ABC's and 123's

September.  In this country, it is a month that traditionally marks change - students return to school, seasons transition, and the final quarter begins signifying the end of the year is near.This month also marks a personal change – it is the anniversary of this blog and my conscious decision to eliminate all animal-based products from my life.  It has been an extraordinary two years.  If you have followed from inception, you will note the ups and downs happiness, disappointment, growth, and lack thereof… however through it all, the consistency of elated forward movement and positive energy through the power of education has carried me and holds me with strong steadfast along this path.

Easy as 123

The key to any successful transformation is simplicity.  The less complex you keep things, the easier it becomes to maintain.  As I reflect on the eve of year three, I take with me and present to you three simple things that I’ve learned up to this point:

1.       KISS yourself every day.  (I know I’ve said this many times before, but I can not express enough how important it is to Keep It Short and Simple).   If you are transitioning to veganism, whole, live foods are the ultimate fast food.  Just pick up a piece of fruit or vegetable and go.  Keep meal preparation within 5 minutes or less with 5 ingredients or less.  If you are transitioning in another area, KISSing yourself each day will facilitate your success.

2.       Never underestimate the importance of daily movement and exercise.  Movement, as simple as a brisk walk or as challenging as a two-hour workout, makes such a difference in your overall wellness.  Get up, get your blood circulating, oxygenate your system, increase your brain cells, introduce your body to a little perspiration.  The more you exert, the more overall energy and strength you will gain.

3.       Embrace calm.  Calming down and introducing breath into your day detoxifies your body and remove stress. Take the time to pray, meditate, chant or do whatever it is you do to rest, restore, renew, and re-nourish the whole self.  Express gratitude and humility each day.   Calmness changes your demeanor and your approach to life.  In the end,  everything will always be alright.

The ABC’s of it

As I reflect, I thought I’d have a little fun to measure how many new things I’ve embarked upon during this journey. The best way to categorize is to find a place amongst the alphabet for these great tidbits.  Although  previously aware of some of areas listed, I soon discovered there were more things about them that I did not know as opposed to what I did.    I figured I’d come up a few things, however, to my surprise, I have actually accumulated a wealth of information.   Let me share just few with you, a small fraction, of that which has brought new awareness:

Bitter Melon &  Cucumber

A – Affirmation (be it), Awakenings (goodwill and balance by Jen McGown) , Alkalization (ultimate cellular state; dis-ease can not live here!),  Apple (yes, one a day does keep the doctor away.  See malic acid below), Avocados (vitamin C, K, folate)

B – Body Weight Exercizes; Breathe (key to life); Bananas (best fast food ever!- fiber, vitamin c, b6, potassium, mangaese), Beets (lowers chlorestrol), Bittermelon (strengthens immune system) Bok Choy (folic acid, vitamin C, antioxidant, potassium) BAV(it's ok to go bold by John Lewis)

C – Chia seeds (a super –dooper super food); Cucumbers (who knew?-too many good things to mention); Coconut water (natural electrolyte - perfect to rehydrate or to start your day); Cleanse (detox regularly)

D – Dates (medjool - best natural sweetner! and great treat); dry brushing (surprising aid to digestion)

E – Embrace (yourself as well as others), emote, energy, eggplant (yes, you can eat it raw)

Jicama "Sandwich" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFVe0MSJRuk   

F – Fennel (awesome source of source of iron, calcium, magnesium, folate, fiber, vitamin C; Focus; Folate (crucial B vitamin essential to cell growth and reproduction) Food Combining; Fitness (one of the key factors to wellness that provides cohesion)

G – Greens (deep greens - perfect to eat raw!); Guava; Grapefruit; Guru (become experienced; get help; give help); Gratitude

H – Happiness & Harmony (key to well being - bring your internal sunshine out by AsanteGeorge)

I – Indian Cherry (fiber rich, potassium, vitamin C, A)  

J – Jackfruit; Jicama (pronounced "hic-ca-ma") sweet root vegetable -fiber, potassium, vitamin C); Juice Fast (nice way to cleanse detox and jump or re-start)

Kale Wrap

K – Kombucha; KISS; Kale (superfood king; 45% protein; vitamin A, K, calcium); Kundalini yoga (unites the mind, body and soul) Kalvarti (raw vegan and life coach, Jo Ann Hazelhurst)

L – Live Food; Lemons (secret wonder food-cleanses inside and out)

M – Metta (the state of lovingkindness and good will); Meditation; Malic acid (key ingredient in apples-provides energy and promotes muscle health); Mango (mm mm good)

N – Nectarine; Naturally Healing (Pele Chen-healing through holistic consumption; Newsletter (the next step I'll share)

O – Om (reminder that universe is within); Oranges (super fast food #2)

Quinoa

P – Presence; Pulp Madness (growth, my first e-book)

Q – Quinoa (pronounced "kee-wah"- a seed not a grain; considered a complete protein- contains all essential amino acids, iron, calcium)
R – Radish (copper, manganese, folate, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin C) Raw veganism; Rest; Raw & Delicious Lifestyles (raw vegan education Toni Allen)

S – Sabbe satta suku hontu (pali chant - May all beings be well); Sprouting; Starfruit (vitamin C, fiber, copper); Sunflower seeds (too many to name -here's a few: copper, magnesium, selenium, vitamin E); Sun baking; Sexy Raw Vegan (my coach Drew McCall Burke, who first believed); The Super-Fit Vegan (body weight expert, Jeff Sekerak)

T – Tumeric (powerful root spice-great for anti-inflammation); Transformation; Transition

Zucchini Sliders

U – Uncooking; Ujjayi breathing (cleansing breathe of fire); UBRaw (raw chefs Ronnie & Minh Skurow)

V – Validation

W – Wellness; whole food;  water (brain food; re-energizes; drink it for life)
X – Xigua (Chinese translation for watermelon; full of vitamin A,C)

Y – Yoga Girl goes Vegan (tangible dreams come true), Yams (yes, you can eat them raw); Yoga (my base, the trigger that started it all)

Z – Zen (learning to be present in the moment), Zucchini (protein packed, vitamin C, K, B6, Folate, Magnesium, fiber)       

Whew!  That's quite a bit.  For as much as I listed; there is much that could not fit. The information obtained in this short span of time demonstrates that you can increase your knowledge if you obtain, apply, and adapt it into your daily life.  Take a moment to reflect upon your own journey.  Marvel at how the mass of what you have learned has become integrated into your new way of doing things.  In the beginning, the goal was to execute change for 21 days - the magic number to create a new habit.  Wow! In no time, it's now a little over 21 months.  The same shall be true for you.  You'll realize that all it takes is a little education to go a long way.  As you think about your personal season of change, remember that continuous education, repetition, and building upon newly established foundations will guide your steps.  The amazing part is that each day you learn a little more and it will just seem to become easier and easier.  As easy as ABC's and 123;s.