Hogwash, I say!

Check out my latest video below for all the delicious and nutritious fruits and veggies I eat during the cold winter months.

What a Low Fat Raw Vegan Eats in the Winter

How About Yourself?

What delicious raw foods are you enjoying this winter? Let me know in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking to go raw so you can achieve permanent weight loss, optimal digestion, abundant energy, and optimal overall health, well-being, and longevity? Check out my how-to go raw guide + cravings-crushing program…

“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

In How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All, you’ll learn all you need to know about going raw the RIGHT way and eradicating your cooked food cravings for good.

Click on the lick below to learn more and purchase your copy today:

===> www.CookedFoodCravings.com

Trust me, I went raw DURING the winter and it was brutal!

Over the past 5 winters that I’ve been raw, I’ve discovered one weird tip that has helped me endure (and even kind of enjoy) the cold winter weather.

Hopefully it will help you, too!

One Weird Tip for Enduring the Winter Weather While Raw

How Do You Manage the Winter Months?

Got a tip for staying warm during the winter? Let me know in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking for more tips and tricks for getting healthy and fit with raw foods? As a member of the Rawkin’ Raw Club, you’ll gain access to several bonus videos, one of which I call The R.A.W.K.I.N.G. Way to Go Raw.

“The Rawkin’ Raw Club”

Providing the Education, Motivation, & Support You Need to Go Raw, Get, Fit, & Live Naturally

In this 84-minute video, I’ll show you all you need to know to get started on the right raw food path. You’ll get answers to several burning questions like:

• What’s the problem with nuts and seeds?
• How much fat is too much?
• What about greens? How much do I need to eat?
• Should I worry about calories?
• What about exercise?

To learn more about this and everything else that comes with a Rawkin’ Raw membership, follow the link below:

==> www.RawkinRawClub.com 

Have Yourself a Raw Vegan Christmas

Lyrics

Have yourself a raw vegan Christmas
Let your weight be light
From now on, 
that belly will be out of sight

Have yourself a raw vegan Christmas
Change your life today
From now on, 
all illness will be miles away

Here we are eating fruit and greens,
feeling fresh and clean and clear
Cooked food feasts that were dear to us
Now just sicken us this year

Through the years, we’ll stick with our raw feasting
If we do it right
Don’t forget to eat as much as you like
And have yourself a raw vegan Christmas now

Merry Christmas!

Swayze

P.S. It’s hard to have a raw vegan Christmas with all the cooked food feasting going on, isn’t it?

The casseroles, the cookies, the cakes and pies…

But what if you weren’t tempted by any of it? What if you were completely satisfied with your delicious and healthy raw meals? Would staying raw this Christmas be hard at all?

Nope, it wouldn’t. Now the question is…

How do you stop craving cooked and start wanting raw? I’ll show you how in my cravings-crushing program…

“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

In this newly expanded edition of How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings, you’ll learn exactly how to do the raw diet right AND be completely cravings free!

To learn more about everything that’s included and order your copy today, click on the link below:

==> www.CookedFoodCravings.com

Although we still have about 3 weeks to go, it’s already starting to feel like winter weather here in West Tennessee.

The high is hovering around 55 degrees and the low is getting into the 30s.

I know it could certainly be colder (and wetter), but it’s still far too chilly for me!

Anyway, I realized the other day that this will be my third winter on a raw food diet.  While my past attempts at staying raw during the winter haven’t always been successful, I do have some useful tips for you that may help out with your own raw food endeavors this winter.

So here ya go…my top 3 rules for surviving a winter gone raw.

Raw Rule #1: Get Creative in the Kitchen

Unless you’re one of those lucky devils who get to live 6 months out of the year in the tropics (Frederic, I’m lookin’ at you!), you know that locating even decent quality fruit and veggies during the winter months can be a bit challenging.

It’s so easy to find perfectly delectable produce when the weather is warm and just mono-meal it all summer.  During the winter, the fruit is not as plentiful or always at its best.

It can be more than frustrating when you are trying to go raw and all you have to eat are bananas that won’t ripen properly, pesticide-ridden grapes, tasteless tomatoes, and wilted romaine lettuce.

The best way to combat this is to get yourself in the kitchen and start making some recipes. This may seem daunting at first, but it’s actually quite simple.  As long as you choose raw ingredients that you enjoy on their own, you really can’t go wrong!

Inspired by a simple fruit plate my Aunt served for me this Thanksgiving, I’ve discovered a delicious fruity combination of blueberries and pomegranate seeds. With a little creativity and some frozen fruit (see rule #2), I can now re-create this combo over and over again and in multiple different ways this year.

Here’s one delicious example I came up with…

Bomegranate Plueberry Blast

• 3 bananas
• 2 cups of wild blueberries
• 2 cups pomegranate juice

Blend and enjoy.

Lucky for me, I now have someone to do the creating and prep work for me. My wonderful mother/chef has decided to start playing around with healthy raw food dishes this winter!

And you know I’ve been spurring her on. I’ve made sure to give her all my best and healthiest raw recipe books and send her the links to all the best raw recipe websites.

There’s certainly some good raw food eatin’ headed my way!

Raw Rule #2: Frozen Foods

I know it sounds weird…

Cold Climate + Frozen Foods = One Freezy, Weezy Raw Foodist!

Hear me out on this one.

I’m not telling you to buy frozen foods in order to eat them frozen. I’m encouraging you to buy frozen because it adds variety to your less than exciting winter fare.

As you know, the variety of produce available during the winter months is rather limited, especially for those of you living in northern climates. And even the fruit that is available isn’t always the best quality.

That’s where frozen fruit comes in. Because the fruit is frozen when ripe, little freshness, nutrient, or taste is lost. That means you get to enjoy scrumptious, vibrant, and nutritious warm weather fruits like strawberries and mangoes in the dead of winter!

So how do you incorporate frozen foods into a raw food diet?

First, don’t eat them frozen. Not only will this drop your body temperature tremendously, but doing so on a regular basis can potentially affect your intestinal flora (which has a direct affect on vitamin B12 absorption).

You should definitely thaw the fruit in the fridge or on the counter before consuming.

Second, use frozen fruits to liven up your tasty new winter recipes (you did read raw rule number 1, didn’t you?)! I love adding frozen strawberries and raspberries to my banana smoothies.

The Costco here carries these amazingly delicious frozen bags of wild blueberries. It’s great because it means I can make my favorite Banana-Blueberry-Orange Blast Smoothie even when it’s 30 degrees outside!

You can also use frozen fruits in delicious fruit puddings, salad dressings, and many other tasty raw recipes!

Winter Rule #3: Get in Your Greens

Actually, this is a must-follow rule for anytime of year. Unlike fruit, greens and other vegetables are high in minerals like iron and calcium so it’s very important to include these foods in your raw food diet.

However, getting in your greens is especially important during the winter months because it keeps the cooked food cravings at bay. There isn’t a more hearty, satisfying, yet still totally healthy way to end the day than with a ginormous super salad.

And when I say “ginormous,” I mean the largest salad bowl you have ever seen:

My Salad Bowl & a Weeny Cereal Bowl for Comparison

I fill this baby up with greens (romaine and butter lettuce are my favorites), cherub tomatoes, spiralized cucumber, grated carrots, cilantro, bell pepper, jicama, and maybe some sweet fruit like persimmon, apple, or grapes for extra color and flavor.

Another benefit to eating salads?

They really help to stave off cravings, especially for salt.  Eating fruit all day, even the non-sweet fruits, can leave you wanting something a bit more savory by the time dinner rolls around.  A tasty, hearty, savory, and super nutritious salad can really help to round out a healthy dinner meal.

What if you really don’t like salads?  I highly recommend Roger Haeske’s Savory Veggie Stews.  They are extra filling and tasty and since they are blended, they are extra easy to eat and assimilate.  Plus, they take less time to make than a salad because you can put all the ingredients into the bender instead of having to prep everything.

