Raw Vegan Watermelon Salsa

This raw vegan watermelon salsa is a wonderful dish to take to parties or barbeques, as it’s really popular with raw and cooked eaters alike. The combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste makes it incredibly moreish – beware, one spoonful and you’ll be hooked!

The other thing that makes it handy for parties is that it’s fine to make a big batch the day before and chill it overnight – in fact it tastes even better as the flavours all mix and marinate together.

I have used this recipe for many years, but I only make it occasionally, because as you will see from the ingredients, it’s a quite the ‘combo abombo’! For optimal digestion, watermelon is best eaten on its own, on an empty stomach, so in food combination terms, mixing it with such a lot of different ingredients is not generally recommended.

But every once in a while I like to live dangerously 😉

Strangely though, I don’t notice any digestive discomfort when eating this dish – perhaps because it’s only a side dish, meaning that I would only eat a little, and also perhaps the addition of chilli and ginger help with digestion.

Another thing that prevents me from making it very often is the difficulty of finding organic sweetcorn – I’m not keen on using the conventional version in case it’s GMO.

Ingredients for raw vegan watermelon salsa

4 cups watermelon (about half a medium-sized watermelon), chopped

2 cups fresh coriander

Juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime

2 fresh organic sweetcorns

1 chilli

1 avocado

1 tablespoon raw tahini

1 red chilli

1” cube ginger root

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ – 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

You can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste, depending on how salty/spicy you like things. I particularly encourage you to go crazy with the fresh coriander as this really makes the dish!

How to make:

Scoop the watermelon out and chop or mash it up in a big bowl. Save the watermelon shell to use as a serving dish later.

Scrape the kernels off the sweetcorn straight into the bowl with the watermelon.

De-seed and finely chop the chilli.

Peel and finely chop the ginger.

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and chop.

Finely chop the fresh coriander.

Add all remaining ingredients and mix / mash them together thoroughly.

Put the mixture back into the watermelon shell. Leave in the fridge until you are ready to eat it. It should keep for a few days.

This salsa goes great on raw crackers. It is often the surprise hit of the party – just be sure to make enough for everybody 😉

Are you losing TOO MUCH weight on a raw food diet?

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Jun 19 4

Most people are quite happy to lose weight on a raw food diet, but for some people it goes too far and they just get skinnier and skinnier.

I was one of those people. When I began eating a raw food diet back in 2003, I was already at a healthy weight. I was doing it for health reasons rather than weight-loss, but as I continued to eat a raw food diet the pounds kept falling off and I soon became quite concerned that I wouldn’t be able to maintain a healthy weight.

It was a difficult and confusing situation, because although my health was improving in every way and I felt amazing eating raw food, I started to look pretty skinny and unhealthy by most people’s standards.

I was working away during the time I began eating raw, and when I returned home friends and family who saw me for the first time were genuinely shocked and concerned by the change in my appearance. I look back at pictures from that time and I don’t blame them – at one point my weight dropped to 80 lbs (I’m 5’ 1”). I looked anorexic, my periods stopped, and I was so small I had to start buying children’s clothes. It was like everything was being stripped away from me and I was getting scared it would never stop and I’d just fade away…

I remember having to go for a medical for work, and being worried that I wouldn’t pass due to my weight. I went along with pockets full of change to sneak in a few extra pounds! Luckily I passed – in fact he told me I was in excellent health, ironically!

I would look at myself in the mirror and burst out crying in frustration at it all. Here I was, feeling the best I’d ever felt in my life, with so much energy, but looking like a skeleton! I knew I didn’t want to go back to my ‘old’ style of eating because I’d healed so many health issues and I didn’t want them to come back.

If you are in this position now (or you know somebody who is), the good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I eventually managed to gain the weight back and am now at what I feel is an ideal weight for me.

Here are five strategies I implemented to gain my weight back:

1: I got help

I contacted a nutritionist who specialised in raw foods, and together we decided on some changes I should make to my diet and lifestyle. She operated from a Natural Hygiene perspective, and recommended I eat more fruit (especially high-energy foods like bananas) and less fat.

