3 months later.........photos

Hi Everyone

Long time no blog! It has been an amazing 3 months, rich and intense.

First up, I mentioned that I began going to the local gym to try and put some weight on. I also promised more photos of my progress. At the height of my fast I was 62.5kg, I then stabalised at 64.5kg and had trouble gaining any more weight on my version of Doug Graham's 80/10/10 diet, despite going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I also felt tired and less than 100% well - something was definitely missing from my diet. I began taking superfoods again to see if they would help and to be honest, they didn't do it for me. Then one day I had a huge craving for fish. I decided to trust my body rather than force a raw vegan ideal on it and the result was dramatic. Within minutes of eating the fish I felt energy and balance return to my body and I clear message that there was something in the fish which I needed. I know I will appear a heretic to some of my raw vegan and vegetarian friends and colleagues, however, fish once a week, raw or lightly steamed has made a huge difference to my health and sense of well-being. My diet is currently raw vegan apart from the weekly fish.

I can say from my own experience that for my body, Doug Grahams "One Size Fits All" 80/10/10 diet does not work for everyone. While I felt great initially on the 80/10/10 after a couple of months I felt depleted and ended up with my flu in over 5.5 years. For me the 80/10/10 is a great cleanse but not a sustainable diet.

From this experience I revisited William Wollcotts "Metabolic Typing Diet" to better understand why some people thrive on certain diets like the 80/10/10 and others suffer. Metabolic typing distinguishes 3 main body types, Carbohydrate, Protein and Mixed and while I do not agree with it all it seems to have some merit. I am a mixed type and do well on a mostly raw vegan diet with a small amount of animal protein. According the Metabolic Typing principle, to do well on a vegan diet you need to be a Carbohydrate body type.

I have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing a combination of low repetition heavy weights (reaching muscle fatigue in 8-12 reps) x 4 sets. Plus some high rep classes like Body Pump as well as 20 to 40 minutes of cardio (running or Cross Trainer) A total of 1 to 1.5 hours per session.

How do I feel? Like superman! I knew that strenuous exercise made me feel good, though I didn't push myself on a regular basis. Having a program to work with and being consistent especially with the low rep heavy weights has made an enormous difference: I feel stronger, my posture has become more erect and my mind is clearer. Hard training on a regular basis really works for me.

What have I been eating?

I begin the day with a super charged green smoothie which includes three heaped tablespoons of hempseed protein powder, 1 tablespoon of bee pollen, 1 tablespoon of lucuma powder, 1 tea spoon of raw cacao nibs, 1 tea spoon of raw cacao powder, 1 teaspoon of raw cacao butter, 1 table spoon of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of Inliven superfood probiotic,1 teaspoon purple corn extract, 1 teaspoon AFA blue green Algae, 1/2 a drinking coconut (flesh and water) 5-6 bananas, 150g of leafy greens (baby spinach or kale) 500ml of alkaline water. Yum!

In case you were wondering where to find all these exotic superfoods North America cl.ick here and Australia cl.ick here

This smoothie sustains me for 4-5 hours!

Runi has a similar smoothie without the bee pollen (she is allergic to it) with Inliven and only one banana (she is a Proten Metabolic type and doesn't do so well on so much sweet fruit)

I am including more fat in my diet now, including a few handfuls of nuts and an avocado daily plus some coconut oil and cacao butter. I simply wasn't putting on any weight on a low fat 80/10/10 diet and eating the quantity of fruit suggested did my head in. I also eat lots of leafy green salads with sea vegetables like kelp and dulse.

Ok, I am sure you have all been waiting for the photos :-) The photo on the left was taken on day seven of a fast and after 3 months on the 80/10/10 diet - I weighed 62.5kg. The other photos are take three months later at 70kg. My goal was 72kg, though I may even try on 75kg as I feel great having some muscle and Runi likes it! By the way, my body turns 47 in one weeks time.

We have been very lucky to have help in creating a new fantastic Green Smoothie Challenge website which will be operational early next week. If you haven't done the challenge or would like to revisit it the next official dates are September 7th to 20th 2008. Its a free inspirational online health program in which over 2000 people have participated so far. www.greensmoothiechallenge.org

Hep C update
For those of you with Hep C, I have been able to keep my liver healthy on a raw food diet without the usual recommended liver herbs - I have had normal liver function readings for over 4 years now and no sign of swelling, fibre or fatty deposits in ultrasounds. However, I do still have a high viral load. My goal is to be 100% free of the virus itself and I am presently experimenting with MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) Jim Humble the main MMS advocate claims it can clear and extraordinary number of diseases including Aids, hep C and malaria to name a few. I will let you know how I go. For more info visit http://www.miraclemineral.org/

Enjoy life to the max!

Blessings to all

Anand

What is wrong with this picture?

