Day 1

Becoming Aware.

Everyday do the following:

Wake up and thank God for being alive and count all your blessings. This is the first step in living with gratitude which is at the heart of true joy.

Do ten Deep breaths to help your body eliminate toxins through your lungs.

Stand up, sit up straight, or lay on the floor*.  Exhale completely and fully through the mouth.  When you think you have pushed out all the air, push some more to get out any stale air still left in your lungs.  Then slowly inhale, through your nose, making sure your belly is filling with air.  Exhale again completely through the mouth and follow with another deep inhalation through your nose making sure that your belly is filling with air each time.  Do ten of these everyday, preferably in the morning.  You will want to also do some sort of exercise that you enjoy for 15-20 minutes everyday as part of your Living Well routine.

*If you are laying down, you can put a plastic bag full of rice or beans or another object similar and watch the bag go up and down to make sure you are filling your belly with air.  Filling your belly with air means you are expanding your diaphragm muscle completely.  The diaphragm muscle has been referred to as "the muscle of life" and it needs to be exercised just like all the other muscles in your body to stay in shape.  When we don't use our diaphragm muscle when we breathe, we breathe in a shallow way.  Shallow breathing does not allow the toxins to be removed completely and does not provide your body with sufficient oxygen.  Deep breathing is crucial and will give you a boost of energy at any time during the day when you need a little pick me up.  It also is great to do when dealing with cravings for not so healthy foods. 

Have a 16 ounce glass of water, as soon as you can, after you wake up.  

Dry brush your body. 

Exercise in the morning hours or at another time of day that you prefer.  You must move everyday.  Take a walk at the very least. 

Drink another 8-10 glasses of water throughout the day, preferably between and 10-15 minutes before meals. If 8-10 sounds like too much, drink FIVE. Try just five and work your way up.

Your Breakfast - Fruit until noon'ish' or add some protein if you need to.

Your Lunch:  raw foods and a Starch dish OR Protein dish of your choice.  You can make a dressing with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, OR coconut oil, OR essential fatty acids for your salad. 

Snack - When snacking, the best foods to eat are going to be the live ones (fresh vegetables).  In the afternoon, snacking on raw vegetables is ideal.  Or have fresh vegetable juice if you are fortunate enough to be around a juicer.  If you want something heavier, have a handful of nuts that have been soaked for at least 8 hours and then dried, or sprouted.  Soaking will get rid of the enzyme inhibitors that make digestion difficult and tax your body into making more enzymes.

If you want something more than vegetables in the afternoon, have some dip with them.  If you decide to eat a concentrated food with your vegetables, make it is very small amount.  Don't eat more than 1/3 to 1/2 cup of concentrated food.  You do not have to measure, but remember a snack is just that–a snack.  If you eat more than enough to take your hunger away, you will have food in your stomach when it is time for dinner.  It is best to let each meal digest completely and leave the stomach before adding more food.  And another important tip is that dinner will taste best when you are truly hungry.  When you are truly hungry, live foods taste lip smacking good!  This is a true test of hunger.  When you are really hungry, a real, live food will satisfy you easily.  Keep your snacks light so your energy levels will remain high and you can encourage weight loss.

Your Dinner:  raw food salad and a Starch dish OR Protein dish of your choice.  You can make a dressing with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, OR coconut oil, OR essential fatty acids for your salad. 

If there is one thing you will need to do from now on and until you leave this earth it is this:  Be aware at all times.  Begin to notice everything and everyone around you.  Notice people and their eating patterns.  Notice what they eat, when they eat, why they eat.  Look at their bodies.  Not just the outside, but realize that those thin people that wolf down garbage all day may not be healthy on the inside.  There are little signs.  Brittle hair and nails, dry skin on the elbows and heels on the feet, fine lines around the eyes and mouth and little pouches of fat on the tummy and thighs.  Everyone is held accountable for what goes into their body. Picture that everything that people ingest was really meant to nourish the body but notice how many times you see people put things into their body that don't nourish. 

Don't look at people in a critical way. 

Just notice all the things they do and also notice how you may be doing the same thing.  When you can recognize your own not so healthy behaviors, you are on the way to making changes.