Today’s Observations
I recently participated in a marketing meeting at an organization I’m involved with.  To get at our core message, we asked ourselves these questions – What is the promise? and What are the reasons to believe that promise? Great questions.

I was thinking about these questions as they relate to raw foods.  What is the promise of raw foods? And what are the reasons to believe?  Without question, for me the promise of raw foods is simple –  Ridiculous energy that fuels a life of outrageous joy.

What are the reasons to believe? Simple again.  The stories of transformation I hear every week, provide plenty of reasons to believe. Here are some of the stories I have heard this week.

  • Today I spoke with someone who participated in one of my raw food classes.  Since the class she has been about 90% raw and, in addition to losing 35 pounds and participating in a triathlon, her lifelong digestive problems have completely gone away, and she’s got that giddy thing going on – like unexplainable kinda happy :)  Just another side effect of raw foods…
  • A participant in our Raw for the Holidays class, shared this week that, since coming to our raw food class and changing her diet back in the summer, she has dropped from a size 24 to 16, and her daughter has also dropped 4 sizes.  She feels better than ever,  her skin has completely cleared up, and she is brighter and more vibrant than ever.
  • Finally, I received an email from someone today who was a vegetarian before coming to my raw food class this summer.  She said simply, “Thanks for the classes, they’ve been life changing.”

These stories inspire me, and they remind me of the power of raw foods.  Raw foods are not the end, but rather, they are a powerful means to the end of  living a life of Outrageous Joy.  They open the door to joy by clearing the fog and the toxins and the blocks that stand in the way and by providing a foundation of absolute boundless energy.  The past 64 days have convinced me even more of this, and so I’ve decided to extend my 30 day 100% raw experiment for an entire year.  I can’t wait to see what more is in store along this amazing journey.

Today’s Menu
Today’s menu was simple, I had Asian Pear Salad for lunch and dinner.  (Check out day 23.)

Today’s Recipe – Date Poppers
These are a super simple, festive, holiday little treat.  They are elegant enough to put out for guests, and simple enough to eat every day.  These come curtesey of Jessica deStephano.

Date Poppers (4 Yums)
20 Majool Dates
20 mint leaves
About a cup of pomegranate seeds

Slice half way through the dates carefully and remove the seed.  It should now open sort of like a hot dog bun.  Stack the mint leaves on top of each other (about 5 at a time) roll them up, and slice through them.  This will make little ribbons of mint.  Drop 3 or 4 ribbons into each date (more or less to taste).  Then finish off by adding a line of pomegranate seeds on top of the mint.  Now you have beautiful red and green holiday treats.  Pop one and enjoy :)

Today’s Affirmation
I make choices every day that support a life of outrageous joy.