By Emma Calvert

“Life is just a party and parties weren’t meant to last”  Prince

The moment has arrived.

Raise a glass of green smoothie and share a toast (or some toast) with me to say FAREWELL RAW FOOD SCOTLAND BLOG.

Yes, it’s time to say goodbye.  I’ve taken the decision to stop blogging on the site for two reasons.

1. To concentrate on raising my delicious child.

2. Because raw food isn’t really where I’m at anymore.

I started RFS back in 2010, three years in to my raw food journey, with a view to inspire and motivate others.  And also because it was such good fun sharing my experiences and hell, let’s be honest, I’m a bit of an attention seeker.

Over the years my diet has evolved.  This natural evolution is part of learning and adapting to new things, to what works and what doesn’t.  On top of that I’ve now had a baby and time with him is the most important thing on the whole planet, which means that blogging just isn’t a priority.

When I think about it, the people in my life, some of my best friends, came in to my life because of raw food.  The worldwide web of wonderful people that I’ve had the honour of meeting and working with just because I chose not to cook my food for a while is quite honestly amazing.

I’ve learned so much from this journey, and it’s not over yet.  Everything that I’ve eaten, from food to knowledge, I take with me and build upon.  I’ve implemented strategies that I carry forward and ones I choose to leave behind.

I’m sure that eating raw food for the last six years has given me the greatest gift of my life.  I can only imagine what I’d be like now had I never picked up the book that piqued my interest about raw food.  In another dimension somewhere that Emma exists, completely oblivious to healthy eating.  She’s probably a fat stinky cat woman by now.

So I want to say THANK YOU raw food, and thank YOU for coming along for this part of my journey.  Thanks for giving me the inspiration and sharing your knowledge and experience.

I’m so grateful for this experience.

See you on the other side.

Emma x

 

I was watching this youtube video last night, a response to a plea for help from a woman who wants to be 100% raw but isn’t because she believes she is addicted to cooked food.  And it got me thinking.  Aside from the fact that the main problem this woman has is NOT the fact that she eats cooked food but the sheer bloody TURMOIL she seems to have got herself into over the fact that she wants to be 100% raw and isn’t, there are a whole other host of things I don’t like about this video’s topic.

Firstly, there’s the reference to ‘Falling off the Wagon’.  I’m honestly going to sucker punch the next person that ever mentions the ‘W’ word about raw food.  I’ve already ranted about this here so I’ll save you the diatribe on that bullshit for today.

There’s also a comparison between someone who eats cooked food (or has it in the house) and an alcoholic.  I’m actually at a loss as to what to say on that one but I’m quite sure that the impact an alcoholic has on their own life and those around them is a far fucking cry from someone that wants to boil up some pasta.  Having alcohol in the house if you’re an alcoholic and having cooked food in the house if you’re a err… human? are totally, totally, totally, utterly, different.  End of.

Secondly, is this whole ‘addiction’ thing.  I’m taking it on the basis that we are talking about physical rather than psychological addiction.  We all know that these are very different kettles of fish.

People that are psychologically affected by what or how or the quantity they eat are suffering from a sickness of the mind (you may find many people with a history of eating disorder in the raw food movement).  I don’t think ANY of us in the raw food world are equipped to deal with someone’s psychological addiction or unhealthy relationship with food (cute pun) unless we are a health practitioner.  If you find yourself binging on food (as referred to in this video) then yes, you may very well be accidentally starving yourself but if there is mental stress around that and what/how much you are eating then it’s likely that you’ve got a bit messed up in the head and should seek some help – not from someone that tells you to just eat more fruit!

Do you know how many books there are in the world dealing with addiction and addictive behaviours?  40 billion.  The complexity of it is so vast that bananas cannot be the answer.  There are so many theories and models and we still don’t fully understand it.  People get out of control and do terrible things to feed (pun) their addictions like rob banks and kill people.  Ok, that’s at the extreme but you get my point.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am well aware that there are certain chemicals in certain foodstuffs that play havoc with our brain chemistry – sugar and MSG, anyone?  I know that junk foods and such can contain addictive ingredients because it makes them sell.  I also know that people can turn in to demons if they have one bit of toast and butter (oh god).

