What's Been Brought To My Attention....

Is that I've fallen behind on my blog. Again, my apologies. I've been trying to learn new concepts and formats to get the message of RAW + AUTISM will change the world out to everyone who needs to hear it. I am the most un-techie chick I know. And I've jumped head first into all things techie (can't help it, being the all-or-nothing kinda girl I am). And let's just say, I'm drowning just a ...... LOT! But have no fear, I'm learning as I go. :D

Things are going great on the raw front! I did a short juice fast, which made me feel great and pampered while I was doing it. The trick, have a nice large wine glass. Put your juices in there. I tell ya, do that, and feel like the Prince or Princess that you know you know you are! :D (Or King or Queen - whichever YOU prefer.)

AND, my little man, you know, the cute guy with autism that has his mouth wide open in the picture - HE TRIED A NEW RAW FOOD! We had been making a particularly scrumptious recipe out of Ani Phyo's book. We've made it over and over and over again. We've offered it to him each time. Well, this past Saturday, it was offered to him again, and not only did he try it, he LOVED it! :D It just goes to show you, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try x20 again and the 21st time will be the charm! ;)

Well, I know I said I've been busy (more like swamped!), so now is where I get to fill you in as to what it is I've been so busy with! Well, as some of you know, I've really been working hard to get the message out there about how RAW + AUTISM will change the world. I've updated the services on the company site (with more to come soon) at http://www.rawtism.com/. There is now a Full-Immersion program for families who want to take their children raw to see the vast improvements that can be made! And, it's at introductory pricing right now, and won't be for long, so make sure to check it out. With this program, I do the hard part for you! That's right folks, I'm willing to put myself through the wringer over and over again to help you help your child. They deserve it and so do you! :D

Also, I've been podcasting and learning how to podcast! You can check out my fun, informative podcasts at http://blog.rawkinrawtism.com/. Also, if you want to learn HOW to podcast and REALLY make it great, go to http://www.mypodcastexpert.com/. Make sure to check out their FREE teleclasses and their BEYOND helpful and informative webinar/s. Please make sure to tell them Sunshine sent you. (I particularly love the integrity with which they run/do business!)

And as if that weren't enough, there's actually MORE! Remember the techie stuff I said I was diving head-first into? Well learning how to blog and the podcasting in NOT the end of the story! I'm also working on learning how to do some things to get some things up on You Tube that are going to be SUPER-DUPER exciting and fun and just completely wonderful! So make sure to stay tuned for that. I'm also in the process of writing a couple of e-books and a book! The title of the first e-book is "Autism and Spirituality". Who knows, if ya'll keep on me about it, it may just get done faster! ;)

And how do I accomplish all this you ask? Well.... that'll be in the next post! ;)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Sorry I've been gone so long!

You know, it's funny. Before I went 100% raw vegan, I did a lot of research and read a lot of books (couldn't help it, I'm a researcher by nature). And one of the recurring themes/comments I kept coming across in my research was the idea of some people being uncomfortable and going back to cooked food because they were uncomfortable or didn't know what to do with all the extra time they had. Because between less time spent preparing food and all the extra energy you have and less sleep requirements, you do accumulate more time in your day.

I don't understand how that can be a problem. Most people complain that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish what they set out to get done.

You know how that uncomfortableness can be solved. And no, not by going back to cooked, heavy, energy draining food. I have something that I did that's much better. Are you ready?

Start doing all the things in life that you've been wanting to do, but didn't have the time for. Start that new hobby, workout routine, business, charity, or whatever it is that's been in your heart that your lack of time and energy have held you back from doing. Enjoy more time with your family (especially if the rest of your family is raw). Each member of my family that's 100% raw (which would mean me and the kids), are doing SO much more than we were doing before raw.

I've started a new business, and all that that entails (which is A LOT!). The kids have all started new, very time consuming hobbies, and they play together more, because they have more time to spend together. My oldest has started experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with new recipes or modifying existing ones to suit his tastes. The middle is into everything he can think of to build armies and spreadsheets and such. And my youngest, who has been a budding artist since she was three, has days where I don't know if she'll EVER stop drawing now. You'd think her fingers would fall off! ;)

So, go raw, and start living the life you've always dreamed of living, but were sure you didn't have time for. With raw, you have the time, and the time is NOW!

Raw and the Holidays!

Now, I bet you thought I was going to tell you what you should make for the holidays huh? Well, sorry, but that's not where I'm going with this one.

I'd like to delve more into something else with this instead. Let's look at the holidays, and look at raw. When you go raw, you have to really change your mindset, not just what you eat. You have to change your your whole mindset about the food you put into your mouth right?

Now, let's look at the holidays. I know what you might be thinking, there's all that tempting traditional food. Well, I have a couple of different views on that. One option is, you can search out the raw versions of your favorite holiday foods. And that is a very common and highly viable option.

Here's my thing. Who says you even have to do that? Seriously. Tradition is what you want it to be. Who's to say you can't start your OWN traditions? Now, my mom would tell you I've been hard headed all my life. And you know what? She's right, but I like it. It's served me well for the most part. Why not start the traditions that fit your family and your new lifestyle? In my experience, if you're confident in it, others will be confident in it with you. Now is the time for you to change your mindset about what the holidays should be, and turn it into what the holidays are for you and your family and your new raw mindset. Now is the time to make the traditions that will carry on with your children into their families in a healthful and self-empowering way.

And that's our raw food for thought for the day! :D

Retro, reactive, emotions and raw eating!

I know, I know, strange title. It's probably best if I break it down a little.

Retro - Okay, I listen to almost EVERY kind of music there is ('cept I'm not too fond of jazz). And I can get into my metal any day of the week. But I've noticed, since being raw I keep having these time periods where I can't get enough off the music I grew up on. Be it Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, and lately, it's the Beatles......again!

On to the reactive part of things. There are certain things I've listened to since being raw that have made me react a certain way. Listening to Cat Stevens saw me reacting with not just happiness, but profound sadness. For some reason, I started to think about how sad things had been upon him exiting the mainstream music scene. First, he judged his own music. But for me, Peace Train was right on the mark, even for his conversion. And then others judged him for wanting his stuff destroyed, instead of looking at the individual and trying to respect his choices and following his destiny. Then there's the Beatles. You can't help but be happy and depending upon the song, mellow, while listening to them. However, I get to a point while listening to them where I'm overcome with profound sadness over the death of John Lennon. While I don't agree with everything he believed in, I just feel sadness at the loss of someone with such talent and creativity. Someone who wasn't afraid to say what he wanted to say. I admire that. I try my best to live my own life like that.

Which brings us to emotions and raw eating. When I said profound sadness, I mean crying for hours. Not just a little jostled, but wracked sobbing. And I can't really explain where it comes from or why it comes on so powerfully, but it does. And I have to say, before raw, I couldn't deal with that. I wouldn't have been able to just go with it and ride it out. I would've more likely than not been reaching for the richest, creamiest comfort food I could find. But since being raw, it's not that I won't do that, it's more like I physically can't. And deep down inside, is the part of me that knows I have to ride the emotional ride until it comes to it's conclusion. Not just because I've found it impossible to overeat or stuff myself too much with raw, but moreso because some part of me has found a deep need to follow through on the emotional stuff so I can come through the other side. But not just feeling better, but also with a deeper understanding. I'm so grateful to be eating raw food which has made all of this possible for me.



On the raw + autism front. There have been several improvements with my son, but one of the most prevalent right now with him is his ability to handle sensory input so much better than before. When he was a baby, the only way he would go to sleep for a while was for me to sing to him and dance with him. Since autism, he couldn't handle ANYONE singing to him, loud music, or dancing with ANYONE. Even me. And I really thought that part of him was gone forever. Well, I have news. Tonight, he came right up next to me while I had a Beatles CD blaring and said "Mommy, play 'I Want You To Want Me' ". Now you have to understand, he used to scream at me to shut that song off, cause he hated it when Mommy would get all happy and giddy and start singing it and dancing all around. Well, I put it on, he started singing it with me and said, "C'mon Mommy, dance!" We played that song at least 10 times and sang and danced all around the kitchen. And he even initiated what half of the steps would be.

