23 Days...17 days?

That's 23 days til Hawaii, but only 17 til Denver YIKES! Got a couple of things today to take that I can check off my list, even put them in the suitcase. Still checking out video cams narrowing it down to the Flip (Ultra HD or Mino??) and the Sony Webbie HD. HSN seems to have the best deal on them. Looked at some others but need one that's small so I can carry it everywhere. I don't want to miss a thing, don't want you too either.

Strangely enough, I have been eating more cooked food these past few days. My mindset, upon exploration, is that I'll be eating all raw in a few weeks and I might as well enjoy pancakes while I can. Pancakes?? I'm telling you, that ego can justify anything to cause the suffering that it needs to thrive. And thriving it must be because suffer I do. When I eat shit, I feel like shit. Yes, I said the "S" word. Don't mean to offend but no other word quite describes the "substance devoid of nutritional value" that most call food.

So, I'm thinking that if I really want to show people how wonderful this raw eating lifestyle is that I need to also show that it can be done here. I'm was averaging 80-100% raw but the last few days with the attitude shift it's more like 50% calorie wise. It'll be easier in Hawaii with my food going straight from the tree or ground into my body. But most folks however, are going to assume that it's difficult to do here in the "real world" even if they see the benefits. I must prove them wrong!!! It will be easier there, but not hard to do here as I will show by posting what I eat starting right now. It's smoothie time and as soon as I make it and suck it down I'll come back and fill you in.

COUNTDOWN 25 days!!

In 2 1/2 weeks I'll be in Denver, then it's on to Hawaii a week later to continue my raw adventure...in the raw. I was going to wait until I got there to start posting, but a few things are happening as I make ready for my journey and I wanted to introduce myself and what I'm doing. Guess I should start at the beginning...

Short story long, 4 1/2 years ago I chose a raw vegan lifestyle to aid in healing my body. I suffered with asthma and had been hospitalized for a week every winter for 3 years in a row. That winter it was two, week long stays. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired! So, while recuperating I read Fit for Life and was inspired to detox. Amazing how motivating not being able to breathe is! After doing the fruit fast (only raw fruit) for 3 days, not only could I breathe better, my body didn't hurt when I got up in the morning! After 10 days, I started gradually adding dairy, eggs, fish and chicken back into my diet. And...I started gradually feeeling like crap again. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was what I was eating. Convinced of the merits of eating a raw plant based diet, I became an evangelistic raw vegan for a year, 100%.

During that year I preached to all (who did not want to hear), that the reason they felt like crap was because they ate crap. You are what you eat right?! After all, eating raw vegan allowed me to come off blood pressure and asthma meds and brought my cholesterol down to 151 from 271. Plus I ended up 111 pounds lighter and felt fantastic. It was only natural that I would tell everybody. Took me awhile to figure out why people ran from me like drug addicts run from the DEA.

Now I average 80% raw vegan and have turned my badge and food thermometer back in to the Food Police. Yep, after falling off my self imposed wagon more times than I could count after that first year, I developed a new found respect for myself and others who know what's healthy yet still eat unhealthy food. I discovered that what we eat, why and how we eat is inordinately complex. Knowledge is power; not just the facts and studies, but critical thinking about the information we discover. How do we decide what's right for us as a whole and individually?

A perpetual student of life, this was but one more thing for me to become passionate (but not evangelistic) about. What followed was self studying; books, podcasts, documentaries, websites...whatever I could find. That progressed to formal studying at Cornell University online, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and now this internship in Hawaii. I want to increase the percentage of raw foods I eat, surround myself with like-minded people and an abundance of raw organic food and...explore living off the grid. So, after friend turned me on to Pangaia, a raw permaculture community in the Hawaiin jungle, I jumped on it like white on tofu ;-). That was 3 weeks ago. After several emails and phone calls, we set up my arrival for July 28th. Wooo-hooo!!

I still thought I was dreaming...until I bought my plane ticket (insert SCREAM here).Since then it's been a whirlwind. It took me two days to buy the ticket. I looked at so many "cheap airfare" websites my eyes went crossed. It wouldn't have been such a pain in the ass if I was going to fly straight to Hawaii. But, nooooo, I decided to check out the cost of a detour to Denver. Of course, since stopping there for a week is cheaper than flying straight through, why not? After getting my Rocky Mountain high, it's on to the islands. Ahhh I can hear that steel guitar playing in my head.