In attempt to provide the Women’s Cycling Magazine community with more content focusing on health and fitness here is the first of  many more videos and post to come!

We all strive to perform our best with cycling what better place to start looking at than our diets? I’ve recently change my eating habits quite drastically. For the past month and for the rest of my life I’ve switched to eating exclusively Raw Organic Live Foods! With the occasional bowl of brown rice every other day or so all I’m eating now are fruits, vegetable, nuts and uncooked grains.

If you just took a giant leap out of your seat… sit back down and hear me out. I can tell you with absolute certainty… I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. I have a sister who has been eating Raw for six years and for years she’s tried to tell me how good this Raw lifestyle is… but I would shrug her off and I can even remember laughing at her when she showed me a video!

Shame on me because, good lord ol’ mighty I have seen the light! Ladies, I was a vegetarian for 4 years (junk food vegetarian) and let me let you in on a secret most people don’t know… cooking your food takes out all the GOOD WHOLESOME and essential NUTRIENTS your body really needs. Now that I’ve switched to Raw foods I have notice my energy levels sky rocket and I only sleep 4-5 hours a night now!!! This coming from a guy who slept a full 8 hours sometimes more and still felt tired.

If you have kids, I really urge you to look into Raw foods… this is the most loving gift a mother could ever give to a child. This is not a diet… this is a lifestyle change.

Did you know that if you’re a minority born after the year 2000 1 out of every 2 kids will develop diabetes and 1 out of every 4 Caucasian children! Can you say red flag? If you look at the statistics of diabetes in this country it won’t take long for you to see that something is very wrong with the way we eat and the so called foods (food like substances) we’re putting in our bodies and our children.

If you switch or at least add 51-80% Raw foods to your diet you will experience an EXTREME boost in energy and vitality, your skin will be glowing and you’ll be in a good mood the majority of the time (no more coffee and Red Bull come downs). If you’re in a good mood just think of how you’ll carry yourself in this world, how much better you’ll be able to listen to people and how much more conscious you’ll be of your own words when speaking to others. That’s why this isn’t a diet, this is a life changing experience that if you would only try… YOU WILL SEE WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!

Aside from the clear health benefits switching to Raw organic foods is doing right by nature and the planet earth and all it’s inhabitants. Do you know the how many resources it takes just to get one package of hamburger to your grocery store? OMG, if you did… you’d think twice, the numbers are jaw dropping! If you want to know more on our food supply I suggest picking up the movie “FOOD Inc.” you can get it at Blockbuster for rent.

I’m developing a website now that will be up within the week. I’ve already got the TWITTER and FACEBOOK going so please follow and friend me on both. When the website is up I’ll be letting you all know. In the meantime if any of you have questions please feel free to email me or even call (805.624.6460)… there is nothing else I’d rather talk about right now than Raw Living Foods!

Oh one more thing, if you want to learn more about the Raw lifestyle there is a really good DVD called “Raw for Life”. I watched this movie and afterwords made a commitment to myself, my health and the planet to never touch meat again or eat anything in the Standard American Diet. It was that informative and profound for me… I decided to take charge of my life starting with being conscious of what I put in my body. One other excellent documentary is called “Food Matters”, a must see!

Remember ladies… YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. It’s really that simple.

Thanks you for listening, please check out the video below it’s me out and about at the Santa Monica Farmers Market exploring and finding myself some yummy organic Raw foods!

Raw Sangha Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RawSangha
Raw Sangha FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/RawSangha

I hope this post finds you and your family in good spirits and abundant health.

I live in the hot and for the most part boring Simi Valley but there are a few good things about Simi Valley. Firstly there are a lot of mountain bike trails, Second there are some really good cycling shops and lastly, I live right down the street from a really good farmers market. Every Friday I walk to the market (reusable bags in hand) and I have my pick of the finest organic fruits and vegetable grown locally here in beautiful Southern California. One of my favorite things to put together once I get home with my fresh ingredients is a crisp and sweet salad!

You can find all kinds of good, healthy and wholesome ingredients at your local farmers market. If you’ve never been to your local farmers market or if you don’t know where it is I suggest you hop online and see what’s in your area. One of the best resources to find a farmers market in your area is localharvest.org.

Shopping locally at your areas farmers market benefits you, the local economy, the farmers and their families.

The food at your local market is certainly going to be fresher and healthier than what you would find at Safeway, Vons or Albertsons. One other thing I’d like to mention is the different varieties of fruits and vegetables at your local farmers market compared to the supermarket. The farmers market will almost definitely offer much more variety and it’s quite possible you’ll find new and exotic types of produce that you’ve never tried before.

On another note one of my favorite things about shopping at my particular farmers market is that I get to know who’s growing my food (like Robert the avocado guy)! It’s nice to put a face on the person growing the food that is so vital to my health, fitness and overall well-being.

Speaking of food that is that’s vital to my health and fitness, I’d like to share with you a quick and easy recipe I make for myself at home, it’s really good, healthy and easy to make.

Echo’s Yummy lil’ White Peach Salad!

1 part Red Leaf Lettuce
1 part Green Leaf Lettuce
1/2 cup diced cilantro
1/4 cup diced Red Onion
1 diced Avocado
1 diced fresh Cucumber
1 ripe crisp white peach
1/4 cup sesame seeds or walnuts
1/2 lemon squeezed
Girards organic classic olive oil vinaigrette dressing as needed
Fresh ground pepper as desired

1. What I like to do first is get the leafy ingredients, dice them all up then mix together. You’ll be surprised how small a head of lettuce can look after you dice it up. After dicing the lettuce I mix in the rest of the ingredients diced as well, (only half of the peach is to be diced) the other half I slice and use as garnishment.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl, squeeze the lemon juice over the top followed by the dressing and pepper and it’s ready to serve. If you’d like you can add chicken or croutons but the salad is hearty and satisfying enough on it’s own.

If you have a secret lil recipe you’d like to share with the WCM community please email it in (with pictures of the process) and we’ll get it online.