For example, I had been in the habit of drinking a green juice then going for a run every morning. She suggested I should ease back on the cardio, adopt a more gentle exercise routine, and swap my green juice for something with more calorific value.

I actually don’t follow this type of high-fruit raw diet these days, and I think if I could go back in time I’d do things a little differently, but at the time it helped me to gain weight.

2: I simplified my diet

Taking heed of my nutritionist’s advice, I began to eat much simpler food combinations. Instead of preparing complicated dishes (especially high-fat ‘gourmet’style ones), I would choose 2 or 3 ingredients and make a meal from them.

I learned about food combining and how to make it easy for the body to digest and assimilate foods. It made sense to me that if I was going to put on weight, I needed to help my body efficiently digest and assimilate the nutrients from the food I was eating. And one of the best ways to do that is to combine foods wisely and keep meals simple.

3: I began sun-gazing

I learned about sun-gazing and realised that food is not the only way the body gains energy. I went through this process over a period of several months and witnessed dramatic changes in my mind and body.

Disclaimer! This practice is very much frowned upon by the mainstream medical model, so it’s not something I’m recommending that you do – I’m simply sharing what worked for me. If you are interested in sungazing, bear in mind you do so at your own risk. You can find out more details here: protocol.

4: I used the power of my mind

I came across a book called ‘Science and Health’ by Mary Baker-Eddy. Quite a peculiar old book; it was written in a very old-fashioned biblical style; but it taught me so much about the power of positive thoughts. I had been into the power of positive thinking / law of attraction / manifestation for many years already, but this gave me an additional perspective and was hugely inspirational.

Funnily enough, the book continually stressed how diet is not instrumental in ones’ health – but that didn’t sway me away from the rawfood diet (also, bearing in mind this book was written in the 1800s, when food was a different ballgame altogether – not like a lot of today’s chemically laden fare!).

I did however gain great inspiration from the overall message of the book, that your mind is capable of great things and can influence your body in many ways – something I now witness on a daily basis as a clinical hypnotherapist.

5: I gave it TIME

Like they say, time heals all, and when the time was right I gradually began to gain back my weight (and by the way my periods also returned, good as new, minus PMT and any pain, and regular as clockwork!).

What would I do differently if I could go back in time?

If I could go back to the first day I went raw and give myself some advice, I would tell myself to take everything much more slowly, and ease myself into my new way of eating. I really feel that any changes we make to our diet should be made gradually, so the microbiome has time to acclimatise to the different foods it is processing.

Of course, I’m not sure whether I would have taken that advice, even if I’d been given it! I was so eager to jump head-first onto the raw bandwagon that I probably wouldn’t have listened to anyone who told me to do otherwise.

I would also focus on a lot more cleansing: for example colonics and internal herbal cleanse protocols etc. I believe that when we clear our system it becomes a lot easier to assimilate the nutrients from food. It’s not about how much food you eat – it’s about how much nutrition you absorb.

I would also make sure I was getting plenty of nutrient-dense green foods into my diet. I see time and again that this is one of the most common mistakes that rawfoodists make. It’s so easy to underestimate just how much green food we need on a rawfood diet.

9 ways to eat more greens

If you’d like some inspiration on how to get more greens in, here’s a couple of blogs I wrote on the subject:

Green Superfoods Juice for the ultimate raw morning

How are you doing on a rawfood diet? Have you gained weight? Lost weight? Let me know in the comments!

And if you’d like to work with me on improving the health of your mind and body, I offer coaching face-to-face in the Glasgow area, or via Skype/telephone if you’re further afield. You can make a booking by clicking HERE.

How to make water kefir

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Jan 31 2

Would you like to learn how to make water kefir? It’s ridiculously easy – if I can do it, YOU certainly can.

Here’s a video of me demonstrating the basics of how to make water kefir.

