Quite often I find myself throwing away produce because I forget I have it. When I purchase it, I have every intention of making smoozies with it or juicing it or SOMEthing. By the time I get it home and put it away, I often forget my intention or something else takes my attention and I never get to it.

Also as many of us have partners who tend to eat less healthy than we do OR, just keep food in the house we tend to crave, here’s a quick suggestion to cover both scenarios ~

Take sticky notes and, on any food (package) or shelf of foods containing something you prefer NOT to eat, write something on it like ~ “Do You Really Want to Eat This? Options” (depending on what you have available):

Bananas
Apples
Grapes
Green salad w/
tomatoes
cukes
marinated veggies
carrots
beets (shredded)
Olives
Orange juice (maybe you’re really thirsty and not necessarily hungry)
Coconut water
Water with lemon juice
Water

You might also want to add on the note ~

“You’ve just eaten! Are you REALLY HUNGRY?

Also, remember my program “Fit or Fat?” Ask yourself before you reach for “comfort” food out of habits or cravings.

That may give you a chance to contemplate what it is that may be eating you which turns you towards stuffing yourself with food.

Please, comment here and let me know what’s working for you!

Injoy!

Revvell

Bodacious Living

Well, this isn’t the “tomorrow” I said I would write this ~ sort of “manana” time though.

The problem I’m finding with writing my blog is that I get up fairly early, do some mundane things, then get out and walk. After writing my “How I Gained Weight” blog, the next morning I walked for about 2 hours. The following morning, I walked for 90 minutes (over 8,000 steps). During that time I think about all the things I want to write about including how I eliminated weight.

The difficulty is that by the time I get home, everything I want to say has already been said (in my mind) so, nothing left for me to say. O.k., well, not nothing. I can pretty much always say SOMEthing.

So, here’s what happened.

As you may have read in my previous blog, I had put on about 30 excess pounds. Usually, when I’ve gained weight previously, I didn’t have to do much other than to move! Mostly go to the gym for about 6 weeks and voila! Done! PLUS, I’d be buffed! (I buff easily)

This time however, it was a bit more difficult for a number of reasons. One, menopause. I’ve NEVER had a weight issue I couldn’t eliminate easily yet, my head was wrapped around what others have said about it being harder to drop weight during menopause.

Two, I LOVE staying warm in bed and cuddling with himself which means I didn’t get up and out walking or doing anything else for that matter. No matter how many times I promised myself at night that I was going to do it, in the morning that didn’t happen.

Three, my computer addiction. When I DID get up, I’d turn on the computer, sit down, go through emails, facebook, twitter, RFT, etc., etc., etc. By the time I took care of that addiction it was either too hot out, too late and had to begin work OR, I’d eaten (overeaten) and just didn’t feel to train and remember, it was already hot!

Fourth (last, but not least), he’d be up and asking if I wanted to go somewhere. Uh huh! Yep!

In essence, it didn’t take much for me to be distracted from what I said I wanted to do… eliminate the excess weight!

So, what to do????

I don’t remember exactly what turned me on to it but I’d been hearing about (Emotional Freedom Technique) EFT for awhile. Even though I’ve had training in Polarity Therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine including Taijiquan/Qigong, reflexology, etc. I kind of poopoo’d that something so basic could really make a difference (which is really funny because all the health I have is from “energy therapy” which is what EFT is.)

One night in class, I noticed that my teacher had some information on EFT that he was handing out to his students. I always figure he doesn’t waste time with something that doesn’t “work” so began using it with myself and my students. WOW!

Then I had a 4-week experimental group with 5 other overweight women who ranged from less than 50 pounds excess to well over 100 excess pounds they wished to eliminate. Each week we’d show up with new stories of how much weight we’d dropped or inches lost.

One woman told us on the first meeting that when she was stressed she’d eat a full carton of ice cream. She was using a sentence similar to … “I totally love and support myself.” She returned one week totally astounded. She said she’d never loved herself which is why she ate and overate yet during the previous week she’d felt stressed and instead of reaching for the ice cream she made some brown rice.. and overate it.

By the end of the 4 weeks, every one of us had eliminated 8-10 pounds. (I had already dropped the first 10 before beginning the study group). Not to say this will happen with EVERYone yet, it’s possible AND, just consider, if we can eliminate even 5 pounds per month consistently for a year, that’s 60 pounds!

