Click here to view the embedded video.

This was the first time I had heard of this approach and I think it’s excellent.

Basically, Tonya advocates making a list of all of your favorite cooked foods. Only purchase your favorite foods and replace all your non-favorites with raw foods.

Keep your favorite foods in your house at all times and eat them whenever you like.

By only eating your favorite foods and replacing the rest with healthy raw foods, you will already be eating a substantially better diet without having to impose strict dietary rules on yourself.

Overtime, your taste buds will naturally become accustomed to the simpler whole foods you are eating. You will no longer desire your old favorites without any willpower on your part at all.

And Tonya is just so adorable and fun to watch!

So watch the vid and be the best raw foodist you can be!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. I would also like to add that the best raw foods to start incorporating into your diet are sweet fruits.  They are satiating, delicious, and nutritionally the most appropriate foods for humans.  And if you eat enough of them, even your MOST favorite cooked food treats will have no appeal whatsoever.

And if you’re finding it difficult to eat enough sweet fruit mono-meal style (one fruit at a time), don’t fret!  Give these tasty, fruit filled recipes in my raw recipe book a try!

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

Simply follow the link below to find out more and purchase the book:

Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes

Today I want to continue the discussion on perfectionism and its relation to diet. In particular, the low fat raw vegan diet.

I’ve noticed that many beginner raw foodists are obsessed with going raw perfectly. Instead of focusing on simply getting enough calories in from sweet fruit, the person is intent on implementing rules like “no more snacking between meals,” “no more dinners after 5pm,” “no more white sapote after labor day”…

Hehe.

While its important to get the basics right as early as possible (i.e. eating enough calories), this “attention to detail” often leads to unnecessary stress and complete inaction. The individual is so worried about getting his or her diet “just right” that they are too afraid to take the first simple step.

Here’s a Little Story…

When I first went raw, I hardly ate any organic produce. In fact, for my first year or so of being a low fat raw vegan, I bet less than 1% of my food was organic (maybe some organic greens or celery on occasion).

Much more often than not, I ate from the grocery store for a couple of reasons:

1. Organic produce where I live was ridiculously expensive.
2. The quality of organic produce was barely decent at best.

After paying $3 a pound for fine-on-the-outside, rotten-at-the-core organic apples on multiple occasions, you’d shun the organic stuff, too!

Anyway, my point here is that I did not strive for perfection from the beginning. I was new to raw and certainly new to eating fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

As long as the fruit was tasty, I really didn’t care where it came from! And if I had focused on getting all organic
fruit and vegetables, there’s simply no way that I would have had enough food (or money) to sustain myself.

I would not have stayed raw for very long.

Even today, I still don’t eat all organic, or even close to it.  And after the information I learned from that Penn & Teller episode, I don’t feel too bad about it.

That said, I do buy tons of local produce during the warm months and visit my local farmer’s markets whenever I can.  I don’t do this for perfection’s sake, but because shopping locally is how you get the tastiest fruit!

Prioritize Your Life

We can’t possibly do everything we want, need, or think we need to do in life. That’s why it’s essential to determine what is most important to you and prioritize accordingly.

And this is especially true for our diet plan.

As I mentioned earlier, I did not worry about eating organic produce right away. Just figuring out how much fruit to buy, where to put it, and how to eat it all was a big enough struggle!

If you’re new to raw, don’t stress yourself out over the little stuff right away. Learning to eat enough fruit and limiting your fat intake can be stressful enough without you having to worry about eating late dinners and snacking between meals.

Transitioning is an important part of the process and you can’t get things perfect right away.

Again, No One’s Perfect

No matter how long you stay raw, you will never “do” raw perfectly…whatever that means!

Take me, for instance. Like I said, I still don’t eat all organic foods. Most of my produce is still conventionally grown and certainly isn’t local.

Sometimes I even like to consume…*gasp*…frozen foods! When I eat smoothies, I like them cold and so sometimes I add ice or frozen fruit to the mix.

My poor intestinal flora!

And how about the other health factors?

Let’s see, I stay indoors on the computer quite a bit, sometimes I skimp on sleep, I don’t get much sunshine during the winter…

And I’m sure as heck not always “emotionally poised!”

Life’s a Journey

As corny as that sounds, it’s so true. I’m always amazed at how far I have come in terms of health and self-development in the past 4 years or so.

To think that this fruit-loving fitness fanatic was a junk food couch potato just a few years ago is pretty amazing.

