Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

Today we’d like to introduce you to one of the sweetest, most creative, and passionate raw foodists we know. She’s petite, pretty, pleasant, powerful! She continually shares her knowledge about the raw food lifestyle with others and educates many individuals about our human rights when it comes to the foods we grow and consume. She’s up on the latest regulatory activities relating to health and diet issues going on within the US government, and speaks out when our rights are in jeopardy of being taken away.

Take the Time to Meet… Rhio!

Rhio has been involved with the raw food lifestyle for a very long time. She has one of the most visited websites dedicated to the raw food lifestyle, Raw Food Info, a widely popular 385-page raw food book, Hooked on Raw, a new instructional raw food preparation DVD, What’s NOT Cookin’ in Rhio’s Kitchen, consistently delivers lectures on the benefits of healthy living and the dangers of GMO foods, and stars in an informative and fun online radio show she and her husband, Leigh Crizoe, produce called Hooked on Raw.

Isn’t that a lot of activity for one person? Rhio is a powerhouse of activity and creative energy (fueled by raw fruits and veggies!). She gardens, sings, inspires others, and so much more! Jim and I absolutely adore Rhio (and her husband, Leigh) so very much and we just know you’re going to love her, as well.

Be sure to check out her raw food website and listen in to her raw food radio show and you’ll see why love her so much. She’s proof that women can be sweet and beautiful, while also being strong and intelligent. I think she’s an incredible role model and I’m happy to spotlight Rhio here on Pure Jeevan’s blog.

Today for “Take the Time Tuesday,” we’d like you to take the time to meet Mimi Kirk, whom many of you may know as the winner of PETA’s “Sexiest Vegetarian Over 50″ contest last fall. If you’re interested in longevity, and how diet influences the way we look, act, think, and exist, then you’ll definitely want to listen closely to what this vibrant woman, who is 71 years young, has to say. We spoke with Mimi for nearly an hour this weekend, and are happy to share her inspiring interview with all of you. Below, you can listen right here, or download a podcast MP3 version.

Listen Now!!

Click the player above to listen here, or download the MP3 file here (right click the link and choose “Save file as…” to save to your hard drive for your own use). 

Topics covered include:

• What PETA thought about raw foods
• What it was like to win that contest and what influence that has had
• Her path to raw; why she became vegetarian, then vegan, then raw
• How long she’s been raw & what differences she’s noticed
• Her theories on aging and why diet is so impportant
• Why people today are aging prematurely
• Her recommendation for starting your day
• Duplicating tastes of other cooked foods
• Her routine / how she prepares food on a regular basis
• Her thoughts on supplements, herbs, protein, B12, etc.
• The winning combination for ultimate longevity
• Why so many younger women are fans
• Why cooked food is like smoking
• Her thoughts on menopause and natural vs. conventional approaches
• Her thoughts on medicines and drugs
• Why healthy living and heathy eating is so critical for healthy aging
• Skin issues associated with aging and whether raw helps
• What it’s like to know people the same age who are in very ill health
• Benefits of spiritual practices / meditation / attitude
• Her thoughts on finding your place with food / diet
• Thoughts on longevity & healthy, older others she knows
• Progress on her upcoming book

To learn more about and connect with Mimi, you can:

• Friend her on Facebook (search for “Mimi Kirk”)
• Check out her web site at www.youngonrawfood.com

You know that old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words? Well, today we want to add a thousand words to your daily informational intake.

Take the time to meet…

Raw Food Photos!

Pure Jeevan’s online friend, urban gardner, eco-warrior, and all-around rawkstar Mike Lieberman (aka CanarsieBK) started this clever site up a while back, and it seems to have just one delightful purpose — to show one picture of a raw food dish per day (well, most days, anyway).  Or, maybe it’s just to show as many raw foods pictures as people submit!  (Care to share your thoughts, Mike?)

Besides being a much-needed repository of delicious-looking raw food photos, the site is also highly inspirational. For anyone who thinks “raw foods” means only “salads,” a quick trip to Mike’s site will get your wheels spinning and your appetite fully engaged. (That September 24 picture of “Cheesiecake” by Rawaga is so delicious looking, I heard Doug Graham is now renaming his book 10/10/80!)

So, check out Mike’s site at www.RawFoodPhotos.com, and also friend Mike while you’re at it. (You can find him here on Facebook.)