So, like I've said elsewhere, I'm now going to say it here. RAW + AUTISM CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

What a Difference Raw Makes!

You know how after being raw for a while, (and for those of you who aren't, may I suggest trying it for a while?), things start to roll off of your back easier, it takes more and bigger things to bring up your stress levels, you have MUCH more energy, and it's not all being zapped by getting all emotional about things that aren't important.

So you go coasting through raw. You're happy, upbeat, and CRAZY-filled with energy and love, and light all around you. You don't even realize it half the time anymore.And then the thing that can REALLY upset you comes along. And it's not any of the small things that used to upset you, but something that's actually BIG, and warrants getting upset and worried about.

Well folks, that came along for me yesterday. It just HIT me, and it hit me HARD. And even though it was big enough to actually get upset over, I have to say, a small part of me felt REALLY weird. I just haven't gotten upset very much since being raw. So it was almost an alien feeling to me.

Want to know what I noticed the most?! What an ENERGY-ZAPPER being upset is. And while everything is fine NOW, I hope I never forget how much energy that one day of being upset took out of me. It's a wonderful reminder of how much easier everything is when eating raw and living foods!

So, be raw, and live life to the fullest, and without the constant energy zappers, so when something big comes along, your energy stores will be ready for it!

It's all about confidence

Or to be more accurate, the instilling of confidence. People ask me how my kids are raw. Well, that's a pretty broad question. So I'll give one thing I think is important here. It's important to instill confidence in your child regarding raw and living foods. Not just in the eating, but also in getting them involved in the prep of the food. My oldest child, who'll be 12 soon, has all the confidence in the world when it comes to using the food processor. However, when it comes to packing the Vitamix with all the yummy ingredients for a green (or purple when the blueberries are added) smoothie, he freezes.

My son has watched The Secret. He has used visualizations. Yet, when it comes time to use the plunger and get it all down, he panics and says he "can't" do it. I tried telling him, "Sure you can." I tried compelling him to do it with incentives. I tried to get him to do it for fear of losing something dear to him if he didn't (money). Then I remembered where my role in his life is. It's not task-master. It's not dictator. It IS facilitator. It IS to help him navigate when he's unsure. So a compromise ensued. I would get it started, he would finish it. And that sat well with him. So, if you want your children to eat raw, work on your confidence in the eating and preparing of it, so you are better able to empower them with their own confidence in the raw food realm.

Sometimes you just have to laugh!

Yesterday, the kids and I were out doing our grocery and errand runs. We had to stop by Wally World to pick up a few things. We had almost made it out of Walmart incident free (cause remember, it's Halloween), and the woman doing the greeting yells to us, "Wait, you have to come back and get the kids their Halloween candy." All three kids and I, in unison, looked over our shoulder and said, "No thank you". Seeing the look on her face I said, "They don't eat candy". Now, thinking about it later, I realised that was a lie of sorts. Mind you, it was most definitely unintentional. But my kids do eat candy, it's just raw candy. Well, upon hearing that they don't eat candy, she got mad!

Mad! I don't get it. With all the complaints of ADHD and kids out of control, and hyper kids, and sugared-Coked up kids, you'd think she would've been grateful that there were three less kids running around like that. But nope, she chose to be mad. I find it to be a sad statement of where we've gone nutritionally as a country, but that's another matter. I find in this circumstance, choosing to laugh was the best way for me to handle it. Because, I'd rather her be mad and my kids be healthy, than any other option.

I've had someone tell me I should've taken the candy and given it to someone else. Excuse me?! If I'm not willing to put that into our bodies, why would I enable someone else to do it. Hindsight being 20/20, seeing her get mad, I could've egged her on I guess by taking the candy and immediately throwing it away. But I'm not intending to make anyone mad. My intent is to make my family be as healthy and happy as they can possibly be, and to aid others in that path should they choose it. So laughing it is. Sounds like a great choice to me! :D