar ! I only got 40min to workout during the week :(
Then only do as much of the videos as you can! 40 minutes will still provide you with a great workout.
This is great timing since my heartburn experience (which I seldom ever have) after my YOLO/splurge meal before game day this past wkend! Although I’ve been cutting back on the unhealthy goods, this was a wake-up call (literally – since I couldn’t sleep) to seriously eat more wisely… Btw, I’m finally doing my #FeelFabFeb #DreamMail homework to wrap up this mo of Feb <3 Can't wait for next mo's calendar =)
I have been sick tha last 2 years now… I have very little energy, my stomach hurts and I feel sick. I’m alergic too milk and gluten. For a week ago I went to a doctor and he gave me a diet. No sugar and eat clean. I have don that for a week (except Sunday, I had birthday), and I have lost 2 kg! I hope the diet works and that I get energy to work out again!
I really loved this post Cassey! It really spoke to me. You’ll HAVE to share that marinara recipe. I am totally obsessed with marinara sauce!