Raw Natural Living

Is this program ONLY about Raw food?

Certainly Not.

Every aspect of your lifestyle is equally as instrumental to the cultivation of optimal health and wellness. Your overall well-being is only as strong as it’s weakest link. To truly experience the full potential of health you must thoughtfully attend to all of your physical, mental, and spiritual needs. It may seem complicated, and it certainly can be. However, with the help of your intuition, you can easily align all of these many aspects with the common theme of natural design. By paying close attention to the workings of nature, you will be able to discover those same patterns in yourself.

What is the difference between a “raw” diet and a “natural” diet?

A “Raw” food diet only implies that the food we eat has not been cooked or heat processed in any way. While this preserves the nutrients and the natural structure of the food, it does not neccessarily imply that the most ideal selection, and combination of foods are being consumed. The wrong “Raw” diet can still lead to dysfunction, deficiency, and even disease.

A Natural diet, however, is the diet that best suits our physiological makeup as a species. This inherently means that the diet is raw, and goes further to imply that the diet is composed of the proper nutrient ratios and chemical content.

As you can see a “Natural” diet is always raw, whereas a “Raw” diet is not necessarily natural. Therefore the ideal diet for any living creature is always a natural diet.

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Is this program only for those who are just beginning a Raw food lifestyle?

No, to this program is not only for those who are just getting started in their journey.

While this program may appear most appealing to tose who are just getting started, it contains very helpful and very relevant instruction and guidance for people anywhere along the path. There is something for everyone whether they are just coming to know what a “raw” lifestyle is, or even those who have been “Raw” for quite a while.

How can a Raw Natural Lifestyle provide mental clarity and emotional balance?

Why would someone who has already transitioned to a raw food diet enroll in this program?

This program is about much more than simply abstaining from cooked foods.

There are many raw foodists who have been raw for along time, even years, and then eventually falling back to conventional “health food” of some sort. When asked why they stopped they often tell that a raw food diet is not for everyone and it just “didn’t work” for them. Yet although they claim this diet in insuperior they invariably recall that they have never felt better than when they first went raw.

So why does this happen? It happens for a few different reasons. The most common reasons are very simple. Either they become raw by focusing exclusively on their diet, meanwhile ignoring the countless other aspects of true health. Perhaps they adopted a gourmet raw diet and lingered in the transition a bit longer than the body would tolerate. Another reason for this phenomena happens because often times when someone chooses to “go raw”, they tend to seek out an “authority” and follow their specific guidelines and instruction. This may work in the short term, but since everyone is unique you will face very personal situations that the afore mentioned “authority” was never in the position to encounter. Under these circumstances, if you never acheived a deep personal understanding of the whole Raw Natural Lifestyle, you may become overwhelmed and unable to carry on.

In this program not only will you come to embrace the whole Raw Natural Lifestyle, you will develop an internal understanding of how it works and how you can apply it directly to your own experiences and situations. If you can tap the essence of a Raw Natural Lifestyle you can adapt it under any circumstances.

Using nature and your intuition as a guide you will undoubtedly find the most ideal natural lifestyle path for YOU.

Does this program and lifestyle require a great deal of spare time?

No.

You may think that creating a whole new lifestyle would require a so much extra time that none of us really have. That is not the case. This program is about reshaping your lifestyle, not creating an alternate one.

The spare time required to review the weekly lessons can be as little as an hour or two. The rest of the work is happening as you implement each lesson into your daily life. Because your are using your experiences and environment to learn and grow, the more you experience in your own environment, the more you will learn and the more rapidly you will grow.

Many people fall under the impression that a raw food diet Is very complicated and time consuming. This assumption is based most often on the any raw food recipe books out there that are trying to sell you pretty pictures and fancy content. The reality is that a natural diet should be incredibly simple. In fact, the more complicated a meal is the less efficiently it will digest. The objective is to eat as simply as nature prescribes. Ideally you will end up needing no food preparation at all.

Even in the beginning when you are using transitional foods that require some prep time, I will offer recipes and planning ideas that will literally cut hours off of a standard raw food prep schedule and be comparable to that of a traditional diet.

What is the best diet for me?

Although all individuals are incredibly unique on many respect, the human species collectively shares the same anatomical and physiological structure. Therefore there is an ideal human diet that will be ideal for everyone. However, we must accept the fact that for centuries we have strayed very far from the diet that nature prescribed to us. Through many generations we have been conditioning ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally to become attached to foods that are far from ideal and that have led to the gradual degeneration of our collective health and human potential.

