Cris Ramis - The Baron's Blog

Healthy Raw Chocolate Brownies - Version 1....

I'm now a big fan of making my own desserts.

Having spent considerable time, effort and money on improving my health and getting rid of parasites and candida from my body, I'm even more fussy about what I put in it.

I've got a cracking recipe for raw food cheesecake that's both wheat-free and dairy-free and tastes great (to me anyway, and that's what counts), and I've got a raw chocolate fondue recipe from Catherine Carrigan at www.totalfitness.net(available for free on her website in a article called 'Comfort Food for Healthy People - that'd be me then).

At last year's Real Food Festival I bought some organic chocolate powder as I was running low on it at home.

It had sat in my cupboard for a while and was near its use-by date, so I decided to attempt to create a healthy, raw, chocolate brownie.

I asked around for recipes from friends and researched online as well as in the healthy cooking books I have (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, and The Lifefood Recipe Book by David & Annie Jubb).

I found plenty of recipes of varying complexity. I settled on one of my own creation:

cacao powder, raw honey, hazelnuts, desiccated coconut, raisins.

First I processed the hazlenuts first, then added them to raisins, desiccated coconut and choc powder. I didn't use the raw honey after all, as the choc powder I used had sugar in it already.

I'll be using unsweetened raw cacao powder from www.detoxyourworld.com next time.

I blended it all together with around 6oz water, placed it into Pyrex dish and froze for an hour and 20 mins. Here's the pic of it:

 

And here's a pic of a slice of it:

 

It came out a bit too cold and a bit dry. Not as sweet as normal, though still pleasant.

I'll give it another go, though next time I'll process the nuts (hazelnuts or walnuts) with choc powder and dates first.

I'll then add some coconut oil plus the water that the raisins were soaked in.

I may need to add honey as the powder I’ll be using will be raw and unsweetened.

I may also add a little desiccated coconut (not too much as I think it makes the brownie mixture too crumbly), though this is optional.

Lastly I'll add raisins in after everything else is processed so they aren’t as chopped and shredded as everything else.

Alternatively, I may leave out raisins and blend the mixture with dates instead. I think this may create a stickier, firmer brownie mix.

The healthy dessert experiments continue. I've found a very simple recipe for making your own ice-cream using goat's milk (http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay92.html), so I'll give that a go using raw, organic, biodynamic milk or yoghurt I get from Holly Park Organics, Hollypark North Lane, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 4LX, 01424 812229.

Stay well and happy.

Cris

In memory of Jack Lalanne....

Jack Lalanne was a pioneer in terms of living a healthy lifestyle and a happy life.

Many of the information and ideas he espoused and lived by are the same ones being recommended by modern day health, fitness and wellness coaches, myself included.

He passed away on January 23rd 2011, aged 96.

Dr Mercola posted a nice video of an interview with him from 1994 here:

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2011/02/17/words-of-wisdom-from-one-of-the-greatest-fitness-leaders-of-all-time.aspx

Jack's website is http://www.jacklalanne.com/.

I suggest checking out the list of quotes attributed to him or 'Lalanneisms' as they're described. There are some great ones on the list.

Stay well and happy.

Cris

Bodyfat update....

My 10 week detox is over. I've had a re-test and am free of parasites. The candida overgrowth is ok too.

My brother visited for Sunday lunch and was kind enough to my body measurements for me, which you can below:

Circumferences (inches):
Neck: 15 & 1/8 (down by 3/8)          Chest: 42¾ (down by just under ¼ inch)       
Waist (widest part):  33.5 (down by 1 inch)
Note: My own measurement of this spot first thing in the morning was 32½
Hips (Greater Trochantor level): 39 (down by 1¼ inch)
Arms – L: 15¼ (down by 5/8)                          R: 15¼ (down by ½)
Thighs – L: 23 & 3/8 (down by 5/8)                  R: 24 (down by ½ inch)
Calves – L: 15¼ (down by 3/8)                        R: 15¾ (down by 1/4)

I'll spare you the calculations I used to work out my bodyfat, fat mass and lean mass and just give you the figures.

Bodyfat percentage = 8.1% - down by 0.7%

Bodyweight = 12st = 168lbs or 76.4kg (down by 6lb)

Fat Mass = 13.608lbs/6.1884kg = 13.6lbs/6.2kg – down by 1.7lbs/0.8kg

Lean Mass = 168lbs – 13.6lbs or 76.4kg – 6.2kg

Lean Mass = 154.4lbs/70.2kg = down by approx 4.3lbs/1.9kg

The goals for my training during this period were guided by the fact I was on detox for 10 weeks having been diagnosed with a candida overgrowth and parasite.

I cut back on my training and followed a 3 day per week minimalist routine from Jason Ferrugia. My reasoning was that I wanted to stress my body minimally and let it focus on detoxifying my body (getting rid of the lead in my lungs and gall bladder) whilst removing my parasites and candida overgrowth.

The routine was geared toward building strength and size as are most of Jason’s, although he does have routines for fat loss too.

I walked pretty much daily for anywhere between 20 and 60 minutes to maintain some kind of cardio fitness, and to ensure I got out into natural light as much as possible over winter.

Having completed 10 weeks of detox, I’ve lost bodyfat and muscle, which is disappointing and surprising. I have got stronger in places though not universally. My Military Press in particular has suffered.

My left forearm has improved though is not yet 100%.

Though my overall calorie intake was down, I kept my protein intake up. In the last few weeks I’ve upped the volume of vegetables and protein as I was feeling hungry between meals (I was eating every 2-3 hours as per normal).

My water intake was always around 4-5 litres a day.

Now I’ve completed the detox, I’ll finish off the minimalist routine and then may follow another one of Jason Ferrugia’s routines, though one that’s built around a lower body/upper body split and requires 4 days per week of weights.

I’ll continue to walk daily and will gently increase my calories by re-introducing seasonal fruits, raw goats’ dairy and root vegetables like potato and sweet potato which I had to cut out whilst on my detox (too high in sugar).

Rather than aim to ‘bulk up’ and regain my weight and muscle mass as quickly as possible, I intend to up my calories on my training days, whilst keeping them at more of a maintenance level on my non-training days.

I’ll re-measure in 4-6 weeks time once I’ve completed my current routine and take it things from there.

Stay well and happy.

Cris

Petition...

Here's a petition you may like to sign. Your choice. Depends if your eco minded or not. I am.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition

Stay well and happy, eco or otherwise.

Cris