The Organic Climber – Vegetarian running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing and raw foods.

This update is a bit late, but life has been busy, but in a good way. This past weekend was amazing, it was a slower passed weekend than usual and I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my wife. We don’t have Internet at the apartment right now, so it’s difficult to make updates on my blog, but on the plus side, it allows us to spend more time together.

Anyway, I ended up driving up to Stephenville Texas to the Barefoot Market for the final day of Cleanse America to hang out with Paul, Penny, Daniel, and Linda. It was the best day of the Cleanse in my opinion because it took me out of my normal routine. I finished up work in the Bearded Brothers kitchen early that morning, and drove the 3 hours to Barefoot Market, where I was greeted by this sign…

Chris, the other Bearded Brother, was planning on making an appearance too, but had to stay in Austin at the last minute. I spent much of the day chatting with Stephenville resident’s, demoing bars, and hanging out with some of the Cleanse America crew. I even enjoyed my first durian experience with Paul Risse, something I would likely repeat, but not sure if I would buy the exotic fruit on my own. It wasn’t as strong smelling as I thought it would be, but the onion like taste topped with a custardy sweetness threw me for a loop and blew my mind. And, within an hour of eating the fruit the tryptophans had kicked in, giving me a very calm and relaxed feeling.

It was a good feeling to just let go of control for a day and not worry so much about work and what was and wasn’t getting done. I was even able to spend a few moments in the sun reading for pleasure. It’s not often that I just relinquish my day-to-day tasks and allow myself to relax. It’s something I need to learn and practice more regularly. One of the reasons I wanted to start my own business was so I would have more free time to enjoy personal recreation and time with family. But, sadly the nature of a bootstrapped startup means I’m working constantly. I really enjoyed giving up control for a day, though. I plan on doing it again for an entire week in May. It’s the last opportunity my wife and I have to take a vacation together before our baby comes in September, and it’s going to be the longest period of time I’ve taken off since starting Bearded Brothers.

The Cleanse was a great experience, and below is a summary of what I took away from the whole experience.

1. I got affirmation on something I already knew. A high raw diet is ideal for optimal energy. I had more energy during the 10 day cleanse than I had in a long time. This was primarily seen on two occasions. One, the day after I had a restless nights sleep of only 6 hours I still had loads of energy and lots of mental clarity to get work done. Two, was the final day of the Cleanse when I decided to drive to Stephenville, TX to the Barefoot Market. Again, it was another night of little sleep, as I had to start work early that morning then drove the three hours and stayed up until midnight hanging out with friends.

2. Mental Clarity. I found myself more productive during the week, able to focus for longer periods of time, was distracted less and got lots of work done. I also felt less anxious and stressed. I had more of a calm about me than stress and worry that I tend to carry with me.

3. Even a healthy plant based diet doesn’t compare to 100% raw. I don’t desire to maintain a 100% raw diet for a number of reasons, but I was surprised at how much my body detoxed. It just goes to show how much food affects the body. I have been vegetarian for 4 years now, and have always been high raw (in varying degrees). I had foggy head during most of the Cleanse, and experienced numerous bowl movements, expelling toxins from my body. I was really shocked at the amount of detox I went through, despite a very healthy diet. It’s served as a reminder I always, always, always need to be mindful of what I am putting into my body.

4. I was able to spend a lot of time in prayer and reflection during my trip to Stephenville and was reminded of how much God has blessed me. I was also reminded by friends that God has his hand in the things I am doing. It was comforting to know that I am being taken care of and to appreciate all the blessings I have experienced in the past two years. It hasn’t been easy not having an income other than my wife during that time. But the hard work is about to pay off. In just a few months I should be able to start paying myself and my wife will be able to leave her full time job to become a stay at home mother.

5. Discipline is something I am still capable of. I started off the year with a 7 day juice/raw food cleanse and gave up caffeine during that time. I told myself after the Cleanse was over I would mostly drink tea, rather than coffee. I quickly fell off the wagon though, but gave it up again for Cleanse America. Since then, I have had coffee twice, but the desire for it is considerably lower and I feel that I will be able to commit to less coffee. I felt much better without it and I truly believe that I’m capable of only having it in moderation. I find I’m less anxious and focus better when I don’t have high amounts of caffeine coursing through my veins.

I thoroughly enjoyed cleansing and enjoyed seeing how others benefited from it as well. I plan on making cleansing a regular routine in my life. I also plan on being more conscience of my every day decisions. Even though I already eat very healthy, there are still numerous things I can do to bring about a better balance in my life. I’m thankful that the Cleanse helped remind me of these things.

