Viva La Cleanse!

In the above video, I outline Raw Food Rehab's 11 Week Total Health & Weight Loss Initiative. We will have 4 Initiatives in 2010 and this week we are putting the finishing touches on our first public initiative program of 2009.

RFR's next Initiative will begin on January 9th. In the meantime, many of us are participating in a Post Holiday Cleanse to knock out the cobwebs of any recent overindulgences.

Here is my personal menu from the past two days.....

Sunday's Detox Menu:
11 am Bright Green Drink
1 pm water from one young thai coconut
3 pm carrot, beet, celery, lemon juice
6 pm Creamy Corn Chowder & a small herb salad w/ Champagne Vinaigrette (recipes in new years ebook)

Monday's Cleansing Fare:

Water fasted until 1 pm

1 pm Large mixed herb salad - tomato, jalapeño, bell pepper, sprouts, hemp seeds w/ lemon, olive oil & honey

4 pm Hard Core Green juice - chard, parsley, cuke, celery, lime....it was good, really!

6-ish Energy Soup (new years ebook)

Viva La Cleanse!

Focus, Renewal & Cleansing

I decided to take this sacred week between Christmas and New Years to slow down, get focused and find physical, mental & spiritual clarity in which to formulate my goals and vision for 2010....the beginning of a new decade. I have a sense of expectancy this year that I have never felt before, but I also know that in order to realize certain dreams and plans, I must have a clear cut game plan and then work that plan.

The reason I wrote my most recent eBook, New Years Raw Solutions, was out of my own need and the expressed needs of the community. People share with me all the time that they have the desire to make real and lasting changes in their diets and ultimately in the big picture of their lives, but somehow they find themselves struggling, ebbing and flowing between just surviving and feeling like a failure. This kind of thinking is commonplace it seems, not healthy....it's limiting and defeating and I wanted to offer some real solutions, practical helps that if people will just implement, they'll begin to realize their full potential, becoming who they were created to be.

So, yesterday I began my cleanse, which I have outlined in detail for the community at Raw Food Rehab. You can join us there for absolutely free. At my "virtual health retreat" you'll find daily encouragement, inspiration, ongoing education, group support,tons of amazing recipes in our raw food kitchen and how to videos in our Culinary Center. Meanwhile, here at Real Food Tulsa, I'll be sharing with you what I'm eating each day and I also plan to share any additional insights that might come from this time of reflection. I would like to extend this as an invitation for you to join me in a post holiday detox, as you are able.

Saturday's Menu:

9 am - Blueberry Almond Milk Shake (blueberries, spinach, fresh almond milk, 1 frozen banana)

12 pm - Large salad w/ romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, cucumbers & olive oil & lemon juice dressing.

3 pm - Green drink - kale, parsley, granny smith apple and lemon

6 pm - Creamy Tomato Soup & a small side salad

Many of the cleansing recipes I will be using can be found in my New Years RawSolutions eBook and on the Raw Food Rehab Kitchen under the tab of Recipes for Detox & Cleansing.

Fight Cravings, Stay Warm & Save Lives.....

Many of you may already know, Angela Thomas. Not only is Angela a Raw Food Rehab member and very dear friend, she also passionately runs her artisanal tea company, The Giving Teas Project. Angela's business/outreach donates ALL of its profits to sponsored children in Haiti, Uganda and around the globe. Angela has recently "adopted" a number of children in Uganda, all of whom are being fed, clothed and educated through the profits of her new organization. She has set an initial goal of being able to sponsor 100 children as soon as possible. This "company" is a way that Angela is able to marry together her love of fine teas and her heart's passion in helping to fulfill the world mission vision.

The Giving Teas Project currently distributes incredible hand blended teas and Angela is also working to produce an additional line of Holistic teas to help promote peace and health. One tea in particular that might interest you is Pu-erh. If you are on the path of seeking a tea that is anti-aging, cleansing, and promotes weight loss, this tea has it all rolled into one!

