Stogo Eating/Raffle Winning/Juice Drinking/Sale Jean Buying. We Didn’t Start The Fire.

After my last BeamGreen experience, I knew all month that I would be attending BeamGreen again last night. I joined BeamGreen officially yesterday– which included a payment — and then at the end of the event, Mary, the founder, announced that she accepted an amazing opportunity and last night was the final BeamGreen meeting. Mere hours after I paid! Of course, I am happy for Mary and whatever it is she is embarking upon. She deserves great things and I know she will achieve this.

And she was nice enough to respond to my email today and offer a full refund. How sweet!

I am sorry BeamGreen is ending because I really do enjoy it! Last night I was so happy to see Missy, Melissa, Gena and Sarah, and my best friend Rae!

Here I am (see the top curls) with Missy and Melissa.

After work, I got to the Upper West Side with plenty of time to kill. I got a much needed eyebrow threading and then wandered in and out of stores. I found myself at Intermix, a very expensive store that I don’t usually go into, although I got a pair of jeans on sale there for very cheap last year.

Needless to say, I walked straight to the sale rack. It was filled with jeans and I took a couple pairs to try one. And one. Was. Perfect.

Ever since my GI problems started, I’ve had problems with jeans. Even though they fit everywhere on my body, they never close around my stomach. And if they do, as soon as I eat a grape I am forced to open them. I am always uncomfortable in jeans and I look at other people wearing jeans — larger people than I — and wonder “how can they wear them?? And feel comfortable and not feel like suffocating?” I just can’t wrap my head around it.

All my old, small sized jeans are too small. The newer, larger jeans also tug my stomach. And then, yesterday at Intermix, I found the perfect jean. According to the tag, they cost $218. After being marked down numerous times, the final price on the tag read $69. Click here to see many views and more details on the jeans. So why are the jeans perfect? Well, I think the fact that their real price is $218 means they are made of silk or something. Seriously, they are clearly a very high quality, super soft denim. They are stretchy. They are comfortable. I can not only breathe in them, but I can sit in them too! I can move around and not feel like I am going to die. All my other jeans, even sizes bigger than what I am, squeeze into my stomach and sides and cause the dreaded muffin top. These do not do that. They just . . . rest. I look like one of the people I envy — who can wear jeans without feeling bound and sausage-like. I love them!

Here is a photo of them. It is not me. Unfortunately.

Although my feet are much smaller and cuter than hers.

OK, so back to BeamGreen. Thank you for allowing me that detour. I was still too early when I arrived at Central Park so I decided to sit on a nearby bench and relax outside with my book. I was literally steps from Tavern on the Green, where the event is held. And about 5 or 6 pedicab drivers tried to interrupt my relaxation to see if I needed a taxi ride somewhere. I pointed at Tavern on the Green and said “I’m going right there so I think I’ll be OK.”

If I wanted a ride, I would have told them! I wouldn’t have sat on a bench with a book. Poor guys, I know it is hard for them to make money, but still!

I waited around and then saw Missy walking in, so I ran up to her. I didn’t want to be insanely early alone, but I had no problem being insanely early with a friend! We signed in and got our raffle tickets and were among the very first people in the room. Which meant we got to get our fresh pressed bottled Liqueteria juices with no line! (Cold pressed juices retain more nutrients because standard juicers like the one I own use some heating to make the juice, which destroys enzymes). I got the Grasshopper juice, which consists of apple, pear, pineapple, wheatgrass & mint. It tastes just as delicious and refreshing as it sounds. It was a nice change for me since I drink straight vegetable juice every day, with the occasional half apple or pear. This was a treat! So much of a treat, that I may have gone back for seconds. And thirds. Although for accountability’s sake I will admit that the third was not a Grasshopper but a Royal Flush, consisting of pineapple, pear, ginger, aloe vera & Liver Kidney Lymph Detox. It was also refreshing and delicious, tasking strongly of ginger which I don’t like in my food but am fine with in my drinks in small amounts.

I also want to add that the reason I don’t get All Greens from Liqueteria, which is the best one for you, is because it contains romaine which I just can’t stand in my juice! But many people love it.

I do want to make a trip to Liqueteria at some point and pick up some bottled juices. Mmmmm.

