MY BEST RAW CHOCOLATE RECIPE

Chocoholic? 🙋🏽 Who else here eats it every. goddamn. day. I haven't always made my own and probably because for so long I could never get it the way I liked it. But this is pretty damn good. And also amazing with coconut flakes, dried blueberries, goji berries, flaked almonds, you name it! And it takes no time at all!

NOURISH: CHEWY CHOC FUDGE SQUARES (---> ADDICTIVE)

Every now and then you'll come across a recipe. One that knocks your taste buds outta the park. And then you find out that the ingredients are not in fact a long list of crap, but a list of nourishing, nutritious, raw foods that'll make your heart sing. Literally. Cacao. For the heart yeah?

RAW DINNER IDEAS TO KNOCK THE SOCKS OF ANYBODY

Hello beautiful people! I've just gotten back from my 4 day trip to Sydney, which was super duper fun. 

If you're on my mailing list you'd know that I was going down for Dr Libby's Beautiful You weekend, and catching up with family and friends around that - Dr Libby was spectacular, so watch out for a recap on Thursday. 

Up before dawn this morning to fly out and I forget how manic Sydney airport is at 6am on a weekday. F-bombs dropping left, right and centre, pushing through queues, and disgruntled individuals... if you're plane is delayed, it's likely everyone else's is too buddy. 

And yes, our plane was an hour late, so by the time B and I got to Cairns, we were staaaaarving! 

Fancy a Rum Ball? Oh Yes please!

Well you don't need me to tell you that Christmas is just around the corner (although in a round-a-bout way I just did) and from here on in you'll no doubt see more and more people getting crazy leaving gift buying, family arrangements, food prep and more til the very last minute. Personally, I like to think I'm pretty well organised each year however I'd be lying if I said it was totally cruisey for me - I think I just go crazy a little earlier on as my default mechanism to then later cruise through the finishing line to the 25th. 

That's my personal life though. I know in past years my blogging life has not been so well thought out; posting photos of what I HAD for lunch and what I MADE for Xmas AFTER all the festivities were had. So... this year I wanted to give you guys one of my favourite recipes early so you can save yourselves a little time and a little sanity by making this ahead of time; even then they will only take you 15 minutes to make. And what's great about these are they are
gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, dairy, free, egg free, vegan and raw! You can make them nut free too buy substituting the nut meal for coconut flour.


You will need:

1/4 cup nut meal (almond and cashew work great)
1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted and chopped)
1/4 cup raisins*
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp rum
1 Tbsp cacao powder
2 Tbsp other dry ingredient (I have used oat flour, coconut flour, even additional nut meal works)

In your food processor throw in your nut meal, dates, and raisins (*if you'd like little chewy raisin bits in your rum balls only put half the raisins here and pulse or hand mix the rest through at the end) and process until bitsy. Then add everything else and process until the mixture forms and is well combined. If you decided against the delicious rum in this recipe you will need to substitute another liquid so the balls are moist enough.

Taste test - I'll be honest here, with this recipe it is so hard not to eat half the batch.

Roll the mix in the palm of your hand into any size you like and then roll in cacao powder, chocolate sprinkles, coarsely ground cacao nibs, coconut or leave them naked.

This recipe makes 12 small rum balls so by all means do as I always do - and make MORE!

If you're making these now for Xmas, store them in a well sealed container in your freezer to prevent them from drying out. Then after that fridge or freezer, and they are able to last for a month or so - but as if that's going to happen!

Take them to your family Xmas get together or wrap them up and gift them to work colleagues, friends, family or your nan - I know she'll love them!

I would love to see photos of your rum balls when you make these so please comment below or share your pics on our Facebook page Eat.More.Plants

Enjoy these scrumptious little morsels of joy and happiness

Live Coconut Cream Pie

This (totally nut free, dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, raw, paleo, [and in my case] 100% organic so bloody sensational) stunner of a cake tasted just as good a couple of weeks ago when I made it for my partner's birthday up here in Cairns. I wanted something delicious (obviously), but nothing super time consuming as I had assessments and other things coming out my ears, and we had both only arrived back in Cairns the day earlier from our travels - me to Sydney, he to China. So this is what I found! A simple coconut pie that I jazzed up a bit so it was a proper birthday cake; and not just a cake. I promised you all I'd share the recipe so promise me you'll all make it (your taste buds are shouting YES too).