But that’s not what’s being discussed here.  Or if it is then it’s not explicit enough in the video or in the information out there in the raw food world.  We need to be clear that not all cooked food is poison and/or addictive and I think that to misguide people about this is at best irresponsible, and at worst dangerous!

Damn right we’re physically addicted to food, last time I checked we need it to live (breatharians aside).

So coming back to a physical standpoint if that is indeed what we’re dealing with here.

To suggest that we are addicted to cooked food but not to raw is a bit weird to me.  I mean, does that mean that if I heat a food above a certain temperature it all of a sudden becomes addictive?  Or are we only referring to certain foods?  Are vegetables ok but nothing else?

What if I boil the food? Is that as addictive as steaming it? Or frying it? Are there varying levels of cooked food addiction depending on what I do with it?

It’s common sense isn’t it? Deep fried mars bar versus roasted veg? No contest.

The whole concept of cooked food as addictive is just too wishy-washy for me and that’s why I call bullshit.

You are not addicted to cooked food.  You are a product of your culture that loves to do shit with food.  To create and enjoy.  To fuel your body.  You are also the outcome of millions of years of evolution that ate cooked food and didn’t cry like a girl over it.

You do not need to join cooked fooders anonymous.

It’s ok to eat cooked food.  It’s great to eat raw food too.

You do not have a problem that needs to be fixed.

All we can do each day is make better choices around what goes in our bodies.

We do the best we can and we are grateful for the food we share.

End of.

 

 

 

I’ve been in this superfood game for a few years now and let me tell you I’ve yet to find a superfood better than this…

It is the superfood for the new millenium.  The party-hard, supercharged, fast-track to health, vitality, energy and beauty.  High vibration.  Amplifies your jing AND your ding-a-ling.

It’s anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory and anti-boring.  You don’t even need to remortgage your house to buy it.  You can get it anywhere at any time and it’s always fresh and local.  It comes in it’s own highly specialised packaging – no plastic!

Organic, shamanic and biodynamic.

More nutrients than anything you can buy at the stupidmarket or online.  More nutrients than anything you can buy ever.

The benefits of this superfood are undisputed.  Scientifically proven, clinically tested and lifetime guaranteed.

Ancient.

Revered.

In your back yard.

I’m talking wild food, baby!

Get outside and get your wild food groove on!

 

Some might say I’m a little mental off the wall with some of my ideas and beliefs around life, love, the universe and everything.  Me, I much prefer radical renegade or playfully oddball.  Or sexy crackpot.  Whatever.  Certainly I’d have to concede that one of my more kooky ‘out there’ notions centres around the whole energy and food thing.

You see, I firmly believe that the energy that goes in to and surrounds your food before, during and after it being consumed is just as holy-meat-and-potatoes important as the food itself.  With that I’m quite sensitive to energy around food.

This means I don’t choose someone in a bad/angry/I-need-to-get-laid-or-pay-my-bills/depressed/anxiety-ridden state to prepare my food.  I could never, ever, EVER eat something made by this arsehole.

This means I physically can’t put a food in to my mouth if I feel any of the above or if I’m eating with someone who is.

This means I say a blessing (give thanks) to my food before I eat it to radiate it with good energy and gratitude.

Call me a proper whack job if you will, but I’m sure there’s an energy that food imbues that you will just as easily ingest and digest over and above its nutritional profile.  I’m pretty sure that’s why you can eat something and just feel uneasy or even angry afterwards without a clue why.

You are what you eat, physically and energetically.

This is why food made by your loved ones tastes so fucking good, because there’s a loving, giving energy going in to the food itself.  That’s why my granny’s soup was the best in the world when she made it especially for us visiting.  Either that or her secret granny stash of crack cocaine.

It’s not always possible to ensure that the energy around your food is positive and loving.  Eating in a restaurant is a bit tricky, unless you’re going to ask to personally greet the chef and find out how his day is going before ordering.  Tricky.

The most you can do is choose wisely and ensure that as much as possible, the food you buy and prepare has a vibration so good it makes you want to do ten types of interesting deviousness involving a bottle of hemp oil and this man.