Due to this gap in nutrition it has become necessary to transition ourselves back to the natural raw plant based diet that we were designed for. In this respect, everyone will find that they must find their own pace and personal transition.

The key to finding the best transitional approach for you is understanding the ideal diet and firmly setting an intention to attain it. Once your intention is set you can slowly gently move towards your goal. You may find that it comes quite easy to you and in that case you would quicken your pace accordingly. You may also find that you are a bit overwhelmed and in this case you would slow down a bit and try a slightly different approach. As long as you are gentle and listen closely to your body you will always know what to do.

See “Transitioning To a Raw Diet”

Is diet the most important part of my overall health?

Every aspect of your lifestyle is equally as instrumental to the cultivation of optimal health and wellness.

Your overall well-being is only as strong as it’s weakest link. To truly experience the full potential of health you must thoughtfully attend to all of your physical, mental, and spiritual needs.

What are some other health factors that are addressed in the program?

This program is about realizing your full potential through ideal health. One can only attain ideal health and wellness by addressing all aspects of one’s lifestyle.

This program addresses:

Physical Fitness
Mental Attitude
Elemental Exposure
Emotional Poise
Sleep patterns
Meditation, Reflection, and Contemplation
And countless other subtle aspects of a truly healthy lifestyle.

Where does Spirituality fit into a Raw Natural Lifestyle?

Does a Raw diet include raw meat and dairy?

Some people believe that animal products have a place in a raw food diet. There are those who eat raw dairy, raw eggs, and even raw animal flesh.

While raw animal products would be relatively healthier than their cooked counterparts, the human body is not designed to efficiently digest animal foods. Apart from the plan-friendly structure of our digestive system, there are several other factors both physical and mental that show strong evidence of our herbivorous nature.

In the wild, carnivores and omnivores alike take great joy in the killing and consumption of their animal prey. Even adolescent animals are proficient hunters and delight in the bloody bounty of the kill. These animals are naturally very well eqipped for this purpose. With slashing claws, searated teeth, and short digestive tract these animals are born predators. The natural predatorial behavior of these animals is instrumental in the preservation of the ecosystem and natural balance. Without predators the prey populations would massively overpopulate and descimate the regional vegitation. The natural predator-prey relationship is the essence of natural conservation.

Do you salivate when you pass a field of cows pigs or lambs? Do you greatly desire to tear into the belly of these animals and feast on their flesh? Or do you have an urge to pet, hug and cuddle these beautiful creatures. Humans are horribly equipped for the task of a predator. Without unnatural tools like spears, knives, and guns we have no inherent physical means for the pursuit, slaying, or consuption of prey animals. Furthermore, ever since man unnaturally became a hunter gatherer species we have wiped out several species of mammals from the mammouth to the buffalo. We would be continuing to eliminate species without the advent of raising livestock. Raising animals as commodities is immoral and detrmiental to the ecosystem and the environment.

We are the only mammals on the planet that drink milk past the stage of adolescence, and even more outrageous, we drink the milk of ANOTHER species. The milk of a cow and the milk of a human mother have completely different nutritional composition.

Animal foods hold no place in the ideal Raw Natural Diet and lifestyle.

How much exercise do I need to be healthy?

We are meant to be very active creatures. Think about children. Children love to run around and play all day long. The same amount of activity for the typical adult might be considered exhausting, but for the child it will provide great joy.

The important difference is that when we are children, our activities are what we create. We use our imaginations and inherent innovation to engage in activities that stimulate us not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. Children are also dependent upon their own bodies for transportation. Children walk, run, and ride their bikes to their favorite places and their friends houses. This kind of integrated exercise is natural for humans. We should be using our own manpower to get where we want to go. We should find our entertainment outside playing with others.

As adults we are discouraged from this type of creative physical activity and we are heavily dependent on mechanical transportation. Our pastimes become highly sedentary. Even many outdoor activities still involve a motor and some type of seat.

We seem to have separated our “exercise” from our daily lives. We have created regimented programs for fitness based on complicated machines and isolating exercises. This approach is unnatural and very unappealing to most. It also creates misconceptions such as thinking you must have access to this type of environment to “work out” or be fit.

All we must do to be sure that we are getting enough exercise, is re-integrate it back into our daily lives. We can walk or bike to locations that are at a relatively reasonable distance away. We can spend more of our seeking entertainment outdoors that using nothing more than ourselves and our natural surroundings. As you become more active in ways that appeal to you, you begin to crave more activity.

