Traveling With Superfoods

planeA common hurdle when introducing raw superfoods into your life is how to take your show on the road. And especially when you have the Chocolate Bliss drink as a staple, how do manage getting that through airports!?

Since Dan is a nature photographer and both of our extended families live on either coast, we have tried many kinds of travel, by car and by plane and even some camping, all with our raw superfoods in tow.

Here are our favorite tips for you to try out:

By Car
Traveling by car is of course easier than by plane since you can pack as much as you like, including the Vitamix blender. Here’s what we do when we go long-distance by car:

  • Pack a cooler full of 2 half-gallons full of Chocolate Bliss and ice. Do NOT put Vitamineral Green in this Chocolate Bliss or it will taste really nasty as it warms. I hate pouring out Bliss, but I have because it tasted so bad warmed with greens in it. ew.
  • Include celery sticks in the cooler – the sodium and water in celery balances the Chocolate Bliss nicely.
  • Yemiah’s Creamy Almond Spinach Dip goes well with the celery sticks and can help ward off any cheesy junk food you might otherwise crave.
  • Activated, salted nuts, especially pistachios and almonds are a favorite for quick snacks.
  • When you reach your destination, you can pull out the Vitamix and restock your Chocolate Bliss containers as needed.

We have driven well over 24 hours non-stop together with just us and the Chocolate Bliss to keep us going and it works awesome! Whenever it’s your turn to drive, have a swig of bliss and you’re perfectly alert and focused. When it’s time to switch drivers, the bliss won’t keep you awake and jittery like caffeine would … you can still take a nap while the other person is driving.

By Plane
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A Day In The Life Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat … this time talking about the kitchen tools we use to make especially yummy raw foods.

What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Blend, Blend, BLEND!  So much of the raw food diet is facilitated by blending.  It breaks down the cell walls of foods so it’s easier to digest, enhances flavors, enables you to eat more fruits and veggies in less time, and is all-around an awesome way of eating/drinking/slurping food.
Vita-Mix 1300 TurboBlend 4500When we found raw foods, we already had a Vitamix in the house and if we didn’t we’d be getting one soon.  You can make a lot of raw foods, including our beloved Chocolate Bliss with a regular blender, but you can do so much more with a Vitamix or other high-powered blender.
We also have a small Hamilton Beach blender we got for traveling with our Bliss.

A Day In The Life Part 3: How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat with suggestions on how you can easily transition to more and more raw foods in your diet…

How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

The first week we discovered Chocolate Bliss and the whole line of Sun Fire Super Foods, we jumped in feet first and ate almost 100% raw superfoods for the first week.  It was awesome.  You can watch our short video about transitioning to raw where we talk more about what we ate in that first week, why it was so great, and the differences we noticed from being raw.
Since then I’ve read that it’s not always recommended to go raw that quickly because you can have more detox reactions.  I didn’t. I felt great.  That might be because the Sun Fire Super Foods are designed to help you detox more gradually, or because I didn’t have major health issues (I was just a bit overweight), or just because (the answer to any persistent 2 year old).
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How fast should you go raw?  However fast you feel like it.  And here’s some more support: 

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A Day In The Life Part 2: Cooked Stuff and Cooked/Raw Combinations We eat

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat … talking now about the cooked stuff too. To the often-asked raw foodie question “what percentage raw are you?” I think I prefer the answer “I am not a label”.  I eat cooked food and I eat raw food in varying amounts, depending on the day, the weather, my cravings, or whatever.  Here are some details on the cooked stuff we eat…

Cooked Stuff and Cooked/Raw Combinations

We still eat cooked food.  Most often in the evening.  Sometimes during the day (I still crave eggs now and then).  We’ve found some great ways of upgrading standard cooked food into better ingredient options and even combinations of cooked and raw foods that work great for us.  Here’s what we most often gravitate to when we crave cooked stuff:

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A Day In The Life Part 1: What do Melissa & Dan Eat?

MC and DCOne of our newer raw superfood clients asked me to give her a “day in the life” story of what Dan and I eat so she could get some ideas of how to be more and more raw in her food choices and perhaps even upscale some of the cooked things too.

So of course I’d like to share my efforts at cataloging “a day in the life” with you too. My intention is to give you lots of ideas, links to our favorite recipes, and the inspiration and permission to go explore what works best for you.

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This is not your average Day In The Life story.
We’ve been consuming raw superfoods for over a year and a half now, so rather than tell you a specific day in our life, I thought I’d give you more of a sense of how we transitioned to raw superfoods, and what kinds of things we eat at what times of day.  Here are my caveats that give you even more perspective on what our model might mean for you:

  1. We are not 100% raw foodists.  We do not have any judgment on what you or anyone else chooses to eat … we’re quite OK with whatever makes us feel good and whatever makes you feel good.  Less labeling can be a good thing.
  2. We both work from home, so we always have easy access to our kitchen and flexible schedules for uncooking whenever we want.  I enjoy cooking and uncooking, but not to excess.  I prefer to have my kitchen time be quick, simple and fun so that I have even more time for the other fun things I do.  Since I used to work in the corporate world with a 2 hour commute one way (oy ve!) I’m empathetic to the standard work culture and I’ll do my best to offer suggestions for that type of situation.
  3. We both came from the Standard American Diet (SAD).  We both ate meat regularly, some fast food, and particularly loved pizza and ice cream.  I had at least one cup of coffee (or black tea) every morning in order to be awake and civil.  Dan drank Diet Dr. Pepper for his source of caffeine and sometimes energy drinks even though they caused his throat to hurt at times.  We wanted to be healthier, but we weren’t looking for a dramatic life shift that was hard.
  4. We won’t eat something if it doesn’t taste good.  We won’t keep doing something just because it’s supposed to be good for you unless we’re really enjoying it.  We both believe that life is supposed to be, can be, and is easy and joyful as we go about creating and enjoying delicious experiences.
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So, What Do You Eat?