Getting Better, Feeling Great Journal of Mel Norton

2010-03-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I've lost 30 pounds so far. I've really been struggling with staying raw. So, I thought, "I'll just eat like 75% raw. My son RC cooks like a chef. The meals he makes for Steve and our exchange student, Yukiko are amazing. So I weaken...and suffer. Last Friday I was one of the guest speakers for Daughters of the American Revolution. Talking with my friend Kathi on container gardening. They fed us lunch. As I walked through the buffet line, I piled on the salad. Piled on the green beans and then grabbed one fish thingy. Was a triangle thing with breading. Oh! And COULD NOT pass up A SMALL beautiful piece of prime rib!!!! By Friday night, I was in soooo much pain! At 2am I had chills and flu symptoms. I lasted like this until WEDNESDAY!!!! So, today...it's a green smoothie. My Calli by Sunrider. Sheesh! Maybe I learned this time. Ya think?

Green Smoothie Girl Website

2010-02-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

I have now become an affiliate of http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/?AFFID=28311
If you want to start eating better and don't know where to start, Robyn Openshaw's book The Green Smoothie Diet is a great place to start. Green smoothies can change your life!
Please be sure to use my link when you order.

YOUTUBE VIDEO DELAY

2009-12-20T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hi! Just wanted to post that the awesome video's I've posted (over on the left) have a delay. :( Grrrr! They either show only the title and no video underneath or they show a choice of 3 video's to watch, but not the correct videos. (The wrong ones have a short haired darker complexioned woman with a guitar as the top first video. Unfortunately, I don't know why it does that, but wait a few seconds, or so, and you will see them change. STICK AROUND! They're very informative and worth the wait, so wait to watch!

XOXO'S

Mel

If At First You Don't Succeed....Try, Try Again!

2009-12-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I fell backwards to poor eating!!!! That's why I haven't made any entry's all these months. I gained all my weight back and then 10 more!!! It was the most I've weighed in my entire life!!! Never in my "skinny little dreams" did I ever imagine weighing this much when I got older! I won't say yet how much I weigh, not until I'm down at least half way to where I feel I should weigh. I got all of my symptoms back. ALL OF THEM!!!! So, it was die or live. I chose to live.

Eureka, I found it!!!! In July '09 I bought the book "The Green Smoothie Diet" by Robyn Openshaw, and started back this time making Green Smoothies. So much easier!!! I think if every person trying to "go raw" would start out watching Robyn Openshaw's Green Smoothie demos and buy her book, they would have quick success! ( www.greeensmoothiegirl.com or go to www.youtube and type in green smoothie girl.) What a difference I felt starting out my days with kale, spinach or other dark leafy greens added to my regular smoothies. I felt content. Cravings were gone! Even Halloween was a breeze! I didn't desire any candy, before green smoothies, I couldn't resist! In Sept. I started adding 32 oz green smoothies every morning to my daily foods. The days I don't have a green smoothie, I tend to slip up. Then at the end of October I bought Alissa Cohen's book and the dvd ($55) "Living On Live Food." The dvd is awesome! (The younger lady in it is ANNOYING but it's still worth getting). Alissa shows easy and new ways to make eating raw more enjoyable and so delicious, just by simple preparation steps. www.alissacohen.com They can also be bought from Amazon.com and Ebay.com. At the end of November my super chef son, RC and I took a Raw Chef certification course given by Angelena Bosco, who is certified by Alissa Cohen. My friend, Malia and her husband Troy took the class too. Actually, I learned more from the dvd and book combo I bought because we saw similar preparation in class that was done in the dvd, but I wanted the Raw Chef Certification (which cost $125). Next step will be to take the instructors course in April.

So far, since about October 25th, I've lost the 20 pounds I gained and continue to lose EVERYDAY! Alissa says to stay off the scale, but it's so fascinating. I am so much more aware of how I feel when I put ANYTHING in my mouth that isn't raw. I still slip, and I don't lose lbs. on the days I don't stay 100% raw, sometimes I even add 1 to 2 lbs. I really pay for it when I do slip. By "paying for it" I don't mean the extra 1 to 2 lbs, I mean that I swell up, get gas, get sleepy, my fibromyalgia pain comes back, arthritis too. I find I only slip up when I haven't prepared and I wait too long and I get really hungry.

"THOSE WHO FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL" I feel such a sense of accomplishment eating raw! I feel soooo good!

"PERSONAL GROWTH IS A LIFELONG JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION" Things are terrific! I love this journey.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! As someone reminded me today, "the best gift you can give to your loved ones is your health!" Amen to that!

XOXO'S, Mel :)

Dr. Ben Kim

2009-02-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

I like this newsletter he puts out. www.drbenlee.com He talks about everything that has to do with health. Check him out!

Things are changing!

2009-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so now I've lost 15 lbs. Not much and I'm sure if I was alot more strict with my raw food eating I'd have lost probably 20lbs. But this is ok. I do find that if I begin my day with a juice made from my Jack LaLanne's Juicer I feel better throught the day. I still get shakey when I'm hungry, but I don't have blurred vision by evening time if I've juiced to start my day off.

I'm trying not to use too much fruit. But I gotta tell ya! Eeek! Some of the drinks taste pretty nasty! After I've gagged them down, and the taste goes away, I feel pretty good. But what I find really, really has helped me make the transition is Sunriders Vitashake! Yummm. If I have to be somewhere and I didn't juice yet, I grab my tupperware quick shake container, poor some rice milk in it and add a package of Vitashake and I'm good to go!!!! I didn't like the way I reacted to it before I was eating raw. My blood sugar spiked up to quickly after I drank it. But now that I'm eating pure foods, for some reason I level out. All I know is, it works!
Well, we'll see how things go in the up coming weeks!
M

The Raw Divas Website

2009-02-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh!!! I love this site! This site is packed with information for anyone who is thinking about even just eating better. They feature other authors, lots and lots and lots of recipes. All I can say is that it is a great site! You never have to buy any more books on how to do raw. The site is: www.therawdivas.com

Stevia: The Alternative To Sugar

2009-01-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

I like what this site has to say about stevia. Of course, I believe Sunriders is the best, but it's pretty expensive. It is super pure due to the way they process it. Otherwise, I like using Sweetleaf Plus. You get the FOS needed daily (fiber). The one that doesn't have plus is uckey. The site is www.chetday.com/stevia.html

www.sunrider.com

2009-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

The best whole food/regenerative herbs in the world!

Getting Better, Feeling Great Journal of Mel Norton

2009-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday, January 19, 2009. I've been feeling like I'm going to die or get seriously ill because of many symptoms that have gotten worse. So over the years, I've tried a few times to go "raw" in my diet (no or very little cooking and no meat), but I always end up "off the wagon." I've always been a believer of raw eating, just haven't been strong enough to follow through. Why raw? Because I've monitored how I react to food, and I feel the best when I juice and get away from anything "white" i.e., flour, rice, potatoes, pasta and sugar, and also pork and chicken. When I eat "white" or things with preservatives or those meats, I swell up, get sleepy or sometimes get heart palpitations. My son, RC is eating raw too. Actually, he's doing a lot better than me. He doesn't eat ANY meat. He's helping me stay on track. I'm going to taper into this. Why? Because I know that my hypoglycemia has turned into diabetes. I don't have medical insurance or extra money floating around, so I'm doing it the best way I know how, and that's going raw. I know I have diabetes cuz I now have seriously blurred vision, constant peeing, heart palpitations, light headedness and dizziness. I've lived with hypoglycemia for years but my symptoms are far worse than those I had before. As soon as I eat the right kind of protien, I come back to earth.

Not only do I have symptoms of a diabetic, but I have fibromyalgia pains everywhere, candida everywhere, allergies and my knees are going bonkers and my arthritis is getting worse. I know that many of these symptoms would go away with weight loss, but I'm beyond wanting to lose weight. I want to live. Besides, for years I've always believed that the Standard American Diet is so bad for us Americans! S.A.D. That's why they call it SAD. I have also been around and have read hundreds of testimonials of people who are alive and better than ever due to a raw diet. I think the reason why I haven't been worse than this before now is because I eat Sunrider. Right now I'm eating very little, but I think (in the past) it's been enough to keep everything "at bay". (Sunrider Foods are whole regenerative food/herbs taken in their whole form and nourish and strenthen the body where it needs it most.) Regeneration is what happens when proper diet and Sunrider are combined.

So, what I'm going to do is commit to myself and "the world" a journey to self improvement. I'm going to prove it to myself and to skeptics that this can be done. I'm going to prove that raw food eating works, as well as eating Sunrider. I'm not positive at this point if I'm going to be 75% raw or more. Hopefully I will be 100%, but how I feel will be a big determining factor. I don't want to kill myself doing this. At this time, I believe that I need to have injections for diabetes, but I can't do that right now, so that's why I won't be a 100% raw eater, yet. Since some meats keep me somewhat level, I will taper off of them as my body shows improvement.

Can't wait to see how things go! Through all of this, I really hope this will help someone else in their quest for health.

XOXO's
Mel