Wash and dry apples and slice thinly with a mandolin.
Lay on dehydrator trays and sprinkle with cinnamon (Or allspice).
Dehydrate for 4 hours at 70 degs.
Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
These are a no fuss snack to make in bulk during apple season. The only problem is they disappear very quickly.
What is Real Food?
In talking to people about what I do, I have been asked the Question: What do you mean by Real Food? Isn’t all food real? It’s edible? Right?
This is a great question. What is Real Food?
Real food can mean different things to different people.
Let me clarify what Real Food is…
All food is not created equal. Just because is it appears edible, does that mean you should eat it? This reminds me of a childhood saying – if your friends jumped off a cliff, does that mean you should do the same?
In moving through my health journey, my perception of food has totally changed. I now view food in a whole new light. Food is no longer just a source of pleasure (boy, do I love to eat food) and something to stop the growling tummy. For me, eating Real Food is nourishment, my medicine to heal, an opportunity to achieve my best possible health and live a vibrant and abundant life.
When it comes to food, we have a choice. Do we choose food that will serve us? Or do we choose food that depletes our body of vital nutrients while clogging and slowing down our system. We have the power to make a choice by what we put on the end of our fork. You get to choose: Do you jump off the cliff? Or do you seek a the longer path that is safe, scenic and more enjoyable.
Let me take you down that path. The path to better health through better food choices.
So back to…. What is Real Food?
Real Food is as close to its natural form as possible, not man made and not altered in any way.
To simplify it. I have two basic rules to help you change directions in your health journey:
If it comes from an animal or plant, eat it. If it coms from a factory plant, don’t eat it.
But why is Real Food important?
Food is not just carbs, proteins and fats. It is information for your body. Food is like a language, an unbroken information stream that connects to every cell in your body and talks to your DNA. The better the source (from natural whole foods) and the more undamaged the message when it arrives to your cells, the better your health will be. It is central to good health and Real Food can do more than anything else to improve one’s health and quality of life.
Even if you are not presented with any symptoms at this time. A diet of processed foods will eventually catch up with you through nutritional deficiencies. You are made from the food you eat. Your body functions on the food you eat. Every single cell in your body depends on quality nutrition for its structure and function. If cells are not provided with correct nutrition, they will struggle to perform their function optimally and this can lead to dysfunction.
Food in nature comes as a package. Nothing in nature works in isolation. Whole, unprocessed food contains all the vitamins, minerals and information needed to be utilised by the body. Processed, commercial, manmade foods (Franken-foods)are missing some of this vital information and nutritional components. Your body can’t absorb what it doesn’t recognise. Therefore, these Franken-foods place stress on your body by drawing valuable nutrition from elsewhere – creating deficiencies. As humans we think ourselves pretty smart! We know that processed food are missing some vital compounds required, therefore we replace them with synthetic vitamins – I call them counterfeited parts.
Tell me what happens when you put diesel in a petrol car?
It is not the right fuel for that motor. Diesel has components a petrol car does not need, and they will clog system. Diesel has components missing that a petrol car needs for optimal function. A petrol car can run for a while on diesel, but it will eventually breakdown.
Processed foods are like diesel to the human body. They are nutrient deficient and clog the system. Why would you put diesel (Franken-foods) in your finely tuned body?
Its your choice? You get to choose your destiny by what you choose to eat!
Every ‘body’ runs better on Real Food.
A Running on Real Food Event Review
The inaugural Perth Running Festival was held on Sunday 7th October 2018.
As a weekend warrior, I loved this event.
The 14 km course was fantastic. Starting at the Optus stadium, aka ‘The Birds Nest’, was easily accessible via public transport and the start line was well organised as we assembled in our assigned cattle grids.
The start was seamless with each wave flowing one after the other tracing around the outside of the stadium and along the Arbour walkway, under it’s spectacular artistic canopy. The brand new Metagardup Foot Bridge carried us over the Swan River into East Perth. It was such a lovely start to the event.
The course then skirted around of edge of East Perth to Riverside Drive. At this point I feel I need to talk about the weather. The conditions where great. Cool with a breeze, but along this area of the course offered little shade and the city scape blocked the breeze. Here, I started to re-evaluate my wardrobe choices. The idea of baring my winter white legs in summer running shorts became more appealing over my chosen ¾ lycra pants. I was feeling hot! As we moved through Elizabeth Quays we where welcomed by the breeze, whipping around the buildings, providing us with enough relief to ease the initial discomfort.
The cool breeze continued as we crossed the Narrows bridge to south side of the river heading back towards the start.
One thing I love about running is being out in nature. This event ticked that box for me. I never felt like I was running in a capital city. Along Riverside Drive we had the river on one side and Langley Park on the other, here we were serenaded by the local birds enjoying a beautiful day. On the south side, we weaved along the garden path hugging the river to be cheered on by spectators and witnessing the joy of family gatherings taking place in the river parklands.
I have participated in large half marathon events with up to 40 thousand people, all running to an eerie quietness of just the sound of feet patter. In this event the participants where quite chatty. Engaging in general chit chat and encouraging fellow runners. It was thought provoking to overhear a comment from other runners about no bands or music to entertain us along the way. Running along the water and beautiful river parklands of Perth provided me with all the sensory stimulation I needed to truly embrace the joy of running. Who needs to be entertained when you are running in natures beauty?