So, EFT is one way. Another thing I included with the group were sentence completions which I’d learned many years ago during my training with my teacher. How that works is, we begin a sentence such as “One reason I keep the weight on is…” Then give 6-10 responses which may include “… I’m afraid to be seen”; “it’s too much work to eliminate it”, “I’ll have to purchase a new wardrobe”; “I wont know who I am”, “I’m afraid I’ll feel deprived”; “I don’t know what else to do when I’m feeling stressed”, etc. (All of which are addressed during my “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” program.)

Two other things I’ve found help a lot are tapping while doing appreciations. I’ve found at the end of classes that when we do this, the women leave feeling calm and not stressed so they don’t go home ~ or out together ~ and eat late in the evening.

The final thing is visualization. Who are you when thin? What will people say? How will you look? How will you feel?

I wrote all this down for myself and am continuously adding to it. As I’m writing, I find how much of my life is interconnected and how it improves across the board.

Some of the things I worked on specifically for myself were ~ getting up and walking or training so, tapping on procrastination. I’d make a list of what I wanted to do and get it done.

Tapping on elimination of the desire for sweets. On the landing page for my program I have a picture of this overweight woman sitting with a place of chips (cookies?) beside her. The next picture is the plate behind her and she’s sneaking the chips. Been there, done that with sweets. I didn’t want the cake, I wanted the frosting! Now, cake with all that colored frosting doesn’t even look like food to me. When I go to functions I barely look at the sweets and when I do, it’s like they’re bugs under a microscope. It’s very weird and interesting. Almost as though I don’t recognize what they are as they seem to be from my distant past.

Tapping on elimination of the desire for what my husband eats including cheese and pizza. One night I was feeling very alone and he was gone so I cooked a pizza. Uh huh. I was physically done eating it by the time I was half-way through yet told myself I was going to finish it even if it made me sick. I did, it didn’t but I’ve not had enough desire to eat it again.

I eat salads! What I’ve found is, I can pretty much have the same ingredients in my salad every single day IF I have a good dressing so, 3 fresh dressings and, I have 2-3 different salads every day.

When going to a buffet, fill my plate with half of what I would normally. I can always go back for more and now, instead of going for pasta, I go for more salad!

When we go out to eat, I ask them to divide the meal and pack half of it to go. What’s good about that is, occasionally I’ll eat it as soon as I get home yet, many times I don’t because I’ve given myself time to know that I’ve been deeply satisfied with what I’d already had.

In the mornings, if I get up around 5, I get dressed (my clothes are either in the bathroom or my office so I don’t have the excuse that I didn’t want to wake him up by turning on the light) and head out.

Lately, I’ve been waking up around 3:30 so, I prepare my UStream show read all my personal emails, take care of Facebook and Twitter, might do daily appreciations THEN head out for a walk.

I’m much more consistently disciplined now that I’ve brought more focus on when, where, why, how and what I eat AND having eliminated most of the cravings, habits and eating patterns I’ve established during the past 6 years or so.

Thank you for reading all of this. It really wasn’t supposed to be this long. Guess I DO have something to say!

With that, I’ll say:

Remember, live bodaciously and always celebrate your potential!

Revvell

I haven’t given this a lot of thought so, writing as I contemplate, yet as I was laying down and resting my eyes from being on the computer so much lately and I began thinking about the various illnesses and diseases I’ve had throughout my life. (As you can see, I’m on the computer ~ again).

One of the first I can remember is getting the mumps. Now yes, most every child has gotten them yet, I get them ~ for the second time after my mother had signed me up for swim lessons. I did get to go in the water, but not with the other children. My thought on this ~ I was VERY shy and the mumps kept me out of doing a class. I learned to swim by watching what was going on in the class.

Next one ~ allergies to citrus especially grapefruit but then add strawberries and asparagus; two items I REALLY liked ~ then. We’d flown down to Florida for a 3 week vacation. I was SO miserable there! I slept on a cot in the front room of someone’s cottage and it was next to a train track so I was awakened every night. We lived on a cul-de-sac in Ct. so it was VERY quiet. PLUS, sleeping on the cot was SO uncomfortable AND, while down there, I got stung by a man-o-war. Think I didn’t have an emotional time?

Hayfever/asthma ~ When I was about 10 years old, my parents took my brother and I to a slaughter house where they purchased a 1/2 side of beef. Of course, bro and I were wandering the grounds and the door to the slaughterhouse was partially open and we looked in and saw the cows being tortured. The butcher’s saw us looking in and scared us away. Across the street was a wheat field. We chose to run through it. By the time we came out I was coughing, sneezing, eyes running. No trauma there, eh?