You can check out the SVS idiot-proof recipe system at the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/ygwwahs

Update 2011

Since this article was published, I’ve now survived four winters eating mostly or all raw foods. My last two winters were completely raw and even though it gets pretty cold here in West Tennessee, I didn’t have any trouble maintaining my diet.

In fact, as long as I get outside (even if it’s below freezing) and get all the sunshine I can, I don’t mind the cold months that much at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I do prefer warmer weather. But if I make an effort to stay active outdoors, the winter is much more manageable for me.

Oh, and I recently upgraded my salad bowl to this big beauty by Pampered Chef…

It’s much bigger, but much lighter than the glass bowl I was using before and is very easy to clean and store. I love it!

Any Advice?

Got some more tips for staying raw during the cold winter months? Please leave ‘em below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking for more delicious raw recipes to help you survive a winter gone raw? Check this out…

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

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

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

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

But what can you do to make sure you don’t catch it again the next time the common cold is going around?

Get Healthy

Many people falsely believe that catching a cold is inevitable. All it takes is contact with just one person who has a cold and it’s “Welcome to Sicksville!” for you.

Nope, not true.

The cold virus, like any living entity, can only survive in an environment that is conducive to its survival. This means an environment that is already overrun with toxins and can’t do much to fight off the new infection.

It means a body that is already sick.

But a body that is healthy and fit will have no problem fending off the cold foe. And there are several ways you can make sure your own body is healthy and fit:

Diet

As I mentioned in my article on getting rid of a cold, what you eat is very important to the length and severity of your cold.

Not only that, what you eat also plays a major role in helping you avoid a cold in the first place! By eating a healthy raw vegan diet that focuses on fruit and tender greens and limits overt fats, you will automatically avoid (or at least severely limit) toxic foods like meat, cheese, milk, and processed carbohydrates.

These foods only serve to wear out your major organs and make you more susceptible to the common cold virus, as well as several other modern-day diseases and disorders.

Exercise

I’m sure you know how important exercising is to helping you avoid a cold. The immune-boosting benefits of moving your body have been shown time and time again in study after study.

Studies just like this one.

If you want to be healthy, you have to exercise. If you want to be fit, you have to exercise. If you want to avoid the common cold, you have to exercise.

Most importantly, you have to exercise on a regular basis. That typically means about an hour a day, 5-6 times per week. But you can definitely get great results doing short but intense workouts.

Sleep

Although ignored by the majority of us, sleep is vitally important to your overall health. According to this study, people getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night were more likely to catch a cold than those who slept at least 8 hours per night.

I can personally attest to the power of a good night’s sleep. After over two years without catching a single cold or flu, I experienced cold symptoms (e.g. runny nose, sore throat, achy muscles) that lasted a few days.

What change caused the cold? I had spent the previous few months working too hard and getting far too little sleep (down from nine hours per night to around six).

Sunshine

Vitamin D has become very popular as of late, especially when it comes to avoiding a cold.

One study in particular analyzed blood levels of vitamin D from almost 19,000 Americans. Of those participants, the ones who had the lowest levels of vitamin D also reported experiencing more cases of cold and/or flu symptoms.

The best way by far to get in the mighty D is to get some sun! Experts agree that it only takes 15-30 minutes of sunbathing each day to easily meet your vitamin D needs.

And there’s no need to worry about the lack of sun during the winter. Since vitamin D is fat-soluble and therefore storable by the body, it is possible to get enough during spring and summer to hold you over during the colder months.

There’s More…

Getting healthy isn’t just about what you eat, how much you move, the quality of sleep or the amount of D you get. There are many other factors that effect your overall health and your suseptibility to illness, such as fresh air and clean water.

So if you want to avoid the common cold, as well as countless other illnesses that plague so many of your fellow brethren, you have to live an uncommon life. You need to eat right, exercise, sleep lots, and lay out in the sun a time or two.

You need to take care of yourself and you need to do it TODAY!

Go raw, be fit, and stay well,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for healthy and delicious raw recipes that can help you go raw and avoid the common cold? Be sure to check out my 100% raw vegan recipe book:

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

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