FertilehealthyAiming for success, not perfection…

This is NOT a post about nudity!

One of my favorite blogging friends is Earthmother, who blogs at In the Raw.  I asked her to tell us about her journey so far and how eating raw has changed her life. I just love success stories!

I was rollerblading in the park and noticed a woman jogging toward me on the same path.

“What a beautiful figure,” I thought to myself. I used to have that same body – perfectly proportioned, 36-24-36; shapely, well-defined calves and thighs; flat tummy; muscular arms – and yet, when I did, I felt like a cow. Thought I was the size of a house.  How’d I get such a distorted view of myself?

Certainly, the media had something to do with it. Much of what I grew up seeing in the magazines and on the television influenced my perception. Born 20 years too late. If only I had grown up in the 1940s and 50s, when Ava Gardner, Jane Russell and Sophia Loren graced the covers and silver screen. Instead, I looked to Twiggy, Susan Dey and Karen Carpenter. And sadly, they all suffered from disordered eating and body dysmorphic issues.

Of course Mother, the perpetual dieter, played a role too. When I was 12, she decided it was time I be inducted into her tribe and enrolled me in Weight Watchers. Yes, twelve years old, when my body was rapidly changing with a new onslaught of hormones as I began menstruating. I was very physically active, a competitive swimmer, and absolutely believe my body would have come into balance and found its natural weight had it been allowed to do so. But, Mother knows best, and Weight Watchers it was.

And so began my own foray into the world of dieting. Pick a diet, any diet, and betcha I’ve been on it: Slim Fast, Atkins, Protein Power Plan, Diet Center, Weight Watchers, Blood Type, Fat Flush, Herbalife, Zone, Richard Simmons, Apple Cider Vinegar, Scarsdale, Metabolism Booster, Somersizing, 6-week Body Make Over. That’s just the short list.

With every diet, my eating became more disordered and my body’s physiology became even more imbalanced. Until one day, I had dieted my way up to 312 pounds. Morbidly obese, I suffered from fire-breathing dragon heartburn, chronic fatigue, migraine headaches, lymphedema, adult acne, joint pain and a host of other debilitating symptoms. Feeling sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, I decided to end my dieting career and instead focus on changing my relationship with food and regaining my health and vitality.

I traded in my scale for a juicer and entered the world of raw, living foods. I replaced prepared and processed foods with fresh fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts and seeds. A funny thing happened: by infusing my body with live enzymes, I began to feel more alive.

I’m not here to tout the raw food diet or convert anyone to this lifestyle. I say lifestyle because it’s a reflection of my beliefs and values, and how I choose to live. What I put in my mouth is only the half of it. Look, I was an overweight vegetarian for years and I know plenty of unhealthy vegans with sallow complexions and dark, under-eye circles. This journey has had nothing to do with dieting or losing weight. In truth, the only weight I really needed to lose was located right between my ears.

My journey of the last 12 months has been about unlearning all I had been taught, told, fed. It’s been about detoxifying my body, mind and emotions. It’s been about balance — seeking balance, and allowing my body to come into balance. That’s what healing is all about, really.

Okay, so all those symptoms I mentioned? Gone. My energy level is through the roof. I sleep like a baby at night. My skin is smooth, clear and radiant. I have a mental clarity today that I have never experienced in my life. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it feels like I have broken a long-term drug addiction. It almost feels like I was walking around before under the constant influence of alcohol, and then suddenly becoming alcohol-free. The thing is, I had already been sober for 18 years.

Oh yeah, I’ve also shed 115 pounds without counting a point, calorie, carb or fat gram. But more importantly, I’ve succeeded at changing my relationship with food, and in doing so, have found my freedom.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Earthmother.  I learn a lot from you!

You should visit her blog for some really healthy recipes and amazing food porn – all raw!  And you can follow Earthmother on twitter @rawliving.

And if you’re wondering why I’ve been slacking off a bit this week with regards to posting, I’ll tell you tomorrow!

I am very honored to host Kathy Balland, author of Lose the Diet: Transform your body by connecting with your soul, on my blog today.  I asked her to write about why home cooking is so much better for us than fast food and commercial food (something she touches on in her book).  As you may know, I’ve become a big fan of home cooking lately and I really believe that that’s one of the reasons we are still on track after 2-3 months – almost a record for me!

Kathy Balland

LOVE YOUR FOOD, AND IT WILL LOVE YOU

In this crazy, fast-paced world we live in, it can be easy to get caught up in the fast food craze.  It seems so easy, right?  Just drive in, and drive out.  But when we fail to love our food, it can fail to love us.  I’m not just talking about calories, carbs and fat grams.  I’m talking about the energy of food.

Have you seen the movie “The Secret”?  If you have, then you may be getting an idea of what I am talking about.  If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.  The Secret has authors (such as Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) discussing the power of the mind.  There are also physicians and quantum physicists in the film.

These physicists discuss energy, and how energy is not only within us, but in everything around us.  Energy is constantly moving in and out of things, including our food.  Part of this energy is our thoughts (yes, thoughts are “things”), and that includes our emotions.  Our emotions greatly influence everything around us, because emotions are part of our subconscious mind.  The subconscious is 88% of our mind, which is why it is so powerful.

What does this have to do with “fast” food?  Imagine for a moment what that means.  If the energy; or emotion of a person can be transferred into the food they are preparing, how does that affect the food you put into your body?  What if that person is feeling stressed, rushed, or unhappy with their job?

Let’s take a look back at the “good old days”.  In the past, grandma, or great-grandma, made a homemade meal for her family.  She took a little time to prepare it, and added a “dash” of love to her meals.  You may be thinking “what does that have to do with weight”?  Consider that our ancestors were not busy counting calories, fats and carbs.  They ate a good home-cooked meal that was lovingly prepared.  And above all, they did not have the obesity issues that we have today.

And then there is all of the processed food that we eat.  Rather than eating the fresh cooked foods of the past (some of which came from the garden), we are eating more foods that are machine-made.  Consider that if you were to use a special camera that captures the energy around things, you would see the energy of a fresh-picked fruit or vegetable.  However that energy is no longer there, once it has been processed (not to mention the unhealthy additives that are put into the food such as high fructose corn syrup.)

So at the end of your day, why not stop for a moment.  Breathe, relax, and think some pleasant thoughts; maybe a happy memory of grandma’s cooking.  Take a little time to prepare your food, which doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  (There are cookbooks that contain meals with only five ingredients, or even just three ingredients.)  Transfer some positive energy into your food.  Love your food, and it will love you.

Kathy Balland is the author of:  Lose the Diet – Transform your body by connection with your soul.  For a FREE half hour guided meditation audio to help you relax and reconnect, sign up at:  www.LoseTheDiet.com.  The book trailer is at:  www.DietFreeMovie.com.  Follow Kathy on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/LosetheDiet

Thank you, Kathy!  Be sure to catch my review of Kathy’s book tomorrow!  It could change your life.