As we progressed along South Perth it was encouraging and disheartening at the same time to capture glimpses of ‘The Birds Nest’. To see the finish line, but yet knowing it is still quite a distance away, can mess with your head. As the 14kers approached the finish we merged with the 4km walkers. Here I needed to engage some of my old soccer and touch footy skills of dodging and weaving to negotiate bikes, prams, walkers and children (not sure what was with the bikes?). Now that could have been exciting if I was running with a PB in mind. Lucky I take the ‘fun’ part of a fun run very seriously. This logistical nightmare was short lived as the path opened up just before we entered the stadium. Running ¾s of a lap around the perimeter of the stadium grounds greeted by music, commentators and a crowd of fellow participants in the stands was up lifting. This finished off the event fabulously.
This well organised event, featuring a flat course, that show cases the scenic river frontage of Perth is one to add to your bucket list. I will add the half marathon to my list for next year!
I would like to give a huge shout out the all the volunteers. The time that you give is much appreciated. These events cannot happen without you. So THANK YOU!
Next week I am running on the Wildflower Festival of Running in Cervantes and Jurien Bay. Stay tuned for another review.
Keep on Running on Real Food – because every ‘body’ runs better on Real Food!
Eating a Real Food diet (one without processed or refined foods) can be a challenge. There is no denying that. I embarked on this way of eating 5 years ago as a last resort to resolve some health challenges. To my amazement, I was able to reclaim my health and the biggest surprise was……
I FELL IN LOVE WITH EATING THIS WAY – nutrient dense, whole food tastes amazing and is so satisfying. AND my family loves it too.
(To be honest, I did have some epic fails in my culinary experiments but, no-one died!)
Changing the way that I cooked was difficult at first when I was sick. The effort it took for me to put a meal together for my family at times was a real challenge. But, I had faith that it was going to help me get well – what did I have to lose?
So, where do you start?
Over the next few months I will share what worked for my family and how I made the transition to eating a Real Food diet.
This month is all about taking notice.
Take a step back and look at what you and your family eat. Think about how you can improve – just take notice. Notice how often you eat foods that are processed, high in refined sugar, full of preservatives and artificial ‘stuff’ (I can’t even call it food – it is ‘stuff’!). Read the packet and become aware about what you are eating and feeding your family.
Pick one thing to change, just one and find a nutrient dense replacement. For us it was rice. We swapped white rice for brown rice. It was a start.
So have a look in your pantry and pick one thing. Throw it out, give it away or eat it if you must and don’t ever buy it again. Even if the replacement item is not 100% ideal – the idea is to change it up to a food that gives us more nutrients and less ‘stuff’.
More nutrients = better health = more energy and lessens the chance of developing dis-ease in your body.
Every ‘body’ runs better on Real Food!
I used to have this standard joke. Whenever I went to a work-related workshop and we all took turns in introducing ourselves and saying where we’re from, I always announced “Hi, my name is Sue and I am an alcoholic, oh, sorry I mean………”. I always got a laugh, even if it was just a muffled sneer. The truth of the matter is, I might not be an alcoholic, but I am a sugar addict. So my introduction should have sounded like this….. “Hi, my name is Sue and I am addicted to sugar. I have been sugar free for, ummm……. I’m not sure how long because I keep falling off the wagon. I quit in 2014. I always forget that I am an addict and I slip up by having something sweet. Annnnnd then I am back to square one, fighting cravings again for the next 3 or 4 days.” Not sure if I would have got the same response from the crowd announcing my sugar addiction. But the truth is, being addicted to sugar is the same as being addicted to anything else. The only thing is, sugar is EVERYWHERE!
In life, I will be travelling just fine living my sugar free life. I’ve done the hard yards, got rid of all temptation from my pantry and fridge. Trained my family not to bring temptation back into the house (this can be one of the hardest steps as we always want to love our family with sugar). Then, I’ll l be caught unawares, someone dear to me lures me in with “Would you like a ……… (Cake, dessert, chocolate, blitz ball)?” I hesitate, then they proudly announce. “I made it with you in mind, it is gluten free!” Before I know it, my response is “Thank you, how thoughtful, just one bit”.
Well….
I CAN’T HAVE JUST ONE BIT!
That one bit has woken the beast. I have been starving it for so long and now I just poked it with a huge stick. It’s like a bear is inside of me, woken from its winter sleep, it is starving and will do anything to be fed. Sugar is the only thing it wants and it will do anything to get it. In my attempt to re-tame the beast, I head down the natural isle. Thinking, “Oh, I will make some frozen banana whip – that will be okay, it’s natural sugar. I can keep the beast happy and I’m not breaking my rules of eating sugar, bananas are a whole food, right? It only has natural sugars, right? Surely, my body will know when I’ve had enough and I can keep the beast happy too, right? ”
WRONG!
The beast ain’t happy, it knows when I’m trying to trick it! That natural stuff ain’t going to cut it! I am just teasing it. I’ve woken it from hibernation, and now l’m teasing it. How stupid was I to think that I can live with this beast in harmony. How wrong was I? I can not live harmoniously with this beast. When it is awake, it takes over my life and I have no control. So, I am back to square one. Taming the beast 101. NO MORE SWEET STUFF, especially frozen banana whip!
Hi, my name is Sue and I am an addict – a sugar addict. I have been sugar free for 12 hours……. I slipped up again last night (well, it was paleo carrot cake made with rapadura sugar and I scraped off the topping) and now I’ve pulled out the big guns to get that bear back in its cave, where it belongs.
How do you tame the sugar cravings beast?
Join me in The RESTART Program to tame the sugar beast together.