Here is what Angela has to say about her labor of love: "Every purchase you make from the The Giving Teas Project helps to feed, clothe and educate children in Uganda and Haiti. I am just an American mom trying to help children on the other side of the world, by bringing you some of the best hand blended artisanal teas available here in the States. I have spent countless hours finding the most exquisite and aromatic tea and herbal blends, targeted to those of you who appreciate something above and beyond the ordinary. Like fine wines, artisanal teas have personalities and distinctive properties, outside of the realm of what you may have ever experienced. For every personality, there is a signature tea for you!"

Here is Angela's daughter, Anna, giving her thoughts on mom's teas. Anna is clearly the young Vana White of tea:

Drinking herbal tea is THE perfect solution to help warm yourself during the cold months, up your body's infection and virus fighting power, and to ward off unhealthy food cravings. Drinking tea from The Giving Teas Project will also warm your heart because with each sip you are saving lives around the globe. It is an honor and passion to promote and spread the word about an integrity filled organization such as The Giving Teas....an outreach that is dedicated to spreading the love, lending a helping hand and making a difference to our brothers and sisters around the globe. I want to invite you to join me in supporting Angela's noble efforts by reading and following her blog, checking out her amazing selection of teas, telling others and perhaps....buying a spot of tea!

Your New Years RawSolutions Are Here

Just in time! Are you ready to kick start your New Year with a goal-setting, vision inspiring, motivational raw food solution eBook? New Year's RawSolutions is now available! Simply click the button below to order your copy for just $5! I promise that this gem will exceed your expectations with over 35 delicious and cleansing raw food recipes that require nothing more than a knife, cutting board and a blender.

This eBook will act as a companion to successfully steer you through the next 2 weeks and into a bright and beautiful 2010! Just click the link below to order now!

Best of Raw 2009

Which Raw Vegan Leaders do you want to celebrate and honor this year?

BEST OF RAW 2009 is a

publicly nominated Raw Vegan Celebration produced by Laura Fox + Visionary Culture, honoring movers and shakers in the raw vegan movement! Check it out and cast your vote!

Winners will be announced on the Dec. 30 Visionary Culture/Raw Inspirations Radio Show!

The Best of Raw celebrates ALL people who are moving the raw vegan movement forward. Thousands of people are on the leading edge of this powerful culture of RAW living, which is life promoting, life enhancing and life sustaining. Many experience the healing itself through adding more raw vegan foods to the diet while eliminating the worst foods of our culture.

When you vote, you will receive Best of Raw Updates AND an e-booklet with a couple of Laura Fox’s yummiest Raw Vegan Holiday Recipes.

The BEST OF RAW philosophy is to have fun while encouraging the energy of playful coopetition — cooperation plus competition. We truly wish to celebrate all leaders and to have some fun with an engaging community activity designed to be delightful and promote the raw vegan lifestyle.

Raw Food Rehab is one of the proud sponsors of this annual event!

Click here to Vote Now for Best of Raw 2009!

Raw For the Holidays - FREE GIVEAWAY

To celebrate our new Facebook Fan Page, Raw Food Rehab will be giving away a copy of Raw For The Holidays every day this week.

To enter your name into the drawing, click the link below to be entered into the drawing.

Raw For The Holidays is a collection of over 80 wonderfully festive and raw food friendly recipes to be enjoyed at the holiday's and year round. Created by Penni Shelton and the Original Cast of Raw Food Rehab.

Raw For The Holidays eBook Giveaway Feel free to leave comments here regarding the eBook, but you will only be entered into the drawing if you go to the Fan Page!

URGENT REQUEST FOR ELAINA LOVE

I just received this letter from Living Light in Ft. Bragg, Ca. I believe that this is an opportunity for us as a community to support a raw food family in need. I ask you to consider donating any amount that you can to this precious cause. As you give out of your own need, I believe that you will reap so much more than you sow. Please join me in a selfless gift to this amazing raw food chef, teacher and friend. Be Blessed - Penni

"Dear Friends, We are writing on behalf of our dear friend and Living Light Chef Instructor, Elaina Love. Many of you who are graduates know that besides being a Master Raw Food chef, Elaina is a beautiful loving person and caring mother who always gives generously to others.