Shop for food in the places you get a good vibe from.  That’s why smaller, local shops are so appealing to me.  I know the faces behind the counter.  I see and hear the banter.  I engage.  Local shops for local people.  Great energy!  Big corporate supermarkets can kiss my energetic ass.

Never prepare food for yourself or anyone else when you’re in a bitch of a mood.  It’s not likely to digest very well.  You’re better off going hungry.  Comfort eating is a misnomer.

Make sure you’re in a positive frame of mind when preparing food.  Watch comedy.  Listen to music.  Add love to your list of ingredients for every recipe.  Sounds corny as hell.  It is.  Do it anyway.

Avoid as much as possible the negative energy associated with factory-farmed or unethically sourced produce.  It’s just got a really shitty vibe and it’s not a game I choose to partake in.  Go to farmers markets and speak to the actual people that grew and nurtured your food.  Get a feel for them and their business.  Make friends.  Possibly even get a date.  Farmers markets are notorious for finding true love.  True.

Lastly, be thankful.  Food is a wonderful thing.  Each of us has the ability to transmute the energy around the food we eat in to positive, healthy energy and then we can all transcend to the next dimension already.

Marvellous.

 

 

Let me begin by saying I’m pretty sure I’ve had about two doughnuts my whole entire life but I chose ‘doughnut of necessity’ as the title of this post  for the sole reason that it has a lovely ring to it.  Boom boom!  Did you see what I did there?  Ring?  Doughnut?  You know… Cor, I’m almost too funny.

Truth be told the title of this post came from a meditation class I attended a few weeks ago (thanks Scott).  We were talking about necessary relapse when it comes to tackling addiction, the wisdom in experiencing and feeling the lows to truly appreciate the highs.  Duality, man!  It was far out.  Maybe you had to be there…

So what the fuck does this have to do with anything?

Let’s say you want some toast.  Beautifully tempting and tantalising, toasty toast.  You want to feel the crispness between your teeth, the crunch, the bite, the melted buttery goodness.  Toast.  Toast.  Toast.  It’s all you can think about.  You’re craving it.  A desire unlike anything you’ve ever known.  Oh, the euphoria of toast.  The resplendent LUST for toast.  You’re only one step away from a mental health sectioning for the damn love of it.

But your mind is saying NO.  You can’t have the toast.  You want the toast but you can’t have the toast.  The toast is bad.  The toast is wrong.  Bad toast.

But you want the toast god damn it.  Just one little tiny slice.

But no, you’re being so good.  It’s been 97.3 hours since you had anything ‘bad’.

But TOAST.

But NOOOOOO.

You’ve created a war in your own head between the you that thinks you want toast and the you that thinks you shouldn’t have any toast (excluding any physical factors that might make you crave toast or any other food).

Welcome to schizophrenic hell.  Population: you and you and definitely no sign of any toast.

Here’s my advice:

Have. The. Fucking. Toast.

Just have it.  Enjoy it.  Unashamedly.  Unabashedly.  Eat it.

Why?

Firstly, going against the desire is creating pain and stress and tension around food.  This is not positive, nor is it healthy.

Second, you’ll maybe feel like shit after it.  This is a good thing.  Ok it’s not fun to feel like shit, BUT this is the best and quickest route to learning on every level.  Trust me.  Your body will learn what feels good and what feels like shit much faster than when you try to do this whole battle and waging war thing in your mind.  And that WISDOM is like an injection straight in to the vein of whole-body learning that feeds (ooh, pun!) in to your future food choices.  This is the doughnut of necessity.  You can’t learn this without experiencing it.

Battling with your mind will not work as quickly as learning with your body.  And by ‘work’ I mean getting you to a place where you automatically make healthier choices WITHOUT WAGING WAR with your self.

Second and a half, you might not feel like shit after.  So you’ve had some toast and actually you feel pretty damn fine and satisfied.  This is good too and this is the perfect opportunity for you to practice not feeling ANY GUILT at all about it.  In fact, eating something less than healthy and choosing not to beat yourself up is another fast track to health.  This sounds fucking crazy but it isn’t.  Think of this as the training ground for super health NINJAS!  Ninjas eat toast and then they move on.  They don’t cry or whinge or make up stories in their heads.

