TEDxOttawa

I was recently invited to speak at TEDxOttawa.  In case you don’t  know, TEDx events are slick, professional conferences held throughout the world where innovative people share compelling nuggets of wisdom and insight in an engaging, creative manner.  Started in 1984, TED brings together the brightest minds to give the talk of their lives. Past speakers have included Richard Branson, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Jamie Oliver, as well as endless other less-known scientists, professors, designers, artists and trailblazers – all innovators in their field.

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission “ideas worth spreading”  to give communities and individuals the opportunity to stimulate creativity through TED-like experiences at the local level.  The all-day conferences follow a similar format: speakers are recorded in front of a live,  “by invitation only” audience which are then posted online.

To be honest, I hadn’t heard about TED or TEDx until mentioning my invitation to Mark one night as we were getting ready for bed. “TEDx?!” he exclaimed. “That’s an awesome opportunity!!” And then, in a more serious tone “You better be prepared.”  I guess Mark knows that I can be a bit unstructured at times, and in many respects, we’re complete opposites.  He’s Mister organized, very systematic and linear whereas I’m creative, intuitive and sometimes, well, scattered.  We even rock climb differently: he tends to study the climbing problem for a few moments and then executes his moves accordingly, while I just feel things out as I make my way along the route.  When I give talks or presentations, I have a tendency to forgo the cue cards and “wing things” instead.  Speaking at TEDxOttawa was suddenly intimidating, especially knowing that my talk would be filmed and then available online for everyone and anyone to view and comment on.

A month went by, and then,  just a few weeks before the big event, I began to scramble.  I never used power point before, but thankfully hubby hooked me up — finding images,  helping with layout and the other techie stuff I have so little patience for.  Mark was also my one-man audience, offering me sound advice,  feedback, and above all, support.

A quick run-through during our anniversary get-away

Although I felt quite honored being invited to speak at TEDxOttawa and not too nervous about public speaking, I was concerned that the audience may not connect with my own personal story. Being the first time that I had spoken out about my struggles with anorexia/bulimia,  a lot of old emotions surfaced. Talk about raw …  and very cathartic.

Eating a banana shortly before going on.

I also popped a handful of BAC and drank half a bottle of E3live directly before going on.

Seriously.

You should have seen Mark’s expression!

Struggling with the mic and messing up my hair! 😉

It was quite the experience.  And the feedback was overwhelming!

Sometimes it’s okay to be vulnerable and be honest about our struggles.

Hopefully in doing so, we can touch and help others …

(Please watch this on Youtube and leave a comment. Thank you, I appreciate it!)

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2010 SimplyRaw Festival Planning

On Wednesday September 16th at 7pm we’ll be having our first planning meeting for the 2010 SimplyRaw Festival.

The festivals have continued to grow from year-to-year, starting in 2006 with a small 1/2 day pie contest; to a full day festival in 2007; and a 2-day festival in 2008.

We’ve been thankful to have some great help in the past, and again hope that lots of people will join us to help in planning the festival. There’s so much work that goes into it, that we really need the help from a core group of people to tackle some of the planning tasks.

If you would like to be involved with (or lead) working groups for any of the following, please join us this Wed for the first planning meeting.

2010 SimplyRaw Festival planning workgroups:
– speakers
– vendors
– sponsors
– prizes/product donations
– pie contest
– celebrity judges

We’ll be discussing the details of each of these core tasks during our planning meeting, so please try to join us if you can, or let us know asap if you’re interested in leading or helping with any of the above tasks.

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Raising Healthy Families

As many of us move away from processed foods and towards a raw lifestyle, we start to feel the amazing health benefits associated with eating this way. Our energy level increases, digestion clears up, we shed that excess weight, our skin glows, and we’re so much happier. With this comes the realization that we also want our family to experience some of these benefits, and soon we begin to wonder (& often doubt) just how to get them on board with us.

Shifting the family to a healthier, natural diet can seem overwhelming and daunting at first. It’s hard enough changing our own diet, but how do we convert our picky eaters into fruit and vegetable lovers without the dinner table becoming a battle-field? It can be a real struggle to get family members to try anything new or healthy for that matter – especially if their taste buds have already been tainted with refined, cooked foods. And, as we all well know, ingrained habits are extremely difficult to break so the thought of changing our kid’s eating habits can feel like an insurmountable task. It is, however, possible.

The key is to start small. Take incremental “baby” steps, and focus on one change at a time. Stick with it, be patient and keep trying. Just because your child does not like something the first time, doesn’t mean that they won’t like it eventually. Explain to your family why it is so important to eat well, and be sure to set a good example as children often pick up their parents habits. If you don’t eat well, chances are your kids won’t either.

Smoothies are an ideal way of boosting vital nutrients into our kids diets. Most children prefer fruit over vegetables, so making fruit smoothies with a handful of leafy greens slipped in can be the perfect solution for getting them to eat more fresh organic produce. Over time, you can add more greens and less fruit. You can even add a little bit of flax oil, soaked chia seeds, or a touch of E3live but don’t change the original taste, texture, and appearance too quickly otherwise your little ones will notice and most likely refuse to drink that pulpy smoothie. Always transition them gently and comfortably, and remember that even small changes can make an enormous difference in your family’s health.

My son has always been an extremely picky eater, so you can only imagine my shock when I discovered that he didn’t take to eating sprouts. Being a sprout lover since the 80’s, I refused to accept this — so I began adding one lone sunflower sprout to every one of his meals. Yes, there was a lot of squirming and it took him forever to eat that little sprout, but over time he got used to eating one, then two, then three, and now – well, as you can see in the video clip below, Mischa at 13 year old, is eating mouthfuls of sprouts at every meal. 🙂

I will be teaching a “Healthy Kids & Families” workshop sometime in May so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, keep feeding your beautiful children healthy vital foods, and above all, don’t give up. It might take time for your kids to come around but if you’re patient and persevere, they’ll be chewing mouthfuls of sprouts in no time!

today’s food log:

• 4 ozs e3live
• firewater
• 32 ozs. juice (celery, jerusalem artichoke,zucchini beet, ginger)
• 1 quart green smoothie (sunflower sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, pea sprouts, parsley, pear, soaked chia)
• bowl of broccoli sprouts, azuki sprouts, mung sprouts, sunflower sprouts w/tahini dressing
• 4 ozs. wheatgrass juice
  
• glass of chia/flax pudding
• 4 soaked brazil nuts

yesterday’s log:

• 2 ozs e3live
• firewater
• 1 quart green juice (alfalfa, sunflower, zucchini, kale, celery, burdock, jerusalem artichoke)
• sprout salad (pea shoots, sunflower, broccoli, fenugreek)
• 4 ozs wheatgrass juice
• chia/flax pudding
• 4 soaked brazil nuts

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The SimplyRaw Living Foods Detox Manual

The release date for Natasha’s first book, “The SimplyRaw Living Foods Detox Program” published by Arsenal Pulp Press, is quickly approaching. No, it’s not a joke, on April 1, the new book hits the store shelves (it’s already available for pre-orders on Chapters and Amazon), and Natasha will be getting out to promote the book, talk about the living foods lifestyle, doing a real detox (not a detox-in-a-box), and how her program can help people to make lifestyle changes that last a lifetime.

Below is a quick sneak-peak interview with the Natasha about her book. Watch this space for more videos to come!

The next Group program begins March 22 – kickstart your spring by signing up for the SimplyRaw Detox Program! You can also start the program anytime you’re ready with private coaching support from Natasha.

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Holding down the Raw Fort

While Natasha & her mother are enjoying their time at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, I’ve been taking advantage of the warmer weather to get out and enjoy the beautiful colors of Gatineau Park.  Being active is a fundamental part of our lifestyle – Nat tells me that she’s been hitting the gym and exercise classes multiple times a day with her mother.  Mischa and I have been keeping busy with different sports and activities throughout the week as well.

The raw lifestyle certainly provides the fuel and energy to be very active, and the benefits of physical activity are so critical to good overall health.  Our mental state is effected by exercise (I know that I feel great after an exhausting run, bike ride, or x-country ski), not to mention the amazing benefits to our body and physical health.

Balancing a good diet and exercise is so important to our health.  I highly recommend taking up some form of exercise if you don’t already – and if you’re not sure where to start, then just get out for a walk in the park – even start with a park in the City, which tends to be flatter and easier.  There’s loads of different clubs and teams out there as well if you’re looking for something more involved, and the commitment to a regular scheduled activity is a good motivator.

Eating raw with an active lifestyle is not only easy – many people on our 28-day detox program have been very physically active for the duration of the program, and noticed amazing improvements in their sport performance! – but can yield some great enhancements to your ability to be active.

For my 3-hour hike today I packed:

• an apple
• 1 litre of water
• bag of dried mulberries
• 1 vega bar
• a sprout wrap – enjoyed from a very scenic clif face on the western escarpment of Gatineau Park.

Good fuel to keep me going; and a great lunch reward for my break!

Mark

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