A friend of mine wanted me to make a raw, gluten-free, dairy-free cake for her co-worker who loves chocolate.  Here’s the recipe I used:

Crust:

raw chocolate cake!

• 1/2 C cacao powder
• 1/2 C carob powder
• 1/2 C ground raw almonds
• 1/3 C agave/honey
• 1/4 C cacao butter
• sea salt to taste

Filling:

• 2 C Cacao powder
• 1 1/2 C agave
• 1 C coconut butter (melt by placing in a warm/hot bowl of water)
• 1 tbsp lucuma powder

1. take all ingredients for the crust and mix in the food processor. Once they are combined, take the filling and push it into a pie/tart pan with your fingers. (the best kinds are the ones that have a removable bottom) Chill in the fridge for an hour or freezer for 30 minutes.

2. Mix the filling ingredients and add on top of the filling. Put back in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour. Viola!

You’ll never know (or anyone else) that this is completely gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free and HEALTHY for you! Cacao is the highest ranked antioxidant in the world!

*Top with raspberries, strawberries and/or nuts and drizzles of cacao! (an easy cacao topping is mixing cacao powder and agave with a spoon until it’s runny)

Respect yourself

Self respect is one of the great secrets to health and longevity. If you respect yourself, you won’t pollute your body-mind with drugs, junk food, and smoke, and you won’t abuse it with a poor lifestyle.

If you respect yourself, you will treat your body like a superior being and you would treat your mind like a sage. Treat yourself with respect-you may be a potential Buddha, or the person with the potential to save or positively change the world.

This single practice of truly respecting yourself should be enough to propel you on the path of radiant health!

Pregnancy and Healthy Food

It’s been incredibly difficult to eat healthy food since I’ve been pregnant. I don’t crave anything uber healthy and the thought of going into the kitchen to make a green smoothie makes me want to vomit. I don’t want any of my staple foods: nothing raw, no ginger tea, no chocolate? It’s the strangest thing.

First Trimester

The 2nd month of pregnancy was the most difficult for me. I wanted the classic “I’m sick/hungover” foods.. anything to take the nausea away. This downward spiral began with sweet potato fries, and then slipped into zucchini fries, which then stumbled into regular french fries as long as they were from somewhere that claimed anything somewhat related to health like In and Out (made from real potatoes! cooked in Cholesterol free oil!) or Astro Burger (unlike McDonald’s: the devil). For weeks all I craved was fries, squishy challah bread, matzoh ball soup from a local deli, and eggs. I later discovered that potatoes and eggs are both high in folic acid, which is my pretend reasoning behind it being okay.

guilt?

To be honest, I stopped feeling guilty very early on about this stuff. Yes, I would prefer to eat raw beautiful organic foods. Yes, I would prefer to have a green juice or smoothie at least once a day, and be as vegan as possible. However, this baby is in control, not me. This is the baby’s body, I am purely a vessel. I am obviously being as healthy as I can possibly be, choking down veggies, taking my iron and folic acid, and getting enough protein and fats.

Cool things about being preggers

A really interesting thing has happened in this pregnancy: my lactose intolerance has vanished. I can eat any type of cheese or dairy i want: NO STOMACH ACHE!!!!! I still don’t drink regular milk, always rice, coconut or almond milk, but i can eat CHEESE! It’s been pretty awesome. My favorite snack is Caprese Salad–organic mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and heirloom tomatoes with ground pepper and balsamic. Delish! I’m sure my lactose intolerance will return, and that’s fine with me. All of this is somewhat dreamy anyway. I read about another woman whose asthma completely disappeared while pregnant (but returned, unfortunately, a few months after the baby came). It’s truly amazing how different our bodies are in this state. Amazing what our hormones control and have the power to alter!

Moderation! Organic! Use your head.