If you’d like more updates and tips on rawfood and fermentation, sign up to my free newsletter HERE

When I first heard about water kefir, I thought it sounded like rocket science. I had vague ideas about these weird grains that weren’t really grains, and thought they would only grow with fresh coconut water. I am FAR too lazy to be cracking coconuts open, so I chose to forget about water kefir, even though I did fancy the idea of making my own probiotics.

BUT the idea of water kefir kept nudging its nose into my life, and after a while I did a bit of research and found out it was nowhere near as difficult as I’d imagined. Now I have a jar of water kefir on the go at all times – it’s one of my kitchen staples, and I love experimenting with different flavours. And I just know that you will too 🙂

SO let’s get started:

What is water kefir though anyway?

Water kefir is a probiotic beverage made from fermenting grains in coconut water, or sugar water.

The best way I can describe water kefir is “it’s a fizzy drink” – not unlike soda pop (or ginger as it is inexplicably called here in Scotland).

I can’t really go into more detail than that, because really you create whatever kind of drink you want. You can make it very sweet, or not so sweet, fruity, extra fizzy if you like, even a wee bit alcomaholic if you see fit, and make it any flavour you desire – it all depends on that all-important 2nd ferment (don’t worry if this makes no sense whatsoever to you right now – I will fill you in on the details later).

Yeah but where did the grains come from in the first place?

I don’t know. Nobody knows. Isn’t that MAD? #aliens

It’s quite confusing though isn’t it, especially if you’re somebody who avoids grains like the plague. They are called kefir ‘grains’ and yet they actually have nothing to do with grains such as rice etc. The best way I can describe them is like white/clear blobs!

Okayyy.. Where can I get these weird grains that aren’t really grains?

You can buy them online at sites such as Happy Kombucha .

Ok Got it! What do I do now?

Ok so now you get yourself a couple of glass jars that hold about 1.5 litres. They can be mason jars, but you don’t really need to bother about them being air-tight. My jars just have plastic screw-top lids. Kefir’s different from kombucha in that it doesn’t necessarily require an aerobic environment (ie, a jar with a cloth tied around the top to let a bit of air through) – it does just as well with an airtight lid. It doesn’t seem to care really (like I said… #alien..).

Make sure your jars and any utensils you use are nice and clean so as to avoid contamination. Don’t use bleach or harsh chemicals though, in case any residue remains in the jar and offends your lovely kefir cultures.

Ingredients:

1 litre water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons (or thereabouts) of water kefir grains

Method:

Pour 1 litre of water into the jar, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and leave it for a while to dissolve (you can warm the water beforehand to speed up this process. Let the water cool to room temperature first though before adding the kefir).

Add the kefir grains into the water.

And that’s it! I told you it was easy didn’t I!

You can add into the mix a few extra things to pep up your grains, such as a little chunk of ginger, lemon slices, or some dried (unsulphured) figs, but it’s not necessary to do this every time. If you do add any of these in, try to use organic, or if using conventional produce be sure to peel them first.

So now, just leave the jar for 1 – 2 days and let it do its thang. You can gently move it about every so often, it likes that and will display some pretty bubbles for you (unlike kombucha, which gets a bit moody if you so much as look at it while it’s fermenting…)

Wait – I need more details – what kind of water do you use?

I use distilled water, this works great, but it’s up to you what kind of water you prefer. If you use tap water though I would strongly recommend purifying it first, as the chemicals added to tap water (particularly chlorine) are not good for beneficial bacteria (both in our kefir, and in our bodies!)

And how about the sugar – surely that’s not healthy?

A lot of people freak out a bit when it comes to the sugar content of kefir. If you really don’t like the thought of using sugar, then coconut water is perfect to use. It’s even easier in fact – just add the kefir grains to the coconut water and away you go.

I personally have no problem with using sugar though. I haven’t noticed any negative effects. I use raw cane sugar (rapadura) and let the kefir ferment till they’ve used up all the sugars and turned them into lactic acid and carbon dioxide (aka fizziness!). In other words, YOU don’t eat the sugar – the kefir does.

You can use all kinds of sugar, but avoid substitutes like stevia, agave or xylitol, even if you think they will be a healthy option – they just don’t work.

