Don’t Judge a Carrot by Its Color: Our 14 Day Raw Food Transformation

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas A. Edison, US inventor (1847 – 1931)

I love this quote by Thomas Edison!  When I first heard it, it made perfect sense to me.  After all, I don’t take medication, live a pescatarian lifestyle (a vegetarian who eats fish) and of course, I live in a healthy home; quite clearly Ron & my life’s purpose and the reason you are reading this very blog!  I suppose when it came to a adopting a healthy lifestyle, I had arrived.  Or, at least I thought until I met Jenny Ross and dined at 118 Degrees, a raw food restaurant in Costa Mesa, California.

What first came to mind is a burst of orange.  No, not raw carrot sticks.  No, not Jenny herself, rather, her 32-seat, cozy, yet romantic; eco, yet chic; little slice of heaven nestled between a tattoo parlor and a tea shop in the uber-trendy outdoor shopping center called, The Camp.  The chairs burst brightly with a zesty orange (as does her book, The Art of raw living Food: Heal Yourself and the Planet with Eco-delicious Cuisine).  Our own book tag line promises to heal yourself and the planet, which should have been the first synchronicity indicator that my green path was about to take a turn for the orange!

Although all of the above is true, I would be lying if I said that I was bursting with energy all day long and didn’t look forward to my morning caffeine pick me up.  Or that, my digestion was flowing like the Nile River.  Or that I didn’t cheat here and there with a little dairy, be it cheese or something even sweeter.  So, one afternoon early this winter, I was probably recuperating from the holiday buzz and getting back into the swing of things. I could feel it; that irritating scratchy throat, that fever coming on and that annoying fatigue that goes along with the flu.  We had visited the Camp many times and recently discovered 118 Degrees. They had a dinner special that was just too good to pass up and who doesn’t want a good deal after the holiday spending frenzy?  So, we arrived.  I decided to order the apple/lemon/ginger drink in hopes that my frenemy, the flu, would discover its attempts become my BFF were futile.  To Ron’s & my surprise, the next day, we were bouncing off the walls with energy and even a shadow of the flu was nonexistent!  Both of us had gone to the gym and realized the workout seemed like a breeze.  ‘Could it be the food?’ we asked ourselves.  We decided to return and confirm this hypothesis only to discover they were offering a 7 Day Detox plan where all of the meals were freshly prepared and packaged for you to pick up in your complimentary reusable tote: breakfast, lunch, dinner AND desert for $210.00  – all raw and organic.  This was just what we needed to kick off the New Year and what we discovered knocked our organic socks off!

In case you are wishing we could revert back and document the experience with you, then say hello to your genie!  The results of the detox were so life changing that we are doing it again – this time for 14 days and we’ll be sharing it with you, every bite of the way.  This is a new concept for the Healthy Home Dream Team, so be sure to check back every other day over the next two weeks to find out what’s cooking (under 118 degrees), the results, how-to videos and some great recipes you won’t want to miss. We know you will benefit and remember, you can forget the concept of bagged carrot & celery sticks.  This raw food journey is more like Woolfgang Puck meets Woody Harrelson!