I was invited to a very nice talk in Glenside, PA, last night given by Patti "the Veggie Coach" and Tom Lombardi, called "Embrace Health 2010." In about a week, their website http://www.embracehealth2010.com/ will be operational. I'm looking forward to that.
The topic of the evening was embracing a WHOLE FOODS DIET. This was a general audience, yet much ado was made of the RAW VEGAN DIET, citing how healthy and beneficial it is. Patti and Tom have visited the cafe' where I am one of the chefs, Arnold's Way Raw Vegetarian Cafe', and spoke of Arnold many times in this talk. Patti and Tom are not raw foodists, yet they eat a high degree of raw in their diet and eat minimal processed foods. They shop the outer isles of the market!
Patti, known as "The Veggie Coach" spoke of the many benefits of eating raw greens, the dangers of processed foods, and the importance of mindful eating, as well as her family's diet history. Patti and Tom's family went from eating a fast food diet to a WHOLE FOODS diet with barely any processed foods. They all feel so much better.
Tom Lombardi spoke of losing our judgement about food, entering into a state of CURIOSITY about how we feel, how what we eat affects us, trying new ways of being, really pushing the limit in 2010 and changing our diets in the extreme. Tom mentioned many times OBSERVING ourselves as one of the number one keys to changing. By just WATCHING what we do..and taking internal notes...the spirit and the body will guide!
Books compatible with the raw vegan diet, the vegan and vegetarian diet were on display. Tom and Patti mentioned that the WHOLE FOODS DIET is what they are ALL based on. It just makes GOOD sense. I don't know if Patti and Tom eat meat, but they talked extensively about how giving up dairy impacted their lives in the positive. Tom's running went into high geer as soon as he gave up dairy. Suddenly, he had abounding energy! The bulk of their family diet is made up of greens, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds.
All participants were asked to bring a bag of chopped veggies for our homemade "salad bar." It was quite lovely!
"What are you looking for?" was asked. The answers sound like what EVERYONE wants: Energy, support, weightloss, trustworthy info, a healthier lifestyle, less stress, eating consciously, and a healthier family!
Processed Foods are lacking nutrition and enzymes, the body can't process them, they add toxins to the system, and lack substance.
Plant-based foods, however, fill us with chlorophyl, nutrition, fiber, water, protein. We get it ALL from plants...just like many animals do!
A nice crowd enjoyed the talk...and the salad! Here are some of the participants chatting at the end of the session.
For dessert, we all enjoyed clementines eaten "consciously," using all of the senses. We took time eating the fruit - Paid attention to the wonderful perfume spritzing off of the peel and how the peel felt against our skin - Enjoyed the vibrant orange color of the peel - Felt the squirt of the juice as our teeth bit down on one section. MMmmmm... Mindful eating is something i will be focusing on.
More on that later....
xoxox michelle joy
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