Clean Burn

It is not uncommon for me to hear people say, "I do feel better on raw food, but I don't feel quite as amazing as I expected to feel. Where is all this energy I'm supposed to have?"

There can, of course, be a multitude of reasons for not feeling as good as you could, and way more than we can go into in one article, but today I'm going to discuss one of the most common: Over- eating.

Whether we eat cooked foods or raw - or a mixture of both, eating more food than we need quite simply overtaxes the body. Digestion takes more energy than any other activity we do - in fact sometimes it can even exhaust us completely (think Christmas Dinner, and your half-comatose relatives asleep in the chair!). It's incredible that food can make or break our energy in this way, but it really does, and sometimes this can be subtly undermining (which all adds up) and other times blatantly obvious.

When we eat raw foods, generally speaking, our digestive demands lessen. Our foods are more simple, we are eating enzymes rather than needing to find them from our existing stores, and, unless our diet is fat-dense (i.e. eating lots of nuts and seeds) then typically our load is much lighter and much faster to transit through than the average diet.

It is estimated that one in three people in the doctor's waiting room is there for a colon-related issue. A shocking statistic don't you think? But hardly surprising when we consider what passes for "food" today and what extremes some people will go to in terms of diversity, quantity and frequency. Of course, most people in this bracket don't necessarily eat in a way we could consider to be healthy, but there's so much more to it than just what we eat...

So how is it that some people on raw foods don't get the amazing energy that myself or others rave about? Especially if you are eating low-fat?

As far as I can see, a lot of it comes down to making sure that when you eat you are genuinely hungry.

My own research over hundreds of clients shows that at least 95% of people I survey either do not know what true hunger feels like and/or do not wait until they are hungry to eat.

What this means is this:

If you are eating when you're not hungry then you are essentially putting in more food than your body needs. When this is the case, your body will use its precious energy to digest (or "burn" as I like to call it) your food rather than have the energy available to use for something more productive (like feeling good!).

One of my greatest lessons on my own food journey has been to wait until I am truly hungry before I eat. This doesn't, by the way, mean that I wait until I feel "starving", just that I know that even if a plain bowl of lettuce leaves was placed in front of me, then I would eat them and genuinely enjoy them because I am that ready to consume.

Why this example?

Because of all the things that we can eat on this planet, green leaves are the least addictive foods of all, and the among the most nutritious for us... and if we feel drawn to eating them un-dressed and unaccompanied then that's a great sign that we really are hungry - because as you know our taste buds and bodies can appear so fickle and easily persuaded!

It took me many years to get to the point where I only when hungry, but I have to say it really is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the way I eat/ live my life. There is nothing more gratifying than going to eat a meal that you are really and truly ready for. I'm sure I love my food ten times more because of this. It tastes and feels so much better! In fact, I really do find that now if someone places food in front of me or offers me something - even if it's just a single piece of fruit - if I'm not hungry I get very strong signals from my body not to eat it and I find myself actually physically repulsed by it. Now that's incredible!

Considering my extensive junk food background, I really do believe that if I can reach this place then anyone can, although I appreciate we all have different issues to overcome in order to get to here.

I call this place of genuine hunger the place of "The Clean Burn". That's because I know that when I'm in this place I feel as if whatever I eat is really enjoyed from the moment I start preparing it to the moment it starts its journey down my throat and into my stomach. From this moment on I feel as if the food is being digested and utilised immediately. No hanging around waiting for breakfast to pass through or "falling" on top of last night's supper and - wait for it - fermenting and rotting. Eugh! It feels as if it is being welcomed with open arms and that my entire body is ready for it and loving it. Now that's worth waiting for!

It's rather ironic that throughout our entire childhood and typically, adulthood, we are never taught how to eat properly. Whether we use a knife and fork from an early age seems to be of more importance than whether we are actually ready to eat! It's no wonder we have the weight issues that we do - a lean body is often a clean body, and a clean body is one that really knows and experiences the feeling of The Clean Burn on a regular basis.

As I sit here writing this article it is 12:33pm. Today so far all I have consumed is one pint of watermelon juice, which I had as soon as I felt some hunger around about 10:00am. I am just starting to get that Clean Burn feeling now, but I know I'm not quite there yet, so I will wait a little longer before I go downstairs to eat. There is an art in detecting what stage you're at, and after years of practice and awareness I know now that although what I'm feeling right now would be considered "really hungry" by some people, to me it is a sign that, if I were away from home, I should start looking for food in order to secure it, but if I already have it to not yet eat it as the Clean Burn is not yet fully upon me!

Are these the words of a closet anorexic? No, I can assure you they're not! I am most definitely not into deprivation at any price, and least of all when it comes to food! No, what I describe here is a way of feeling and being around food that feels quite the opposite to deprivation - if I were to eat now before I got fully hungry and could fully appreciate every ounce of my meal - now THAT would feel like deprivation.

On that note I'm going to ask that you really pay attention to your hunger signals over the next few days and see how far you can go with this. This means ignoring the clock, getting all the "shoulds" out of your head about what, when and how you "should" be eating, and really paying attention to the different degrees of hunger as they unfurl. And yes, of course, waiting until you are FULLY hungry before you begin.