You will need:
For the crust - 
2 1/2 cups coconut flakes/dessicated coconut
1/4 tsp vanilla (or the insides of one vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup (heaped) finely chopped fresh medjool dates

For the filling -
1 1/4 cups coconut milk*
3/4 cup coconut flesh
3/4 cup (heaped) finely chopped fresh medjool dates
1/2 tsp vanilla (or the insides of one vanilla bean)
2 pinches of salt
3 Tbsp lecithin
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut oil (Important note here - be sure you have an exceptionally good-tasting coconut oil as you will be able to taste it; shit oil makes your cake taste shit. My favourite is Nuigini)
Decorations; fresh fruit, coconut flakes, cacao...

* to make your own coconut milk, blend the flesh of a thai young coconut with the liquid, and uv got milk! One coconut is more than enough for the quantity of milk you need; but you will need more for the additional flesh. I had 4 to be super-over-organised. You'll likely only need 2 but an extra one is always advisable as you can sometimes luck out and open a dodgy one. 

Step 1 - Prepping
Make your coconut milk and put is aside.

Step 2 - Prepping
Prep all your ingredients on the bench. Start pitting and chopping your fresh dates and measuring out all your ingredients. Grab a 20cm cake tin or another flan dish you have, and either grease with coconut oil or line with non-stick paper.
Then in an S-blade food processor, put in coconut flakes, salt and vanilla and begin to process. Start adding small amounts of your chopped dates until it begins to stick together. Use more dates if need be (I did).

Step 3 - Base
Once it's sticky enough to hold together, press your mixture into your prepared cake tin. Use your fingers to work it up the sides of the dish to form more of a crust. Alternatively you can just have the crust as the base, but it might be a little messier getting the cake out.

Step 4 - Filling
Next up, get out your blender. Throw in your coconut milk, coconut flesh, dates, vanilla and salt. Blend all this until super smooth. Add the lecithin and coconut oil and blend again until all this is mixed through well. Dip your finger in to taste. Not optional. If you need something added (sweeter, cinnamon jazz, etc, add it now). And of course taste again :)

Step 5 - Pouring
You guessed it! Pour your delicious mixture straight into your crust. And voila! Easy as pie!

Step 6 - Decorating
You can get creative and decorate your pie any way you wish - the recipe used coconut flakes but as I was making this for Brock's birthday, I wanted something a little more spesh, so I got out the fresh fruit for splashes of colour!
Such an easy recipe. But it looks amazing! I LOVE a fool-proof recipe that always turns out looking a million bux!

Serve with tea if you please. Or have for brekkie like my man insisted (it was his birthday after all)

 Enjoy!



Recipe taken from I Am Grateful recipe book.

Australian Cacao Fruit

The other week when my mum was up here visiting, my sister and I took a drive with mum up to Port Douglas for the day. The drive alone is stunning - golden road bends overlooking vast ocean seas, palm trees and pebbles on each opening we passed, and blue skies stretching as far as the eye could see.

The markets were on when we were there, and I was over the moon when I found a lady selling raw chocolate bars, blocks and pieces, along with cacao pods and nibs - from AUSTRALIAN CACAO FRUITS!

I'm not suite sure why I never stopped to think whether cacao could or was being grown in this beautiful country of ours; assuming it was all overseas. So you could imagine my excitement! I have since found out that there are 4 or 5 plantations of cacao up here, all making their own chocolate. HELLO WILLY WONKA!! We'll definitley be planning a little adventure trip to suss them all out soon enough that's for sure!

But when I saw that this woman was selling cacao beans that she had herself taken straight out of the cacao fruit, and dehydrated to dry... I was sold. The fleshy fruit was still hanging on the outside of each bean. And this makes for a totally incredibly different taste sensation on eating...