Exercise is imparative to our well being but we must have an open mind about our defenition of exercise. Finding ways to be more active in fun and practical ways will allow you to be active without having to force “exercise” into your life.

Do I need access to a gym or health club in order to maintain a sufficient fitness routine?

Gyms and health clubs are not necessary to maintain an effective routine. Naturally we would be getting our exercise from our day to day activities. We would be walking everywhere, foraging for food, climbing trees, swimming in rivers and lakes, and just playing outside.

Gyms are not only unnecessary, they can tend to be somewhat restricting. Everywhere you go you are surrounded by exercise equipment. Stairs, hills, furniture, playgrounds, and even trees are more than ideal for any fitness goals you wish to attain. Lifting weights does not compare to lifting your own body, and even transportation in productive when you pull that old bike out of the garage. Even sitting at your desk at work can be an opportunity for fitness. Sometimes the most important aspect of fitness is innovation.

Will a Raw Food diet help me lose weight?

Will a Raw Food diet help me lose weight?

Yes.

A raw food diet will definitely take the weight off in a relatively short period of time. However, weight loss should not be the overall objective of a healthy lifestyle.

The human body is naturally designed to be lean and fit. The more excess body mass that we are storing, the harder our organs have to work, most notably our hearts, to carry out all of their primary functions. It’s a bit like living in a house that is bigger than you need. The difference is that in a house you can upgrade your heating and cooling system to fit the area of the home. In your body, however, you cannot upgrade your organs to take care of more mass than you were designed to carry.

Therefore, by eating raw and naturally you will restore your body to its natural shape and size.

It is important to realize though that just because you are losing weight, does not mean you are becoming healthier. Focusing only on weight loss will not always make you healthier, but focusing on ideal health and well being will ALWAYS make you lose weight.

Will I get sick if I switch to a 100% raw diet too quickly?

People who rapidly transition to a 100% raw food diet may experience uncomfortable symptoms of detoxification. Sometimes these symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable and in rare cases, even debilitating. This is due to the release of over a decade of stored toxicity from deep tissues. When this much toxicity passes through the blood on its way out of the body, you will invariably feel very sick.

What you must remember if this happens to you is that you are NOT sick. You were sick when these toxins were being silently stored in your body with no chance of removal. This seemingly unpleasant process is actually a blessing.

If you are experiencing symptoms of detoxification, simply take it easy for a while and allow the discomfort to pass. These symptoms never last very long and you will feel brand new once they pass. Always try to remain appreciative of these symptoms, since they are an indication of a deep internal cleanse.

How can I be sure that I am getting everything that I need nutritionally?

What is the problem with a gourmet raw food diet?

Although it is not the ideal diet, gourmet raw food, can be a useful tool to transition to the ideal natural diet.

Gourmet raw food however is not a natural diet and therefore is not sustainable in the long term. Gourmet raw food is extremely high in fat. Although they are “good” fats that will not cause us to gain weight, it provides an imbalance that can lead to a great deal of dysfunctions and deficiencies. Gourmet raw diets are also abundant in spices and other irritants such as garlic, hot peppers, and onions. Irritants like these cause the body to create a layer of mucus to line and protect the soft tissues of the digestive tract. When these linings are coated in mucus, it becomes very difficult for those linings to absorb any essential nutrients and often creates the illusion of a nutrient deficient diet. The gourmet raw diet also tends to use a great deal of salt. Even the most expensive high quality pink sea salt is still salt. Salt in high doses is lethal. It dehydrates the body and prevents proper cellular function. Dehydrated foods are also far from ideal as although they are still considered “raw”, they are no longer a whole food. Most gourmet raw foods are not well combined and can eventually lead to indigestion as your system becomes more sensitive.

All of these negative aspects of a gourmet raw food diet are at the same time what make them so mentally and emotionally appealing to us in our raw transition. We need to be able to accept as relatively healthy means of transitioning. As long as we understand the process, and we do not perceive them as the ideal diet, we can use them to find a more ideal healthier diet. As we eat cleaner and our bodies become more sensitive, it becomes very easy to cut out these inefficiencies of the gourmet diet. The more inefficiencies that you eliminate, the closer you come to a naturally ideal well balanced whole food diet. The journey to such a diet is a training ground for your intuition and will teach you a great deal about yourself and your surroundings.