Raw Reset: Still Curious. Still Grateful.

Dr. Goldner's smoothie - every day during my raw reset.

April 23, 2025 — Wednesday

Day 3: Totally Raw Reset

I’m on Day 3 of a 7-day totally raw food reset, and already, I can feel a difference.

Although I’ve been feeling uncomfortable in my body due to recent weight gain—and not quite like myself—I started to wonder: Can gaining weight actually cause physical pain? It turns out, yes. It can.

While slow, gradual weight gain often isn’t painful, gaining even a modest amount—especially if it happens quickly or settles in sensitive areas—can lead to physical discomfort.

How Weight Gain Can Physically Hurt

• Joint pressure: Weight gain can increase strain on your knees, hips, and lower back. It may even aggravate arthritis or trigger inflammatory flare-ups.

• Posture changes: Extra weight can shift your gait or posture, leading to muscle tension, back pain, or foot issues like plantar fasciitis.

• Digestive discomfort: Overeating—especially processed or heavy foods—can stretch the stomach, slow digestion, and lead to bloating, heartburn, or cramping.

• Somatic stress: For those with a history of trauma, eating disorders, or anxiety, gaining weight can feel painful in ways that go beyond the physical, as the body may store emotional tension in visceral ways.

That said, my goal now is to focus not on guilt or restriction, but on kindness—nourishing my body with foods that support healing and comfort.

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My Focus for This Reset

I'm drawing inspiration from Dr. Brooke Goldner’s hyper-nourishment protocol: heavy on cruciferous greens, omega-3s, and raw foods that satisfy.

Here’s what’s helping me feel grounded and steady right now:

• Simplicity in meals to reduce stress and decision fatigue.

• Hydration—so critical for metabolism and cellular repair.

• Gentle movement, like slow walks and playing my flute. With some knee pain and tightness in my left side, I'm prioritizing 20–30 minutes a day of joyful, mindful activity. Just enough to move energy, support blood sugar balance, and elevate my mood.

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Totally Raw 7-Day Reset Sample (Day 3)

Here’s what I’m eating today—simple, deeply nourishing, and colorful.
Morning Ritual

• San Francisco Bay coffee (black)

• Yogi Green Tea Super Antioxidant

• L-Theanine, liquid B-Complex, liquid Vitamin D, and liquid Magnesium

• Lots of water throughout the morning

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Breakfast: Guacamole Bowl

Mashed avocado seasoned with:

• Gomasio (toasted sesame salt)

• Red pepper flakes

• Lime juice
  Stir in:

• Sprouts

• Finely chopped raw broccoli florets

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Lunch: Hyper-Nourishment Smoothie

(Makes 2 large servings)

• 16 oz raw crucifers (cabbage, napa cabbage, or cole slaw mix)

• 4 Tbsp flaxseed oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1–2 bananas

• 16 oz frozen fruit

• Water to the top of the cabbage in the blender

Blend until smooth and creamy.

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Dinner: Big Raw Salad + Flax Crackers

• Romaine

• Cherry tomatoes

• Sliced onion

• Olives

• Sprouts

• Fermented pickle

• Avocado

Flax-Lemon Dressing

• ¼ cup cold-pressed flax oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

• ½ tsp salt

• Pinch of cayenne

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Homemade Flax Crackers

Yields 2 dehydrator trays

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole flax seeds

• ½ cup ground flax seeds

• 2 cups water

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp paprika

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 1–2 hours until thickened.

2. Spread mixture thinly on two nonstick dehydrator sheets.

3. Dehydrate for 8 hours. Flip and peel off the sheets, then dehydrate another 6–10 hours until crisp.

4. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

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That’s my simple rhythm for today: Guacamole Bowl + Smoothie + Salad with Crackers—a trio of textures and flavors that truly satisfy.

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Still curious. Still growing. Still grateful.

Searching for a Complete Vision

 

April 12, 2025 

Last night, I was in a dream state that seemed to stretch on and on.  The details are hazy, but a single thread ran through the entire experience:  I was searching for the long version of something.  I wasn't quite sure what it was at first but eventually, I realized it was Cory Booker's speech.  I wanted to hear it in its entirety - not just soundbites or quotes - but the full, uncut version.  Despite my efforts, all I could find were brief excerpts.

There was a sense of urgency in the search, a need to connect with something whole and complete.  And while the speech remained elusive, another image stayed with me:  my own fingers, intertwined.  A quiet and subtle gesture, but full of meaning.

Dreams speak in symbols.  They often quietly express truths we overlook while we are awake.  

The search for the full story suggests a longing for depth, honesty and continuity - maybe in the world around me, maybe in my own narrative.  I’m tired of soundbites.  I want meaning that runs deeper than the highlight reel.