Just wanted to share this picture I took at the local shopping centre.

It looks innocent enough, however, on close inspections it shows that this bakery chain are selling pink buns, filled with sugar, white flour and artificial colourings and are then giving 100% of the profits are going to Breast Cancer Australia Network. So what is wrong with that picture? Well, for a start they are selling nutritionally dead food with ingredients which would probably feed cancer plus a myriad of other conditions from obesity to diabetes.

It reminds me of a Tim Tam campaign for breast cancer which was happening a few months ago. Well meant intentions no doubt, but to me totally bizarre seeing junk food companies supporting cancer organisations!

I went to the Breast Cancer Australia network website and suggested there was a certain incongruity here. I will let you know their response. I also told them about the free Green Smoothie Challenge which begins this Wednsday May 21st.

Be well

Anand

The unexpected, fasting and the flu

Wow, just got home from a 6am Pump class at the Gym and am still shaking! Runi and I joined the Murwillumbah gym last night. It's the first time I have ever been a member of a gym. I always preferred exercise which came from from fun activities like surfing, tennis, squash, never exercise for the sake of exercise. I found that way too boring. Anyway, I really recognise that an amazing raw food diet is not enough for extraordinary health. Daily strenuous exercise is a must.

This photo is from the first class we held in our home on April 6th. We loved being able to do the class from our own kitchen! Runi is presenting a talk on Green Smoothies.

I mentioned in the last post that I was going to build muscle as my weight had dropped since I stopped surfing regularly and adopting a hybridised version of Dr Doug Grahams low fat 80/10/10 diet. Well, that was April 16th. Since then things didn't go as planned. I was reading Paul Braggs "Miracle of Fasting" and decided it was time to experiment with some light fasting (something I have mostly avoided- I love food and don't enjoy how I feel when fasting) Nearly all the health pioneers I respect all agree just on one thing - fasting is the quickest way to heal the body, full stop. So I committed to water fast one day a week to begin with. The first day went well, but when I began to eat the next day I didn't feel well. That night I came down with a fever and aching. I thought I must be detoxing from the fast. So I decided to go back on the water fast - again most of the health pioneers agree that at the first sign of a cold, flu or any illness, fasting is the quickest way to move through it. After 4 days and nights of sweating and aching I realised this was more than detox - I had got my self a good old fashioned flu! I hadn't even experienced a sniffle or cough for 5.5 years so it was a bit of a shock to feel so ill. Anyway the fever stopped after 5 days, and I felt cleansed and weak. I fasted for a total of 7 days the last 3 on green juice and water and my weight dropped to 62.5kg. I am nearly 6 feet tall! So much for building muscle :-)

What I directly learned from the experience is that stress is toxic. I have been working unbelievably hard this year and only exercising spasmodically. I believe this left me open to a virus. After 5.5 years with no illness I thought I was bullet proof and could push my body as hard as I liked without consequence.

I am going go out on a limb here and expose myself - here is a photo of me at 62.5kg after 7 days fasting. It looks bad, I know, however, I am totally sold on the benefits of fasting. During the fast a cut on my forhead healed in record time, my skin and eyes became incredibly clear despite having a virus and I feel transformed on some deeper level. Fasting seems to have a strong spiritual aspect to it, which is very mysterious. Its funny, many people around me were very concerned that I was fasting: as a culture we seem to link fasting to starvation and illness, when in my experience the exact opposite is true!

I am now up to 64.5kg and am aiming to get up to 72kg - on a raw vegan diet. More photos to follow!

(An interesting aside: While there is some great info in Paul Braggs "Miracle Of Fasting" I have to let you know that I did some research into Paul and discovered that he told many lies about his early life experiences and also lied about his age. I always thought that he died in his 90's from a surfing accident. Birth records show he was actually 14 years younger than he claimed and he died at the age of 77!) I was disappointed that he felt the need to lie to promote himself and his business)If you are interested See what Wikipedia has to say about Paul

Green Smoothie Challenge Update
The first free Green Smoothie Challenge will be running from May 21st for 2 weeks. The website is nearly complete. I will let you know when you can officially register. Get your blenders ready!

Love and blessings

Anand

Am I really too thin?