My point of this babbling is this: whatever is happening with your body when your preggers is completely fine and normal. If you’re craving random foods, don’t feel guilt. Everything in moderation. Make sure you get enough veggies and fresh fruit. If you’re going to eat meat, make sure it’s organic and grass-fed. ENJOY THIS PROCESS it will be over before you know it, and wallowing or obsessing over how many calories you’re eating is an absolute joke. No worries, the baby feels EVERYTHING! Try not to stress out…laugh at yourself, I crack up the entire time I’m in the drive thru line getting a breakfast sandwich or denying a vegetable.

Also, in no time you’ll be back to yourself. I’m already working out practically like I used to and today I was completely raw until about 4p… it’s happening quickly. Cherish every moment (pregnant or not!)

Now that I’ve “come out” to the world about being pregnant it’s time to share all the knowledge I’ve been acquiring throughout the past 2 1/2 months!  (Facebook & technology has changed the world in so many ways!! so easy, with just a click, my world knew!)

In my opinion, Iron is absolutely the MOST important supplement/nutrient to get into your body when you’re pregnant.

This metal carries oxygen from the lungs to every cell in the body. Its other big role is to make blood. Blood volume increases by 50% during pregnancy. Blood feeds the placenta and uterine lining. Without large members of oxygen-rich red blood cells, your baby won’t grow.

For a straight hit of iron, eating red meat or liver is a sure bet. Clams, chicken liver, duck and oysters are excellent sources. (if you’re vegan or vegetarian, look below for an awesome option) Fish, poultry, spinach, dried apricots and unsulphered or black-strap molasses are decent sources. Grains and dairy foods are not.

It’s also wise to eat iron-friendly foods, including fresh produce for folate and vitamin C, banans for B5 and any meat, milk or eggs for B12.

I highly recommended Floradix, a liquid supplement with organic iron in an absorbable form (ferrous gluconate) instead of inorganic iron, which can cause constipation. I take this almost every day. I love the way it tastes and I instantly have more energy after consuming it. I don’t eat red meat and haven’t for almost 10 years, so it’s vital to get it from a supplement source. I’ve taken it for years, (I’m slightly anemic) usually every day when I’m on my period and here and there when I’m not.

Another option is taking ground liver capsules. If you’re not anemic, don’t take iron. The body doesn’t excrete iron easily, and too much can be toxic.

I’ve heard so many horror stories about yoga teachers and personal trainers (or not) taking their students or clients to unsafe territories in their bodies.

Working out isn’t supposed to make you want to throw up, and yoga isn’t supposed to hurt. Practicing it is supposed to make you feel better, but doing it wrong is just dangerous.

After being a personal trainer at Equinox in Santa Monica and working as a yoga teacher at several studios including a gym, I’ve seen it all. Students wobble into class injured, saying they can hardly walk due to an injury from their last class. I’ve had students not come to my class for months because of an injury they received after going to another yoga class that took them far beyond their capabilities. Obviously, this is all subjective and students/clients should monitor their own bodies. But seriously, some teachers are out of control. I’ve heard about a certain incredibly famous power yoga teacher actually popping a students rib out of place from pressing too hard on his back. Some teachers assist and have no proper training in how to do so. Not cool.

Weekend Warriors

Often times people get hurt because they assume that yoga is simple and that anybody can pretzel himself or herself on demand. Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says, most of the injuries he sees are sustained by “weekend warrior” baby boomers who being yoga or work outs without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be.”They think yoga is an easy way to start exercises, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all and they get hurt.”

Same goes for cardio and especially for weight lifting. I had many clients who insisted on benching more weight “because it’s what they did in college” but what they don’t realize, is that they aren’t that person anymore. That’s when they get injured and then have to lay off exercise for weeks to properly heal.  Functional strength training is much more effective for optimal results.

Legit?

Part of the problem is that increasingly, the people teaching yoga don’t know enough about it. Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one, over many years. Today’s instructors can take a yoga teacher training course in just one weekend. Luckily, to be in the Yoga Alliance (formed in 1999) has set a minimum of 200 hours for instructors to be certified. Unfortunately, only 16,168 of the over 70,000 yoga teachers are actually in the Yoga Alliance. This is a very pertinent issue, especially when it comes to injury.