We were saddened yesterday to hear that her son, Dominic, who has been in a treatment program for leukemia, has taken a turn for the worse. Dominic was diagnosed with leukemia on January 15, 2009. He underwent the traditional cancer treatment of chemotherapy, radiation, and bone marrow transplant, and he seemed to be responding well, until recently, when the leukemia suddenly and aggressively returned. There is nothing more to do in the medical arena.

Elaina has faith in the body's ability to heal itself, so she took Dominic to Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida for 3 weeks where he will eat a completely green, raw, vegan diet of juices, daily wheatgrass implants, and oxygen therapy. She is there with him now and will remain there with him through it all.

This program is very costly, starting at $20,000 for the first three weeks of expenses, so we at Living Light would like to invite you to participate in a fundraising effort for Elaina. If you choose to participate, you can donate as little as $5 to this campaign. If you donate $20 or more through the Living Light fundraising campaign for Elaina and Dominic, we will enter your name in a raffle to win your choice of a FREE FUNdamentals of Raw and Living Foods class (a $365 value), or 2 tickets for the Vibrant Living Expo and Culinary Showcase, August 27-29, 2010 (a $450 value).

100% of all proceeds will go directly to Elaina Love to help with Dominic's expenses. We have set up an easy way to donate funds - you can put it on your credit card by clicking on the link below to contribute in increments of as little as $5 (every little bit helps!) We know that this is a challenging time for us to ask you for money, but if you or someone you know has been touched by Elaina and her gentle and joyful presence, or you simply would like to be an Angel this holiday season and help someone whose young life hangs in the balance, please consider helping Elaina and her only child in their time of need. We greatly appreciate anything you can do and most of all we appreciate your warm wishes and all your prayers. Thank you for your kind and generous support of our beautiful sister, Elaina, and her wonderful son, Dominic.

Cherie, Dan, and the entire Living Light staff "

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ELAINA & DOMINIC

And to offer your prayers for Elaina & Dominic, join the prayer thread in the Chapel at Raw Food Rehab.

Discover Kingdom Health Schedule

Discover Kingdom Health Teleseminar

Schedule of Speakers - Dates & Times

Please Be Sure to Mark Your Calendars - You Don't Want to Miss Anything!

November 30th - December 6th, 2009 Links to teleseminar info will be sent every day at 6pm Pacific/8pm Central/9pm Eastern and will be available for 24 HOURS only.

Date	Speaker / Topic
November 30th	Ginny Edwards, TimesofRefreshingWC.com Living Free From Emotional Eating
December 1st	Penni Shelton, RawFoodRehab.com Raw Food and Community
December 2nd	Paul Nison, PaulNison.com Health According to the Scriptures
December 3rd	Kelly Parr, FreedomQuestInternational.org Quest for Freedom - Spirit, Soul and Body
December 4th	Brooke Boon, HolyYoga.net Loving and Worshipping God with Your Body
December 5th	Marilyn Polk, AlphaOmegaFood.com Naturopathic Medicine and Winning the Battle for the Body

To learn more details on how to sign up and listen for FREE to this exciting Health Seminar

CLICK HERE!

The Discover Kingdom Health Summit

Imagine inviting 7 Health Experts into your home to teach you how to create an inspirational health plan that will give you more energy, more peace, and more power than you ever thought possible!

A Free multi-expert teleseminar series designed for people who long for excellent health in body, soul, and spirit.

Introducing…

The Discover Kingdom Health Summit

Starts November 30th, 2009 for 7 nights
6 pm Pacific / 8 pm Central / 9 pm Eastern

Hosted by Ginny Edwards

Ginny is a certified Christian Life and Health coach specializing in coaching women (and some men!) to freedom from emotional eating and then on to creating a healthy and fulfilling life. Ginny is passionate about getting the message of “loving God, pursuing excellence” in every area of life, including living a high-raw, Biblically based diet. Ginny will be sharing her own journey to freedom from emotional eating, and how she discovered a new passion for life, God, and His creation in the process.

