Resolutions… New Year’s Resolutions… Doesn’t that just bring up weird emotions like guilt, resentment, and so on? Yuck, no thanks.

This year I’ve decided to just pick one word to guide me in 2010 (inspired by Goddess Leonie!). If I had to pick a word for last year, it would probably be the word: growing.

I grew a bountiful garden, grew my raw food business, and planted some roots in my new home in Toronto, Canada.

Word for 2010: Confidence

One thing that has been monumental in all of these endeavors was confidence. As a Virgo, I tend to let things affect my self-confidence, even though I know better intellectually.

Growing a garden takes confidence because you need to trust that the seeds you plant will grow into delicious food for you and your family. You also need to have confidence that the squirrels and bugs won’t get all of it before you do.

Growing a business definitely takes confidence. I spent far too much time second guessing myself and my business decisions last year. No more. I know what needs to be done, how to make things happen, and how to serve people. I just need to trust in my ability to do it, without doubting myself.

Moving to Toronto didn’t take that much thought, I mean it was the logical step. However I let myself get sucked into the uncertainty that we might not be living in Toronto for a long time and that derailed me. Now I say live in the moment and don’t worry, because 90% of worries never materialize anyways.

Things to Let Go Of

Along with a word and theme for 2010, I’m also making a list of things that I am ready to let go of. I’m giving myself permission to release these things.

• My need to constantly be on the look-out for the next best thing, the next best idea, etc. (This doesn’t mean I’m going to stop learning, but that I will learn in a more intentional way instead.)
• My crazy “fire hose in mouth” absorption of non-fiction books. Giving myself permission to read fiction for the fun of it.
• Guilt trips over not exercising enough.
• The need to always have everything under control. It’s not possible, and it would be too much to handle even if it was.
• All those “shoulds” that I hang over myself.
• My overbearing perfectionism. Good is good enough.
• Friends or acquaintances that no longer serve or nurture me.
• Trying to be uber-indepedent do-it-yourself superwoman all the time. I’m going to ask for help when I need it, and humbly receive it.
• Worry. No more worrying, it’s just bad mojo.

Now It’s Your Turn

I encourage you to come up with a word for 2010. It’s also a very empowering exercise to let go of things that no longer serve you.

If you’d like a little help to make this process more magickal, my dear friend Goddess Leonie has put together a delicious workbook and planner. Take a look!

Plan Your Year & Make Magick Happen in 2010

2010: Creating My Goddess Year workbook & planner is Goddess Leonie’s latest masterpiece! It’s filled with 40 pages of worksheets to help you dream, manifest, set your intentions, plan & cultivate your amazing new year.

It’s handwritten & illustrated… perfect for you to print out, soak up the rainbow colors of, and make 2010 your gorgeous goddess year.

This makes the best self-nurturing gift for all of you busy-ladies who have a hard time to take time for yourself. (That includes me!) Check out the beautifulness. :)

May Your 2010 Be Truly Magickal!

Naomi & I

One of the questions I hear often is how do you stay raw when you eat out at restaurants? There are a pieces to this puzzle, so tag along with me as I explain my rationale.

I was inspired to answer this particular question today, because I had a great time meeting up with fellow bloggers and twitter friends last night.

With great company like Naomi & Jamie Dunford, Lynn, Mark, Jon, and Russell & Maggie food was the last thing on my mind. Yet the question still lingers…

How to Pick the Right Restaurant

Picking the right type of restaurant is important, especially if you are going with people who aren’t all raw or who don’t know you’re raw.

The idea is to go for a type of restaurant that has salads. Or at least some sort of non-cooked vegetable options. This usually rules out some of the Indian, and Asian restaurants. Those tend to have vegetarian or vegan options (great if you’re not 100% raw) but not so many raw options.

I recommend you check out Italian restaurants, steak joints (really!), mexican restaurants (for guacamole), and other restaurants that happen to serve salads.

How to Order a Raw Plate Without Stressing Yourself Out

Now the tough part when it comes to ordering at a regular restaurant is not getting caught up in your mind games.

What do I mean by that?

It’s something that I’ve noticed happening in my own mind quite a few times, and that other people seem to pick up on.

When you look at the menu, you’ll be tempted to say:

“Screw it, I don’t have to eat raw tonight!” and just order something else to fit in or reward yourself. (Rewarding yourself with food is a whole ‘nother blog post!)

If you do order a salad and other people ask you questions like:

“Don’t you feel like having something else? Aren’t you sick of eating salads?”

You’ll start feeling left out, kind of down, or just plain jipped.

I seriously encourage you not to fall into that trap. The truth is that every time I order a salad at a decent restaurant, I’m really happy with it.

I tend not to enjoy restaurant salads if they are “cheaper restaurants” because then you get a few pieces of iceberg lettuce and two non-ripe tomato slices on top. (Think truck stop restaurants here.)

But with higher end restaurants or steak houses you’re going to be getting some quality veggies.

Making a Special Request

What I’ve had success with is asking the waiter for something special with my salad. Here are a few examples of orders I’ve made at restaurants that have made my experience much better.

Double Your Salad Order

I ordered two “house salads” and asked them to be put into one big bowl. The waitress asked if I was really sure about that… she probably didn’t get that request very often.