Wow, it's been nearly 1 month since the last blog entry. In that time we have been to New Zealand to teach a class in Auckland to 50 mostly male executives, (see photo of our wonderful team in Auckland with Steve and Renata on the left) hot mud baths and thermal spas in Rotorua working on our not-for-profit community projects The Green Smoothie Challenge and Rawcovery, participating in the Self Expression and Leadership program with Landmark Education and generally taking it easy (not!)

ok, I am getting the message from all sides (including my beloved Runi) that I am looking too thin! Since I lowered my fat intake and stopped surfing I have lost 4kg. The funny thing is I feel great, but how I am often perceived is skinny. So what is the benchmark by which we judge someone as too thin? If we are to look at the average 46 year old Australian male, I must look malnourished. Interestingly the longest lived communities on the planet are all very lean and they consume an average 2000 calories of high quality food a day. The average Aussie consumes between 3500-4000 (mostly dead) calories a day In fact one Big Mac with fries and coke is 3500 calories alone!
Anyway, I am succumbing to the pressure and have decided to bulk out a little by working out at the local gym. I will keep you posted. Expect semi naked photos of me with rippling muscles :-)

Also, we have an wonderful opportunity for a leader to spearhead the amazing Green Smoothie Challenge. This is a wonderful opportunity to develop skills in running a not-for-profit community project which will really make a difference to the health of our communities. For more info call Anand on 0412 723 577.

To subscribe to this blog visit www.rawpower.com.au and fill in the blog form.

Lorne Class and Green Smoothie Challenge

We are now back from an awesome raw class and lunch for 150 in
Lorne, Victoria and are already preparing for Auckland. Again I would like to knowledge the incredible support we received, this time from my mum, Anne (on the right) my sister Catherine (third from left) who let us take over her kitchen for 2 and 1/2 days Geraldine (far left) and Shey 2nd from left. Holding a gourmet raw lunch and class for 150 is a huge operation and it went so smoothly - thankyou all!!!!!!


Green Smoothie Challenge
We have had an overwhelming response to the Green Smoothie Challenge. If you would like to volunteer in any way to help make this happen I would love to hear from you. You can email me at anandrah@gmail.com or call 0412 723 577 (Australia) or +61 412 723 577 for international calls. We are still looking for someone to build a simple website and someone to work on art work/logo.

In case you haven't heard I am involved in an awesome course called Self Expression and Leadership with Landmark Education and the course involves creating a non-profit community project. It is from this that I have created the “Green Smoothie Challenge” which aims to create the possibility of vibrant health and empowerment for all who participate. My goal is to have 5000 people drinking green smoothies by June 5^th 2008! and to record the results and testimonials and really increase public awareness of the amazing benefits of living foods and of course the Green Smoothie. We are going to hold national press releases across Australia and make sure this information reaches as many people as possible

If any of you have any feedback or suggestions I would love to hear. I have registered www.greensmoothiechallenge.org (not up yet) and will be giving away recipes and support. The world needs this information!!! Australia is a very sick country as are most other developed nations, and there is absolutely no reason it should continue to be this way.

Love peace blessings and deliciously good health!

Anand

Time flies........

I would like to publicly express gratitude for all the help we have received over the past few weeks. Holding large raw food classes is a team effort and we couldn't have done it without the amazing support we received in Adelaide from Sufio, Remedy Fiona and V and in Brisbane with Michael, Kate, Ishka and Neroli! Thankyou!!!!!!! xxxoooxxx

Wow, it's been over 2 weeks since our last blog entry. In that time we have held a corporate training class in Adelaide for 70 and a public class in Brisbane for 45 and at the same time we are beginning 2 community projects which are part of the Self Expression and Leadership program Runi and I are doing with Landmark Education! We are really excited about these non-profit community projects and they both provide a great opportunity for any of you who would like to contribute to the health and wellbeing of our communities in a meaningful way. Runi's project is "Rawcovery" and mine is "The Green Smoothie Challenge".
We will be sharing lots more about these as they come to life. In the meantime if you want to find out more we have shared them in detail in our most recent e-newsletter.

Tomorrow we leave for Melbourne to hold another corporate class for 150 at Lorne we are then back for 2 weeks before leaving for Auckland for another class - so please excuse any lapses in our blogging :-)

Cansema continued
2 blog entries ago I shared about this herbal concoction called cancema which is meant to eat away skin cancers. Since mentioning it I have received a couple of reports of people having not such good experiences with it - including scarring and infections. My experience has been positive so far and here is a photo of the scar after 2 weeks. I will let you know how it continues to heal and whether the growth I had above my eye returns.

Love and blessings to all

Anand

Raw class for 100 in a night club!

Hi we are just back from Terrigal after holding a class at the Crowne Plaza for around 100 managers for a large packaging company. It was a very different experience holding a class for an audience who were put in front of us with little or no knowledge of the living food lifestyle. I loved sharing the information regardless and I trust that those who were ready to hear it benefited. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention this class was held in a night club which was also an experience in itself.

We are off to Brisbane tomorrow to do the first day of the Self Expression and leadership course with Landmark Education. Then on Sunday we fly to Adelaide to hold another corporate class for 70 delegates from the same packaging company there. Back on Wednesday and then a public class in Brisbane on Saturday which is very close to booking out.

I am looking forward to spending some time at home in the garden!

Our next blog entry will probably be in one weeks time - stay tuned in.

Love, peace and amazingly good health

Anand

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