Her projects, Overcoming Emotional Eating – A Biblical Approach, 120 Days to Freedom, and the soon to be released Royal Divas, serve a community of people inspired to live at their very best for God’s Glory and for the people they love.

Health Summit Speakers

---

---

Doug Polk, AlphaOmegaFood.com
Topic: Naturopathic Medicine and Winning the Battle for the Body

Marilyn Polk, AlphaOmegaFood.com
Topic: Living The Hallelujah Lifestyle

Paul Nison, PaulNison.com
Topic: Health According to the Scriptures

Kelly Parr, FreedomQuestInternational.org
Topic: God’s Father Heart and Your Emotions

Penni Shelton, RawFoodRehab.com
Topic: Raw Food and Community

Brooke Boon, HolyYoga.net
Topic: Loving and Worshipping God with Your Body

To Read All the Details about this Summit, Click HERE

Someone You Should Know - Dennis Clark

Dennis Clark began Raw Food Rehab at the very beginning of our original 11 Week Experiment this past June the 1st. When Dennis joined RFR, he first weighed in at 485 pounds and today, less than 6 months later, he weighs 395 pounds. So far, Dennis has been our "biggest loser," and is a beloved member of our RFR family.

Dennis is not genetically obese, as a matter of fact, he used to be quite an athlete in high school, lettering in a few sports. He served in the United States military for a few years, maintaining a buff, athletic build. His family of origin are all average sized people. So, when Dennis signed up as one of our original research guinea pigs, I was fascinated to learn his story. Just two years ago Dennis was topping the scales at nearly 550 pounds.....To hear his full story listen as I read from Chapter 8 of the Raw Food Cleanse on YouTube.

Dennis' journey has not been one of perfection or of absolute formula, but it has been one of persistence and positive attitude. Dennis is not a whiner and he's not a victim. He has taken the call to action and realizes there is only one person who can make a difference in what is put into his cake hole.....and that's him.

Read what Dennis has to say about his experience in the first 11 Weeks: “I started the Raw Food Cleanse Experiment on June 1st 2009. I weighed in at 485lbs and I was extremely unhappy (even if I didn’t admit it). After just two 2 weeks on the program, I had lost 24lbs, and man, were my eyes suddenly wide open to a whole new world! For the next 9 weeks I continued to lose weight at an average rate of 4lbs a week. I even did a 3 days juice cleanse, which totally cleaned out my system and gave me tons of energy. When I made salads I would use anywhere from 13-20 different ingredients, the more the better! My world opened up to chia seeds and young coconut water – and now I’m currently about to start growing my own wheatgrass. When I started this experiment, I had realized that I was actually killing myself with the amount and kinds of foods I was eating, but in just a short amount of time on raw, I came to understand that I could live an amazing, full life, without depriving myself…talk about gaining some mental clarity! I now have hope that life can be better than it ever was before. For the first time I truly believe that I can and will have an active, healthy, vibrant life. I’ve also made friends that have really helped me along this journey, REAL friends that I will keep for life. On August 6th I dedicated my life to living a raw food lifestyle from here on out. There’s no going back now! After everything that has happened to me over the past 11 weeks, I want to do anything in my power to help promote the raw food lifestyle, community and to support all my raw food friends.”

In the first 11 weeks Dennis lost 64 pounds while gaining his life back. At this time, Dennis continues to steadily work towards his ultimate weight loss goal (having dropped another 18 lbs. in the last 4 weeks) and he stays busy promoting the life transforming power of the raw food diet here at RFR and beyond. You can follow Dennis’ progress by friending him at Raw Food Rehab, reading his blog, Real Men Eat Raw, and watching his videos on YouTube.

If you would like to join us at Raw Food Rehab, we'd be delighted! We'll meet you at the door with a green smoothie and a smile!