OK let’s get to the fun stuff: the 2nd ferment

Drain the liquid from the jar, sieving out the fruit and the water kefir grains. Discard the fruit (into the compost, hopefully) and reserve your precious grains for the next batch.

Congratulations – you have now made Water Kefir! This is fine to drink as it is, but let’s be honest, it’s a tad boring. So let’s pep it up a bit with some more flavours. I usually add around 3 pieces of fresh fruit into 1 litre of water kefir and leave it for another day or two. As you can see in the video I used pears, but any type of fruit (fresh, dried, or frozen) works fine.

Except bananas. Bananas in kefir just taste weird for some reason.

I also add herbs and spices like cinnamon, vanilla, mint etc. Have a play around with some different flavour combos that you like, it’s loads of fun 🙂

If you would like to know more about kefir, I highly recommend this site: http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#Kefir-d-acqua It’s a smashing online source of kefir information and has some nice recipes too.

Wait – before you go -very important information!

When starting out on kefir (or indeed any kind of fermented food or drinks), go easy and introduce those new visitors to your digestive system slowly and carefully – otherwise there will be mass confusion and chaos down there in your gut as they all barge in and make themselves at home.

Do I have to spell this out? Oh ok then – we’re talking lots of farting and/or pooping. You have been warned! 😀

How to grow your own microgreens

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Dec 24 0

Would you like to grow your own microgreens but never seem to get around to it because it just feels like it will be too much work? Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s really easy, doesn’t take much time, and at the end of it you get your very own home-grown baby greens, bursting with flavour and nutrition – what more could you ask for?

What are microgreens?

I’m glad you asked 🙂 Microgreens are young green leafy plants that have not yet grown to maturity. They are one step up from sprouts. If you can sprout it, then you can grow it into a microgreen. Unlike sprouts however, microgreens need soil and light in order to grow.

Microgreens are an ideal addition to any self-respecting raw foodie’s diet, as the young tender leaves are perfect for eating raw (in fact, cooking is not recommended as they are so delicate) and they won’t contain the anti-nutrients that more mature plants can develop over time. Not only that, research has shown that they contain 4 – 40 times more nutrients than mature plants.

AND they’re so tasty!

How to get started

To begin, you will need a box or tray of some kind. Any size will do, depending on how much you want to grow, and how much space you have. Just use anything that you can put compost in. I usually use these kind of trays, but you could adapt any old crate that you happen to have lying around.

It’s best to use one tray with small holes for drainage, then place it inside another tray without holes to catch the water, especially if you’re planning to grow your microgreens indoors.

Line the tray with a couple of inches of compost, water it lightly (it should be damp, but not too wet), sprinkle the seeds on top, then cover with another thin layer of compost. You don’t need to space the seeds out like you would when growing mature plants; you can scatter them quite thickly. You’re aiming for the seeds quite close together, without them getting too crowded and actually touching.

You can cover the trays with a lid in the first few days, as this helps retain moisture and speed up the germination process. Water them as often as necessary, not too much. After a couple of weeks your microgreens should be ready.

Where should I grow them?

Find a warm bright place such as a sunny windowsill. It also helps to have a good source of ventilation, to avoid mould.

What kind of microgreens should I grow?

Some of my favourite microgreens include:

Snow pea greens

Good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and folic acid

Sunflower greens

Another rawfood classic – have a read of this informative website for a list of benefits

Radish and broccoli

I love these because they’re so hardy and grow so easily – not to mention their super-duper nutrition. They’re a pretty strong and spicy taste.

Fenugreek

Adds a tasty curry flavour to your salad

And not forgetting – the mighty wheatgrass! This is a fantastic microgreen to grow so you can enjoy all the benefits of fresh wheatgrass juice.

There are plenty more types of seeds you can try, so have a play about and see what suits your taste buds.

Should I soak the seeds beforehand?

