Woop woop – fave time of day again, sharing the good advice of other och aye the noo Scottish raw foodies. Today is the lovely Anabrese. Anabrese was the 3rd person I found in Scotland on the raw path – how exciting a piece of information is that? I bet you’d love me to put everyone I know in order of when I met them eh? Er, moving on. She was (and still is) an inspiration and a source of support and knowledge having been on this path for literally eons. She’s an incredible singer and makes wicked raw chocs! 🙂
1. How long have you been in to raw foods?
For 10 years now
2. How did you discover raw foods?
My partner had been eating high raw for some time. We were both macrobiotic for a while but went back to an all raw diet after reading ‘The Sunfood Diet Success System’ by David Wolfe.
3. What were some of the first benefits you noticed?
It just felt really good to be eating fresh food after eating everything cooked! I also felt much happier and more alive and then later on noticed how my relationship with the natural world deepened. All my senses are much more attuned to nature now and I have a sense of the interconnectedness of everything.
4. Were there any drawbacks? If so, what and how did you handle?
I lost a lot of weight initially and there were times when I had no strength due to not knowing how to balance the diet. I then learned how to stay more in balance and applied an ayurvedic low GI approach to the diet which helped me tremendously.
5. How did your family and friends react?
They were a bit defensive at first because there was a point where I was a little critical of how they were still eating and then there was the weight and health concerns especially when I was going through detox cycles.
6. How did you handle reactions? any tips?
At first I would argue my points for doing what I was doing and then I withdrew from them for a while because of the process I was going through and the changes I felt were taking place.
Tip: I have since learned the best thing is to just eat what you eat and to not talk about it. People learn from example and their natural curiosity makes them ask about the food you’re eating. I’m not trying to change how anyone else eats anymore, it’s their choice.
7. What advice would you give people who are interested in raw foods on how to get started?
Just start adding raw foods into your existing diet without it feeling like denial. Your body will soon get used to the natural foods and ask for more of it. Raw food recipes are also a great way to learn how to prepare food that keeps you satisfied for longer than fruit.
8. What is your number 1 raw tip?
To not get too serious about the whole thing of going raw. Just get on with it and nevermind what everyone else is eating.
9. What is your favourite raw food and why?
That’s a hard question!! I love chocolate milk and blueberries. There’s nothing more yummy than purple jammy figs in season as a treat. I also enjoy savoury food like flax/vegetable flat breads with maybe a garlic seed sauce and some leafy greens or tomatoes on top! Miso/squash/tomato soup is lovely too.
10. If you could be any raw food what would you be and why?
Ooh, a cacao bean I think. Dark and mineral-rich. Cacao is like gold to me so I wouldn’t mind being something similar to gold.
11. How do you see the raw movement in scotland in five years time?
Well it seems to be growing fast at the moment so I think we could be looking at having raw food retreats/festivals. And it would be great to see raw foodies doing a kind of landshare project where we can all have access to our own locally grown raw food. I think more and more people are being drawn to the raw food lifestyle here. Climate change also means we will be able to grow different types of food never grown here before.
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Thank you so much Anabrese for sharing, there’s some really golden nuggets of advice there which will defo help lots of people I’m sure!
Isn’t this great? I’ve got more interviews lined up to share with you. It’s a welcome break from cacao-fuelled nonsense isn’t it?
This is my rebounding song of the day – bloody love the shamen I do. Remember my dad bought me the tape (yes tape) one day for no reason and I fell in love with it 🙂
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