Third, you will get to the ‘enough is enough’ stage much quicker if you go with the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ experiences rather than try to constantly avoid the ‘bad’.  There is such untapped intelligence in the middle way.  It’s the whole balance of pain and pleasure thing.  Sometimes we have to feel pretty bad to start moving towards feeling good.  However, striving for one thing and never the other is called extremism.  Extremists rarely have a good time and never get sex.  True.

You tell yourself that something is good or something is bad.  Your mind helps to create the experience.  How about you try and leave your mind out of it a bit more?

How about you put EVERYTHING down to experience and realise that the path to true health lies in not being such a drag about it all.

Be a ninja!

 

 

If there’s one word that makes me want to pour a metric tonne of gasoline over the entire raw food movement and gleefully strike a giant fucking match, it’s the F word.

Surprisingly, I’m not talking about the FUCK word (although it’s likely to crop up more than once in this post, let’s be honest).  Nope, today I’m talking ranting about the FAIL word.

You see it all the time…

Such and such failed the raw food diet because they didn’t eat [insert ridiculous and speculative notion of something you have no real clue about here].

Oh, I’m such a failure, I ate a pizza.  Back to square one for me.  I’m going to have to juice feast ’til at least 2015 and do hourly enemas with my zeolites!

Over fifty trillion web pages dedicated to ‘Top 10 reasons why you failed to eat raw’.  OK, so I slightly exaggerated that number.

Fuck. Right. Off.

What if I told you it’s impossible to fail when you embark on a raw food lifestyle?

What if I told you that viewing it in this way makes raw food an extra 79% less fun?  What if I told you that I had that statistic scientifically proven in a lab?  What if I told you that that last statement is a lie but I’m pretty sure the 79% thing holds true?

Here’s why it’s impossible to fail.

The definition of failure according to the all-knowing Internet:

fail·ure  (flyr)n.

 

Let me now elaborate on these and how it’s impossible for them to refer to eating raw.  Ever.

1.  This one is easy.  There is no fucking end.  Eating raw, natural, living foods is an ongoing process.  I won’t even deadhead you with the ‘it’s a journey’ crap.  My Gods, has that metaphor been done to death!  I prefer to say it’s an adventure.  One that has no end.  If there is no end there’s no outcome.  How then can you deem yourself a failure?

2.  Being insufficient?  Falling short?  Of what exactly?  What is it you’re trying to achieve?  40 billion days consistent raw food eating?  Transcending to the 8th dimension?  Levitation?  Invisibility?  Here’s the answer to this one.  There is nothing you can be insufficient at when eating raw food.  You eat raw food.  You don’t eat raw food.  That’s pretty much where that one starts and ends.  When you make it a bigger deal than this, you’re dragging your EGO in to it and that my friends is un endroit dangereux -*said in my sexiest French accent*.

3.  Easy.  THIS is what a cessation of proper functioning or performance looks like.  Is this you?  No, didn’t think so.

4. Of what is requested or expected.  Well, this one comes down to YOU.  You know you can’t compare yourself to anybody else in this game, right?  This is a one-man show, baby!  So, by my calculations if you can only compete with you then you’re bound to win, right?  I mean that logic can’t be flawed.  Again, what is it you’re expecting?  Grandiose notions of Golden immortality or enhanced levels of health and vitality?  Both of that shit takes time.  A long time.  Have zero expectations and you can’t fail but succeed.

5. Failing to pass a test.  I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure the last time anyone checked, tests suck ass.  The only way this one applies as I see it is if you’re treating this lifestyle as some kind of test be it of purification or to take you to some level of enlightenment…

Let me tell you a secret.

Opening the packet of biscuits IS enlightenment.

Eating the raw chocolate IS enlightenment.

Soaking your buckwheat IS enlightenment.

Saying ‘fuck it’ and ordering the plate of chips IS enlightenment.

It’s all happening in the now.

You. Can’t. Fail. At. This.

Failure is NOT an option.

So, don’t let me catch you talking about failure (your own or someone else’s perceived) because it’s moronic and I may have to bitch-slap you.