An Inspiring Interview: Michele, creator of Super Raw Life Magazine

Hello everyone!  I am so sorry that I have been gone for such a long time!  However, today I am back to share an inspiring interview I did with Michele, the creator of Super Raw Life magazine.  If you are looking for some inspiration for 2012, to get into shape or start eating healthier, you have come to the right place!  Michele lost 72 pounds eating a raw food diet and she is here to share her story with you.  

I met Michele through social networking.  One day she posted a picture of some raw tacos on facebook and tagged me, letting me know it was my recipe. I wrote an article for her magazine and I asked her if she would also do an interview for my blog.  If you would like to find out more about Michele you can go to her website to contact her or subscribe for her magazine!

1. How did you first hear about the raw food diet?
I first began my raw transformation back in 2009.  I participated in a 21 Day Holistic Healing Cleanse with my mom, Beverly Dunford, from Strength from Within .  What started out as a break turned into a total inner and outer body transformation. “Raw” was not the intention. “Raw Vegan” was unknown to both my mom and me. One aspect of The Strength from Within 21 Day Cleanse is to eat all fresh fruits and vegetables. Years of bad habits left it hard for me to appreciate and enjoy the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables repetitively. By day 11 my body was yearning for more; for more of the tastes and more of the textures I was so used to finding comfort in. It was at this point Google became my friend. I wanted to take some of the healthy ingredients to emulate the foods I normally enjoyed. One search, using the term “raw food and recipes,” brought up thousands of links to information on the living food lifestyle. This led to a new manageable twist on eating fresh fruits and veggies. Chance, fate, just being at the end of my wits, led me to the raw food diet!

2. How has eating raw food changed you (physically, mentally, and spiritually)?
I lost 72 pounds my first 75 days eating 100% raw, and to date I have maintained being over 100 pounds lighter than my heaviest by enjoying the raw food lifestyle. Raw food changed so much more than just my physical body. Really, my transformation was and continues to be so much deeper than just skin deep. What you take into your body, changes your dynamics. I feel better and I think clearer when eating raw. I am a more patient mother, and I don’t even know how to put this into words, but my energy and vibration levels are higher than ever. Raw food is so empowering to me. Unbeknownst to me, I was an emotional eater for years. Once I truly evaluated my lifestyle choices and really dug deep within myself, I was able to let go and free myself in the process. Raw food changed the direction my life was going. It truly saved my life!

3. What is your favorite raw dessert? What is your favorite entrée?
Ice cream has to be my favorite raw dessert. I swear I ate ice cream two to three times a day when I first went raw. It was an emotional comfort. I did not realize how often I craved sweets and satisfied my emotions by opening the fridge or going to the candy isle at the grocery store. I would make it for breakfast, for snacks, sometimes even for dinner or when I was having a hard time sleeping. It is so quick and versatile, depending upon what you are craving. My freezer is always full of a wide variety of frozen fruits. I buy bananas by the case just for this reason! And of course my seven-year-old could eat a dozen a day all by himself! I really like making my Raw Peanut Butter Cup Shake recipe. You combine 2-3 frozen bananas, 2-3 tablespoons raw almond butter or about ½ cup fresh almonds, and 2-3 tablespoons raw chocolate spread. (This varies depending on the chocolate recipes I have made and what I have left over. If I do not have any chocolate sauces put together, I use cacao nibs.) Blend it all together, and then sprinkle more chocolate or cacao nibs on top! It is a visual and texture thing for me. I always asked for extra Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in my shakes at the drive-thru! I can mix this up in about a minute and get a quick chocolate fix!

My favorite entrée is a different story. Not one meal in particular comes to mind. It really depends on my mood and what I am craving. I peruse through my cookbook collection or on Google to satisfy the meal I am craving with a “raw vegan recipe”! I saw a post on Facebook for your pizza one night, and that is how I ran across your awesome blog! I really like your taco recipe. It is so quick to put together and definitely satisfies the taste buds!