My father who was my heart died when I was 12 and I was gang-raped at 19. Any wonder I had issues with men, abandonment, etc?

By the time I was in my early 30’s I had asthma so bad it almost killed me. At the time I was lifting weights 4-5 hours a day, 5-7 days a week and also training in Kung-fu. My teacher was retiring. More man stuff, more health issues.

From the time I was 13 until I reached my mid-40’s, I had periods of suicidal depression.

I was allergic to cats, dogs and horses.

The reason I’m bringing this up is, whenever you’ve got something going on, check and see what’s going on emotionally. All of my emotional stuff manifested physically at some level.

Sure, a lot of the asthma and hay fever was resolved by diet change yet once I got a handle on my emotions ~ my fears, my guilt, etc., the rest of it dissolved.

Same thing most recently. I wrote previously about having problems with my heart. I realized I had some unconscious fears and when those were brought to the surface, the heart issue dissolved.

Very interesting how the mind works and how it manifests so many issues and how we’ve learned to cope with them ~ very often by stuffing them down with food.

Many years ago, I had the opposite problem which, I think may have been healthier at one level ~ I didn’t eat. One cannot digest emotions and food at the same time. On the other hand, I had so many emotions, I was pretty much starving myself.

Most recently though, I found myself gaining weight after having gotten married. A few reasons are, we went out and ate often and when I go out, I never even considered eating part and taking half home because my weight never bothered me. Any time I’d gained a few pounds, I’d up my work-outs and be back to my slim self in a few weeks.

Another thing I realized was, this being my first marriage, and never having had a REALLY good long-term relationship and, I guess, I scared the heck out of myself and subconsciously allowed myself to put the weight on as “protection”.

So, this again, was all emotional yet, I was “handling” it differently ~ eating, instead of not. What I found was that if I didn’t handle the emotional aspect of my weight gain, working out as I use to do, really didn’t make much of a difference.

That was a GREAT awakening for me! That was a time I understood how many women have tried over and over to eliminate weight by diet and exercise, very often to lose some yet, very often to gain it back because they’d not dealt with the cause, the underlying emotions, the habitual eating patterns! Whooooo!

As a natural health practitioner of 24 years, this realization is probably one of THE biggest I’ve ever had.

When I was growing up, we didn’t speak about the things we do now. If help was available, we didn’t know about it. Now, it’s out, it’s available, it’s amazingly simple and effective! I am SO excited to have created Tap Into Your Ideal Weight so now women can get to the cause of their weight issues and eliminate them!!! How cool is that?

Injoy,

Revvell

Bodacious Living

Since I’ve been really looking at the Fat to Fit program, movement and working/playing with the “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” program, I’ve come to realize how “counting calories” really has very little to do with eliminating excess weight.

Yesterday, I read an online article from Time magazine on “Why Exercise Won’t Make You This”. Makes total sense to me.

One statement made in the article is, “… while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued.”

I know personally, since I’ve been doing the 10,000 steps program that, I’ve “burned” about 300 calories a day (we’re talking 90+ minutes of movement here). What’s it take to add that back on if I come home hungrier than I would be if I stayed home?

This also explains why Clent Manich and Philip McCluskey were able to eliminate so much excess fat without exercising. They changed their food program!

Now, of course, the question is, doesn’t training and building muscle burn more calories than fat? Well yes, but here’s what the article states: “… a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns.. which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 pounds of fat to muscle, you’ll be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day”. Now, converting 10 pounds of fat to muscle is a major achievement.

I’ve never been a calorie counter. And for those of you who read this thinking “so, why am I exercising everyday?” and becoming discouraged ~ don’t!

That’s why I started my Fat to Fit program as well as “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“. Eliminating excess weight has so much to do with what you put into your mouth. When you open that refrigerator door, ask yourself ~ Fit or Fat? Let the answer make your decision. If you’re tired of carrying the extra weight, go for what you KNOW will help you fit up!

Another thing in the article is that willpower doesn’t work. Ever tried it? How’d that work for you? That’s why I began the “TIYIW” program ~ to retrain our brains. Personally, I know willpower doesn’t work. Unless something is reprogrammed in our body/minds, we’ll be feeling deprived of all the “goodies” we are use to having; the social life we’ve enjoyed (and ate and overate at ~ not to mention the not-so-healthy choices we’ve made); the “comfort” foods we’ve enjoyed when eating to stem our emotions and SO much more!

