"You're In Perfect Health."

How many doctors say that to us these days? Has anyone walked out of an appointment without a prescription or referral since they were, I dunno, a fetus? It seems an eye twitch or sniffle has our MD's referring us off to every specialist known to mankind and prescribing a ton of drugs so as to avoid any potential legal infraction.

However, that's what my husband's doctor told him a couple months ago,"Your in perfect health, Adam," after a routine physical.

Quite the surprising diagnosis, since, just a year and half ago, the doctor was singing a more durge-y tune. In 2010, Adam's blood tests came back not so good. His cholesterol was up around 300. Also,  he was suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (Sorry, honey), and headaches. Further, he had a series of dark moles that emerged around the sides of his face. I wish I had a close up picture to show--maybe friends and family can attest. But it was all sort of scary then.

What's crazy is that we exercised pretty regularly at that time. And I thought we were eating well. So what if the veggies we ate were cooked, wilted, marinated and almost mush, but heck, that counted, right? Well, if we're going based on medical blood tests, I'd think not.

Anyway, I kid you not, since we've been eating more raw, all of Adam's ailments have mostly disappeared.  His cholesterol and triglycerides came back GREAT. His IBS and headaches are no more. And the moles? Would you believe me if I told you that even those shrunk and have mostly disappeared? Well they have! And Adam isn't even as disciplined as me. He's also lost about twenty pounds . . .with little effort and even less exercise from before.

Back to Adam's routine appointment. After all the results were confirmed, it was kind of shocking to hear the doctor ask Adam what he was doing to maintain his health . . .as in, the doctor was interested.

"Tell me more about these smoothies and this superfood chlorella that you're taking...Sounds interesting...I'm going to have to look into it."

Yeah. Pretty awesome.

And if you're looking for more reasons to be amazed, check this video out, Reversing the Irreversible, of about 40 people attesting to their own health transformations through a mostly raw diet.

It's sure nice to hear the doctor confirm everything that we've been feeling as of late--great, if not perfect (doctor's words, not ours!) health.

On Your mark, Get Set...CRAWL!

Countless times, I would start a diet or workout plan, to fail just after two months. It was typical for me to get this sudden urge to get in shape and be healthy. The next day I'd be cutting carbs and working out to P90X. I would keep up with this dramatic lifestyle change for about a month, maybe even two. But as usual, something would come up, like Christmas, a get together, or if I may...PMS, and it would set me off course. All at once, I would give up, and all the weight would come back. Sometimes gaining more than what I had started with.

We all know food addictions are not unlike alcohol and drug addictions because our bodies crave the instant gratification that it gives-sugar and sodium being the main culprits. Although I admitted I had a problem, I was not about to check into a rehab or get lucky enough to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser. Instead, last May I ran my first 5k since High school. I signed up two months in advance, so I would have time to prepare. I used the "Couch to 5K Program" that was available for free online and was a free download application for my Android phone. I totally recommend this program to people who have not run in a long time. After my first race I signed up for my second one just two months later. Having incentives allowed me to stay focused. The weight was coming off gradually . . . but I still had not done much to change my diet yet.

As the weather got colder and school started back up again, time was limited for workouts, and I decided it was time to focus more on my diet. My husband suggested counting calories and that is when the fat started to melt off. I was not even working out as much (only 2 times a week on average), but because I was still staying active and keeping my calories to 1500 per day, the weight started to drop. Some people might think that is low, but I was eating throughout the day, like before, but replacing it with fruits and veggies. This is nutrient dense. By the New Year I was over 30lbs lighter.

It was not until I went to visit Melissa in Rochester this past New Year’s and for her son, Knox’s first Birthday (My Godson!), that she introduced me to the world of juicing and raw foods. She mentioned a great documentary Forks over Knives (This can be found on Netflix for free if you do the streaming). Watching this video changed my whole concept of food and diet/disease correlations. Very quickly my focus became health and wellness and my weight loss became secondary. This documentary opened my eyes, even scared me a little. I was no longer certain if what I had been eating all along was even food...even more importantly...I was giving it to my husband and son!

Of course I get cravings for junk food, and I have allowed myself to indulge from time to time. Although, if I have too much processed “food” my body begins to shake and I have even seen spots! It's as if my body is literally (and immediately) communicating with me.