Cory Booker as a symbol suggests that his idealism and calls to unity symbolize hope, integrity, or moral leadership.  Maybe I’m looking for those things - in others or within myself.

Fragments instead of wholeness mirror a familiar frustration.  How often do we live in pieces?  Moments feel disjointed, stories are incomplete.  Maybe this dream is a reflection of the longing to stitch things back together.

Intertwined fingers of my own hands represent a quiet act of self-comfort.  Of grounding.  Maybe it was a message that what I seek outside is also within and that I already hold the pieces - I just need to bring them together.

If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear how your dreams are speaking to you lately.  Are you also seeking something whole in a world of fragments?

#dreamjournal #fragmentsofme #simplerawandnatural #innerwisdom

Chateauroux Still Lives In Me

April 15, 2025

Châteauroux Still Lives in Me - A Memory

Châteauroux, France, still lives in me.

When we first arrived in Châteauroux, I was just a young teenager, already accustomed to moving regularly with my Air Force dad. But Châteauroux was different—the language was different. In my mind, it was an exotic place. I lived there for only two years, but the impact has lasted a lifetime. Sixty-five years later, it remains vivid in my heart.

The charm of everyday life enchanted me: the shops and boulangeries, young boys walking with unwrapped baguettes in their arms, the bicycles as transportation, the gendarmes directing traffic in their crisp uniforms, the French schoolchildren with rosy cheeks warmed by wine, the berets, the accents, the quiet resilience of a people still recovering from war. Even the base snack bar felt magical, with its hamburgers and French fries—familiar comforts in an unfamiliar world.

I remember my mother getting her new French driver’s license and bravely taking the wheel in our new home. She was determined—probably a little nervous at first—but steady and composed as she learned her way around a new place. One scene replays itself in my mind: a gendarme standing in Place de la République, standing proudly on a white tambour, orchestrating traffic with white gloved hands. At first, he seemed like part of a movie scene. Before long, he simply belonged to the backdrop of our daily life—both foreign and reassuring.

This is Mom's French Driving Permit

Audrey Witherington, french driver.

That memory has never left me. It’s more than a passing image—it’s a feeling of transition, of arrival, of watching my mother meet the moment with quiet courage. Châteauroux still lives in me in scenes like this—not just as a place I once lived, but as a part of who I became.

We were a one car family.  Many days she  would drive my dad to work and keep the car for herself to drive. Then she would pick him up again at the end of his work day.

This is AI doing it's best to recreate the memory of driving by the Place de la Republique where the gendarme would be directing traffic.  An actual photgraph of my mom driving her three kids doesn't exist, but it was fun trying to get the simulation. It made me smile.

Still curious. Still growing. Still Grateful.

Janis

Welcome Back

Friday, April 11, 2025

Simple Raw and Natural

I began Simple Raw and Natural in May 2011, just before embarking on a five-month adventure to the Clohesy River Health Farm near Kuranda, Queensland, Australia. I was in the midst of a four-year study with Dr. John Fielder called A Lifestyle Consultant’s Course in Natural Living, and this trip served as the internship portion of that journey.

The conditions at the health farm were anything but luxurious—simple, rustic, and deeply outside my comfort zone. But that experience shifted my perspective in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.

It’s been over three years since I last posted here. Part of that silence came from the struggle to stay within the parameters of the identity I created for this blog.

Back then, I believed raw food and natural living might be the solution to everything. And in many ways, that lifestyle helped me—physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. But over time, I realized that it didn’t address the full complexity of being human. Rather than write from a place that felt too narrow—or worse, inauthentic—I stopped posting.

For years, I debated changing the name of this blog. After all, I haven’t eaten 100% raw in a long time. Our raw foods group still meets (going strong after 11 years!), but raw isn’t my only source of nourishment anymore.

Still, the name stays. Simple Raw and Natural is where it all began—and that origin story still matters.

Now, at 76, I’m still learning. Still creating. Still saying yes to curiosity. I’m committed to being a lifelong learner and health explorer—but I no longer identify with the wellness industry or the swirl of conspiracy theories that sometimes surround it.

This space will evolve as I do. It will be a place to reflect, connect, and share what nourishes—whether that’s a budget-friendly, plant-based recipe with a French flair, a book that changed my thinking, a moment from the past that still glows, or thoughts on how to live fully and honestly in a complex world.

I believe in good food, clear thinking, honest conversation, legacy writing, democratic values—and being just raw enough to let our true selves shine through.

Going forward, Simple Raw and Natural will be part reflection, part recipe box, part love letter to life.

Welcome back.

Still curious. Still growing. Still grateful.

Janis