Wherever you chose to practice or work out, studio, gym or with a personal trainer at the beach, just make sure you listen to your own body and take care of yourself. If you don’t, nobody else can be expected to. Warm up before activity/exercise, then stretch when muscles are warm, and stretch for a longer amount of time after activities. For Weekend Warriors, if you can’t get to the gym other than weekends, be sure to stretch during the week for 10-15 minutes… it will make a world of difference! And If something hurts... stop doing it!

I’ve heard so many horror stories about yoga teachers and personal trainers (or not) taking their students or clients to unsafe territories in their bodies.

Working out isn’t supposed to make you want to throw up, and yoga isn’t supposed to hurt. Practicing it is supposed to make you feel better, but doing it wrong is just dangerous.

After being a personal trainer at Equinox in Santa Monica and working as a yoga teacher at several studios including a gym, I’ve seen it all. Students wobble into class injured, saying they can hardly walk due to an injury from their last class. I’ve had students not come to my class for months because of an injury they received after going to another yoga class that took them far beyond their capabilities. Obviously, this is all subjective and students/clients should monitor their own bodies. But seriously, some teachers are out of control. I’ve heard about a certain incredibly famous power yoga teacher actually popping a students rib out of place from pressing too hard on his back. Some teachers assist and have no proper training in how to do so. Not cool.

Weekend Warriors

Often times people get hurt because they assume that yoga is simple and that anybody can pretzel himself or herself on demand. Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says, most of the injuries he sees are sustained by “weekend warrior” baby boomers who being yoga or work outs without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be.”They think yoga is an easy way to start exercises, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all and they get hurt.”

Same goes for cardio and especially for weight lifting. I had many clients who insisted on benching more weight “because it’s what they did in college” but what they don’t realize, is that they aren’t that person anymore. That’s when they get injured and then have to lay off exercise for weeks to properly heal.  Functional strength training is much more effective for optimal results.

Legit?

Part of the problem is that increasingly, the people teaching yoga don’t know enough about it. Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one, over many years. Today’s instructors can take a yoga teacher training course in just one weekend. Luckily, to be in the Yoga Alliance (formed in 1999) has set a minimum of 200 hours for instructors to be certified. Unfortunately, only 16,168 of the over 70,000 yoga teachers are actually in the Yoga Alliance. This is a very pertinent issue, especially when it comes to injury.

Wherever you chose to practice or work out, studio, gym or with a personal trainer at the beach, just make sure you listen to your own body and take care of yourself. If you don’t, nobody else can be expected to. Warm up before activity/exercise, then stretch when muscles are warm, and stretch for a longer amount of time after activities. For Weekend Warriors, if you can’t get to the gym other than weekends, be sure to stretch during the week for 10-15 minutes… it will make a world of difference! And If something hurts... stop doing it!

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:”So what do you eat? are you a vegan?”

ME: “well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish.”

Person: “Wait, whaaattt??”

ME: “I avoid dairy and don’t eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish.”

Person: “But, aren’t you raw?”

ME: “I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I’m at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I’ll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies.”

Person: “I’ve figured it out. You’re a vegetarian, then.”

ME: “No. I don’t eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish.”

Person: “OHHHH I Get it. You’re a flexitarian!”

ME: “Sure. I’m whatever makes it easiest for you.”

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn’t necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don’t like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats.

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience “not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma,” says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don’t judge others that do. I’ve known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband’s cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy answer for you. This hasn’t been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn’t taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING… so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I’ll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women “know” when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children’s generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad’s health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

“More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet,” says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:”So what do you eat? are you a vegan?”

ME: “well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish.”

Person: “Wait, whaaattt??”

ME: “I avoid dairy and don’t eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish.”

Person: “But, aren’t you raw?”