Here I am at Tavern on the Green before everyone got to the room:

For my meal I had some avocado and cucumber rolls from Whole Foods (SO good) and I even tried a very small amount of raw pasta and raw lasagna from a new raw delivery company called Three Wishes. I only had a small amount because my stomach doesn’t do well with vegetables, particularly those of the uncooked variety. All was delicious.

At each chair was the BeamGreen Summer Newsletter, full of interesting articles written by Gena and some other people, including one I really enjoyed about cold pressed juices. We also received a book, Kabbalah on Green (details below), a pamphlet on Vegetarian Options for School Lunch Programs and one called Diet and Diabetes: Recipes for Success.

Here I am with some other bloggers, Missy, Sarah, Vani, Olga and Diana.

After an introduction from Mary, the first speaker was Gene Stone, ghostwriter of Engine 2 Diet and founder of Stogo. Stogo Ice Cream uses premium organic, dairy-free ingredients with no refined sugars, no animal products, no artificial flavors, and no preservatives. The ice cream is either soy-based, hemp-based, or coconut-based and sweetened with agave nectar. Brilliant.

The Engine 2 Diet was conceived after an entire firehouse in Texas went Vegan and all their cholesterol and other health problems resolved themselves. The author, Rip Esselstyn, was teased by his fellow firefighters for being vegan. But after his coworkers saw his health improve, they wanted in on it. And that is how the vegan firehouse began. This book is filled with recipes, anecdotes and useful information.

This is Gene. Gene is a pacer.

Back to the Stogo. Some fun facts about their ice cream: Guys love mint chocolate chip.  Not my guy, but guys as a whole. The most popular flavor is Salt & Caramel. Not a flavor I would select as I am not a fan of salt. I am excited to go there and try more flavors! I would not eat the soy based flavors, which eliminates any chances of me having the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie flavor, but I would gladly eat Hemp Cinnamon, Hemp Maple Walnut and Coconut Pina Colada!

Speaking of the ice cream. We then got to taste it..

Stogo vanilla coconut ice cream. One word can describe it and that word my friends is DELICIOUS. They had both chocolate coconut and vanilla coconut and most people got a scoop of each. For some reason I don’t quite understand, I love chocolate but won’t touch chocolate ice cream. It doesn’t appeal to me at all and I always choose no ice cream over chocolate. I wish I could explain why, and I wish I had this problem with cookies and brownies and cake.

So I got 2 scoops of vanilla and to make it extra special I broke up a chocolate chip vegan cookie from Babycakes and OMG THIS WAS THE PERFECT DESSERT — and guilt free! The Babycakes cookie looked and tasted like a homemade chocolate chip cookie, just the way I like it. It was heaven mixed in the ice cream; the perfect combination. Satisfied my sweet tooth and I didn’t feel any guilt since it was all made from good stuff!

And then we had the raffle! Once again, I hoped to win a consultation with Gena. Didn’t happen. Or a book. Didn’t happen. But I did win something — and thankfully it was not a coconut cleaver because what the hell would I do with that! I won an awesome tomato knife from Williams & Sonoma that really could be used as a salad knife, or, in my case, a green juice knife! The boy doesn’t exactly have many sharp knives, nor many that are longer than 3 inches, so cutting my kale, celery and cucumber hasn’t always been the easiest task. And now it is! I used the knife this morning and I am very happy with it. Last week at the farmers market I bought a perfect, ripe, bright red juicy tomato. When I cut it to make my pizza it was very hard to do. I will revisit the farmers market on Saturday, get another tomato, and test out my knife in its true element.

Also, I have been going on and on to the boy all week about how we need to get sharp knives! How funny.

When they called my raffle number, I suddenly got so nervous because I don’t like when everyone’s attention is on me. I sqeaked out “me” to indicate I had the winning ticket but it was barely audible. After the knife was handed to me and I was back in reality, I realized how hard my heart was pounding. Why should a silly raffle at a friendly event evoke such anxiety in me?

Anyway, Melissa won a copy of The China Study, which I want to read when i finish the 4 new memoirs I just bought and another book the boy recently read that I want to read. I was hoping to get a picture of Melissa and I with our winnings, but she had to leave early.

Here I am with my prize:

I need to change the resolution on my camera to take higher quality pictures. I keep forgetting.  Please hold.

OK done. That was too easy.

