Ani's Raw Food Essentials - Ani Phyo [2]
It Just Takes Practice
A KEY TO living well is consistency and daily practice, not extremes. Extremes cause stress mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Consistency, on the other hand, practiced repeatedly over time, becomes a good habit.
A mentor once recommended having a daily practice. That practice may take the form of reading the latest industry news for fifteen minutes daily, or walking for thirty minutes every day.
Let’s say walking for thirty minutes burns 150 calories. That’s 1,050 calories a week. If it takes burning 3,500 calories to lose one pound, then in just over three weeks, you’ll have lost one pound. It adds up over time.
Having a consistent practice will build self-esteem, and when you’re fueling your body with ultimate superfoods, you’ll feel great. You’ll shine from the inside out with health.
My daily practice is to slow down and relax more.
MODERATION AND GRATITUDE
I developed a line of prepared packaged foods under the name SmartMonkey Foods, eventually also launching a line of fruit and nut bars. To focus on my raw foods business, I moved to Portland, Oregon, for four years.
Portland was cold and damp probably ten months out of the year, with gorgeous summers, wild blackberries, and no humidity. Eating all uncooked, cold, damp foods in that cold, damp climate took its toll on me over time without my even realizing it.
I didn’t listen to my friends who told me to consider the climate in relation to my diet—that I couldn’t eat the same way in the cold months in Portland as I did in warm Los Angeles. I was into being fully raw, and it worked for me for a while. What I learned wasn’t that it’s impossible to be 100 percent raw in a cold climate; rather, that it’s important to find what works for each of us. We all come from different ethnic backgrounds, have a unique genetic makeup, and have grown up and live in various climates.
When people ask me how important it is to be 100 percent raw, I remind them to have an attitude of gratitude instead. We are lucky to have the option to decline food because it’s not raw, organic, or vegan, for example, while people in other parts of our world are starving. If someone makes a meal filled with good intentions that happens to not be all organic or raw, it may just be healthier to choose to accept it graciously, rather than being extreme. Extremes cause stress.
There are many days when I enjoy all raw foods, especially if I’m really busy or it’s super hot outside. But, on cold, overcast, damp days, I may crave a hot soup, and so I’ll have one.
I’ve actually found as I’ve let go of my reins of extremeness, people are more open and willing to try my style of eating and living. The pressure to be 100 percent perfect is gone. Instead, having gratitude for the foods I have to eat helps me make the right choices.
We are indeed privileged to have the choice to decline food that is not organic, vegan, or fresh. We are blessed. Let’s remember to give thanks for this. On your own path, you may want to go 100 percent raw, or you may find it’s best for you to try adding raw dishes to your diet daily or weekly. What’s important to remember is that you don’t need to be rigid and you don’t have to go to extremes. The recipes in this book were created with those thoughts in mind.
ECO-GREEN LIVING AND LONGEVITY
Eating raw foods increases our health, no doubt. But to increase longevity even further, it’s important to consider our overall well-being. To increase my overall health and longevity, I make sure to live eco green and toxin free, I enjoy an active lifestyle, I choose natural beauty and eco fashion, I work on being happy, and I eat my delicious, whole, fresh, raw foods.
TOXIN-FREE LIVING
Toxins in our living and working environments can be decreased