4. What percentage of raw food do you find works best for you? (Some people eat 50%, 75%, 100%, etc).
Honestly, I am an all or nothing girl. I hate to admit it, but it is true. Being an emotional eater, it is like giving an addict one drink. I do best when eating 100% raw. It is the most empowering. What I have noticed over the years is all it takes is one taste. One salad smothered in normal ranch dressing and I am back to my old habits, temporarily. I continually strive to overcome this. And every so often, I tend to go a couple weeks eating many non-raw items. It reiterates my desire to be raw and want to feel good. In those moments, I lose control. With the mindset that I already ate one thing that was not raw, why not enjoy dinner as well, and tomorrow I will start raw again. Well, tomorrow would not come, and it just spiraled from there and would leave me feeling drained and sick. The biggest things I realized when eating my old normal way, was that I wanted to keep eating even though I was full. My body would crave the nutrients and enzymes that were lacking in the cooked and processed foods. I would eat something, and my body would only get a small percentage of the benefits it would get when raw, so it would signal to me to keep eating. Not because I was still hungry, but because it wanted and needed certain nutrients.

5. How was the idea to create a raw food magazine first conceived?

Going raw changed my life. It made me look at things differently, it made me step out of my comfort zone and take a chance. It helped me be in tune with my intuition and change what I was doing. A month and a half after doing my 21 Day Cleanse and starting on my 100 Day Raw Challenge, I decided to act on intuition and start taking classes at a photography school. As part of the curriculum, I needed to take a graphic design class. For our final, we had to design a cover and three-page spread for a magazine. To top it off, each student got to pick their topic of choice. I was very passionate about raw foods and decided to choose raw food as the topic for my “mock” magazine. I got an “A” on my final, and I was very inspired by the idea of doing a magazine and being able to provide a platform to share with and inspire others. It was my way of showing my appreciation to the universe for my own personal transformation, and I wanted to share that knowledge with everyone I could. So, I just did it! I got a team together, coordinated with many inspiring individuals worldwide, and we put together the premiere issue of Super Raw Life. I encourage you to act on inspiration. When you have an idea, don’t let fear hold you back. Especially if it is something that you are passionate about! Going into our second year, Super Raw Life Magazine is getting ready to launch its fifth issue and we have subscribers in over 100 countries!

6. When you first began eating a raw food diet, how did your friends and family respond, and how did you deal with any negative feedback?
Well, many thought I was crazy. First, I called off a wedding a few weeks before it was to occur, and then I decided to eat all raw! But then they saw the pounds start to melt away, naturally, radiantly. I was beaming! There are so many myths about the way things are suppose to be and the guidelines for a normal life and eating style. When you take the time and chance to do something differently, others will respond—both positively and negatively. The response that stands out in my mind the most referred not to my actions against myself, but my actions affecting my children, as if I would be neglecting them by not giving them milk, eggs, and cheese. With the knowledge I have now, any future children I am blessed with, I will raise them on a living foods lifestyle. My 100 days were for me. I never pushed it on my kids. I offered, and I shared, but I did not require it. The boys associated what Mom was doing with being bad. Raw is bad. At first I was sick, I was detoxing, and I was going through food withdrawals. They thought that whatever mom was eating must be bad. This gave them a dislike right up front for raw foods. If Mom is eating it, we don’t want it. Over the years, things have changed. My seven-year-old loves raw food. He chooses raw over normal more often than not. His body knows what it wants and needs. He had the hardest time with raw cereals at first, but then he grew to love them. A few months into only eating raw cereal, I found a box of Raisin Oat Bran in the back of the cupboard. Knowing this was his favorite, as a surprise I poured him a bowl. When he came out to the table he energetically sat down, then he looked into his bowl, and his facial expression changed. He took his spoon and sloshed it around through the cereal, and then he looked up and said, “I didn’t want this kind!” My jaw internally dropped, as I asked him what kind he wanted. He said, “The kind we normally have!” So, I dumped the Raisin Oat Bran down the drain and gave him a bowl of raw homemade granola! He finished off the bowl and asked for a raw smoothie after! Live your life by example. The energy is contagious!

7. What are your hobbies outside of the raw food world?
My seven-year-old loves to play wheelchair tag after getting done with his homework each day, and I have to admit that I really enjoy doing this as well. It is a fun family activity. I love to hike, explore hot springs, hula hoop, sing in the shower, garden, and doodle. (I am an avid doodler of ideas. I graphed out gardens as a young child, and I graph them out now as well!) I learned to drive a tractor recently, so I’ve been helping out friends and neighbors with digging projects. I love to travel. I love to learn new things. I am a dreamer, and I love to laugh. I also forgot how much I loved volleyball, until I played on the Mom team at the school the other day. What a blast! And the rolls as you dive for the ball… just like riding a bike. It all comes back to you!