Yes, I know this may sound or feel like advanced stuff and even a little scary for some people, but if you can start to put even a little of this into practice in your daily life then I'd be very surprised if you didn't start to lose any excess weight you have, gain a lot more energy overall and generally start falling in love with your food - and your body - even more than you ever thought possible.

Oh yes, and did I mention that your food bills may very well go down?!

Enjoy the pursuit of The Clean Burn, a few more minutes wait for your food is a VERY small price to pay for such huge and multifaceted rewards, believe me!


© 2010 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.



This Week's Recipe
Karen's Super-Sexy Olive Cream


This delicious dip is so-called because when a friend first tried this recipe she gasped and went, "Ohhh, that's SO sexy!" - and it kind of stuck. Well, there is a certain something about it...


Ingredients

* 1 avocado
* 1 fresh tomato
* 5-6 pitted black olives
* Garlic to taste



Directions

1) Simply process all ingredients together until a thick creamy consistency is achieved.

2) Taste-test. Adapt as desired.

3) Serve with crudités, as a dip or spread on sprouted bread or crackers. Sex-y!



RAW COACH'S TOP TIPS:

* Feel free to try adding a little juice to this such as lemon, orange or pineapple - you never know what you might create!



If you liked this recipe, how about 49 more?




Where's Karen?




August 31st: Raw Food Coach Training Call More info coming soon...
September 11th - 15th: Business Retreat, Miami Beach, Florida
September 21st - 27th: Business Retreat, Scottsdale, Arizona
October 23rd: "Fall into Raw" Autumn raw food class with Nina Dench. More info >>
November 1st - 5th: SHINE Event with Ali Brown, Las Vegas, Nevada
November 20th - 21st: Raw Food Weekend, London. More info coming soon...


Karen's World
What I've Been Up To This Week


A little detour from the usual format, but I hope you'll enjoy a peek into Karen's World from a different perspective. Over recent weeks I've been making a conscious effort to bring more fun, play and "other things I love" into my life. It's been easy, simple and fun... And needless to day, has made all the difference.

* Spent a great weekend in York with Katie, my office manager - Raw Bombshell workshop, a night of dinner and dancing, hotel stay and Sunday shopping. A very memorable weekend indeed.

* Had a wardrobe weeding session in preparation for Autumn with personal stylist Sue Donnelly - over half my clothes are gone - eek!

* Dinner date in town with "someone nice" ; )

* Watching season two of "The Swan" on DVD - not everyone's cup-of-tea, but I find it incredibly inspiring...

* Preparing my home for my new PA, Sue, to move into. Just one more week to go until I get the home and office help I need. Can't wait!

And this weekend I'm off to a party where everyone has to wear either all pink or all purple posh frocks. I've gone for purple - of course! - (the one pictured), but it wasn't easy to find something I liked. Definitely not a dress I could have happily worn pre-raw!

And on Sunday - my boy Luke (8 next month) returns. He's been away for four weeks visiting with daddy. It's the longest we've ever been apart but we've been speaking every day and have lots of great things to look forward to before he goes back to school in September.

Enjoy your weekend!


What Is Successfully Raw?



Successfully Raw is a weekly eZine for raw food fans who want to look, feel and live their very best.

Delivered at the end of every week for weekend inspiration, it's packed with quality tips, tools, resources, recipes, news and inspiration and is authored and published by Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach.

Successfully Raw means eating raw on your own terms - which means eating the amount of raw food YOU wish to eat, for wherever you are in your life right now and according your own unique wants and needs. The Successfully Raw Philosophy is that more is not better unless you want more! No deprivation, striving or sacrificing here!

Happy comes first, raw (and healthy) comes second, and if you can marry the two together, then that's Successfully Raw!
Successfully Raw: All of the fun, none of the fanaticism : )


About Karen



Karen Knowler is The Raw Food Coach, former Managing Director of The Fresh Network, the UK's Raw and Living Foods organisation, creator and former editor of Get Fresh! magazine and creator of TheRawFoodDirectory.com, the ultimate one-stop international raw food resource centre online.

With over 17 years of personal experience of eating a raw food diet, Karen has been teaching, writing and coaching professionally on raw foods for over a decade. Owing to her groundbreaking work in the field of raw foods and human potential and dubbed "The world's premier raw food coach", Karen has stepped increasingly in to her role of "train the traine" training 84 raw food coaches worldwide to date and hundreds of others how to teach life- changing raw food classes via her trainings and home study program.

Karen lives in Cambridgeshire, England with her son Luke, 7. Her passions include raw food, human potential, metaphysics, high heels, dancing, flowers, creativity, organising, business coaching, helping others achieve their dreams and creating and pursuing her own "squealicious" goals and visions.

Find Karen online at:
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Facebook Fan Page
YouTube (Raw recipe demos and more)




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I appreciated some lovely tiny(yet ULTRA DELICOUS:)fresh peaches followed by some addictive organic green leaves(Cavelo Nero)from Langridge Farm in Crediton(A Mandala Organic Grower's Partner:0)