Here we are again; holiday time. The time of the year when we travel more, shop more, visit more, eat more and spend more. For raw fooders, as well as the average citizen, it can be a stressful time.
Besides the inevitable and timeless family tensions that often crop up, raw fooders also have to come up with a way to deal with the dietary excesses commonly committed at tables worldwide.
There are many approaches ranging from staying away entirely to being overly aggressive, perhaps even a bit militant as you watch the people you love shovel forkfuls of low-fiber, animal fat laden, salty, sticky, low nutrition, miserably food-combined, enzyme-less stuff into their eagerly waiting mouths.
Perhaps you even have inadvertently created tension in the past with your “weird food ideas.” Or, perhaps you feel that you have been ‘attacked’ in the past by friends and family that just ‘don’t get it’.
How you handle family matters when it comes to food choices is of course entirely up to you. I will offer you some food suggestions that work well at holiday time -along with the advice that now is not the time to lecture, admonish, advise, teach, or otherwise position yourself to change your family’s lifelong eating habits.
Even if you do think that they are killing themselves.
You have heard this before, but it bears repeating: The best way to convert the ones you love to a healthier lifestyle is by being such a paragon of glowing health and good humor yourself that they will be attracted and begin to ask how you have achieved this.
Being an example of what you would like for them to be is the most effective way to communicate this lifestyle. Or to put it another way: Be The Change You Want to See in the World.
That decided, you need only to figure out how you are going to eat and enjoy yourself at the annual family Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Kwanzaa, Chanuka, Hanukkah, or Boxing Day gathering.
For starters, tell your host that you will be bringing the soup, the salad and the dessert. If they protest; then just show up with a salad and a dessert. For everyone; not just yourself. Or, if you want to be utterly tactful, mysteriously announce that you shall be happy to create a light first course that it is gourmet, cosmopolitan and chic.
The final ingredient that I recommend for a harmonious holiday season is a non-judgmental attitude. Be sure to bring it with you.
Acting repulsed or making negative remarks at the sight of turkey or roast beef can’t serve anyone. Think back to when you ate these things and remember that life is a journey and we are not all on the same path.
To speak in any way disparagingly because they have not grown and changed as you have defeats not only the purpose of the true Christian holiday celebration, but also minimizes the possibility that your loved ones will ever change through your example.
Holiday is a good day to make no comments whatsoever on the eating habits of those whose company you are in. It would be an equally good day for others to not speak about your food choices either. If someone does comment on your particular food choices, no matter what their tone-smile your biggest, happiest smile and simply say that you FEEL SO GREAT on this diet, and that it SEEMS to be working for you, and so as long as it continues to, you’re sticking to it.
As soon as you hear yourself using the word “You” as in You should try it, it will help your: chilblains, cancer, obesity, cholesterol, attitude, depression, dropsy, indigestion, skin problems, wrinkles, gas pains, infertility, marriage, athletic ability, sex-life, know that you have entered the danger-zone of lecture mode.
Be nourished by the love that is in your family, and give them the gift of your true loving self.
Blessings to you all at this 2010 holiday season and throughout the coming year too.
Nomi Shannon is an award winning author and world renowned coach. Her best selling book, The Raw Gourmet, has sold over 150,000 copies. Her second book, Raw Food Celebrations (with S.Duruz), is flying off the shelves at bookstores worldwide.
In 2008 Nomi received three Best of Raw Awards for Best Raw Educator, Favorite Raw Chef and Favorite Raw Book.
In 2009s Best of Raw, Nomi placed in the top 5 in five categories: Best Educator, Chef, Blog, Online Store and her personal favorite, Funniest Raw Woman.
She’s not only a certified Hippocrates Health Educator. She actually ran The Hippocrates Health Institute’s Certification Course back in the early 1990’s.
Raw since 1987, Nomi has been featured in Alive magazine, Get Fresh, San Diego North County Times, Galveston News, as well as numerous radio shows and other media.
Nomi is known for teaching people proven steps to keeping — or regaining — vibrant health. Her website The Raw Gourmet offers breakthrough information, product reviews, delicious recipes, an enewsletter and an online course — all free of charge. She also offers downloadable courses, her books, raw kitchen equipment, DVDs, phone consultations and live classes.
Since there’s conflicting information about what’s the “best” raw food diet, many raw fooders wonder what to eat. Nomi shows people a simple path to thriving on raw food and leaving the confusion behind. Just as important, she empowers people to whip up delicious meals quickly and easily, turning newbies into thriving home chefs practically overnight.
Nomi’s fans and customers are waiting with bated breath for her upcoming program “What Did You Eat Last Week?” This is a project comprised of weekly food diaries of raw foodists both famous and everyday folks, as well as interviews and recipes involving various aspects of media.
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