If you’re familiar with sprouting, you might be wondering whether you should soak the seeds in water first. This is optional really; I’ve grown microgreens successfully from soaked and unsoaked seeds. One nice advantage to soaking them first is that you can enrich the soak water with minerals and enhance the nutrition of your plants. A simple way to do this is to add a tiny pinch of sea salt and let it dissolve in the water.

Having problems growing your microgreens?

Check out this website, it lists some great solutions for issues such as mould and slow germination.

Good luck with your microgreens! I hope this article was helpful for you 🙂

Natural alternatives to sunscreen

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Jun 10 0

There have been a few articles floating around Facebook lately about whether sunscreen is good for you or not, so I thought I’d share some natural alternatives to sunscreen.

*Disclaimer: Before I begin, I just want to point out that this is in no way an attempt to persuade you not to use sunscreen – what you put on your skin is entirely your decision. This blog is simply a sharing of my own beliefs and experiences on the subject.

Being of Irish descent, I have quite fair skin. I never used to be able to stay out in the sun for very long before I began to burn. So I used sunscreen to extend my sunbathing time, but I noticed that I would often get an annoying heat rash if I stayed out too long.

When I discovered the Raw Food diet, one of the many benefits I got from it was that I could stay out in the sun a lot longer without burning or getting a rash – and without using any sunscreen. I LOVE the sunshine, and I don’t like to put unnatural chemicals on my skin if I can help it, so this was very good news for me.

What is it about the Raw Food Diet that protects against the sun?

As I understand it, there are 2 main ways that a Raw Food Diet protects against sunburn. Firstly, there are many valuable nutrients found in fresh fruit and vegetables which provide the skin with natural protection. Secondly, the lack of processed junk foods in the diet means that toxic chemicals don’t find their way onto the surface of the skin, to react negatively with the sun’s rays.

Of course, I’m still sensible with my sun exposure. If I’m out in the hot sun for any extended length of time I’ll be sure to wear a sunhat and cover up with a sarong or scarf, or seek shade if necessary. I try to plan any outdoor activities during the cooler parts of the day, and stay away from the midday sun. Personally, I love nothing more than to relax in the shade on a sunny day and read a book. I don’t really see the point in lathering on lots of sunscreen just so I can sweat uncomfortably for hours in the hot sunlight.

I use natural cold-pressed extra-virgin oils such as coconut or sesame, as these can offer some sun protection, as well as providing the ideal environment for beneficial skin bacteria to thrive. There are even some natural oils (such as raspberry seed oil) which can have an SPF of up to 50. I like to use carrot seed oil on my face as not only does it have a high SPF but it also said to have anti-aging properties. Remember that anything you apply to your skin will be absorbed into your body, so a good rule of thumb is: if you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin!

I also usually avoid wearing sunglasses when sunbathing, strange as it may seem, as wearing sunglasses affects the body’s ability to adapt to sunlight. When sunlight enters the eyes, it sends a signal to your body to create melanin, which protects against sunburn. Aren’t bodies amazing things!

I live in Scotland, so in general the only time I feel the need to be careful is when I’m on holiday in a hot country. In this country, I’ll take all the sunshine I can get, as it makes me feel happier and healthier both physically and emotionally. In fact, I wrote this blog outside in the garden on one of our first sunny days of the year 😉

Fruit and nut raw fudge

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Feb 5 0

I love making raw fudge as it’s so quick and easy. It’s one of my favourite things to take to a pot-luck or to share at parties etc, as ‘cooked foodie’ people appreciate it just as much as rawbies.

I thought I’d share my latest raw fruit and nut fudge flavour with you – this one is nice and light and really melts in the mouth.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup raw coconut flakes (or you can use ready-creamed coconut – just bear in mind this isn’t raw)

1 cup goji berries, soaked for 1 hour in the juice of 2 oranges

1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped or ground

Half a cup algorobba / lucuma powder

2 tablespoons carob / cacao (I use carob as I’m sensitive to cacao, but cacao will give the fudge a much more authentic chocolate taste)

1 tablespoon vanilla powder

1 tablespoon raw honey or sweetener of your choice

Gently warm the coconut butter until it turns to oil. I use a double boiler for this but you could use any warm surface. In the food processor finely grind the coconut flakes. Add in the algorobba powder, the carob/cacao, and vanilla and mix. Transfer this mixture to the coconut oil, making sure you keep everything warm so the oil doesn’t turn back to butter. Stir in the goji berries, nuts, and honey.