It's fruity and tropical with hints of sweetness and tang. But once that disappears you're left with the bitterness of the cacao bean. It's Mother Nature's perfect combination...

And afternoon tea's perfect snack.



The following week my partner went on his own adventure up to the Daintree and brought me back that big cacao fruit above. Indeed. Yep. A whole fresh intact cacao fruit. In it's entirety. In Australia! I was speechless! Well no not really, that's a lie. I was jumping up and down in excitement (once again - could I really be that predictable around food?).

This is what it looks like inside - incredibly soft flesh and not much of it. Enough to keep the beans soft and moist. When you bite into a bean when it's like this, it is not hard as you may have had before. It's almost a little chewy. But a little powdery too. I know how odd that sounds and no doubt hard to imagine, but trust me, its' delicious.

The beans are purple inside, not chocolate brown, and you would be hard presed to just sit there and eat many more than just a few. We had fun adding them to smoothies too, believing we were getting an even better, fresher, bigger, richer hit of antioxidants from these babies! Hehe.

So I will be sure to keep you updated on our cacao hunting trips up here! In the meantime, I'm keeping myself very busy with work at the health food store which is great, college work piling up on me as I was in bed for about a week with what I think was a nasty case of influenza running around up here, and trying to rest and get myself back to my usual bubbly self :)

Peace, Love and mung beans xxx

Saturday Night Potluck Feast

Saturday night was the last raw food pot-luck in Sydney as we've known it, as the wonderful woman behind it all has decided to step away for the time being due to health issues. Every month she would organise events at different locations, get lucky-door prizes sorted, and much more, so it will definitley be sad to see her go, but the much needed rest she is after will do her the world of good I'm sure. And who knows - someone else might step in and take over and we'll have more Sydney pot-lucks in the future... And maybe I'll begin organising them up in Cairns when I get there - more about that soon.
I took loads of piccies of all the amazing food as usual, so will keep the word content short and sweet so your eyes can do the talking as you scroll through the mouth watering morsels that were our dinner.

First up - My big plate of everything piled up ontop -now what exactly is all this??

Carrot Falafels with Tahini Sauce

Cauli-Brocc-Dill-Avo-Orange Salad

The most delicious Garden Salad - with macadamias! My fav :)

A yummy Cabbage and Veggie Salad - walnuts tossed through for extra crunch

My dinner highlight - Raw Dolmades!! Wow these were incredible!

Cabbage Slaw - one of those great dishes to soak up the goodies scattered amongst your dinner plate

Veggie Salad with colourful Greens

Chunky Creamy Curried Vegetables

Salad spread

That scrumptious macadamia salad again

My guacamole and the creamy cauli-brocc salad

Most of the dishes on half the table - I got so excited to see so many colourful salads!

Two different sauces for the Zucchini Pasta

Little blob of babaganoush on the left there - that was incredibly and delectably smokey

We absolutley polished every salad dish off with next-to-nothing to spare! That's how good it all was. But a pot luck is never complete without desserts, and often there are so so many you make yourself a little sick, so I was quite pleased to see less than usual, and most based on fruits not cacao (now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my cacao, love love LOVE it, but too much does make me feel ill, and too much is an easy thing to let happen at a pot-luck).
So for the desserts...

Pear Baklava Crumble deliciously moist with pistaccio's smothering the top

Mmm ooey gooey goodness!

Fruit Salad with Crunchy Mature Coconut

Soft and sweet Carob-Banana-Coconut Balls - had myself a few of these babies

 And the grand finale...

Strawberry Ganache Fudge Cake - YUM!

I had an absolute ball seeing everyone again - people I know, people I was yet to meet. I love the banter that goes on a pot-lucks where everyone shares what works for them in relation to the food intake, what doesn't, things they've read about, hints and tips for things, connecting like minded people, enjoying fabulous food and company!

So as I mentioned above, I might start this sort of thing up in Cairns! Yep it's official I am moving to Cairns! I've made little mention of it in previous blogs as I decided exactly what I wanted to do and what was in my best interest for my studies. With all that (and more) in mind, I have made the decision, booked my flight, and will be leaving Sydney for Cairns July 18th! I will be continuing my Nutritional Medicine studies, but doing modules in class as oppose to via distance education as I have been doing. I'm very much looking forward to the warmer weather, spending time with my big sister who lives up there, meeting new friends, and study buddies, and living in a different city. I can't wait to go, but as I still have so much to do before the big day, I'm quite content with the days passing slowly!

Until next time... a quote to keep you inspired...

"The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison" 
- Ann Wigmore

Mocha-Chip Smoothie

I thought I'd share something a little more tasty than our last poo talks here and here this time around.
I've got my delicious Mocha-Chip Smoothie recipe for you.

I'm not sure if I've made mention or not here before but I am partial to a (damn) good double espresso. No milk. No sugar. Nothing. If it's good coffee... mmmm it's BLISS. I put it down to my barista-ing for 8yrs that I have a bit of a snobbery when it comes to good coffee - but with good reason in my opinion. Why pay for something if you're not going to enjoy it right?

Anyway... it's not a daily ritual for me, as it is for some. It's not even a weekly one. I go through periods where I don't want it for months on end, and then I want it twice in two days. For me, I do notice though if I have coffee everyday, it affects my adrenals and before i know it, I'm tired, lethargic, stroppy, cranky, I have no energy... the list goes on. Maybe it's due to all those coffee's I drank daily behind the machine I don't know?

I find my adrenals are the first thing to go when I'm not looking after myself so I have to watch my intake of this oh-so-delicious beverage enjoyed my millions daily worldwide.

So, I came up with a sneaky alternative for when I really want my (two) shots, but know it's not in my best interest -

Mocha-Chip Smoothie

4 1/2 small bananas (I ate half in the process)
1 cup water
2 heaped teaspoons of cacao powder
8 organic coffee beans
3 fresh dates
2 tablespoons of cacao nibs
drop or two of vanilla


Blend everything except the cacao nibs until smooth. Then add the nibs and pulse once or twice more. Doing it this way ensures the coffee beans have been pulverised a fair bit, but you still get your cacao crunchies.


If you've got a cupboard full of superfoods, other add-ins I love include (1 tsp) acai, (1/4 tsp) pau d'arco, (1/8 tsp) licorice root, even goji berries.

If it's hot where you are, use frozen bananas! If it's cold (like Sydney at the moment - OH MY GOD!), use warm water to warm them bones. If you want less banana's you can easily do that also. I had this smoothie this morning after a run and was starving!

So delicious this one is, and in comparison to a double shot espresso (using god knows how many hundreds of beans), this recipe only uses 8 teeny tiny baby ones! But the coffee flavour is sure there!

Enjoy!!  :)

One step at a time

So not off to the best of starts after my 2 months away... and as much as I procrastinate telling myself that I can't post a blog without photos, as my mobile phone/camera is in at the shop getting repairs done (complete with all my photos of our Sunday banana-choccie-almond-crunch-chia-layered-parfait-brekkie, my tranquil trip away to Bowral last week with my step-mum's home grown vegies in the back yard, the massive green salads Brock and I had post yoga, and more)!!

NOTE: since typing this draft yesterday I've had an AHA moment and 2 of the pics I posted straight from my phone last week onto FB, have now been posted below. Blonde moment yes, but we've got some piccies!! :) And my photo-shopping program has been updated so I have a bucket load of new designs and effects to play with! Happy days :)

Mid-morning snack on the front balcony over looking the lake

Besides the lack of a good mobile phone at present (although my old cute little flip top Sony I bought in Italy years ago brings back such happy memories), things are pretty much the same as usual.

Actually no - you know what, they're not the same! They're BETTER than usual! Yep! BETTER! I'm forever telling people I'm the "same as usual - never ending study, work, etc, you know" when this past week has been so much more than just that! The past few weeks infact.

- I took 3 weeks off work to really knuckle down some college modules and I have done just that, and feel great for it! Sure it's a challenge getting my head around Biology and the deepening ins and outs of nutritional studies but when I understand it I LOVE IT and it's FASCINATING!

- I spent 5 days down in Bowral at my dad's place to really chill out, focus, drink tea (I say that like I don't otherwise drink copious amounts), eat lightly, and rest. I got a bunch of assessments done there, and since being back I've got a bunch more done.

- I'm trying new bits n pieces for my skin issues and am finding small improvements (yippee!). I'll let you know how things are going a bit later.

- Brock and I have been spending the best time ever together - even if that was one whole day driving from one mobile phone shop to the next, back home for contracts and receipts and back again. He is due to head off to Thailand on Sunday so intentionally or not, we've been glued to one another hip. I quite like that ;)

- I've also been doing a few gentle -but powerful- online workouts as well as rebounding and find I'm feeling a lot better from them both. I've always been a fitness and gym junkie but after a shoulder injury, followed by a sciatic injury (both for reason's still unknown to me), I was off the gym and have been for probably 3months now. Soooo unlike me! But you know what? I am so surprised at how my body has held up! My mind was trying to convince me that without my 4-6 gym classes a week I would surely balloon out, get fat and feel yuck! Well, my body looks very close to exactly the same as it was when I was up early every second day to work out. I know there's no way I could lift the weights I was 3 months ago now which is a bit of a bummer, but Brock mentioned to me yesterday that some of the world's top athlete's take 6 months off every year to really rest and recover, which was a huge boost to my self esteem, and a real joy to hear after beating myself up for not working out. My step-dad has also said each time I've popped over to say hello, that I'm looking better than ever! I laugh and say I'm doing absolutely nothing! It doesn't really surprise me though. My body has been feeling too tired and sore and exhausted to do much of anything that all I muster up is a 20minute walk most days, and even that brings on minor pain. But it's good to get out of the house.

So with that, I've been on my rebounder more and that has given me loads of energy, lymphatic boosts, and with minimal impact, and I'm feeling so-far-so-good coz of it! Really good infact. Yay :)

But I best get going again coz my aim is to finish one big Nutrition assessment today, and a Biology one too if I can squeeze it in! I'm off to a comedy gig tonight and very much looking forward to surprising Brock with that! I only just got given free tickets - ten minutes ago!

Quick and easy (minimal pantry ingredients) dessert or brekkie parfait

But before I jet I'll spill the beans on a super easy-use-whatever-you've-got-dessert-or-brekkie-recipe you can try this weekend.I made this at dad's down in Bowral the night before I left to use up my last few bananas, and coconut. I've tried to guess the quantities I used but adjust to taste coz I never measure anything myself.

Recipe (quite literally):

Step 1

Young coconut flesh from one coconut

1 banana

1 tsp vanilla

Coconut water as needed... blend all until smooth then pour into a small bowl and set aside

Step 2

2 bananas

1-2 tsp cacao... blend together then pour into a small bowl

Step 3

Handful of chopped dates

Handful of nuts

Pinch of salt...blend until crumbly and set aside

Pull out 3 little glass cups, bowls or jars and start layering your 3 mixtures. Eat straight away, or set in fridge or freezer. If you're like we were and too full from dinner, save these for brekkie!

I'd usually use a few other ingredients in something like this but at my dad's the pantry is not stocked for a raw vegan and so I use what I can. Something like this can be made with any fruit, and nuts, and any dried fruit. Be creative. Experiment with your favourite flavours and let me know how you go!

Have an awesome weekend!!

Christie :)

Feeling Raw Emotions

Ok finally I've got some time to myself to sit down, tea pot next to me, window wide open, my favourite vanilla caramel candle is lit and filling my sun room with a delicious smell that makes me close my eyes and just breathe...

I've had so many things on the past month (at least) that I've barely had proper time to really sit and put what I've wanted to into this little blog of mine. So to have all afternoon to do so today is my little piece of HEAVEN. And I couldn't be happier (bopping along to some John Butler always helps too).

I wanted to write about something that was mentioned to me last Saturday night. I was out for Earth Hour at a house party full of beautiful, loving, generous people I had never met before. There was only person I knew of that would be there - and it was she that mentioned my blog and how much she loved it. It was a beautiful comment she made that touched me. But what really got my thoughts in motion was when she said what she loved most was how I explained and wrote about the emotional roller coaster that you're thrown onto when you decide to start eating a raw food diet. She hadn't really read about this anywhere else and that's what she wanted and needed most.

But I couldn't remember the last time I wrote about that! Even though that's what I love to write about!

I started this blog when I started my raw journey. And I wrote alot more about it all back then, and recently it's been totally different. Sure it's great to throw in a recipe here and there (and who doesn't love to see a mouth watering piccie of chocolate cake that's totally free of all crap so you can digest it easily and your body just screams "yes please") but there is already plenty of that online (don't fear - I will still be doing loads with food). But as much as I LOVE my kitchen fun, to be honest, I'm so infrequently creative in there these days. All I'm doing is making salads. Do I want to be writing about salads every week (well... I'm sure I could coz I have a strange love affair with my salads but it could make for some boring reading, and end up being boring writing for me also)?

So where did I stray? Possibly trying to "fit in" with all the other blogs out there? Sure everyone wants to "fit in" and I know I've sure as hell had my fair share of those feelings... but with where I am right now, I don't really give a rats ass about that anymore. I'm now more than ever wanting to truly, totally, lovingly, beautifully BE ME! 100%. I'm not afraid of not fitting in because I've come to realise that people do infact love me as the real me. Wow. That's even huge for me to write.

I'm crazy! Emotional. Woman. Overly excited at times. A tendency for verbal diarrhoea (especially first thing in the morning). A bit of a dag (quite alot at times). Always that last one to get a joke... they're all me. Big parts of me, and ones I always tried to hide.

But I've come to a place like I said, where I no longer feel a need to hide parts of me. The past few months have been both the worst and the best of my life, and I've learnt more about myself in this time than ever before. It's been like "Soul Boot Camp" hardcore. Not for the faint hearted. You get out what you put in though. And I've been through one hell of an emotional roller coaster.

What does it all have to do with raw foods though? Um, can I say everything? Or at the very least, a hell of alot more than most people would realise.

I still get asked "why do you only eat raw foods?" which takes me back to my reasons. It's like a reminder for myself. A reminder that I choose to eat only raw foods first and foremost for the emotional and spiritual aspects. Only later did I find out and read about all the physical and nutritional benefits.

I got this in my inbox today actually - its from Jinjee who also writes her own blog you can check out here -

"Some people think it is dogmatic to adhere to a 100% raw vegan diet. For a healthy person who has a great relationship with food and their body, a 70% - 80% raw vegan diet may be just fine. This is also called a high raw diet. However, for a person like me with food addictions, and for compulsive over-eaters, and for people with other eating disorders, the 100% raw vegan diet can be a life-saver. In some cases, having a program such as the 100% raw diet prevents people like us from destroying ourselves with food. Also in the case of people with serious physical conditions, especially digestive and food related conditions, the 100% raw vegan diet can be not just appropriate but essential for life."

For me, I was ready and willing. I wanted to reach higher vibrations spiritually. I wanted to literally throw myself in the deep end. I had read about how a raw diet can bring up buried emotions of fear, sorrow, jealousy, inferiority and more, all to be dealt with. These all require healing and to do so requires awareness, direct attention and some truthful expression. But why on earth would you want to throw yourself in the deep end of all that? It all sounds ridiculously painful, hard, turbulent, upsetting, difficult... (I could go on)... and at times it is. But with great pain comes great reward (if you want to look at it as pain). A raw diet is hard. I know. I live it! But for me the rewards far FAR surpass any pain. It's the path I have chosen. And I love it.

I think that the number one reason someone would have trouble in sticking to a raw diet would hands down be the simple fact that they either cannot or will not deal with their emotional and psychological shit that is literally shoved in their face to look at. With good reason - it's hard to look at it! It's painful. It hurts. I know. Really I know. But I want more. I long for more. I know there's more I'm just yet to find it. And when people ask me why I'm raw that single question reminds me; and it almost instantly makes anything troubling seem not so bad. Because I'm reminded that I've chosen the harder path. It was my choice! I remember why I chose it. I can bail whenever I want too...

But here's the catch -

once you begin this path, it's very very hard to turn back. You know you can't just throw a blanket over your eyes and try to forget things. You've seen more. Felt more. Experienced more. Know what it's like. And regardless of how hard things can get at times, when things are good, they are so far beyond the good you once knew that nothing compares. And that is exactly where I am right now.

It's not the first time I've been here, but having had a roller coaster 2011 so far, to be here again... I feel AMAZING! Unbelievable! Alive! I feel the subtleties again - the shivers down my spine. I see the beauty all around me. The twinkle of sunlight on the cobweb outside my window. I sense the love all around me; emanating both to and from me in what I can only describe as connection, and it is between so many it's pure magic. The rush to DO is disappering and the pull to BE is stronger. I sit. I listen. I ponder. And wish. My body vibrates with increased spiritual energy. I know I'm higher. I've pushed myself to consider a more spiritual element to life, dropping the social mainstream, travelling my own path. And physically - I've always had more energy eating raw.

My transition from a meat eater, to a vego eating dairy and fish, to no dairy, then later no fish, to a vegan, and now a raw vegan has taken me up and down over the past 13years. But I can stand tall and say without a doubt that I have never felt any better in my life than the way I feel right now.

Eating a raw vegan diet.

Self Love and Responsibility for Me

Sunday evening and I'm feeling a little off. Not bad. But not great. In a state of reflection I suppose.

It's been over a year since I first got into raw foods. But January 1st was when I took the BIG LEAP and threw myself in 100%. It's now August and I'm still over 95% raw - if I've wanted to eat a piece of mum's baked kumera or a mouthful of vegie curry I've done so.

I know that raw foods and a raw vegan diet is BEST for my body. I function BEST, I feel my best, I LOOK my best. I have more energy, I'm more at peace, I feel cleaner and clearer. But I don't always have the WILLPOWER to stick to raw every minute of everyday. Maintaining a 100% raw vegan diet is CHALLENGING; I know. I've been doing it. 95% of the time. But now I've decided I'm going the whole hog again.

Now I've had ACNE since I was in primary school - over 12years now. I've done the chemical creams, the organic creams, the light treatments, the elimination diets, the scrubs, colonics, saunas, the salt water, sunshine, supplements, pills, potions, lotions, you name it. My ACNE is still here. When I met Brock, who has been raw for over 4years, he thought that when I transitioned to a 100% raw diet my acne would clear up. I had hoped; it would have been the easy road out. No such luck.

Deep down I know my acne stems from self esteem issues. Emotions go up and down. My acne has been up and down. Better and worse. But always present. So coming from self esteem issues it doesn't surprise me why I've been so resistant to affirmations my whole life - there's a little gremlin still inside of me seld-sabotaging any of my good efforts to clear my skin.

But now I feel ready - if only a little bit more - to SPEED UP this process of mine.

So from today...

I'm going 100% raw again. And I mean 100%. Only fresh organic fruits and vegetables. Greens. Healthy avocado, seeds, nuts and oils. Seaweeds. Sprouts. Superfoods. Juices. Filtered water. My naturpoathic herbs that are already doing wonders. MSM which is INCREDIBLE for my nails, as well as my hair and skin. Zinc. And any other little things that pop up here and there... (working in a health food shop I'm always on the lookout for new things).

I've got my affirmations that I'm going to committ to saying out loud in the mirror every morning and every night. What's the worst thing that can happen? MY ACNE WILL CLEAR AND I WILL BE A HAPPIER, HEALTHIER AMAZING WOMAN THAT GLOWS FROM THE INSIDE OUT! Why is that so scary? Why am I afraid to be the very best I can be?

I'm ready to be responsible for my own life. Im ready to examine the consequences of every choice I make.

Smile. Laugh. Peace. Love. And mung beans.