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Are you new to Fit On Raw and wondering if this place is right for you?  Take this simple quiz to find out.

Yay, fun quiz time!

1. On your kitchen counter sits one large musk melon, a pound of tomatoes, one red bell pepper, two heads of romaine lettuce, and 3 avocados.  What’s for dinner?

• A) First, you dig into the musk melon, all 60 ounces of it.  Oooh, so sweet.  Next, the tomatoes, bell pepper, and avocado make the perfect dressing for your tender greens.  Of course, only 1/2 of the avocado is used.  No candida overgrowth or indigestion for you!
• B) You start with the musk melon, being sure to chew very slowly.  You get through the first half an hour later, stopping there.  Don’t wanna get fat on fruit!  Then it’s on to a nice healthy salad of greens, tomatoes, bell pepper, and half an avocado.  All gone, but you’re still hungry.  Just look at all those avocados, *gobble, gobble, gobble* Gotta stop buying fatty foods, you reason.
• C) Sounds delicious, but that’s way too much fruit.  You just take the greens and make a dressing of the 3 avocados, 3 tablespoons of oil, a few handfuls of nuts and seeds, and lots of Himalayan pink sea salt.  Keepin’ it lite and healthy.
• D) Musk melon?

2. Your favorite raw food gurus are:

• A) Frederic Patenaude.  Roger Haeske, the 42-year-old Teenager.  Douglas Graham, duh!  Really anyone who promotes a high fruit, low fat raw vegan diet.
• B) Douglas Graham is great.  But what about DHAs and vitamin B12 and calcium and…oh geez, so confusing…
• C) Anyone who pushes expensive supplements and superfoods.  Need to stock up on raw water and royal bee vomit (for the protein and vibrational energy, of course).
• D) Raw food…is that like lettuce or something?

3. You have 10 bucks to feed yourself for 2 days.  What do you buy?

• A) $5 for a 20lb box of discounted bananas at $.25 per pound.  One “overrripe” cantaloupe for $1.50.  $2 for a package of romaine, $0 for homegrown tomatoes and cucumber from your garden.  $1.50 left?  Splurge on a couple pounds of picked-by-you peaches!!!  Life is good.
• B) $10?!  What about organic?!  Okay, okay.  You can still get a few pounds of bananas, some greens…looks like you’ll be skipping dinner tonight. *sigh*
• C) Please, that’s not even enough to make one super fatty, grassy glass of green juice.  Plus, it’s already been a week since your last 2-day intermediate fast and 3 days since the master cleanse so no food for you.  Gotta clear out those toxins!
• D) $10?!  McD’s $1 menu, here I come!  I’m lovin’ it!

4. Your favorite food is:

• A) Mangoes!  So delicious, so calorie-packed, so available.  Living in the tropics rocks!
• B) Bananas, but can’t eat to much.  Bananas are just too dense and lead to weight gain. *sigh*
• C) Bana…*ahem* Definitely not bananas.  They’re high-glycemic.  Dried Goji berries at $20 a pound, that’s more like it. Got money to burn!
• D) Bagel Bites!  When pizza’s on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime!

5. Your definition of healthy food is:

• A) Whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plant foods.
• B) Whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plant foods.  But what about vitamin D3?  And can we really get enough protein on fruit and veggies alone? Oh goodness, not again…
• C) Anything that’s raw vegan.  And occasionally raw eggs and milk because the raw gurus said so.  Oh, and bee pollen!  Okay, new rule: anything that’s RAW…and costs a lot.
• D) Edible

Answer Key

If you answered mostly A’s, you should start your own low fat raw vegan fitness blog and be my best friend.  You eat lots of fruit so you never have cravings and have lots of energy to be as active as you like.  You’ve likely been living this lifestyle for quite a while now and can’t imagine any other way of eating.  You know all the ins and outs of a low fat, raw vegan diet and you enjoy helping others with their raw food related questions.

You really should start your own raw food and health blog.  Seriously, do it.  And the “best friends with Swayze” thing, get on that pronto.

If you answered mostly B’s, you should keep reading Fit On Raw.  You are likely very new to this lifestyle.  You have an idea that low fat and fruity fare is the way to go, but your knowledge is limited and so you often doubt yourself.  You also tend to restrict your calories from sweet fruit, which leads to savory/fatty/salty cravings, and obsess over the little things like buying everything organic.  You just so want to eat the perfect, most optimal diet and have the perfect body.  Is that so much to ask?

