so, i have these girlfriends. we're like the typical friend group of 4 women of varying interests and personalities, only better. think "sex in the city" meets "girfriends" meets "a different world." no, "a different world" didn't focus on a specific group of archetypal women, but we met at a historically black college/university (hbcu), so i take the liberty of throwing that in the mix. and long before social networks started blasting the net with those "which [fill in the show] character are you?" quizzes, we were discussing that very (deep and poignant) topic in our dorm rooms. i'm a little bit carrie bradshaw and a lot lynn searcy. but i digress.
these "girls," as i suspect i will call them when we're in our 90s, are my sisters. i don't need to qualify that at all. they just are. and we tend to try new things together. that leads me to our latest venture: the raw food lifestyle (i'm avoiding the word "diet" because it is indeed more about lifestyle and habit changes rather than some sort of fad diet).
i would link you to info on raw foods, but i haven't yet decided what source, if any, is going to be my end-all, be-all go-to for raw food info. so i'll just recommend that you google "raw food" if you're not familiar. you'll find plenty. essentially, it's the practice of eating raw fruit, vegetables, beans, and nuts in an effort to get the most nutrients out of these foods as possible. the theory is that cooking these foods removes some of the most nutritious aspects of them. this also means processed foods like dairy (and soy?) are excluded. as you see, i'm not an expert. but we're gonna try it. for a week at first, and then maybe longer depending on how well it goes.
we're all participating for varying reasons. i mainly want to open myself to the experience and to participate in a cleanse of sorts. i'm not one for deprivation, but i do enjoy the self-discovery that takes place when i force myself to examine the things i do in auto-pilot. for instance, "why do i eat so much cheese?!?" lol...cheese is great, but i'm sure after a week without it, i'll have a better appreciation for all the things i can eat without it, not to mention how much lighter and healthier i'll feel.
so, sistergarten friends, starting monday, i'll be charting our progress right here in the sistergarten! wish us luck! and feel free to join us or post tips, and past experiences!
be. fly.
rhythm
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2 comments:
Great post Rhythm! I agree that we definitely need to get back to eating more whole, raw foods and move away from the processed, large portion sizes, high calorie, high fat and high sodium foods that we as Americans consume too much of. I work on a nutrition and physical activity project and the focus of the project is to change the nutrition and physical activity environments in Children's Homes. The obesity rate among children who live in Children's Homes is higher than the national average and they do not consume the recommended servings of fruits and veggies. Making fresh, whole foods available and accessible to them is key. But we have also learned that if fruits and veggies are presented in an appealing way, kids and adults will eat them (i.e. kids will eat apples if they are sliced as opposed to a whole apple). Or adding flavor to celery by adding peanut butter and raisins (Ants on a Log-kids love that name). Its all in how you present the food which encourages people to eat it or not. And if you make the items available (i.e. at a Local Farmer's Market or a community garden), people may buy and consume more!
In addition, I have some great fruit, vegetable and whole grain "healthy snack recipes" that we share with our project partners. The snacks involve no cooking and they all include fresh produce and/or some type of whole grain.
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