Karen Knowler * The Raw Food Coach

Inspiration for Winter

For those of you who are experiencing “night” at 5pm these days – this is for you!
Right now, if you’re anything like me, you’re wondering one of two things:

“Where did the summer go?” or
“Where did 2009 go?”

Either way, you’re probably as shocked as I am that these dark nights have apparently fallen from nowhere and I don’t know about you, but I really do not want to venture out in the dark these days – I’m not sure if it’s an age thing, a female thing, or what... but it takes a lot to have me go out or stay out in the dark these days – during winter anyway.

I’m also finding that my energy is lower. I hate to admit it, but I’m really suffering from lack of quality sunshine and daylight – the good side of this is that I’m not working as many hours and I’m giving myself permission to take “me time” more than I have for a very long time. This means that I’m enjoying more mum time, more snuggle time, more reading time, some lovely hot baths,  and earlier nights – so there are some benefits!

But what else to do when there’s more darkness than daylight? Well, in the spirit of this week’s article I’m inviting you to use this time like all creatures in nature probably do, to go inwards and ask those bigger questions and get creative. NOW is the time to start planning out how you want your party season to look. NOW is the time to start creating Christmas cards or special presents. NOW is the time to start thinking about what’s made 2009 great and what you’d do differently. And NOW is the time to think about how you’d like 2010 to be. How magical and perfect can you make it?

Remember, your life is a canvas waiting for you to pick up the brush and paint. At any time you can wipe it clean, and create something new. Never forget that creativity is one of the most powerful and wonderful gifts that you’ve been given, and you can use it at any time of year to channel greater inspiration in to your life.

Researchers show junk food is “as addictive as drugs”

November 6, 2009 - Source: Natural Products Online

New research by US scientists will strengthen evidence that junk food is addictive and that prolonged consumption turns fast food eaters into junkies.

It has already shown that many commonly eaten junk foods can become a substitute for happiness. The latest research will show just how dangerous the junk food addiction can be.

The soon to be published study by Paul Kenny and his team at Florida’s Scripps Research Institute found that a diet of burgers, chips, sausages and cake will programme the brain into craving even more foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat.

The Scripps team fed rats either healthy food, a diet containing restricted amounts of junk food or a diet with unlimited amounts of junk food.  They found that the rats that ate as much junk food as they wanted quickly became very fat and started bingeing. There were no adverse effects on those fed the other diets. 

The researchers electronically stimulated the part of the brain that feels pleasure, and found that rats on unlimited junk food needed more stimulation to register the same level of pleasure as the animals on healthier diets.

After just five days the bingeing rats showed “profound reductions” in the sensitivity of their brains’ pleasure cells. They had quickly become used to the unhealthy food and, although they didn’t need it, ate more to make themselves feel happy.

The Scripps team believe theirs is one of the first studies to demonstrate brains may react in the same way to junk food as they do to drugs.

“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neuro-biological foundations,” said Paul Johnson, a member of Kenny’s team told the Daily Express. He added: “You lose control. It’s the hallmark of addiction,” he said.

‘Let’s Get Rawganized!’ vs ‘Successfully Raw Online Club’

From Katie, my Office Manager:

Many of you have you have been emailing or calling in to ask “What’s the difference between ‘Let’s Get Rawganized!’ and the ‘Successfully Raw Online Club’ and which should I sign up for?” To help you with your decision, we’d like to give you a little information about each so that you can make the best choice for you.

Let’s Get Rawganized! starts on Wednesday 11th November 2009 and is a 6-week complete menu-planning and organisational program for those who want to get their raw food lifestyle, kitchen and routine in amazing order. This program is a ton of fun and is worth many times the price, saving you potentially hundreds of ££'s or $$'s and masses of time, energy and frustration! This is our second run of the program and this time around there is an added Christmas module which will help you get rawganized for party season with confidence - awesome! 

This program is perfect for you if you're at the stage where you think/wish you had your act together but you don't, and you want to eat more raw food than you're doing, or meals that you enjoy or are better for you than the ones you're currently eating. This program is also perfect if you really want to feel as if you have a system in place that is personalised 100% to you and is great fun to create and follow. During the 6 weeks of the program you will have weekly calls with Karen to both inspire and support you during your rawganized journey. 

For further information about the program please visit www.letsgetrawganized.com

The Successfully Raw Online Club is a one-stop online learning, networking and sharing membership site, where members can hang out, learn from Karen via video, audio and written resources and make like-minded raw food friends on the internet. Club materials are uploaded to the dedicated members site FOUR times each month and cover a spectrum of raw food tips, tools, recipes, videos, coaching guidance and much more. The site also offers a forum area where members can start discussions about anything raw or to do with raw living and this gives members the opportunity to connect and offer support and advice to each other as well as share recipes and recommend resources. Members also have the opportunity to advertise their own events or potlucks for FREE within a dedicated events section on the site and can also take advantage of advertising their own business or services within their own profile page. 

Membership also includes the opportunity to take part in quarterly ‘Call-In’ days with Karen, when she will open up her telephone line for the day for 15 minute 1:1 calls so that members can ask questions or receive coaching around any issues they may have around going or staying raw. These call-in days are an invaluable resource and a rare opportunity to connect with Karen in a 1:1 environment. For further information about the membership program please visit www.successfullyrawonlineclub.com

Overall, both ‘Let’s Get Rawganized!’ and the ‘Successfully Raw Online Club’ are fantastic standalone offerings, but we also feel that due to the nature of each they complement each other perfectly – one for raw organisation based on years of Karen’s experience and the other for much needed ongoing raw support as you travel along your own raw path.

Any questions remaining? Post them below and I will answer them for you : )

Katie