My experience with tapping has been nothing short of remarkable. I’ve been using it for procrastination as well as eating issues.

Well, I am SO much more productive than I’ve ever been including finishing a book someone asked me to create for them that I’ve been putting off for about a year or so; being consistent with my blogging, my weekly revvellations and other things that are important to my work.

As far as food goes, if you’ve been reading my blog, I’ve been moving every day (and will continue to do so ~ more about that in a minute), stopped eating and overeating, especially at night when He goes to work; I’ve gotten VERY clear on my habits and how, when, where, why I eat, etc. Instead of using food to “comfort” me when I’ve got some emotional stuff going on, I tap them out. Yeah, I know, for those who’ve not done it ~ WTH is she talking about?

Will I continue my movement? Absolutely! It’s not about weight, it’s about being as fit as I can be! I know for myself when I slacked off on moving, my fitness level slowly deteriorated ~ so slowly in fact, I didn’t even notice until we started doing some balance moves in Monday night class and I couldn’t stand on one foot or, on Sunday mornings when I joined my teacher and his other students for an extra monthly session and I couldn’t walk up the hill without getting out of breath.

For me, it’s about overall health. I figure, with the changes in my food program, eating for hunger, not for emotion, social reasons, rewards, etc., the weight will eliminate on its own and, it has been. The movement and play I do? It’s a side benefit and, if it helps me eliminate excess fat and assists me in becoming more fit, I’m all for it.

Thing is, tap on what you’ll eat AFTER moving so you’ll make more conscious choices. In the article, they were talking about how, after exercising, people will “treat themselves” (eating for reward) eat a muffin ~ or other high calorie object ~ and therefore replace the calories they’d burned.

I know when I was first training as a bodybuilder. we’d train for 90 minutes to 2 hours, then go and have a 3-egg omelet with everything in it including veggies and sour cream. I was FAT! I stopped training for awhile and when I resumed (with another partner), I was on a plant-based food program (and we never went out to eat right after) and I was RIPPED! No extra effort. Just good training, good food.

Now that I wrote that, I’m realizing one major difference. When I was with my first partner, he’d just come off work in the morning and we’d train, then go have breakfast. With the second partner, he’d have to go to work after training so, I went home to eat and all I had at home was good, vegetarian fare which didn’t include eggs and sour cream.

The point of this whole thing is, yes, keep moving! Amongst other things, it assists in keeping the heart pumping and all the other organs moving AND, since there is no pump for the lymph system, it’s activated by movement and the lymph system is the “garbage truck” within your body moving out the sludge.

As far as food ~ every time you open the fridge, or the cupboard, ask yourself, “Fit or Fat”? Which would you rather be? AND, join my “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” program where you’ll learn how to eliminate eating for other than hunger. Those frosted cakes, etc. that I use to crave? Don’t even look like food to me anymore. The pizzas, etc. He’s got in the fridge? No desire. The fresh greens, tomatoes, cukes, fruit, etc.? Those are my choices AND, I don’t need willpower. It’s the weirdest thing. My mind will say ~ “pretzels” and my mouth will say, “uh, no. Carrots sound good to me”. No strength, no willpower. Just not seeing stuff that’s bad for me as food and not being drawn to eating them anymore. It’s freeing!

Injoy,

Revvell

Last evening, I had just under 7,000 steps and it was already 8 p.m. What to do? Listen to the monkey chattering in my ear telling me how late it is? That 7,000 is a good number? That it’s probably closer to 8,000 since I didn’t wear Lil Ped in and around the house?

Well, the phone call came ~ Him telling me He was about an hour out so, got dressed, put Lil Ped at my waist and out I went. By the time I got home, He was home and I’d logged in 11,055 steps.

Got up at 3:30 this morning; did the preliminary work for this evening’s Let’s Talk Raw; some mundane, routine work and headed out. Short walk this morning. I’m at about 4400 steps so far. I know I’ll be doing some kb training during the day AND a 90 minute class with Coach Tara this evening so, not concerning myself with steps today. Tara’s a butt kicker! Unlike our teacher, she doesn’t talk much. Just keeps us moving for the full 90!

I’m all excited. “Tap Into You Ideal Weight” kicks off tomorrow evening with a full class. Interesting how Tuesday filled up immediately yet, Wed. still has a few seats left. Can’t beat the price. I’ll never do it again for that price. Ah well. One thing I know is that the people who are supposed to be here will be here. Always works out that way.

Enjoy THIS day and play!

Revvell

Yesterday, I got in over 14,000 steps. Went out for my walk in the a.m. What’s been REALLY stupendous is, normally I’d have to talk myself into going out. I’d have to deal with the monkey mind chatter telling me I can go later (knowing I WONT go if it’s too hot); I have all the goodies to play with at home (kb’s, clubs, balls, hoop, rebounder, etc) so, why go out and walk? It’s whatever day and I’m too busy, too lazy, can sleep in, blah, blah, blah. I’ve had NONE of that! I get up; if it’s REAL early, like 4:30 a.m., I’ll get on the ‘puter for 1/2 hour, take care of the mundane stuff, then, out the door. I’m actually having trouble staying in!

The other thing… He’s worked 2 evenings straight. My habit is, when he’s gone, to overeat or eat stuff that’s not beneficial to me ~ especially starches. Well yesterday I went shopping (be prepared) and got some fresh veggies for wraps.

After he left, I didn’t even go in the freezer or the cupboards… I knew what was in there and my mind said, “that’s not what I want” soooo, I didn’t eat ANY of that. I made two wraps with romaine lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, lemon cukes… SO good, SO refreshing, SO light ~ and, no desire for anything more.

I’ve not been drinking much oj/water either. This morning I did juice up 4 quarts AFTER my walk (just under 5,000 steps) and AFTER watering the garden. Not had any yet although I did have a wrap for breakfast.

I’ve still got 4500+ steps to go today and, that’ll happen. He’s working again this evening so, we’ll see what the day holds.

I’ve heard that tapping one time on something (One-Time Wonder) will stop it yet, I know that other things need more time. For me, procrastination is it. I’m currently getting more done with less effort yet, there are still some aspects to be addressed. It’s cool though. All learning processes I can share with others.

I’m at 6,000 steps for the day so far … time to do some kb swinging.

If you’re in the SoCal area and want to eliminate excess weight OR, just get your eating habits under control, join me Wed. evening in the Pasadena are for “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“. The price WILL go up next time!

If NOT in the SoCal area, join me in September for the live teleclass series. Two to choose from.

Thanks for reading.

Yours in Health,

Revvell

I’ve recently been studying a lot of things… new, and not so new to me.. looking to up my healing and health practice. One  of my most recent studies has been on EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique. With all that I do and have done including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Polarity, Yoga, Qigong, Applied Kinesiology, essential oils, etc. over the last 23+ years, I found EFT to fit right in.

A couple of days ago, someone on Twitter made a blanket statement about adoptees. Being an adoptee, I took exception to her generalized statement which began a short conversation (about all one can have on Twitter). One thing which really hit me was that “…adoptees have a lot of internal pain”.

This got me to thinking… internal pain. Hmmm. Since we are virtually blank slates when born, where does this “internal pain” or angst, etc. come from? It comes from without. Society, with all it’s fears, throws it all on us and we, in turn, throw our fears on others, and the dance begins.

Normally, people think they have to deal with or relive all that was said/done to them in order to heal. My parents did this; my teacher did that.. blah, blah, blah… which is why I am like I am; which is why I do what I do or feel like I feel.

All this stuff that we take in from others causes a glitch or short circuit in OUR system so, why do we tend to focus on the outer… having to know who did what, when, why? We don’t! That’s the beauty of EFT and other modalities I use. We find out what the problem is, then deal with it. It has very little (and in many cases, nothing) to do with the outer. We don’t have to confront anyone; we don’t have to forgive anyone… we just have to remove the glitch(es) and be at peace. How cool is that????

So, why does EFT work so well on so many issues? Because it works with US! With OUR issues, not with anyone elses. It gets the “engine” running smoothly again and, in many cases, quite quickly.

Does this mean that, in order to be healthy mentally, emotionally, physically and financially all we need to do is EFT? Absolutely not! The basics still need to be done! Good food program, movement, rest, pure water, appreciations.

(BTW, if you’re interested in doing some work with me, currently, I’ve got two openings. Please, contact me and let’s see what we see.)

Injoy and eternal-harmony,

Revvell

Yesterday started out wonderfully. First thing in the morning, I turned on the shower to get it hot; then turned it off and used one of my home-made sugar scrubs everywhere I could reach. (BTW sugar scrubs are soooooo easy to make there’s not reason to pay horrendous amounts of money for them. All members of Let’s Talk Raw have access to my ebooklet which included the recipe ~ for that and more.)