Spoon mixture into a tray and flatten down. You could also use ice-cube trays – you can get all kinds of different fancy shapes these days if you want to make individual sized portions.

Cover and leave in the fridge overnight to set (or in the freezer for an hour if you can’t wait that long).

I hope you enjoy this raw fruit and nut fudge. You can adapt this recipe in so many ways by using different dried fruit and nuts, and adding different natural flavourings.

Happy experimenting, and please share your favourite raw fudge recipes below!

How to stay warm on a raw food diet

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Feb 4 2

Staying warm on a raw food diet can be particularly challenging at this time of year in Scotland. The temperature has plummeted, snow is on the ground, the wind is howling outside the frosty window, you can hardly move your icy fingers to type on the computer… you get the point, it’s COLD.

Many raw foodists notice that when they first start to eat raw, their body temperature seems to drop a little. Now, this isn’t always a bad thing. I was living in Oman in my early raw days and I found it a blessing to feel naturally cool – I lapped up the sunshine and didn’t feel the need for any air-conditioning.

However, Scottish winters are a little different to Middle Eastern summers, and you may not be feeling quite so comfortable. So here are some tips to help you get through these chilly days without freezing solid, with a glass of green juice stuck to your lips.

How to stay warm on a raw food diet

Don’t chill out

Make sure that everything you eat or drink is at room temperature – or even better, at body temperature. Remember you can still warm your foods to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 40 degrees Celsius) and they’ll still be classed as raw, even by the toughest of Raw Police.

There are many ways you can gently warm your foods. I have a double boiler which comes in really handy for warming soups or even melting coconut butter to make fudge. If you’re worried that the temperature might be getting too high, just stick your finger in – if your finger doesn’t get cooked, chances are your food won’t either 😉

Take the chill off

If you’re going to make a juice or smoothie, remember to take your vegetables out of the fridge a good few hours before to bring them up to room temperature, and wash them in hot water rather than cold. Don’t keep your refrigerator at a super-high setting, there’s no need, especially if you’re only keeping veg in there.

Another trick I have is to warm up my drinks by pouring them into a jar or flask, then placing them into a jug of hot water for a few minutes. That really helps to take the chill off. I rarely drink anything ‘cold’ these days, especially in winter.

Wrap it up

I know I’m stating the obvious, but sometimes it’s worth mentioning. Keep your body temperature comfortable by staying nice and warm. Thermals, hats, hot water bottles, any furry pets that happen to be hanging around, just wrap yourself up in them and keep cosy.

Winter warmers

Sprouted chickpea wrap with courgette noodles

Choose your foods wisely. Winter is definitely not the time to be eating frozen watermelon and blending ice into your smoothies.

Go for denser foods such as dehydrated flax and onion breads, and soups with creamy avocado, and serve on warmed plates or bowls.

Try adding ginger and fennel into your veggie juice, or cinnamon into your smoothies.

Now is a good time to get into indoor sprouting and micro-greens. Alfalfa, snow peas, wheatgrass etc will all thrive at this time of year, and they will give you a nice supply of fresh food during a season where a lot of produce might have been shipped for many miles before it got to you.

Keep on moving

Stay active throughout the day. Try to take regular breaks during which you can jump up and down, have a little dance, go for a run around the block, etc – just get moving and keep that internal fire stoked.

Work up a sweat

Take a leaf out of the Scandinavians’ books and use saunas and hot tubs to counteract the chill and keep your body temperature up. Hot Yoga (yoga practiced in a very hot and humid room) is even better as you get some great exercise too. Tonya Zavasta swears by this, and she’s certainly doing – and looking – very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeBpn-Dl3zU

So get yourself hot and sweaty, in whatever way possible! 😉

Compromise

Although I love my raw foods, I do make some exceptions, especially during the winter. I love to make herbal teas and vegetable broths, and of course these aren’t raw, although I do keep the heat on low and try not to completely boil the water.

