Goji Goodness

What The Dang Is A Goji Berry?

WELL, a Goji Berry is a shrivelled up raisin lookin thing, cept RED! It's found growin on evergreen shrubs, in subtropical places round China, Mongolia and within the Himalayas in Tibet!

WHY would you wanna eat this nasty lookin shrivelled thing?

Why WOULDN'T you is the question! Goji berries are SUUUUUPA high in antioxidents...it's got some goood quality thangs in it, one in particular is 'zeaxanthin' - one of 'zeaxanthins' key thingees is to protect the retina of the eye, yay for vision! Studies say by having foods containing Zeaxanthin may decrease the risk of people aged 65 years plus develop AMD (age related macular degeneration) the leading cause of blindness and loss of sight in that age group. Woh siz.

Chinese Herbal Doctors Know Their Stuff....Would THEY use Goji Berries?

Heck YEA they would! They DO! Only for the past 6,000 (!!!) years! Even Herbal doctors in Tibet and India, thats a long time! Some of the reasons these herbal doctors have used Goji Berries and its juice is to:

• Improve Circulation
• Strengthen yo legs
• Crank your immunity up
• Help your eyesight
• Protect your friend 'the liver'
• Boost your....(whisper) sex drive...
• Improve Longevity - no harm in sticking around abit longer aye.

What Medical Tests Have Been Done On Goji Berries?

Hmmm...so far, only a few. SEVERAL 'test-tube' studies have been done prove goji has antioxidents AND that goji extracts MAY prevent the growth of cancer cells, reduce blood glucose and reduce cholestorol levels, when eaten raw. The fact they used the word MAY kills alot of excitment of this 'test-tube' study which would be a whole lot more exciting if the word 'may' just wasn't there.......BUT a study of cancer patients were followed, and the 79 that were having goji juice and raw goji berries all rssonded a whole heap better to treatment than those who had no goji in their diets.

So, I have me a pack of goji berries, pretty crazy expensive, and taste like disgustingness in a berry form, BUT I munch them all up with some raw cacao beans in a teeny tiny grinder thingee, with some water and a banana, otherwise those lil hardnut berrys dont munch up. THEN I chuck all that glorious muck into my big ol mufussa sized blender, full of fruity and spinich muck, then mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm so good! Brown slop with Goji Goodness, soooo good for ya! :) Do it! :)

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Day 1 - Rawsomeness

So Day 1 of 12week raw challenge is finished. Success.

Feelin goooood.

I dont know why I came off it when I started raw last year (November 08). After a few months of looking into it, investigating online, talking to people online, checking out youtube, raw websites, it looked so good! So did abit of a transitioning period, went through some crazy detox time - headaches, sleeping for extra long amounts of time, then not sleeping at all, getting dizzy, mad cravings, mood swings, - to come out the other side feeling better than I'd ever felt my ENTIRE LIFE- mentally and physically. I actually felt amazing aye, it was ridiculous the change I felt, SO GOOD. The food was INCREDIBLE and I hadn't even learnt any (gormet) recipes, I just did the basic Nori Rolls, Green smoothies, Fruit smoothies, and Fresh fruit and veg'n salads..nothing fancy, just live, natural raw foods. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tasty - esp in Summer - fresh plums, peaches, nectarines, berries, strawberries, pineapple, yummmmmmmmmmmm!

So, why I slowly eased back into the SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating who knows...I lasted through christmas even, with all that tasty looking christmas kai that only gets busted out once a year. Meanwhile, I've been feeling grottier again, physically and mentally, health has deterroriated, skin is dry again, also the spots related to my condition are getting their red colouring back again (not good), my leg is getting worse, mentality deterroriating............suck suck suck. Oh the best of all, i'm putting on the weight i lost - oh glory glory.

SO, after a fun weekend in Wellington for Queens birthday, and NO raw food, and a wholeeeeeee lotta stomach cramps and not fun times, today is the day I have started a 12week raw challenge with my good friend Hannah Mac (http://www.aychblog.com/). Transition time starts again - the intention is to have just the one cooked meal a day, most likely dinner with it being winter and so freakishly cold. After the first two weeks I reassess.

I have no doubts that I will mess up now and again, or have days where my raw intake drops abit for different reasons, but it's not gonna be 'Monday' when i start again, or 'next week' or 'next month', it'll be the following morning. I'm not sure i'll ever be 100% Rawist, I'd love to think so, and maybe some day I will - as I look more into it, and view more videos on raw, read more books and blogs, talk to more rawists and natural doctors, hear testimonies, and see evidence AND I have experienced it firsthand, it seems more and more beneficial to have the highest raw intake possible....just makes sense.

I'm salivating over the recipes I've just checked out, and am actually craving my nori roll tomorrow, my fruit smoothie, and my raw milkshake in the morning. I'll fill you in on the ingredients in the DEEEELICIOUS raw milkshakes I have every morning - straight from the cow baby, soooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

Looking fwd to Day 2 - yummmmmmmmmmmm!

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Starting Over

June 2nd - Day 1 - Rawsomeness!

IT

STARTS

TODAY.

To be continued....

Reet

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Rawsomeness

Thumbs Up To Healthiness

So I joined the gym earlier this week - my body has gotton way to used to my daily Crosstrainer session that I do at home, and isn't reaping the benefits anymore, soooo it was time to join the gym to get more variety in cardio. I am VERY motivated by classes - so that is my main intention for joining - loud pumping music, fast intense movements to the beat, ahhh luvin it. (I will never do yoga or pilates, they would actually drive me absoloutely potty, farrr to slow for me)

So last night I went to Spin Class Intermediate - proud to say I spewed in my first class - paced it out of there like no tomorrow, just made it to the toilet - definitely a sign that I was pushing myself enough, yus! :) That wont happen for too long - just a shock to the body doing something different other than crosstrainer, and those Spin Class' are pretty ruthless, NOT as ruthless as the size of those Spin Bike SEATS though, fliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....apparently your butt hardens up and you get used to it after a few weeks, for now it just feels like your sitting directly on two metal poles....so I'm looking forward to some butt hardening up-age, now, a day later, it still feels like I'm sitting on the seat. Nastyyyy.

Today though, woke up and went to Flex class, pretty much another name for Pump, so you've got your dumbells, ya bar and stepbox - again SOOOO much fun! Not as hard as I thought, but I still dont think I'll be able to walk tomorrow - I felt a muscle in each of my thighs POP after about the 3rd song - which was a kajillion lunges....ACTUALLY a kajillion...and sometimes you might be lucky enough to just go down for one, and up for one...then down for two, up for two...but every so often...you go down for one...then BOUNCE for 8...freeeek, that is hard....the burn in your thigh after 6 sets of that.....extreeeeeeme. I think I'm abit of a fan of workout pain....but that is the only pain I like. Gets me all adrenalined up. Big fan.

So I'm feeling pretty amazing now - Flex this morning, then I made a smoothie for breakfast when I got home....chucked apples, bananas, a peach, frozen berries, handfuls of spinich and whatever else in the blender, delish. Then a apple and Raw bun for lunch, and avo tea, I've just had a juice, straight from our juicer (smoothie without all the fibre) - consisting of a heap of apples, carrots, a peach, teency bit of fresh ginger, then a whole stack of brocelli - actually tastes AMAZING.

Seriously the benefits of eating good and exercising are mufussa sized. You think your healthy and well and feeling awesome, but you sooo dont know the difference or how crap your ACTUALLY feeling, till you give your body some real nutrient high kai - and add a hour or so of cardio to your daily routine every day. Then you experience what feeling/being healthy feels like.

Looking forward to my fitness levels increasing, it's definitely gonna take a while, all the big words.... perseverance, dedication...rara.....but I'll get there. Exciting...

Reet

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Healthiness