Counting calories definitely made it easier to adapt to a lifestyle of juicing and raw foods. Little by little, I am still making more changes. I know many people are very excited about

mine and my sister's weight loss and are interested in how we got started. Since starting almost a year ago I have lost over 50lbs.

My advice? Start slow. Take junk out little by little and add healthier choices little by little. Once something becomes a habit then add or take away something else. Baby steps. Remember who won that fabled race?

How to make a Smoothie

There is no one way to make a smoothie. In fact I don't think any of my smoothies taste the same day to day. Melissa and I do not make them the same way either. Maybe they would taste the same if every ingredient was measured, but I am a handful of this and that kind of gal. "Sure, that looks about right!" The focus is raw produce.

Ingredients are also dependent on what I have. A staple smoothie at my house will be loaded with kale, broccoli, celery, baby spinach, carrots, frozen strawberries, a banana, spirulina, water, and sometimes a tiny bit of agave nectar. Sometimes I will substitute apples with pears because my husband is allergic to apples. I totally load my blender! Usually I load a 9 cup blender with 11 cups of veggies. Other smoothies I have made may include blueberries, mango, pineapple, cucumber, tomatoes, and an assortment of other fresh or frozen produce, and they taste great too. I play around with the smoothies to fit my taste buds and to change things up. I find when I add more fruits and veggies than I would normally, they taste funny. So I like to keep them simple. Bananas are in all my smoothies because they are cheap and add a natural sweetness to them.

Smoothies can be made to suit your own taste buds and cravings. But I will say,

before Melissa introduced this to me, the only veggies I ate raw were carrots and salads doused in dressing. So the idea of sampling each ingredient alone was not appetizing. It took me just doing it to realize the blend of all the fruits and veggies together tasted amazing. Now I actually developed an appreciation for this food and even crave it. Salads with dressing on them are not even appetizing now.

I even make smoothie treats! One of my favorites is my banana chocolate smoothie. I'll take a banana, serving of chocolate almond milk, ice, a spoonful of organic peanut butter or almond butter (with no preservatives and non-homogenized), maybe a little water, and blend. This is such a heavenly little treat for when I feel like I need something sweet.

So how do I make my smoothies? However I want! What's important is that raw produce is most of what I consume on a daily basis. Yum!

What I Eat

Note: This is a "typical" day, but it certainly varies as I run out of or pick up groceries, and depend on what our garden yields this summer. Also, I am in the process of learning many new recipes . . .so, after Easter, look out!

Breakfast: Fruit/Veggie Smoothie. Depending on what Adam does in the morning, sometimes we share a 72oz blender-ful, in which case, I make more after he leaves.
Smoothie ingredients: A handful of . . .kale, spinach, celery, carrots, bananas, apples, frozen blueberries, mango and spirulina. Add water and blend to desired consistency. Also, I ingest chlorella and astaxanthin (potent superfoods high in antioxidants and tons of good-for-you properties) with the smoothie.

Snack: Almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts

Noon: Usually I'm still sipping on my morning smoothie. Often I'll dive into a bag of baby carrots and hummus.

Snack: carrots, celery, hummus

Dinner: Large salad. Also, I'm learning a ton of new raw vegan recipes, so this meal changes daily. Knox loved our portobello mushroom meal the other night ...

Treat: Banana iced "cream." Yeah...wait for the post on that. It's delish.

Before bed: Lemon Cayenne Pepper Tea. Yep, that's the ingredients. Hot water, fresh lemon juice and a dash (or three, if you can stand it) of cayenne. Both have wonderful detoxifying and metabolism boosting properties.

This is an "a lot of food" day, which was nothing compared to the junk I used to eat even a year ago. My goal is to really minimize the snack grazing and actually stick to two nutrient dense meals per day. The body really needs to fast a little longer than one thinks- since fasting actually helps it to heal and repair damaged tissue, boost mental acuity and other things I can't think of right now. Ha, mental acuity.  

Why Be Dense?

What do we actually mean by saying we eat "nutrient dense" foods? Well, simply put, nutrient dense foods are foods that give us the maximum health bang for our buck: meaning, all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary for our bodies to function, be nourished and energized, without all the added calories.