In my broths I use local seasonal veggies such as leeks, onion, garlic, and turnips, and I add in lots of hot spices like ginger, turmeric, and black pepper. I also include seaweed for additional flavour. I strain the broth and drink the mineral-rich liquid; it feels very warming and balancing at this time of year.

So I guess you could say I’m a raw foodist, but not a raw drinkist 😀

Of course, this might not be for you if you wish to remain strictly raw, and that is fine, I’m just sharing what works for me. I’m sure if I lived in a lovely hot country I wouldn’t feel the need for these kind of compromises, but sometimes you need to make adaptations depending on your circumstance.

Well, I hope you found these tips useful. If you have any of your own you’d like to share, please comment below 🙂

feel better. upgrade!

By Emma Leave a Comment Aug 13 0

Here’s a question for you. How do you know how good you really feel right now?

Answer: Contrast.

The best way to determine how good you currently feel is by comparing your current state with a previous one. You could remember a time when you didn’t have enough energy to do your housework (boring) or have monumental sex marathons (less boring).

The time you are comparing your ‘now’ to could be last week, last month or last year.

Compare and contrast. Weigh up your energy, your alertness, your happiness then and compare it against how you feel now. This is how we know our current choices are working for or against us.

Here’s another way.

Ramp your now up a gear. If what you’re doing is working then great. But what if it’s possible for you to feel even better? What if you could create an even better now to compare your next week, next month, next year to?

If it ain’t broke, you don’t need to fix it but you can upgrade it!

For all you know your current now could pale in comparison to what’s possible! Small tweaks here and there can make a world of difference.

Make the decision to UP YOUR GAME.

Take whatever you’re doing to the next level. Choose one thing or five. Read books. Get inspired. Keep up to date with the forward thinkers of health promotion that resonate with you. Sure as hell they aren’t still spouting the same information they were five years ago or even one year ago.

Keep ahead of your own game.

Fuck it. Not one smoothie a day but two.

Fuck it. Not one heaping of superfoods but three.

Fuck it. Not five minutes of meditation but twenty.

More water.

More laughter.

More of what serves you, less of what doesn’t – and you KNOW what that is.

Create some mother-chuffing contrast and see how you feel one week from now.

The good news is it can happen that quickly.

Do it now. Do it now. Do it now.

why i’m buggering off to be a unicorn for a bit…

By Emma Leave a Comment Sep 26 0

So, I’ve pretty much decided to take a little break from the site. When I say little, I mean three whole English months. That’s right, from pretty much now until 1st January 2013, it’s gonna be a little quiet on the Raw Food Scotland front.

I possibly probably shall definitely sometimes still be posting sporadic nonsense and recipes (and by recipes, I mean in the loosest possible term) on the Raw Food Scotland Facebook page. Mostly because I can, also because it’s easy as I practically live on facebook. So fret not, I’m not deserting you completely but I do need to take some time off to focus my efforts on other stupendous things such as this other website I’m starting up.

Further to the last post I wrote about the whole dampening thing, I’m also doing a bit of experimenting with my diet and need a bit of time to see how things pan out with that. It’s all evolution, baby!

Meantime, feel free to hang out and dig some of the delicious info going on here and I wish you a unicorn-tastic Autumn.

No, you hang up… No, you…

Big hugs and a slobbery kiss x

intuitive eating – inside versus outside

By Emma Leave a Comment Aug 24 0

Intuitive eating. It comes from inside. It’s instinctive. It’s the difference between what’s going on inside your body and what’s going on in the outside world. Tapping in to intuitive eating means really grasping that the answers to health and vitality for your body are within YOU. They are not to be found in some book or some other person’s belief system.

The secret of life is found in life itself and not in doctrines and ideas about life. Alan Watts

Intuitive eating means going inside habitually to become more in tune with your body. Nobody and nothing « Continue »