ME: “I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I’m at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I’ll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies.”

Person: “I’ve figured it out. You’re a vegetarian, then.”

ME: “No. I don’t eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish.”

Person: “OHHHH I Get it. You’re a flexitarian!”

ME: “Sure. I’m whatever makes it easiest for you.”

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn’t necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don’t like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats.

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience “not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma,” says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don’t judge others that do. I’ve known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband’s cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy answer for you. This hasn’t been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn’t taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING… so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I’ll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women “know” when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children’s generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad’s health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

“More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet,” says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment

From January 1st to January 7th I challenge you to go Dairy-free.

That’s right folks: no milk in your cereal, cream cheese on your bagel or cheese with your wine! But you better believe it will be an incredible week and I will offer PLENTY of alternatives!!!!!

Reasons to avoid dairy:

• Dairy products may have a significant amount of dairy fat, which is animal fat. Any pesticides, hormones, or other unhealthy things that may be given to animals tend to be concentrated in their fat.
• Digestive issues. This is the number one reason I went Dairy-free.
• obesity and weight issues in children and adults.
• weak bones. no, you aren’t reading wrong! a study determined that women who drank 3 cups of milk per day lost bone mass.
• Diabetes. in fact, more than 90 studies have been devoted to the link between the protein in dairy products and the development of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Get the support you need at Philosophie… and we’ll do it as a team!

$29 includes:

• non-dairy recipes delivered to your inbox

• daily blog post with information, studies, research and personal support

• emails sent to your inbox with reminders, motivation and tips on eating out
  

• learn about yourself and your habits

• education and skills you get to keep for a lifetime

COMMIT TO YOUR HEALTH, MAKE ONE SMALL CHANGE, WITH SUPPORT!

Now that you’re ready to eat raw living foods,  you’re probably wondering what equipment and food staples you’ll need. You will need some basic kitchen equipment and food staples to get you started.

Kitchen Equipment

Appliances

1. Blender. If you have a good blender that is working fine, there is no need to rush out purchase a heavy duty blender. A heavy duty blender is great, but start where you are and work your way up. I am partial to the Vita Mix, but there are many heavy duty blenders on the market you can choose from.

2. Coffee grinder (optional). A coffee grinder is good for grinding flax seeds and other seeds and nuts. I have a Magic Bullet and it has an attachment for grinding seeds and nuts. You can also use a heavy duty blender for grinding, but most of the time you will need small amounts, so you may consider purchasing a coffee grinder.

3. Food processor. A food processor is good to have, but I don’t believe you need to have one, when you’re starting out. Why? Because a lot of things you can do with a food processor you can do with a good heavy duty blender.

4. Juicer. A juicer is good to have, but again, I don’t believe this is necessary when you are starting out. Don’t feel you need to purchase a top of the line juicer. Start small and work your way up.

5. Dehydrator. A dehydrator is good to have (not necessary), if you want to make dried fruit (my favorite!) crackers, breads and seasoned nuts and have other little treats on hand (especially during your transition). However, over time you will find that you will use your dehydrator less and less.

Other Tools

1. Mixing bowls

2. Rubber Spatulas

3. Knives

4. Cutting board (wood or bamboo)

5. Kitchen scissors

6. Colander

7. Garlic press

8. Mason jars

9. Measuring cups and spoons

10. Sprout bag or cheese cloth (for straining nut milks)

11. Fine mesh strainer

12. Vegetable peeler

Kitchen Staples

1. Fruit (dried and frozen)

2. Dried herbs and spices

3. Oils and Vinegars

4. Raw nuts and seeds

5. Sweeteners and Seasonings (sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper)

6. Superfoods- carob or cocoa powder, maca,  sea vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, etc)

7. Raw grains-buckwheat groats, oat groats, etc

8. Raw nut/seed butters

**Purchase fresh, preferably organic produce on a weekly basis.

R

Check out local farmers markets in your area!