Did you participate in Cleanse America, or have you had a recent cleanse experience? If so please share it in the comments.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, RAW Food by OrganicClimber
america, barefoot, bearded, brothers, cleanse, market, organic, RAW
1 comment

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Well, once again I only have a few moments to write this post. So, I will make it brief. The cleanse is still going well. Yesterday I operated at 110% with only 6 hours of sleep, and restless sleep at that. Today was another restless night as well, and yet I feel like I have a lot of energy. Today I have been eating mostly fruit and drinking water. I have had a little bit of raw granola I made, thought. I decided yesterday I have been eating too many nuts and seeds. I wish I had been juicing more.

I really feel like the cleanse has been helping me focus more on my day-to-day tasks. Even though I still have a slightly foggy head, my ability to focus and get work done has seemingly increased. Just this morning I rocked out a ton of Bearded Brothers samples, shipped off several orders, and prepared several wholesale orders for delivery later this week. I feel like I’m on fire!

I will say my fitness level has been a bit less than I was hoping for this week. I was hoping to exercise daily, but that has yet to happen but mainly because of a busy schedule, not for the lack of desire or energy. I was planning on going rock climbing tomorrow, but decided to take an impromptu trip to Stephenville, TX to the Barefoot Market to celebrate the last day of the cleanse with part of the Cleanse America crew. I’m looking forward to enjoying some of the delicious raw foods prepared in the wonderful cafe at Barefoot Market.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now, aside from this delicious kale chip recipe I made earlier this week; and devoured within an hour! Warning, they are addicting!

Spicy Cheesy Raw Kale Chips

• 2 bunches of kale, washed and de-stemmed
• 1 cup of soaked cashews (drain after soaking)
• 1 red bell peper, chopped and de-seeded
• 1 cup of nutritional yeast (or more)
• 1 medjool date, pitted
• cajun seasoning
• paprika
• sea salt

After washing and de-stemming your kale place it all in a large mixing bowl. Blend the soaked cashew, chopped bell, nutritional yeast and medjool date in a food processor until you get a creamy consistency. After that, season to your liking with cajun, paprika and sea salt.

Once your mixture is seasoned to your liking spoon out on top of the kale in the mixing bowl and mix until all the leaves are well coated. After that, place on mesh dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 5-6 hours. Now, enjoy!

Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cheesy, chips, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, kale, kale chips, RAW, spicy
1 comment

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It’s almost the end of day five, and I’m feeling pretty good! Tonight we made the Raw Chili from the Recipe Guide. It was one of the best raw meals I have had, and it was very easy to make. It’s one I will definitely have to incorporate into my regular rotation of meals. I think it’s good to have as many simple raw food recipes so that it’s easier to make a regular part of your life. Many raw recipes I see in books are very complicated and take lots of time. It’s essential to have simple things to make if raw foods are going to be a big part of your life.

Yesterday I took my trip to San Antonio and brought some leftover beet burger mix and flax crackers for lunch. I also had several pieces of fruite and some spicy cashews and Bearded Brothers bars. It just goes to show it’s still possible to eat raw on the road. It all boils down to keeping it simple! The day was also a “foggy headed” day, but thankfully the fog lifted again this morning and I was able to get out and enjoy a run around Town Lake.

I was planning on running 8 miles but my wife talked me out of it since I was cleansing and hadn’t run in a few weeks due to an injury. So I settled for a moderately passed 4 miles. Aside from the humidity the weather was great, sun was shining and there was a nice breeze as well. I’m hoping to get in some more outdoor activity tomorrow. But, it was good that I decided to cut down the mileage because around the 4 mile mark I started feeling like I needed to eat and rehydrate (even though I had drank 16oz of water during the run).

So, after the run I swung my Juice Land, formerly Daily Juice on Barton Springs and picked up green smoothie. I was sort of disappointed in the taste, but it was still filling and provided the nutrition I needed after my run. The smoothie contained papaya, lime, agave, and green vibrance. I chose this particular smoothie because I rarely ever have papaya, and wanted something different.

I already mentioned dinner, but for lunch we ended up having raw bbq tacos (recipe contained in link) instead of a salad since we had some romain lettuce leaves that were going to go bad. The recipe is another simple one, and an all time favorite of mine.

It’s hard to believe I have now gone 6 days eating 100% raw, even in the height of my past raw food experiences I had never gone that many days on all raw foods. I doubt I had ever gone more than 3. It has definitely ben a pleasant experience so far, but a little bit of hard work involved for meal planning and recipes. But it has definitely inspired me to up the raw food intake in my life and be more cautious of the little things in my diet.

Just a few more days of the cleanse left. I look forward to sharing more of my experience with you, especially doing a final recap of all my thoughts.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, RAW
No comments

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So, my attempt to post every day has already failed, and I almost missed today too, but decided to take a few minutes for a quick update. So please forgive any gramatical errors in the post. I won’t have time to go back through and proof it – yeah, I’m that busy. Let’s just say I normally sit down in the afternoon to work, and it’s now 9 p.m. and I just sat down 30 minutes ago.