And I’m sure you have gone through a similar transformation in your own life!

So whenever you find yourself obsessing over the little stuff, just remember that achieving health is an ongoing process. It’s something that we are constantly working at and tweaking every single day of our lives.

And while we can’t ever be perfect, we can always improve.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

No one was really surprised by either win, thanks to the sheer athleticism, power, and track record of both players.  But EVERYONE was dumbfounded by the match that began Tuesday, June 22, 2010 and finally ended Thursday, June 24, 2010.

When it was all said and done, American John Isner finally beat French player Nicolas Mahut after 11 hours and 5 minutes spread over 2 days.  The score came to 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6 and 70-68!

John Isner

That’s a total of 183 games played!!!

I think there’s a lot we can learn from John Isner and his glorious win.  And you know I can relate it to a low fat raw food diet somehow!

#1: Game Plan

If you want to be a professional/expert in any field, you have to have a game plan.

In tennis, the goal is simple: WIN!  But you must have a PLAN for winning.  You have to know when it’s the right time to serve big, to hit cross court, to slice, etc.   You also have to know your own limitations.

And this plan will change based upon the opponent and the playing conditions (whether you’re playing on clay or grass, if it’s windy outside, etc.), not to mention the physical and mental condition of the athlete himself/herself.

Raw Food Related

When going raw, the game plan also seems simple: stay raw!  But the details vary from person to person:

• What are my favorite fruits and greens?
• How much fruit do I need each day?
• Am I ready to give up salt?
• Do I want to go 100% raw?

All of these questions and more should be answered in your raw game plan.  And it may even change depending upon the given situation, i.e. when you’re traveling, at a restaurant, etc.

It all depends upon you and the dietary goals you set for yourself.

#2: Focus

In order to stick to his game plan and win the match, Isner had to be incredibly focused.

If he wasn’t, he would have been so easily distracted.  There’s the large and looming crowd, the cameras, the commentators.  It’s enough to make anyone lose their concentration and forget all about their game plan!

Raw Food Related

When going raw, you have to be focused too!

Sure, it’s pretty easy to stay raw when you’re in the comforts of your own home.  It isn’t quite the same when you’re out and about, attending lunch and learns, going out to eat with friends, visiting family members during the food-frenzied holidays, etc.

That’s when you have to bring your A-game and stay super focused on the game plan you created for yourself.  A little index card with your raw reasons printed on it and slipped into your back pocket/purse to refer to is a big help here.

#3: Action

There’s a reason athletes of all kinds play their sport of choice for multiple hours a day.  This is how you put both your game plan and your mental focus into action and really hone your skills.

Not only that, but you start to form habits.  Before the athlete knows it, he no longer has to think about watching the ball hit the racket or pronating when he serves.  It becomes automatic.

Raw Food Related

When going raw, you actually have to GO RAW!  I say that in all seriousness because so many people become inactive because of information overload.  They read books upon books upon books about going raw, but just never get around to actually deciding on a program and doing it.

You can have all the knowledge about raw foods in the world, but it won’t mean diddly squat if you don’t actually put it to good use.

If you want to go raw, you have to take that first step.  And it can be as tiny or as giant as you like.  You may even find after giving a raw food diet a go that you need to adjust your game plan.

For instance, maybe you set the bar high with a plan to go 100% low fat raw vegan without any salt, spices, or condiments of any kind.  After a few days, you realize this is a bit unrealistic for you and your current lifestyle so you decide to cut back to a 75% low fat raw vegan diet instead.

Once you stick to a game plan consistently for a bit of time, it will get easier and easier.  Making a big banana smoothie for lunch or having your favorite juicy fruit followed by greens for dinner will just be automatic.

Let’s Recap

If you want to be a successful raw foodist, you have to:

1. Set a raw game plan you can stick to
2. Stay focused on your game plan
3. Put your game plan and focus into practice

We can’t all be tenacious tennis champs, but we can ALL be radiant raw foodists!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

* What’s New?: NOW I’m Back

* Feature Article: My Dog is a Raw Foodist ( and SO CAN YOU!)

NOW I’m Back

Hey gang!  Here’s my little niece, Jet, rockin’ out in her brand-new fairy dress on her 5th birthday:

Jet Jammin’ on the Drums

As I mentioned last time, my big sis, brother-in-law, and niece came to visit for a few weeks recently.  It was so, so great seeing them again.  My Mom and I are actually planning to go visit them for a week or so this fall in Southern California.