Lately, I’ve been using quite a bit of citrus oil ~ lemon on my neck and hands for focus. Whether that’s what it’s actually for or not, I don’t know. All I know is, I love the feel of it and it perks me up. Did some just a moment ago.

So, back to the shower. I used the one I made with grapefruit extract because it’s suppose to work on cellulite. How a 23 year vegetarian has cellulite, heck, who knows? I DO know, quite a bit of it has disappeared over the last few months but, there are two areas it seems to be hanging on and that’s inside thighs and biceps. Why there? I dunno. So, is it the grapefruit essential oil or is it the scrubbing with the sugar scrub? I’m thinking more the scrubbing but then, maybe it’s a combination of both. Whatever. It feels good, smells good…so, I’ll continue.

For those who don’t have the ebooklet , what I do is scrub my whole body (wherever I can reach and if he’s awake, he gets to do the rest), while my skin is dry. I do my face and neck wet.

Well, the morning went well. He and I spent it shopping for my favorite foods ~ cabbage, fruit, greens, etc. Then I went into the bedroom to read a book I’m creating some trainings around. About 1 p.m., that’s all she wrote. I’d had a HUGE salad and was still hungry so had a small round of Ani Phyo’s Breakfast cake. Knocked me out! I mean, for almost two hours, I slept the sleep of the dead. I woke up groggy. I haven’t done that in quite some time. So, what was it? I’ve had the Breakfast Cake in the mornings for the last two mornings and not had that happen. A combination?

So, here’s the “major” crime against wisdom.

In the evening, I made some “raw jicama fries” using a medium sized juicama. Oh man, were they good! It was late for me to eat. I usually shut down my computer and stop eating about 6 p.m. and it was probably closer to 7 when I ate those. I got to watching a t.v. series on HULU and about 11 p.m. I was feeling REALLY hungry. Couldn’t talk myself out of it. In my head, I had visions of raw sushi so, went downstairs, got out some nori, tomatoes, red bell pepper, then looked in the fridge. Oooops!

We had guests here and one of them was from Zimbabwe. She’d made some rice and beans and left them in the fridge. I’d been looking at them for waaaaay too long. Way faster than making sushi AND, I was hungry AND they were there! So, after over 50 days of 100% raw, I gave in to the lil monkey mind voice telling me, it was o.k.

Well, I made a bigger bowl than I’d planned and ate it all! (The whole bowl of it, not all there was). That’s all she wrote. I, who normally is asleep by 11 was up until 3 this morning. My stomach was growling; felt like I had to go… went but didn’t go (if you catch my drift); and now, here I am, 8:53 a.m. telling my story after getting up at 8 a.m. which is about 3 hours later than I prefer.

Well, here’s the thing. Most people I know who’ve done something similar to what I did would call it “falling off the wagon”; beat themselves up; eat more or what’s left (what difference does it make now?); etc. Well, there’s no wagon to fall off of. I chose to eat some cooked food; I’m experiencing what that feels like and how eating that late affects me; beating myself up would take away from the true experience and slow me down from making more positive, conscious choices so, here’s what I’m going to do… go downstairs and make up a half-gallon of smoozie and drink it throughout the day.

I’m still here! I’m alive! I’m healthy and I can make better choices which support me in my aliveness.

Done deal! It’s all about the journey and if I were to die today am I going to die in the middle of beating myself up and missing out on the joys of life (unless, of course beating myself up IS a joy in my life ~ NOT!)? Noooooo! Oh! Going to get rid of the rest of the rice and beans. Seems he’s not going to eat them and I certainly am not. Just going to make more room in our fridge for more good, healthy, raw stuffs.

Oh yeah! I purchased some zucchini yesterday to make some of Russell James’ Thai Pillows. THAT will be tonight’s dinner.

One more thing… the reason I did what I did ~ I’d not prepared anything ahead. One way to stay raw.. be prepared because if something is already prepared, that’s more likely to get eaten than something that needs to be prepared when hungry. Would I have slept better if what I’d eaten had been raw ~ that late at night? Well, I’m sure one of these days, we’ll find out. heh!

Please, enjoy your day as I’m enjoying mine!

Revvell

Afterthought ~ Wish I knew what knocked me out in the afternoon… could have had that and slept… maybe. But then, my lil monkey mind told me that the breakfast cake was too heavy for that time of night. Rice and beans weren’t? Tricky lil feller ain’t he?