Off topic: Here is a photo of the pizza I just mentioned. It is a Rudi’s Organic Spelt wrap topped with fresh farmers market tomato (in place of sauce), fresh mozzarella, steamed shitake mushrooms, steamed farmers market electric purple eggplant and steamed zucchini. I am trying to eat small amounts of vegetables more often to try and train my, ahem, parts, to not attack me when they get a dose of healthy.

They raffled off a free nutrition consultation with Gena, which unfortunately I did not win since I won the knife.

The next speaker was Gil Jacobs, founder of Axis, a place I am very . . . familiar with. Gil is an incredibly dynamic speaker and the entire room was enthralled listening to him. He spoke about why people get cancer, the mistakes doctors make in treating it, and how to approach cancer and other illnesses in a healthier way. He also touched on diabetes and cholesterol. It was fascinating to hear him explain why tumors form and why people with cancer lose weight, in addition to how oncologists  fail in trying to prevent the weight loss.

There is a lot of cancer in my family.

I know this is a sensitive and controversial topic (as Gil’s explanation on why tumors develop is not exactly the same as typical medical doctors’ views) and I don’t want to offend anyone by writing more details here, so please contact me if you want me to try and explain to you what I learned. I did take notes, so I won’t be completely lost! I also don’t want to make an error in wording here and skew Gil’s powerful words.

Gil did make some points I do want to repeat on here:

“What heals the body is ceasing import of matter that creates waste and cloggage”— ie, don’t eat crap. Treat your body well and eat real, whole foods, largely from plants. Don’t smoke, drink, etc. If you want to heal, eat as cleanly as you can. For anyone other than me, this should not be out of reach — veggies, fruits, nuts, sprouted grains, etc. For me, with my digestive illness, it is not as easy, but I am trying to get there.

“Specific nutrients won’t heal you” — Gil’s example was about wheatgrass, which I have been writing about lately. Wheatgrass itself, with all its amazing nutrients and vitamins, won’t heal you on its own. You can’t have a hamburger and a wheatgrass shot and think you are treating your body well. It is the entire healthy lifestyle that those who drink wheatgrass tend to have that heals them. It isn’t Vitamin X in this carrot or Vitamin Y in that broccoli, it is the healthy lifestyle as a whole.

Which reminds me I need to drink more types of vegetables in my juices! I want to take in as many nutrients as I can.

“Cleanse is a verb and not a noun” — yes, I did the Blueprint Cleanse (which Gil referred to as Footprint, resulting in lots of laughter from the room) but I didn’t do it to cleanse, I did it to try and give my struggling digestive system a break and take in more nutrients than I had in the prior 2 years where the doctors told me to avoid fruits and vegetables. I did because I wanted to do something amazing for my body.

That said, Gil explained that when people say “I’m doing a cleanse”, they’re not. Drinking juice and eating salad for 2 weeks will not undo years and years of waste accumulation, especially if you are going back to your old lifestyle once you “finish” the cleanse. Cleansing is a process that never ends, a process of treating your body in the best way you possible can, and enjoying it. It is not a cleanse if you are counting the days until it is over. Food for thought.

And speaking of BPC, someone I know couldn’t finish hers and was generous enough to offer me an entire day’s worth of cold pressed juice! More nutrients for me!

Photo break! Here I am with Gena and Diana. They write great blogs and as you might remember, I credit all the good health in my life and improvement in my GI condition to Gena.

The final speaker, David Phillips, was there to discuss Kabbalah’s take on being green. We all received a book called Kabbalah on Green. I learned a little about Kabbalah when I was in Israel two years ago. Unfortunately, this speaker talked in circles and I couldn’t guage the exact point he was trying to make. Something about ego and personal garbage being the cause of something bad. He kept referring to the time when Al Gore conceded the election and how powerful Gore’s speech felt to him at the time, which was all well and good until I found out he was 13 when that happened. I am being cynical and of course he could have been as touched by it at the time as he says. . . but I have a hard time buying it.

I am going to read the book as I am curious about Kabbalah’s take on green, which I didn’t quite learn from David.

And then, at the end, Mary made her announcement of ending BeamGreen. It is too bad because Missy and Rae both enjoyed it and I will miss these meetings; the food, the company and the wealth of information!

Read Sarah’s recap here
Read Dianas recap here
Read Missy’s recap here

(Note: I apologize for any typographical errors. My spell check is not working today, it keeps shutting itself off)