I’m so excited!  I’ve never been anywhere west of Arkansas!

Anyway, my hiatus is fully over so expect lots of quality content to come.  Speaking of, enjoy the following article and some cute and cuddly animal pics.

Swayze

My Dog is a Raw Foodist (and SO CAN YOU!)

I have a dog named Bean Dip.  That’s right, Bean Dip (long story).  She’s a 12 year old Border Collie and she’s the best dog ever.  She’s super intelligent, really sweet, and just an all-around great furry friend.

What else makes her totally awesome?

She’s a raw foodist (3 years this November) and a fruit lover just like you and me!

Check it out:

Bean Dip Noshin’ on Some ‘Nanas

She absolutely loves bananas and eats them mashed up like this every day.  She also really enjoys other calorically dense fruits like persimmons, when they’re in season, and grapes.

I know what you’re thinking: “I struggle so hard to eat enough fruit and stay raw.  What does this beautiful border know that I don’t!”

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

When Bean Dip first started eating bananas (she begged me for some while I was having lunch one day), she could only eat about two at one time.  Slowly but surely, I began increasing the amount I gave to her.  I would give her little bites at a time and she would eat about 5 bananas or so.

Then I realized it was much easier for her to eat if I mashed them up a little bit in a bowl for her.

Using this method, she nows eats between 8-10 bananas every afternoon, along with raw meat for breakfast and some other fruits during the evening.  That’s almost 1000 calories from bananas, the amount I eat during my own fruity lunch meal!

Take it from Beanie, you don’t have to go 100% low fat, high fruit, salt, spice, and condiment-free right away.  If you absolutely cannot get enough calories from sweet fruit right now, for WHATEVER reason at all, it’s no big deal.

Simply eat as much fruit as you can and slowly increase your intake as you feel comfortable.  Allow yourself time to play with recipes, find out your favorite fruits, and get used to the flavor of simple raw fruits and veggies without having to worry about being 100%.

You can even start the fool-proof way by having all the fruit you want for breakfast, while eating whatever you normally eat (cooked, high-fat raw, whatever) for lunch and dinner.

This is exactly the technique I recommend and explain in The Fool-Proof Transition to Raw, a free 5-day mini-course that you will receive by subscribing to my list.

If you haven’t subscribed, just fill out the form below:

Bottom line: If my dog can ruff it raw and fit in the fruit, I know you totally can too!

Go rrrr-aw and be rrrr-it,

Swayze

P.S. My cats are also raw and have been since 2007, but they stick to meat.  That said, here’s a pic of my maine coon, McGuirk:

McGurik Lapping Up Avocado

He also likes tomatoes, cantaloupe, grapes, and ASPARAGUS, of all the foul things.

* Feature Article: My Transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part III

My Transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part III

I ended My Transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part III last week with some of the initial benefits I experienced on raw and as well as my minute detox symptoms.

It’s now finally time to wrap things up with some advice I would offer my past self, as well as what I did right and how this all pertains to you.

My Advice to Myself

Knowing what I know now, here is what I would say to the Swayze of 2007:

*#1: Eat More Food*

Yep.  I know I’ve said it lot, but it’s true.  The key to being successful on a raw food diet is eating as much food as you care for (specifically fruit).

And all you weight-watchers out there, don’t worry.  You will still lose weight on such a diet.

And I’m not just saying this to toot my own horn or hear myself speak read my own words.  This is an important issue that I am constantly being reminded of.

I would say that my response to the vast majority of emails I receive – probably 75% – result in this simple response:

You need to eat more fruit.

Is it really any wonder that I have struggled with same problem myself?

And honestly, I was eating a good amount of calories on most days (just below 2000, which is the estimated amount that a person of my height, weight, and activity level needs).

That wasn’t the issue.

The issue was that I was still hungry!  Like many of you, I was coming from a diet of heavy caloric restriction (not to mention food with very little volume) and my body was literally calling out for more food and better nutrition.  I was still too caught up in the numbers and the “eat less, exercise more” mantra to realize it.

As a result, I would do fine for a couple of days.  Then the hunger would catch up with me and I would go binge crazy!

On the other hand, after my binge-heavy 2008 summer vacation, I started purposefully under eating on calories.  I wanted to get the excess weight off as quickly as possible.