November Brings Fresh Opportunities

Borrowed from Yorch's Place

Now that we have the dreaded Halloween candy nearly behind us, it's a great time to think about real ways to create joyful deliciousness to our meals and celebratory occasions over the next two months. I've always loved the holidays, my cherished family recipes and all the festivities that are involved during this time of the year. However, since becoming a raw food enthusiast several years ago, I have also had challenges during these times of the year. Each year I found myself feeling conflicted, displaced, compromised and even sad during my most favorite time of the year. Dealing with these emotions certainly wasn't doing anything to promote better overall

health, so I made a decision to start moving in a new direction this year.

Instead of allowing dread, worry or guilt to work against me this year, I'm working to create ways to embrace the season, along with it's traditions AND it's foods. Recently I've been actively involved in recreating recipes and coming up with new ways to prepare foods that will satisfy, nourish and heal, along with maintaining a serious festiveness factor. As you read in my last post, Raw Food Rehab and I have just released an eBook called Raw For The Holidays, which is chocked full of great holiday and celebratory recipes to assist you in surviving and thriving during this time of the year. I'm so proud of the book, but it doesn't stop there.

I have also rolled out a new site, Raw For The Holidays, where I will be sharing ideas, recipes and holiday survival tips to help others, along with myself, make this the best November and December EVER! So many people dread the potential weight gain of the holidays and they feel weak and dis-empowered when they arrive to work to find the office loaded down with sweet treats that are so hard to resist. There is no time like the present to start getting prepared for success. It is fully within reason to become the example of what is possible, being the influencer, NOT the one who is being influenced with less than healthy dietary options at this time of the year.

Pumpkin Dessert Shake from Raw For The Holidays

I invite you to follow my new seasonal blog, Raw For The Holidays, and consider ordering the companion eBook, to help you as you plan for your most amazing and healthy holiday season ever!

Raw For the Holidays - Available For Order

My most recent labor of love is finally available for purchase/download. Raw For The Holidays is a collection of over 80 Festive and Delicious recipes created by the Original Cast of Raw Food Rehab. It has been a pleasure to co-collaborate on producing this raw holiday survival guide and I hope you'll share the link to order this eBook with friends who you think might enjoy this unique collection of recipes.

Creating this, my first official eBook, was only possible due to the power and inspiration of community. I hope you will be as blown away as I have been by the creativity of those who have contributed recipes and photographs to this effort. Not only am I very proud of this book, but I'm also very eager to get in the kitchen and start un-cooking for the holidays!

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!!

The Healthiest Places For Women

Recently I was interviewed for the November issue of Self Magazine, because Tulsa made it into the Top 100 Most Healthy Cities in America....but don't get excited, we came in dead last. Go check out the November issue of Self, on your newsstand now, and see where the healthiest places to live in the US are. I am still believing that Tulsa is a great place to be, and in today's video, I'm showing you around a little bit of my world.

What's it like in your neck of the woods? I'd love to here all about it.

A Week In Review

It's been pretty busy in my neck of the woods lately! So as not to neglecting my first love, Real Food Tulsa, here are the highlights of what's been happening:

This past Friday morning I was interviewed on Tulsa's local CBS affiliate - KOTV regarding the the opening of Raw Food Rehab and asked to give a bit of details about what the 11 Week Total Health & Weight Loss Initiative is all about. Big Props to RFR Member, Jeromee Scott, producer for Six In The Morning, for making this possible!!

Then on Sunday, Kevin & Annmarie Gianni rolled through Tulsa in the famous "Kale Whale" to give a lecture for our Real Food Tulsa Meetup group. I was able to do a short interview with them for the Raw Food Rehab Unit (and you all) and I was able to capture a couple of minutes of Kevin's inspiring talk.

Even though I've known the Gianni's for a couple of years, I am always so impressed by their authenticity and passion for helping others. They are so down to earth and generous with their time and knowledge. Kevin's perspective on eating and health is completely refreshing and inspiring. Annmarie's new skin care line is truly excellent.

If you're not familiar with The Renegade Health Show, please do check it out. The Gianni's travel the country, working to bring you the most cutting edge health information possible. Kevin has interviewed the most high profile leaders in the raw and living foods community and continues to bring this information to you for no charge on his daily program.