Here are some tips: start eating more fruit, stop worrying about weight loss, read the articles on my blog, subscribe to my list (if you haven’t already), and chill out.  It’s just food and no one’s perfect, remember!

If you answered mostly C’s, you should start reading Fit On Raw.  You’re new to raw foods and have been swayed by the “more fat, more grass, more supplements, more superfoods, no fitness” raw foodists.

Don’t worry, I can help you out.  To get started, fill out the form in the top right hand corner of this page.  That will subscribe you to my list and you will receive the free report The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet as well as the 5-week mini-course The Fool-Proof Transition to Raw.  You’ll be a fruity raw vegan before ya know it!

If you answered mostly D’s, you’ve probably realized by now that you are in the wrong place.  I’m guessing you were searching for ‘Fit on Fat’ or ‘Fat on Fruit Rollups’ and stumbled upon this low fat, high fruit raw vegan site by mistake.

It’s cool, just try googling ‘carnivores r us’ or ‘meat makes me happy’ instead. No hard feelings.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. If you’re eating lots of fruit but still would like something a little different at the end of the day, you should definitely check out these delicious savory raw stews from 10 year+ raw veteran Roger Haeske:

Savory Veggie Stews

That’s right! I’m talkin’ about poop!

As personal (and perhaps yucky) as it may be, one of the greatest benefits gained from adopting a healthy raw food diet is excellent elimination.

But what exactly does healthy elimination “look” like?

Perfect Poo

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.

Moving on, here are some simple qualities that can be expected in healthy stools:

1. Quick
2. Little Smell
3. Little Mess – Healthy stools require very little to no toilet paper.
4. Painless

As Frederic Patenaude points out in his well-known book The Raw Secrets:

Stools from a healthy human are not as dense, dry, and solid as those of people living on standard fare. They can be loose or dissolve in the toilet bowl – it doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t have any bad smell or be difficult to pass. A healthy bowl movement literally happens in an instant – a matter of seconds.

Many people are surprised at first by how quickly they see improvements in elimination after switching to a low fat raw vegan diet (I know I was!). But that’s not even the best part…

The real beauty is that the results are lasting! You will never again struggle with super stinky and uncomfortable elimination as long as you adhere to an easy to digest diet and healthy lifestyle.

Having Toilet Trouble?

Poor elimination is more often than not a sign of poor digestion. People who do not experience quick, painless, and nearly odorless stools as described above usually DO have gas, stomach pains, gurgly tummys, and sometimes heartburn.

The best remedy begins at the start of the digestive process: the mouth. The vast majority of these problems can be easily assuaged by eating a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet and avoiding food combining no-nos.

Take a close look at your current diet:

• Are you eating simple fruit meals?
• Are you limiting your fat intake?
• Are you consuming your sugary sweet fruit and fatty fruits and nuts separately?
• Are you eliminating salt, spices, and condiments from your raw dishes?
• Are you eating until comfortably satiated, rather than uncomfortably stuffed?

If you are and you still have tummy trouble, then it may be a particular food you are eating that does not agree with your body. Start by slowly eliminating foods one at a time from your diet until you weed out the culprit.

You could also try drinking water before each meal.  My own digestion is always better when I do this.  Just be sure to finish the water and then wait at least 10 minutes before you begin eating your meal.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. The quote above is just one of the many gems from Frederic’s book The Raw Secrets.

If you are interested in learning more about the absolute best raw food diet from the book that completely convinced me to go raw, then please visit the link below:

The Raw Secrets

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the importance of moving your body.  We’re all familiar with the “30 minutes, 3x per week” guideline and numerous health benefits that adopting even the simplest of routines can bring.

However, even with all that is known today about exercise, there is one important aspect of maintaining a *healthy* and *effective* exercise regimen that many people ignore forget…

Recovery

If you want to see optimal results from your exercise routine, you MUST allow for adequate recovery.

Why?  Let’s start with strength training.

When you engage in any sort of resistance training – whether it’s weight lifting or simple bodyweight exercises – you are actually creating microscopic tears in your muscle fibers that MUST be given time to heal.

In fact, it is during this healing phase (i.e. RECOVERY) that the muscles actually increase in strength and size.

In other words, you are NOT actually building muscle when you are training.  It is only during recovery, when your body is able to repair the damage, when you will gain mass.

And this applies to all forms of exercise, not just strength training.  As long as you are engaging in moderate to intense activities, you should be allowing adequate recovery.

So…how do you incorporate adequate recovery into your fitness regimen?

How to Recover

The general rule is to wait *48 hours* after working a particular muscle to engage that muscle again.  So if you trained your chest and shoulders on Monday, you would not work these muscles again until at least Wednesday.

This is one of the reasons you will see many weight lifting routines structured like this:

• Monday: Chest and Back
• Wednesday: Biceps and Triceps
• Friday: Shoulders and Legs

This structure ensures that you only work each muscle group once per week, allowing plenty of opportunity for recovery and muscle growth.  The days in between strength training (in this case, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) are perfect cardiovascular activities.

While it is good to give the body a break from cardio – such as jogging, swimming, and biking – these activities can often be done back to back on consecutive days.

That said, if you ever feel tense, exceptionally sore, or just plain exhausted the next day, be sure and rest those muscles.  Remember, the heart is a muscle just like any other and needs adequate recovery to adapt, improve, and function properly.

Now, what to do with that extra Sunday?  Hmm…

Rest Days

After all that is known today about the importance of recovery, it boggles my mind how many people continue to follow workout routines that do not include rest days!

If you are not including a rest day each week, you are doing your body a *great* disservice.  As mentioned above, your body NEEDS time to recovery in order to grow and adapt to the extra work.

Even if you experience little to no muscle soreness after your workouts, rest days are still important.  Giving your entire body AND mind a full day off is necessary to regroup and get excited about the week to come.

So in the example routine above, Sunday would be reserved for rest.  And while you can certainly take the entire day
off from exercise of any kind, you do not have to.

On my rest days, I like to keep active with a full body stretch routine and maybe a brisk walk with my dog or bike ride around the neighborhood.

The key here is that any activity you do participate in is casual and low impact.  If you do not feel refreshed and ready to workout at the start of your next training week, that is a good indication that you overtrained and need to schedule in more rest for the next week.

Putting It All Together

So the completed example routine would look like this:

*Example Routine*

• Monday: Chest and Back
• Tuesday: Cardio
• Wednesday: Biceps and Triceps
• Thursday: Cardio
• Friday: Shoulders and Legs
• Saturday: Cardio
• Sunday: Rest

This routine allows for adequate recovery between workouts as well as a full day of rest for full body and mind recuperation.

And remember, it’s always important to listen to your body.

If you are new to exercising or just feel that you need additional time to recover, don’t feel bad about taking the time off.  Recovery is an integral part of working out and, as I hope this article has shown, is vital to helping you achieve the fitness results you desire.

Go raw, be fit, and RECOVER,

Swayze

P.S. As important as adopting a well-rounded fitness routine is to your overall health and well-being, you can’t experience optimal vitality and performance without a healthy diet.

Trust me, I’ve tried to get fit and trim on just hours of exercise alone while still eating all my favorite junk foods…

No dice.

If you really want great results, you have to improve your diet.  By far the best and the *simplest* diet…you guessed
it…is a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet!

And what better way to get started improving what you eat than by experimenting with easy, delicious, and healthy
recipes:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

You’ll have no problem going raw and getting healthy with this collection of over 35 raw food favorites from several long-term low fat raw vegans.  There’s even a 7-day meal plan to help you go raw as soon as possible.

Oh, and the book is in digital PDF format so you will have full access to it just seconds after ordering!

Simply visit the following link for more info and to purchase your copy today:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

If you pay any attention to mainstream medicine and media, I’m sure you know that all sugar is created EVIL!

Anything sugary that you put into your body – whether it’s a slice of pound cake or a slice of a peach – is bad for you.  It spikes your blood sugar, causes Diabetes, makes your children go nuts, increases belly fat, on and on…

But this hatred of all things sweet is not just limited to the cooked food world.

Most raw foodists are very wary of the sweet stuff and shun eating more than a piece or two of fruit a day.  Some even eliminate fruit altogether, for fear of Candida overgrowth and fermentation in the intestines

In fact, the most sugar-bashing I have seen has come from RAW FOODISTS!

But is this really true?  Is all sugar really created equal and, therefore…evil?!

We Have a Sweet Tooth For a Reason

How many times have you heard someone claim they have a “sweet tooth”?

How many times have you finished a big starchy, meaty cooked meal and wanted nothing more than a big bowl of ice cream or a piece of chocolate to truly satisfy you?

In my cooked food days, a meal was never complete if I didn’t finish off with a cookie, candy, or pastry…or two.

There’s a reason for this sweet obsession and the reason is clear: humans need sugar!

Just look at the way your body processes food.  Every single thing you eat – carbohydrate, protein or even fat – is broken down into sugar (glucose).

This is the only way your cells can utilize the food for fuel.

So…if our cells must break everything down into glucose anyway, wouldn’t it be efficient and make sense to eat food that is already in this form?

And wouldn’t it be even MORE efficient and make MORE sense to get this sugar from a healthy, whole, easy-to-digest source?

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Refined Sugar vs. Fresh Fruit

Of course, you can’t just eat ANY ole’ sugary substance and become a beacon of health.  Unlike what modern medicine, media, and mainstream raw foodists will have you believe, all sugar is NOT the same.

I’m the first to admit that junky, empty calorie, processed and packaged foods like breakfast cereal, candy bars and fruit gummies are NOT healthy and contain little to no nutritional value whatsoever.

But these foods are not unhealthy because they contain simple sugars glucose and fructose.  They are unhealthy because they contain *refined* sugars!

Even the so-called “natural” products containing “natural fruit flavors” are still completely refined.  They contain nothing more than the concentrated sweetness of the whole, raw ingredient they are meant to resemble.

Fresh fruit, on the other hand, is well…fresh!  When you eat whole, ripe fruit, you are getting all of the simple sugars completely unprocessed, along with the oh-so vital water, fiber, and other necessary nutrients.

No refined sugar.  No nutrient damage.  No preservatives.

Yet another problem only tied to *processed* sugar products?  Many of them are quite fatty.  Just look at some of the ingredients in America’s favorite dessert dishes:

• Apple pie – granulated sugar, butter (100% fat), eggs (63% fat)
• Brownies – granulated sugar, butter, eggs
• Chocolate chip cookies – granulated sugar, butter, eggs

Are you seeing a pattern?

When eating these foods, you get a double whammy: nutrionally-ruined refined sugar AND copious amounts of fat!

And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the problem with eating a diet even moderately high in fat…

And eating this fat with copious amounts of sugar?!  Oh man, that’s just *begging* for trouble!

Ditch the Processed Desserts, Go for the Gold (Apple)

Moral of today’s story? All sugar is clearly NOT created equal OR evil!

When it comes to refined sweets, most people have it right.  Processed sugary foods provide nutritionally deficient calories and hold no place in a healthy diet.

But when it comes to WHOLE, RIPE, RAW sweets, ignore the hype and use your better judgment.  Our species thrives on simple sugars and the best way to give your body what it needs is to eat a diet high in delicious and nutritious fruit!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for recipes high in delicious and nutritious fruit?  Check out my raw recipe book “Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes” at the link below:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

* What’s New: Fit On Raw on Facebook!

* Feature Article: How to Naturally Get Rid of and Prevent Fleas

Fit On Raw on Facebook!

Over the past year (yes, Fit On Raw is OVER one year old!), many of you have emailed me asking if I have an account on Facebook.

Some of you even found my personal account and sent me friend requests.  Unfortunately, I never use facebook so I just ignored the requests.

I’m sorry! If it makes you feel any better I’ve ignored many of my family’s requests, too.

Anyway, instead of using my personal account and friending you guys there, I’ve decided to jump on the band wagon and start a “Fit On Raw” fan page.  The great thing about the fan page is that I don’t have to friend you for you to gain access.  And if you want to add a comment, all you have to do is hit the “Like” button at the top of the page.

It also allows me to keep my crazy personal acquaintances away from my wonderfully raw readers.

So if you’d like to get in touch with me on Facebook, check out the Fit On Raw fan page here:

http://tinyurl.com/29chlbq

Or just click on the facebook icon over to the right.

Swayze

How to Naturally Get Rid of and Prevent Fleas

I love summer so much.  The warm weather.  The delicious fruits.  The itchy fleas…huh?!

AH @$#^!!!  FLEAS!!!

No big deal because I know a completely natural, safe, cheap, quick, and effective way to prevent AND destroy these horrible little devil bugs.

And if you remember my other devil bug article, you know I understand a thing or two about destroying bugs from below.

Prevention

I already talked about prevention in last Friday’s Diatomaceous Earth article, but I’ll quickly recap here:

Just spread or spray the DE over your yard, garden, and animals BEFORE flea season strikes (this may be all year long for hot and humid areas).

Easy!

Destruction

But what if you’ve already got a flea infestation in your home/on your pets?  There are a few steps that you need to take.

Don’t worry, it’s still pretty easy.

#1: Oil Bath

Not for you, silly, for your pets!

If you think your pets have fleas, you want to bath them in oil.  The oil helps to smother the fleas that are already there, as well as soothe the tender areas where your pets have been scratching and biting themselves.

First, take some oil – vegetable, canola, olive, coconut, all of these are fine – and rub into the animal’s coat.  The amount you need will depend upon the size of your pet.  You want their fur to be completely covered, minus the face of course.

Next, wash some of the excess oil away with water.  Your pet’s fur will be quite oily for a little while, but that’s okay.  You can bath them with a mild soap once the tiny fiends are gone to help break it up.

If you don’t have any pets, feel free to skip this step.

#2: Check Your Rooms For Infestation

If YOU are itching all over, then the fleas have likely taken a liking to your home.  Your next step is to start checking rooms in your house for the source(s).

If your pets brought the fleas in, then just check where your pets hang out!  For instance, the only places we’ve ever gotten fleas have been in our living room and my bedroom.  And these have only been in certain spots, exactly where my dog sleeps.

Otherwise, just go into a room and sit still for a while.  If you don’t feel itchy or like something is biting you after a few minutes, then there likely aren’t any fleas there.  If it is a big room, you’ll probably have to do this in multiple areas.

#3: Clean Your Clothing, Couches, and Carpets

Now that you know where the fleas are, it’s time to bring out the big guns and CLEAN HOUSE!

For any blankets, pillow cases, pieces of clothing, etc. that were in the infested areas, wash them in HOT water.  Once they’re finished drying, do NOT put them back until you’ve finished removing all of the fleas from the room.

For couches, chairs, and other upholstery that you cannot wash, a hand-held steamer works great.  Actually, I use my standard Shark Steam Cleaner (I’m sure you’ve seen the infomercials) that I bought at Costco.  Now they have a “portable steam pocket” model specifically for upholstery, small spaces, etc.

For carpets, start by thoroughly vacuuming the area.  Then be sure to seal up and throw away the vacuum bag, as the vacuumed-up fleas can breed there and re-infest your home.

#4: Use Your DE

If you have Diatomaceous Earth, generously spread the powder all over the infested area(s).  If you don’t have any DE, you can use a 1:1 mixture of baking soda and salt.  This works just as well to dehydrate the pesky demons, it just takes a little while longer to work than DE.

Now wait at least 2 days for DE and at least 4 days for the baking soda/salt mixture.  Try your best to avoid these areas completely during this time.  Then vacuum up everything and throw away the bag.

You can also use this method for your furniture if you have a hand-held vacuum to clean it up with once all the fleas are dead.  I just find the steaming method to be a bit easier.

#5: Are They Gone?

Now for the moment of truth: you need to check if the fleas are all gone.  Just go stay in the hopefully no longer infested area like you did before and wait.  If you feel no biting/itching after a few minutes, the fleas are gone.

CONGRATULATIONS!

If you still feel itchy, no big deal.  As long as you kept the area clear of any and all fabrics like I told you to, all you have to do is re-steam any upholstery and spread some more DE over the carpet.

If you didn’t, well then you’ve got to wash everything again.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Some More Tips

• It’s a good idea to put some Diatomaceous Earth on your pets after their oil bath for extra insurance.  Once the fleas are gone, you should continue to spread the DE into their fur at least once a week to prevent another infestation.

• If you don’t have any pets and the fleas got in on their own, you should mix the DE with water and spray it around your doors, windowsills, and any other areas where bugs are likely to get in.  This is a good idea even if you do have pets.  You can never be too careful!

• Vacuum your carpets everyday for about a week once the fleas are gone to pick up any eggs that may be left behind.  For maintenance, aim for vacuuming at least once per week.  If you aren’t doing this already…

That’s It!

That’s all you need to do to get rid of fleas naturally.  It’s exactly what I did last summer and this summer to destroy the fleas on my pets and in my home.

And I could have easily prevented this year’s infestation by spraying the yard and my pets with DE, but I plumb forgot.  After this annoyingly itchy start to a sweet summer, I definitely won’t be forgetting again next year!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze