Hi,

Just curious what you guys think of Victoria Boutenko's books, DVD's, etc., etc.? I am drawn to her work and I think it's to help me with the next phase of my raw journey. I've been raw 17 months (90 percent or more) and it feels like I'm ready to move to the next phase.

I'd love to hear some feedback about her work before I order her educational package

Thanks in advance,
With hugs,
L

I don't know what her educational package is, but I do know that her book "Green for Life" exposed me to green smoothies, an essential part of my raw diet. I also found the book to be scientifically interesting, especially since she's not an academic. I found some of her claims to be far flung (who knows?) and I'm suspicious of her pushing the use of a certain type of blender, but it doesn't matter because I'm completely hooked on green smoothies and don't think I could have transitioned to raw without them.

I have "Green for Life" and I've went and listened to her talk. I think she has some good ideas, but I'm not sure about all the "facts" she presents and certain ideas she has about what chimps diets are like compared to us. I know at the talk (last year) she specifically said that chimps don't eat meat - which I know is false, the males of the group will occasionally hunt, it's not a staple but it does contribute to their diet. Still I really enjoy her energy and green smoothies are an awesome way to start and the book gives some great ideas for those. Basically just take everything she says with a grain of salt!
peace and positive energy

HI there...i as well love her book green for life for getting me into green smoothies too!! but i have talked with a few people about this and i was unaware...but she gave a lecture here in my town a while back and the raw food group i belong to said that she looks very unhealthy now adays and has gained her weight back to an unhealthy amount...now i am not one to say who is right or wrong or that she isn't doing something...but i have noticed that on this site people say that if you follow the raw food lifestyle and do it correctly that things happen you heal, and your have a glow and you lose your excess weight...but a group of about 45 all said that something was peculiar about the things she tought and the way she looked especially for being raw for almost 12 or 15 years now...so i don't know that is just a tip.....but hey you never know...i just thought i would throw that in there since the other people who responded also had a concern or two....maybe there is something to this....my suggestion is go get green for life...butl ook into more types of books....depending on what direction you want to head in your raw journey there are tons of books out there
good luck
and take care
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Boutenko's book 'Green for Life' led me to the raw diet - and I am grateful to her. The cover of Green for Life is perfect too.

She gets the message accross whether or not you agree that chimps have to eat meat. Bonobo monkeys, gorrillas, cows, elephants, horses etc and don't eat meat and grow their muscle from the protein in greens.

Her info about the amount of fibre they consume I think is very helpful in bringing home the message "eat way more living greens/fibre" to a SAD eater and is very motivating.

When I followed her advice I felt so incredibly nourished I immediately took the next step towards a raw diet. I have given her book to several people who now too eat green smoothies. Don't think she's not in it for the Vita Mix sales, when I went to her website they were all sold out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2007 01:24PM by Dulset.

I think she's selling machines, and books.

I read that gorillas eat primarilly terrestial herbaceous vegetation. Bonobos eat 80 to 90% fruit in one area and in a different place eat 40 to 50% fruit. Chimpanzees eat less THV than bonobos. I guess we all adapt to what we like, or maybe what is available.

I guess I'm not as excited about it because when I tried juicing or blending it doesn't agree with me.

She has some great stuff to say! I do agree with some of the others though. Love to her!

Love to all!

Rawkabilly goddess~

I think that if you are drawn to her work then follow your intuition that is is right for you at this time.. and go for it.

I have "Green for life" and that introduced me to green smoothies which I like very much. Her two children's book "Eating without heating is nice too I think.

It's funny - I fell in love with her 12 steps to raw book because after reading it I finally could entertain the idea of being 100% raw (I had been about 90% for a few months). I felt like I could really give up cooked food permanently - which I did for about 4 months. But now that I have 'cheated' several times I feel like I still wasn't exactly ready to transition totally (my goal is still 100%, but I am need to keep working on the how). I found 12 steps very inspirational - perhaps too inspirational!

well, I own all her stuff, I like her, but she is a lady trying to sell a few things and I don't believe everything I hear that she says. Like about green smoothies. I mean, she is selling an idea . Noone has the answers , for anything. She is great, I love her work, etc..but i don't believe eeverything. I mean, i am not talking about her story and how she overcame disease, I am talking about how she feels we need greens in smoothies to digest them. I don't think greens are for us. I think fruit is ok, I have known people, lots, on just fruit, way longer than she has been raw, that have perfect health

Well, I think she is inspirational and all the rest. However, I find eating mostly friut and the occasional salad works best for me. The green smoothies seem too much for me. Too filling.

Love,
Rian

Dulset Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> She gets the message accross whether or not you
> agree that chimps have to eat meat. Bonobo
> monkeys, gorrillas, cows, elephants, horses etc
> and don't eat meat and grow their muscle from the
> protein in greens.

Bonobos eat insects and other small mammels:
[www.animalinfo.org]

Cows and other animals eat insects along with the grass they eat (have you seen them pick the insects off before they chew?)

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

if u wanna eat fried worms u need lots of ketchup and anise

if u wanna eat uhh...caterpillars u need to speck thewith cilantro and red bell peppers

hmmmm... what else can i dig out of the entomology factoid for fruitarians bonanza ?

uh... don't know

that's all the myths that i was interested in propagating

tis fun

oho yeah, if u wanna fry the worms
do it quietly and distinctly without waking up the neighbor who hears the piano in the night

after vonnegut passed away
i've been hearing things

the butterflies
they keep flying out to me
bluemorphos blue morphos

they wanna tell me something

they are telling me

that if someone eats fried caterpillars

they will feel sad


they are happy that no one squirted ketchup on their cocoons
and had them with onions

About the chimps diet, do the chimps in zoos get meat at all? If the chimps in the wild get meat on occassion, then do the zookeepers supplement their chimps with meat?

As for Boutenko's books etc, I only have read some of the info from their website. I like the green smoothies, which I thought I would never even try them let alone like them. I'm finding that I don't want to have them everyday anymore. When I first started drinking them, I had them everday, but now after about a month, I'm doing them about 4 or 5 times a week. I figure that number will go down over time.

Love,
Prism

I found her book Green For Life to be quite motivating and I immediately started whipping up all variety of green smoothies. It's fun. But I must not have a strong enough blender, because it's still rather chunky. Does the VitaMix (or some other recommendation) get them totally smooth?

-Erin
Raw Done Light
dogma-free RAW
Gazpacho For The Soul

Thanks so much for the replies and feedback!

I am thinking of getting the book Green for Life for sure.

I am feeling in a big time rut with my raw diet. Maybe I need to buy some new cookbooks or something too? I like simple foods without a lot of hassle nowadays since I went a year making all kinds of gourmet raw dishes...I am burned out on it now

I have been feeling depleted big time and having challenges getting enough food (due to my workouts, training, etc.). I'm constantly tired, hungry, thirsty, and often, very famished hungerwise.

My body seems to reject nuts and seeds as of late too...What's a girl to eat? LOL Sometimes, just wish I could drink water and be set LOL...I like to eat though

Going to continue to consider the Boutenko's work. Yesterday at my Barnes and Noble, I noticed two new raw cookbooks I've never seen...I forget the names, but wow, more and more authors, huh?

I'm still giggling about the fried worms! Ewwww, gross though...I loved that kids' book growing up btw

I forgot to add...I have never had a Vitamix. All of my smoothies, even the green ones blend up nicely in my blender. I own a Krupps blender...it was a wedding gift...wow, 10 years ago

So, you don't have to "chew" your green smoothies? I'ver read it may be better to do so anyway as it starts the digestion where it's supposed to start (in the mouth). But was wondering if others are able to blend theirs up so smooth as not to require this, if they didn't want to or know they "should."

-Erin
Raw Done Light
dogma-free RAW
Gazpacho For The Soul

hi there..on the chewing your smoothis it actually started as chewing your juice which is still a great thing...it does start the digestion process...and they recommend chewing pure juice out of a juicer that is only liquid so def you should chew your smoothies too!!
good luck
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxxo

I've heard that bit about 'chewing', etc. I do it with juicing, etc., etc.

we are not chimps.

Rawk, that was my understanding as well, but the question still remains, Is everyone else managing to get their green (kale, collard, for example) smoothies completely smooth? If so, I should look into a new blender. Otherwise, the one I've got (a KitchenAid) is doing just fine.

-Erin
Raw Done Light
dogma-free RAW
Gazpacho For The Soul

Like I said, I have a Krups blender...It can crush ice, so greens are not a problem I have completely smooth smoothies

I frequently drink green smoothies, and though I don't actually use a chewing motion with them, I do like to run my tongue through the liquid 7 - 10 times on each sip to incoroporate salivary enzymes into the mix.

-smile

I do own a vitamix which does get the green smoothies completely smooth, however I always "chew" them or move them about lots of times in my mouth. A firm believer in saliva! haha, still I don't drink them that often - I prefer whole foods recently, which is funny because not too long ago I really loved blended food, go figure... Anyway I'm sure you're blender is fine unless you really feel the need to have it smooth. Take Care.

Thanks all. Hope I didn't take over this thread too much. I'm fine with the chunky I guess, but like yourself, alanabanana, I prefer just munching on the greens whole!

-Erin
Raw Done Light
dogma-free RAW
Gazpacho For The Soul

hey there...maybe when blending blend for a minute and if it starts getting warm add some ice which will counteract the heating i have learned from some receipe books...and then blend a little more....give it rest so it doesn't heat up...i use a 10 dollar blender from walmart or target or something haha...and it gets them smooth..i don't have chunks lol...so i am sure your powerful kitchenaid is getting the job done...maybe you are looking for more of a juice....if that is the case and you don't have a juicer and want more of a smooth juice....use a cheesecloth bag..and drain the smoothie in there and squeeze out all excess liquid...that gets rid of the pulp and fiber...and leaves you with pure juice....and if you don't want to waste the pulp you can use in a soup or if you dehydrate...make some yummy crackers!!!
so good luck to you and hope this helps
love earth angel
xoxoxxoxoxoxo

I did order Victoria's Green For Life book today, but decided I'll wait before ordering any more of her materials, etc. I ordered some cool-soundin rawkin'book called Angel Foods too--obviously by a different author.

I guess myself I like to eat my greens in salads more, but I like to add them in creative places like smoothies whenever I can since I'm an athlete...I like to have those amino acids as muscle insurance LOL.

1 we are not chimps

2.. i forogot

3. I JUST CHEWED MY FIRST SMOOTHIE>>> IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!


tiffntwins

Hey guys,
If you're getting chunky smoothies, are you putting the greens into the smoothie as the last step, in small pieces, one at a time, so that they get blended thoroughly? I have a 'coomon' (read cheap!!) Oster blender and I get great smoothies this way.

Sharrhan:


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