I also recommend his recent book, High Raw. His philosophy and mine are nearly identical, as he teaches that it is about so much more than just the diet. His doable approach to eating raw will inspire and motivate you in this easy to read book. I prefer the hard copy but you can download the eBook for FREE at their website.

Fesitive Holiday Baubles from Raw for the Holidays

Then lastly, I've been devoting all my spare time to the editing of Raw For The Holiday's, an eBook that is the love child from the original cast of my Raw Food Rehab research Guinea Piglets. This book is a combined effort from many members who have submitted their best raw food friendly holiday recipes and photographs. Some of the celebrations we are including are; A Crisp Autumn Dinner, Football Watch Party, Thanksgiving, An Enchanted Winter Evening, Hannukah, Holiday Sweets, Christmas Brunch & Dinner and New Year's! Stay tuned as I'll be giving you details of how to order your copy within the week!

Ambrosia Salad

Health Renegades....It's Not Too Late!

REAL FOOD TULSA IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE:

KEVIN & ANNMARIE GIANNI

will be our guests this Sunday evening as we kick off the new and improved REAL FOOD TULSA fall/winter series. Please mark your calendars for a fabulous raw food potluck and captivating lecture from the amazing couple behind The Renegade Health

Show, Rawk-A-Thon and the Raw Summit.

Kevin is the creator and co-host of The Renegade Health Show, a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world and the author of High Raw – A Simple Approach to Health, Eating, and Saving the Planet, which in 5 easy steps helps people transform their bodies and minds naturally and without confusion. Along with business partner Mike Adams, Kevin created HealthBookSummaries.com, a free service that allows you to stay well informed about health, nutrition and fitness in just a few minutes each week.

Kevin also created the widely viewed “Rawkathon” series, including in-depth interviews with leading experts in the raw foods movement.

Annmarie and her husband Kevin are the founders of RHTV, a multi-media production company that strives to educate the public about true health and wellness and to empower people to take action in improving their own lives and the communities in which they live. As mentioned, Annmarie is the co-host of The Renegade Health Show where you can regularly see her “cooking” up something in the kitchen. Annmarie continually teaches others optimal health by being her own testimonial, always learning and growing.

You'll want to RSVP for this event as soon as possible to insure your place at this exciting event!

We will start the evening with a potluck, so please bring a raw food dish to share that will feed at least 8 -10 people. Bring or email your recipe to me so I can put a recipe collection together to share with the group! Please arrive promptly at 5:30 pm, as the doors of the building are locked at 6 pm for security reasons. If you have any questions, please email me directly at realfood.tulsa@yahoo.com!

If you're in the Tulsa area, I'll be looking forward to seeing you there and please share the details of this exciting meetup with your friends and family!

Raw Food Rehab Grows Up

What is Raw Food Rehab?

Raw Food Rehab was birthed as I was working on research for my recently completed book The Raw Food Cleanse. In June of this year, 60 faithful "guinea pigs" and I worked as a team to track our progress and collect data as we consumed a diet that was rich in raw & living foods. As a group, we tried to maintain a level of at least 80% raw foods daily. Most of us also incorporated some kind of body movement and other healthy life practices into our days. Although no one person reached perfection during this 11 weeks, all had some kind of personal life transformation on some level during this time. We grew mentally, spiritually and shrunk physically. As a collective group we lost just under a thousand pounds, with our biggest piglet, Dennis Clark, from Southern Alabama, dropped a cool 60 lbs. to the curb.

Our experiment was closed to the public as it was originally to be for research purposes only. Since we began this experiment back in June, I have received hundreds of emails from people all over the world who desperately wanted to be part of what we were doing. Some of the letters were heart wrenching and I knew in my soul that after the 11 week experiment was over, there would likely be another chapter to our story.