Waaay back when I was 19 and thought I was tough and knew everything, I connected with an acquaintance who was going to another state to visit a well-known motorcycle group. We went in my car.

Sometime during that day, he thought it would be a really good idea for him to be asked into that gang and thought turning me out would be the way to do it. (Turning someone out means turning them over to have sex with the whoever wanted to participate; “pulling a train” in other words).

Now, at 19, I was pretty naive. I’d only had sex a few times… was not exactly promiscuous. Anyway, he promised that if I’d have sex with him, that would be the end of it… it wasn’t. If I remember correctly, there was 12 of them. What I did was basically turn my head to the wall and ignore it all until they threatened to shoot me with a beebee gun, which they did ~ a few times.

Finally, the owner of the place we were on put an end to it. I got dressed and went out where I was approached by the women of the group carrying guns. They wanted to know if their men had been involved. Uh, no, of course not! Hell, I dunno, I don’t know who they are or who you belong to! Sheesh! Well, that answer didn’t go over very well.

At gunpoint, they brought the registration to my car over to me and had me sign it over to them. At that time, in that state, one didn’t need a pink slip to prove ownership… just the registration.

Why didn’t I leave? Young and dumb… fear of what would happen if I did… not knowing who their neighbors were and if they were aligned… (later found out that off-duty police were hired by the gang’s president to guard their property at night).

Later that evening, somehow I ended up in the back of the van a some of the guys who were sniffing cleaning fluid. How that was done as I remember it was they had a paper towel in a bag and would add drops of the fluid onto the paper towel, hold the bag over their faces and inhale. I did that. Not caring and not knowing the consequences. I eventually fell asleep with the bag over my face. I remember someone taking it away and that’s all I remember until the next day… when I couldn’t speak a complete sentence… just totally out of it. Couldn’t remember things, couldn’t talk coherently… until about 3 days later. Brain cells were gone.

That day, the prez took me to his home and told everyone that I was off-limits unless “I” agreed. I was there to take care of his child (his wife didn’t take care of her and really hated me). He had another couple there and they were kinder although the wife asked numerous times if her husband had partaken. He hadn’t. Yeah, that I remember…. I think.

I got out of there after having been there for 2 weeks when a biker from another gang came out for a visit and asked the prez for me. I chatted with the guy who told me if I wanted to go home, this was my out. I did. I went with him to his place… no sex, nothing. He took me home.

When I got back to my apartment, the locks were changed, all my belongings removed. I was told I could have them back when I came up with the rent. I’d lost my job and so stayed with some friends. I had no clothing except what I’d left with, no job.

My mother was working in the city I was living in and saw me on the street one day barefoot. She told me to come “home”.. I did, long enough to get myself together and get my job back. Then, out again with a better understanding… staying away from local gangs.

Anyway, I’m telling this story more to explain my memory problems than anything yet, if some teenager reads it and realizes they’re not as smart as they think they are.. cool! The thing is, we get out of school having had little real life experience thinking we know it all. Then we (usually) get married, want to buy a house, a car, have children, go into debt when we’re dumber than bricks. One of the best things I can say for me is, I didn’t get pregnant. I realized about that time I was barely smart enough to survive, much less thrive.

So, back to memory. I don’t remember having too many problems with memory when I was younger except people would tell me that I’d said something when I hadn’t. My teacher told me I’d probably split some personalities, probably as survival mechanisms after my father died when I was 12, but certainly after the rape. I remember at one point after a session with my teacher, he kept saying a certain thing to me over and over. I finally asked why he kept saying it and he said, “Don’t you remember saying that to me during our session?” Uhhhmmm, no.

Over the years I’ve had the usual things ~ forgetting where my keys or glasses were. At one point I was driving for a pizza company and I realized how bad my memory was at times. I was doing SunRider at the time and they have a product called “TOP”. When I took it, I could remember the address after seeing it one time. When I didn’t, I not only couldn’t remember the address, I couldn’t remember how to get there AFTER having been there numerous times. (You’re wondering why I don’t take TOP again? Because I feel there HAS to be another/more way(s) than purchasing a very expensive product like that.. it’s a combination of herbs… AND, I’m not a distributor anymore). It’s not something I’m throwing out.. just not doing currently.

Over the last years, I’ve been, off and on, having trouble remembering words more than anything. I’ll be saying something and the word is gone… common words.