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(Jim here… On a personal note, I’m painfully close to leaving the corporate world once and for all. My job is mostly answering documents known as RFPs. I used to think that, for the rest of my life, those three letters would call to mind the dull, bland, uber-boring phrase, ”Request for Proposal.” But now, thanks to Mike’s web site, I can just think of Raw Food Photos! So, seriously, thanks Mike!)

Do you know how sometimes you meet somebody new and they tell you their name and it just doesn’t seem to fit for some reason? Well, that’s just not the case for the person that we’d like to introduce to you today. This person’s name describes the individual she is as well as the community that she creates.

Take the Time to Meet… Happy Oasis!

Happy Heavenly Oasis is the founder and CVO (Chief Visionary Officer) of Raw Spirit Festival Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the bliss about living in healthy harmony. She’s traveled the world, spreading happiness where ever she goes.

If you’ve never met Happy Oasis before, you’ll have the chance to do so this coming weekend (August 29-30) or in another month (Sept. 26-27) during the incredible Raw Spirit Festivals that she has organized.

Happy is definitely a creative being. She has written some books (Bliss Conscious Communication and Uncivilized Ecstacies) and she’s well-known for her gift of storytelling.

Some further information from her bio page on the RSF site:  “Ms. Oasis has spent years in volunteer service with such organizations as Habitat for Humanity and Mother Theresa’s, though mostly volunteering at temples, ashrams, monasteries, food banks, refugee camps, farms, orphanages and others’ homes. Raw vegan health consultant at spas and insight meditation guide at temples in both the Orient and Occident, Happy has also taught intuitive wild edible plants classes called “Lets Get Wild!” in more than a dozen ecosystems around the planet.”

You can learn more about Happy, the Raw Spirit Festival, and a space for sharing Raw Spirit Festival memories by visiting the following sites:

• Raw Spirit Festival
• HappyOasis.com
• Raw Spirit Festival Memories 
  (All Raw Directory)

Yesterday’s post was a little “heavy,” don’t you think? In it, we shared a bit of the stress we were experiencing related to our pending move. There was just so much data to pore through (and yes, we’re still feeling that stress)! 

At times like these, it’s often good to step back, breathe, and make sure you’re not … well, freaking out – which makes today’s “Take the Time Tuesday” installment absolutely fitting, for we would like you to meet a raw foodie who goes to great lengths to ensure that your “Vitamin L12″ levels stay well into the superhero range. Without further adieu, then…

Take the Time to Meet… Pete Vincent!

Pete’s mission in the raw food world can be summed up in two words: raw humour – and that’s “humour” with the -our ending. I once tried typing in his site name with the western “humor” spelling and, well, let’s just say it took years of intense therapy to reverse the shock of what I saw as a result of that typo.(*) So, if you’re going to visit Pete’s colourful home on the interwebs, please remember that he’s British and, as such, you’ve got to enter the address into your address bar like so: www.RawHumour.com.

(*) Actually, that’s not true. It’s just a vile rumour started by me in order to work the word rumour in here along with colour and humour.

In all seriousness, it’s very easy to find yourself absolutely overwhelmed when learning about raw foods. Add to that all of the common challenges and problems people encounter while transitioning from less healthy diets, and it makes for quite an emotional roller coaster. One day you’re flying high on your first juice feast, the next you’re feeling extreme guilt when you cave-in to a “cooked food temptation,” frustration with friends or family members who aren’t supportive, or disappointment when you fail to meet a health-related goal you’ve set up for yourself.

To help ease your attitude and life your spirits about these things and more, Pete provides more content and information than the law allows. His Raw Humour Network encompasses the main site, a Ning community site with forums and humourous discussions, a YouTube channel, a blog, audio content, and probably all sorts of other laughter-inducing features we’ve failed to mention here. Go explore it all — have fun!

Hopefully, we’re all eventually heading toward a state of constant bliss! In the meantime, though, it’s important to remember to have fun along the way, and not get overly stressed out. As Pete writes on his site, “Raw Humour is here to help you keep balance between trying to be healthy feeding your belly and exercising your belly with some good old belly laughter to feed your emotional body too.”

You can learn more about and connect with Pete Vincent by visiting the following sites:

• RawHumour.com
• The Raw Humour Club
• Pete on Twitter
• Pete on FaceBook