AND nutrient dense foods truly satisfy us ...but I'll get to the satisfaction part in a minute.

Specifically, we're talking about fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains.  

So take a cupcake, for instance. It has nutrients (carbohydrates, mostly), but is not as nutrient dense as it is calorie dense. Cupcakes cannot nourish us as well as a large, fresh salad. Makes sense, right?

Yet even cooking nutrient dense food above 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroys many important enzymes, and thus, many of the nutrients. (Though, I'd argue it's better to eat a plate full of roasted asparagus than a pizza.) You know what I mean.

Raw chocolate "cheese" cake

This is often why people overeat when they have a largely cooked and non-nutritious diet. Their bodies are craving the nutrients it needs, so paradoxically, they will overeat on foods they find psychologically comforting (french fries, burgers, etc) to achieve that full or satisfied feeling. But they are really denying their bodies true sustenance.  And we all know this invites health problems like obesity, diabetes,and  heart disease ...but even various degenerative diseases like osteoporosis, cancers, and chronic fatigue. You can visit our resources page to check out these references.

Also, something I learned that blew my mind is that being obese is actually the body's way of keeping itself alive! It's actually a survival mechanism. Meaning, when we eat poorly, our body needs to do something with the unusable junk, or toxins (not just an overabundance of indigestible saturated fats) we put in it. It simply can't eliminate them all, so it actually stores them in our fat cells. Of course, this catches up with us quickly if the diet doesn't change.  Exercise can certainly help with some of the detoxification, but exercise cannot put nutrients in us.  Nutrient density is essential. In fact, many people report almost an immediate positive response after having just ONE nutrient dense smoothie or raw meal!  It's as if the body is shouting, "THANK YOU!"

However, it's not all roses.  While there are positive responses to dietary changes, there can also be negative ones as well ...where people often feel worse before they feel better. These are detoxification symptoms resulting in a healing crisis, also called a Herxheimer reaction. The symptoms vary from headaches to irritability, acne, muscle aches, fever, chills, and so on.  I can attest that all of these have occurred and been an ongoing process for me personally over the last year as my weight steadily comes down. And it has, in a way I've never experienced before.

Now getting to the satisfaction issue--I've found that my palate has completely changed. Do I still have certain cravings, yes. But often those are satisfied by simply smelling that greasy fried chicken. I know what you're thinking, but I've found that I feel better in the long run by denying myself that one bite (because let's face it, it's never just one bite) and instead overeat on salad, greens and other beautiful new dishes that I make because I actually crave more fruits and veggies now.

Raw spring rolls

So am I Raw Food Vegan purist? In theory, yes. But in practice, not quite. The cravings come, and sometimes aren't denied. And I'm okay with that, as I hope you all are, too, in your own personal journeys. The last thing anyone needs to feel like is a failure after a meal. This is why "cold turkey" converts are very rare. Plus, Get Dense is not about "food religions," but trying new and better foods for the best health possible.

Success most often occurs as people are able to implement one or more good thing into their diets per day or week, and eliminate a "bad" thing slowly, too (the latter may take longer, who knows).  I still eat some food that I'd like to eventually eliminate (meat, dairy, wheat, canned and non organic produce) but there are certain budgetary constraints that I am working with, along with social pressures. I'm sure most of you can relate.

As Charissa and I carry on in this trek, our conversations are constantly ebbing and flowing from how much raw to cooked food we have, how we're exercising, how it makes us feel, what we'd like to try in the future, etc.  It's good that we have each other as support outside of our spouses ....even though our hubbies are on board, too.

If there's any advice that I can offer, it's that--find someone who supports and even shares your health and wellness goals.  Maybe it's an internet support network. Maybe it's Get Dense. Charissa and I appreciate the feedback, so we'd love to hear from you. Any questions, please contact us at getdense@gmail.com

All that's the dense response of what getting dense it all about. Probably stuff you're all doing without even realizing it. Meanwhile there are so many who are caught up in the pleasure trap, simultaneously overeating and staying malnourished. We've been there.  Join us as we learn our way to healthier habits, recipes and fitness.

I LOVE BEING DENSE! ...Nutrient dense!

That’s right folks! Nutrient dense is a new term introduced to me by my sister, Melissa. What started off as a mission to achieve my vain ideal soon turned me on to the world of health and nutrition. My whole life I strived to look as good as I possible. Despite being thin in high school, I was never healthy. My lunch consisted of potato puffs! But because I was so active, I was able to stay trim. In my twenties, I continued to eat poorly, did not work out nearly as much, and in turn, gained a whole bunch of weight. I practically invited health problems into my life. 

I was overweight when I got married. Then later during my pregnancy, I was diabetic and suffered from high blood pressure. My mood swings were inconsistent and I was always exhausted. In addition, I've struggled with eating disorders (both over eating and bulimia) since high school--which obviously did not achieve anything because I was still morbidly obese. What's even sadder, when I look back, is that I actually thought I was healthy. I would tell people… “I don’t know why I can’t lose weight, I am eating healthy!”

This may sound like I am just conscious of my weight. (Well, in the beginning I was, and I would be lying if I said I still didn’t care…I AM a woman!)  BUT, the concept of health has now been in the forefront of both mine and my sister’s mind. In order for my sister and I to have the “diet” that we have now was certainly not something achieved overnight. In fact, for me personally, it has taken 10 months of fine tuning to get where I am.  And I still have so much to learn.

As a result of having a nutrient dense lifestyle, I am “hungry” to gain more knowledge and continue on this path since I'm happier, in more control, energetic and healthy! I do not consider myself an expert, but as I slip up from time to time, I am starting to realize more and more how bad the food out there is that I was putting into my body. I also want to make sure that I help teach my family to obtain good habits.

I started my journey because I was inspired by others. I am so thankful for my husband to have supported and motivated me, as well as my sister who helped introduce me to an even healthier way to be. I would also have to thank so many of my friends and family for their support. My friend Danielle Maziarz made me realize that reaching my goals is possible through her own incredible journey. I have realized that there are no excuses and you have to believe in yourself. I never want to come across as pushy or a know-it-all…because I’m not. I have realized my potential and I see the potential in others. I hope that people enjoy the blog that we put together, and who knows, you may want to become dense too!

Inaugural Post

Eight months preggo

“Statistics show that in the course of a person's life, they tend to look and feel their best on their wedding day,” said a marriage counseling professor of mine. Given the context of the lecture, I understood what he meant. Though, with my own impending nuptials, I couldn't help but think that after our “I do's” Adam and I were on a path to a haggard, decrepit existence. I mean, I knew married life, pregnancy and parenthood would change our lives altogether, not just physically. But I was convinced that a certain sense of trying to “keep up” with our appearances throughout a lifetime was actually a good thing, and not just uber vain. And that's sorta what this blog is about.   

However, as our President likes to say, “Let me be clear:” This blog is not about vanity ... though vain anecdotes are sure to arise. In fact, this blog is not even about weight loss-- though dropping weight is certainly an added benefit. This blog is about getting on a road to better health, which encompasses all of the physical, mental and even spiritual benefits that have occurred in my sister's and my life because of it. There are a few philosophies that that we lean toward, but we fully acknowledge our limitations. So it is both ironic and poignant that we titled this blog, “Get Dense”, as it gives the broadest and narrowest perspective of what we are trying to accomplish in subscribing to a nutritionally and physically "dense" way of life.  And since food, time, health and money are important (to, I don't know, EVERYONE), we think others might like to hear what we have to say.  Especially since we have seen results in ours and our loved ones' lives.

77lbs lighter, 14 months after baby

Fast forward five years and one toddler later, and I am pleased to report to you that I am lighter than I was on my wedding day . . .and in college . . .and even parts of high school! Also, I feel great, have tons of energy (most days), and I can happily (and appropriately) wear skinny jeans.  Stay tuned, because Charissa's story is quite fascinating, too.

So, if you've made it this far, join us for what we anticipate will be a fun, funny (especially since Charissa's writing) and honest journey of how we are trudging through this life, we think, to better health. (And even some days, with a skip.) Remember, we're sisters, so the family dynamics just might emerge on screen.  Enjoy the ride.