The upside to this is, learning how to deal with it and looking at ways I can help others deal with memory issues. One thing I’ve learned is to “sip” the word… not try so hard to remember it; not get frustrated… just allow myself to kind of be with it.. go through the alphabet, etc. How I learned to do this was when I was in my early 30’s and had severe asthma. I refused any medications so, would sit quietly and sip air. I think more people die from panicking about asthma than the asthma itself. Panic creates the inability to breathe and also to remember and think.

What I’m doing now is, what I’ve been doing for the last 30 years… using myself as an experiment so I can assist others in healing.

A few things I’m working with are, of course, raw foods. I feasted on smoozies for 4 days; been 100% (minus the questionables) for 48 days now (off and on for 12 years)… don’t see much of a difference. I workout, I get fresh air, I write, I do the word games… all the things people say to do. Don’t see much difference.

I’ve started doing essential oils again. They seem to make a difference in energy… staying focused and productive.

I’m also checking out herbs since that’s what helped at one point and possibly sprouts.

Oh! One thing I found that made a difference many years ago was to put a shield in front of my computer AND shut it down when I wasn’t using it, turning it on only 3 times a day to check email, etc. Problem is now, it’s my business; it’s my connection with clients, etc. Much of my writing I can do on a legal pad (which I do anyway) yet, it all has to go on the computer.

One thing we’re working with is DragonSpeaks. It’s much easier to talk into the computer than to type. Takes less time and I don’t have to sit in front of the computer. I can get someone to edit and lay it out.

So, when you’ve told me you’ve met me and I don’t recognize you, it’s not because you’re not important or recognizable, you may just be unrecognizable to me. I’m working/playing with it.

I’ll get back to this ~ maybe ~ if I remember.

Revvell

O.k., so last night I feasted and not on smoozies. My rationale is that everything I ate would have gone well into a smoozie ~ well, except for the dressing which contained oil (and, who knows what else?). The majority of people who came were new to raw so emailed and asked what to bring. I told them either a green salad of some sort of fruit salad. Other than the zucchini fettucine and the pesto salad, that’s pretty much what we had and boy, was it good! I had about a tablespoon or two of each dish, ate slowly and enjoyed every bit. I had one bite of the “bread” (yes, raw) and had none of the sweet fruit or the cake my friend brought to celebrate my birthday belatedly. (Had a 2 inch square of it this morning by itself ~ and only 2″’s because that’s all that was left!).

About 25 people showed up. It was great fun! We ran out of chairs.. people stood and when a chair opened up, the person who WAS sitting in it lost it. lol No complaints… just more fun.

So, today, I’ve got fruit in the way of berries, one carrot salad and a fruit salad still here, plus about 1 quart of smoothie. I’m good for the day!

We talked about raw; answered questions, shared about 15 of the 60+ books I have; enjoyed each others’ company and many who came had their first experience with simple, tasty, raw food.

Two highlights were when Susan who is vagabonding spoke about her journey and serving others. While I was in the kitchen, Susan, unbeknownst to me, even though she said she would, was cleaning up the sunroom; folding the chairs and tables and putting things away. If I was in my right mind (which, for some reason I wasn’t ~ overwhelm maybe?) I’d have added some cash to what another had given her for gas for her journey. Thank you to whoever did that AND for those who added to the donation jar to keep the potlucks going on.

One of the most delight-filled aspects of the evening was Tao who, while we were eating and talking, was creating hysterical animations of the evening. The one I received shows a pot-bellied gent with 4 hairs sticking out of the top of his head addressing a woman holding a tray of food and him saying: “My concern about eating veg is it might turn me into a girly man”. You have to see it to really appreciate it.

The evening began around 5:30 p.m. when some friends came by. They’d just finished a class on dementia and alzheimers and training people to train caretakers. One of the things mentioned in the program was eating more raw food. Well, they came, they experienced.

The evening ended a bit after 10:30 with plans to hold a raw food class, Saturday, Mar. 7 from 9 a.m. – noon. Now, I need to create a menu and make it known. I did some final clean-up; the rest waited for the morning.

It was a wonder-filled evening. So glad so many came. I hope to see them all again.

Oh! The question some of you may be asking is, what about the smoozie feast? Well, I think I just may continue after I finish the leftovers which, at 3:17 p.m. I’ve not indulged in yet.. just my b-day cake. I’m currently drinking a smoozie AND just came back from the container store after having purchased two, two liter glass jars to hold more smoothies with less air instead of one large half-gallon jug.

Revvell