After much prayerful consideration and encouragement from my original cast of guinea pigs, we have joyfully opened the doors of our brand new rehab facility to the world. Raw Food Rehab will be offering a second 11 Week Total Health & Weight Loss Initiative that will begin this Friday, October 16th continuing on through New Year's Eve, December 31st. If you are interested in being part of this life transforming program, we would love to have you join us in the "Unit." New members can join and benefit from the ongoing education and support on the site at anytime.

Someone You Should Know - Bill Hoppa

Friends of Real Food Tulsa may already know Bill Hoppa. In case you don't know Bill and his wife Katy, they joined my Raw Food Rehab Experiement at the prompting of their daughter, Jen Hoppa, this June. The transformations in each of their lives since that time have been profound.

This past weekend in OKC, Bill had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Karen Knowler, international raw food coach from the UK. Karen was captivated by Bill's transformation and filmed him as he shared his story and a bit about what has happened since he AND his family have made a choice to impact their health with this new and improved approach to eating. You can find this video along with many others on her YouTube channel.

Please visit my friend Karen's website or friend her up on her Facebook page.

The Hoppa's inspiring and heartwarming story, along with many others who participated in Raw Food Rehab will be featured in my upcoming book, the Raw Food Cleanse.

Party Like It's Your Birthday!

This past weekend I had the extreme pleasure of celebrating my 44th birthday among a cast of the raw food world's elite. The "Who's Who of Raw" drove and flew into my home state from around the globe for the official grand opening of Oklahoma City's cutting edge living food's Cafe & Culinary Academy - 105degrees. I sincerely hope this celebratory event will become an annual celebration of life, learning and exploring human potential in the heart of America.

My sidekick, Jen Hoppa, did an amazing job of acting as raw reporter, capturing some footage in between Ani Phyo and Philip McCluskey's brilliant presentations in the 105degrees Culinary Academy. It is quite likely the first time anyone has suggested that I could be considered "THUG":

I'm delighted to share my bird's eye view with you of the rest of the behind the scenes action at this truly spectacular event:

Fortunately all of the life impacting lectures were videoed by 105degrees & should be available to purchase/view soon. Unfortunately my Flip cam did not hold it's charge through dinner, but please feel free to visit my Facebook collection so that you can see and read about the special autumn dinner that was created by Matthew Kenney and assembled by the tremendously talented kitchen staff of 105degrees.

JUICE-A-THON - Week 2

I've just finished week two of my liquid cleanse and I've been thoroughly enjoying creating all the colorful and nutrient dense concoctions, photographing them and sharing the recipes on Facebook. Much interest has been generated among my non-raw food friends, which has been really exciting. At least 3 people I know have gone out and bought juicers or blenders! Perhaps it's that the concept of doing a juice or liquid cleanse isn't as intimidating for some as jumping into a lifestyle of living cuisine. I totally agree with what David Wolfe says...."If the only thing you can change about your diet is to get 32 oz. of fresh green juice a day and add one big salad, then you're well on your way to seriously improved health."

I have felt really strong this week. No real detox symptoms to report. People have been asking about weight loss, and I only dropped 2 pounds this past week, so about 7 or 8 pounds altogether in 14 days. I have been drinking a lot, and there has been plenty of high calorie fruit in the mix, so that may be the reason for slowed weight loss. Also, my exercise routine has been really minimal, as I'm only finding time for evening walks with the dogs, which aren't much more than a 20 minute stroll. If I've had a downfall during this time of seasonal cleansing, it's been inactivity.

I'm wrapping this cleanse up on Wednesday, and will be adding solids back into my diet for my big weekend of festivities ahead. Because I've been having blended smoothies and some fats throughout this time, transitioning to solids will be pretty effortless. My birthday is this Friday and we'll be staying at the historic, chic Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City to celebrate. Then Saturday, I'll be rolling with raw rock stars at OKC's 105degrees' Live & Learn event. I am still pinching myself over this deal and I sure hope some of you can make it.

Be sure to stay tuned to this blog or my Facebook page because next week I'll be rolling out the details on Raw Food Rehab's new and improved website and announcing all of the details about our group project, Raw For the Holidays, an eBook brought to you by the original "Cast" of Raw Food Rehab.