The house salad was about half the price of a regular entree, and to me it made sense to just double it and have a full meal. It turned out great, I felt satisfied, and I got lots of really great tasting greens.

Add Extra Veggies

Another great option is asking for vegetables that you see in other dishes or salads to be added to your green salad.

If you see that they have avocado in a sandwich, and they have red bell peppers as part of another dish, you can just ask them to throw some of these into your basic salad.

That adds bulk and really makes it a fuller meal for you. Sure, it might cost you a bit more but most salads tend to be on the less expensive side of the menu anyways.

Feeling Good About Your Choices

I often worry that I’m going to want to eat what other people have ordered. Honestly, this happened to me even before I went raw.

It’s just my monkey brain trying to convince me that my life isn’t perfect, and that I should be doing things differently.

The truth is that when I focus on the present moment, and commit to enjoying every bite of what it is I have in front of me, I really don’t care what other people order.

Now when people imply that the restaurant doesn’t have any good raw options I can say I’m really happy with my order.

More Importantly, You Should Enjoy Your Company

Jamie & Naomi

Remember that most of the time when we meet up with people at a restaurant, we are doing so to connect with people.

To enjoy each other’s company. To get to know each other. To share stories, laugh, and really treasure each other.

It shouldn’t be all about the food, though that can be fun too.

So the next time someone invites you out to eat, do a little research about the type of restaurant that has salads you might like, and go for it!

Enjoy your time together, and make the most of the present moment. It’s the only one you’ve got.

Since I am from Canada, a lot of people ask me how it’s possible to eat raw in the winter. I’m sitting here writing this article, while big fluffy snowflakes traverse the sky.

Most of the time, these questions come out of a desire to understand how it’s possible to eat foods that are cold, when you’re craving something warm and comforting in the winter.

I put together this short video explaining what I believe happens when we eat raw foods in the dead of winter, or in a cold climate.

Benefits Of Eating Raw Food In The Winter

• Although this isn’t scientific, it’s just my intuitive feelings about eating fruits in the winter, but here goes. Eating foods that were grown in the sunshine is like absorbing the energy of the sun, in my opinion.
• A single orange has probably seen more sun in its lifetime than we would during an entire winter.
• Eating raw foods keeps your immune system in top shape, so you can more easily ward off colds and other infections that make the rounds in the winter. This happens because you’re not overloading your digestive system with tons of complex foods, and most fruits contain tons of vitamins & minerals to keep your body immune.
• Raw foods can be warmed, without loosing their nutritious properties. For example, you can warm a raw soup on the stove or in your dehydrator, and if you keep it below 118F, you can enjoy warm and comforting raw foods.

The Environmental Effects

Photo by Julie Falk

One of the arguments that I hear the most when it comes to eating raw foods in the winter, is that you cannot eat locally.

Although a lot of people come to raw foods with the intention of reducing their ecological footprint, we need to be realistic when it comes to what we eat in the winter.

To be perfectly honest, if you live in a very cold climate, there will not be a lot of local foods available to you during the winter.

One alternative is to eat vegetables that were grown in a greenhouse. Of course, it takes energy to keep a greenhouse going, but you might reduce the amount of traveling that the produce requires to get to your door.

Whether you’re eating raw or not, you’re still going to be buying food items that are not local. For example, that pasta to you bought probably did not come from your neighborhood, or even your country.

Most of the foods we buy are packaged and shipped from faraway locations. You also have to take into account the amount of packaging that each of these processed foods require. Fruits and vegetables also use packaging, so it’s not really a convincing argument either way.

Still, you have fruits and vegetables that may be shipped from warmer locations. Although we all agree that it would be better to eat locally, we need to realize that living in the North means that we have a limited supply of food. We aren’t all hunters, and we can’t just migrate south, even though it would make our life easier.

The bread, rice, and pasta that you buy will likely have been shipped from far away. We’ve found ways to survive in cold places by importing the food we need to survive. Many animals do not survive the winter due to lack of food.

Some of the best things you can do to reduce your ecological footprint, is to grow your own garden in the summer. By growing your own produce, you are essentially offsetting some of the damage that you may have caused by buying overseas in the winter.

Another way to eat raw foods in the winter, is to pick a lot of local berries and fruits in the summer, and to freeze them for the winter. That way, you can still enjoy lots of smoothies made with local berries.

Photo by Julie Falk

Tips For Eating Raw In The Winter

• Take your food out of the refrigerator ahead of time, so it can warm to room temperature.
• Freeze fruits and vegetables in the summer for use during the winter. You can then put these in smoothies or to make raw ice creams. (If you like to eat ice cream in the cold months, that is!)
• Warm raw soups in your dehydrator or on your stove, as long as it’s below 118F it’s still considered raw!
• Make dehydrated treats that remind you of your favorite winter time snacks, they will be warm and gooey when they come out of the dehydrator.
• If you find yourself eating more in the winter, simply up your exercise. We all want to just curl up on the couch, but it can be revitalizing to move your body instead.
• If being all raw is too hard or expensive in the winter, revert to raw until dinner, while choosing healthy cooked alternatives for your last meal of the day.