Of course, this completely backfired.  Again, I would white knuckle for a few days, but then the lack of calories would get to me and I would eat, eat, eat anything in sight.

It wasn’t until I finally allowed myself to just eat as much as I wanted (in December of last year) that my cravings drastically decreased and, therefore, I stopped binge eating.

*#2: Slow it Down, Dude!*

This was posted on October 31, 2007 and was supposed to be my game plan for the next 30 days:

1. Between 15-18 pieces of raw fruit a day (blended or whole)
2. At least a pound of raw greens a day ( blended or whole)
3. Steamed/boiled vegetables w/ sea salt 3 times a week (i.e. corn, peas, broccoli, edamame, potatoes, etc.) for dinner
4. No more than 180 calories from fat every other day (i.e. nuts, seeds, avocados)
5. Dried fruits only on occasion
6. 6 ounces of decaffeinated tea w/ 1 tsp of honey once a day is permissible

This means…

1. No meat
2. No cheese
3. No dairy
4. No grains
5. No legumes
6. No caffeine
7. No processed foods (except honey in tea)

This was a great plan for me because it allowed me to eat high amounts of fruit, which I was already slightly accustomed to anyway, while at the same time incorporating some transition foods (i.e. tea, steamed veggies, salt) to help me make it through.

I soon got impatient and started upping the ante.  By day 18, I had cut out all steamed foods and tea in an effort to cut back on cravings.

The problem here is that once I went 100% strict raw, there was no going back for me.  I felt stuck in the “all or nothing” mindset that I am so prone to.  If I decided to incorporate some transition foods again, I felt guilty because then I wasn’t 100% raw.

Then I felt deprived and that’s when my bingeing got really out of control and I began eating foods that I had not so much as looked at in months!

If  I had just taken it slow and kept at my original plan that was well-suited to me, I am sure I would have avoided a lot of stress, overeating, and mental anguish.

I think this is another reason why I was able to stick with raw in December 2008.  Not only was I eating as much as I wanted, I also consumed salt and spices if I desired them.  As an emotional eater, it helped to know that salt was not a forbidden food and, more importantly, that I could eat it *without guilt*!

What I Did Right

It’s been 2 years and 7 days and I’m still here.

Obviously I did something right…right?

*Dedication*

From the moment I began my journey to raw, I knew it would take some work.  I knew I would have difficult days.  I knew I would make mistakes here and there.

I was okay with all that and I was prepared for it.  More importantly, I was completely dedicated no matter what.

Going raw was my #1 priority.

So many people discover raw, jump right into it, and expect it to be a piece of cake.

I sometimes receive emails from people looking for that special something – kind of like the “ah hah” moment I briefly mentioned in Part III – that will quickly and effortlessly make them a 100% raw foodist.

They want to go raw at the snap of their fingers, without any extra effort.  They want to have their cooked cake and eat it too.

Sorry, but that isn’t possible.

A healthy raw food diet is simple, sure.  But there is a big difference between simple and easy.

Eating fruit all day, greens in the evening, and limiting your fat intake is a simple concept.  Eating this way in a household full of others who do not understand and do not support you is not always easy.

Eating a meal of just bananas is simple.  Ensuring that you have enough ripe fruit on hand requires knowledge and experience.

Preparing a green smoothie of banana and celery is simple.  Planning ahead for an upcoming social event – like Thanksgiving this Thursday, for instance – can be tricky.

I’m not trying to scare you away from raw or make it seem reserved for only a select few.  When compared to any other diet on the face of the planet, a low fat raw vegan one is by far the simplest, easiest and most rewarding diet around.

Is there any other dietary plan in which you can eat pounds and pounds of food day in and day out and still maintain a sleek, muscular, sexy physique and experience energy levels that rival those of a small toddler?

NO WAY!

Low fat raw vegan wins hands down, every time.

My point is that, just like with anything worth while in life, going raw requires a little extra work.

But if you are truly dedicated and remain focused on the long-term, you will work through it all in your own time and on your own terms.

My Advice to You

If you are struggling with maintaining a raw food diet, you can certainly learn from my mistakes.

To recap:

• Eat as much fruit as you want
• Develop a game plan and STICK TO IT
• Take it slow

And most importantly, make going raw your #1 priority.  It may require a little work on your part, but the numerous benefits you will receive will more than pay you back for all your hard work.

And your tummy and taste buds will love you for it.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze