Light Eating for Survival #2

Unless you’re a ‘comments’ reader extraordinaire (I’m not), you might have missed that the lovely Marcia Acciardo, author of one of my favourite raw books, Light Eating for Survival, remarked on one of my early blog posts recently. I took the chance to cheekily ask for any words of wisdom she cared to share for those newer than her on the raw(ish) path. Herewith her fabulous response:

Let’s see...

Enjoy your life to the fullest and those who share it with you.

Find work that feels good and provides you with financial independence.

Healthy, natural foods are very important, and have served me well over the years. I am no longer a food purist, I still eat very well - whole, fresh, natural, local whenever possible foods, and yes lots of raw fruits and vegetables daily.

I love to walk, hike, swim, and work out to stay in shape and have been very healthy compared to others my age.

Trust yourself, and know that each of us are unique, and what might be good for one person, may not be right for another.

Be happy, be positive, and always look on the bright side of life. It’s so much better that way!

Best Wishes,

Marcia

Thank you Marcia, such fantastic ‘guidance for life’! My personal addendum would be to grow as much of your own food as possible (the picture above is from some dreamy Cambridge allotments I stumbled upon earlier this week), or at least buy food produced within a certain radius ... supremely important for both yourself and the planet. Thank you again Marcia, and if you haven’t yet got a copy of Light Eating For Survival I highly recommend that you hunt one down ...

Liquid Feasting - Days 21 and 22

Out and about in Cambridge - joyful feasting days!

Liquid Feasting - Day 2

I said to Neeta that the hardest part of the liquid feast would be writing it up. It’s proving to be true. It’s day 4, but here I am writing up day 2.

Day Two went something like this:

Slept terribly on Wednesday night. Disrupted sleep is the major side effect I experience with my periods. Crawled out of bed at an unearthly hour.

I knew that I’d be far away from the juicer today in Cambridge. I also knew that I’d be stomping the Cambridge streets for some considerable miles. As I didn’t fancy turning the juicer on at the crack of dawn (or returning to an unwashed juicer), I just hand-squeezed some organic oranges and pomegranates to flask up for the day ahead.

‘Oranges and pomegranates?’ squeal those of you who know me well (in actual fact, this blog is unknown to all who know me well!). Yup, my seasonal zeal went out of the window today. I’d actually bought the fruit for day 1 of the feast. After a sugar-free few weeks (including fruit), a few days of sugar over Easter had sent me crashing and I’d wondered whether a couple of natural high sugar juices might have eased me into the feast more readily, but day 1 I felt up for the green juices, so green juices it was.

As I knew I’d be much more active today, fruit juices suited me well. That said, I only had a pint or so on me, and an amazing sounding juice bar in Cambridge, The Tree Hugging Hippy Juice Bar, whose name made me laugh out loud, no longer appeared to exist, so I was on short rations. In truth though, I think it was the lack of sleep that made me feel groggy today.

Arrived home to discover that whilst in my early morning bed head state I’d put the hemp seeds into a bowl for soaking, I’d failed to cover them with water. I ended up having liquorice tea. This completely hit the spot, which was surprising as I’m not a tea or coffee drinker generally.

So, no skin brushing, no (formal) exercise (although I walked a considerable number of miles) and no eye soaking. However, I was so exhausted that I was in bed and literally asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow by 9pm, so at least one tick of my addendum list could be made.

The advice from today is simply to make sure you have enough juice if out and about ...