Anyway, day three went pretty well. I felt energized and my brain fog had lifted. I ended my day with some rock climbing on The Greenbelt, here in Austin. I felt really strong and confident despite not having climbed much in the past month. It was great to be outside enjoying the amazing weather. It was a perfect afternoon for climbing. I was surprised more people didn’t show up. The only crappy part of the day was crossing the creek to get to the climbing wall… my iPhone was in my pocket and got submerged. So my phone is now burried in a bag of rice in attempts to dry it out.

Today, though was very interesting. I was full of anxiety, stress and worry. My work day in the Bearded Brothers kitchen was jam packed, and the afternoon was filled with deliveries to stores. We are growing fast, which means I’m doing a lot more, but don’t have any extra time. I have had days like this in the past but wasn’t as anxious as I felt today. After hearing Paul Risse talk about his irritability symptoms on day 2, it leads me to believe that heightened anxiety was very possible.

Despite the anxious feelings I attempted to take deep breaths as much as possible and pray. Prayer is definitely something that hasn’t been as present in my life as it should. I’m constantly distracted by work problems, so even when I do pray my mind alway seems to gravitate towards solving work related problems. I definitely see the need for more quiet time in my life, but struggle how to make that happen.

I was also pretty bummed out my work day was so long and hectic. It caused me to miss my group run this evening. I was really looking forward to getting outside and de-stressing in nature. But, on the bright side I was able to go to the grocery store again and pick up some more delicious raw foods and prepare a meal for my wife and I. We enjoyed one of my favorite raw meals “Beet Burgers” (recipe below), along with some flax crackers and guacamole. Time with my spouse has been lacking lately too. We are both looking forward to spending the weekend together. We plan on going to Beets Cafe for a raw desert with the money I’m saving from not buying any coffee or tea this week.

So, overall I would have to say I’m feeling pretty good. Tomorrow I will be attending Entre Leadership One Day in San Antonio. I’m hoping the time away from work will refresh my mind and the commute there and back will give me time to reflect and pray. The conference I am going to is lead by Dave Ramsey, of Financial Peace. His material is helping my wife and I get out of debt and he is also helping me grow my business with passion and integrity.

Anyway, that is all for now. Daily posts throughout the weekend are questionable since we don’t have internet at our house. If you don’t hear from me this weekend expect something from me on Monday!

Raw Beet Burgers

• 3 Beets
• 2 Carrots
• 1/4 cup pistachios
• 1 avocado
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• pinch of sea salt (or more if you like)
• 2-4 teaspoons of dijon mustard (my modification to original recipe, original calls for 1-2)
• several romaine lettuce leaves
• capers for garnish (highly optional)

Directions: Grate the carrots and beets using a food processor or grater (food processor highly recommended). After the carrots and beets are grated, transfer into a large bowl and attach the S blade to the food processor. Pour the grated beets and carrots back into the mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except for romaine lettuce leaves. Process the ingredients and then pour back into serving bowl.

Finally place the mixture on romaine lettuce leaves and enjoy.

This recipe goes really well with spicy flax seed crackers and guacamole. I will likely post that recipe later this week. It was a modified version of the flax crackers in the Cleanse America recipe book.

Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, RAW
2 comments

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Well, it’s almost the end of day two, of Cleanse America – a 10 day cleanse with people all across the US participating. I officially decided to take part in the cleanse just a couple days before it started. Prior to that I didn’t thank I was going to be able to afford 100% raw for the 10 days, but thanks to a friend, it has become possible!

I’m extremely grateful to be able to take part in the cleanse. Having formerly eaten a diet as high as 80% in recently years I didn’t think I would begin experiencing detox symptoms at all, much less at the start of day two. I woke up this morning feeling foggy headed, the feeling stayed with me most of the morning and lifted later in the day, but returned just before beginning to write this post. It just goes to show how much diet affects the body.

I think the thing I’m most excited about it just getting to eat raw foods! Since moving to Austin my food budget has drastically decreased, thus not really giving us the option to eat as much raw foods as we would like. And, to be completely honest, Austin got the best of me with its local eateries and taco joints. When I first moved here I was trying a new restaurant every week. However, my wife and I had to tighten the reins on the food budget which has lead us to cooking almost every meal at home; though my breakfast and lunch is usually raw.

I’m also looking forward to a variety of salads and other yummy raw meals. For the past year I have been stuck in a salad rutt, eating the same salad nearly ever day, which had caused me to move away from raw foods for weeks at a time. So, I hope the cleanse will break my salad boredom streak with some variety and new recipes. Just this morning I made a delicious walnut vinaigrette dressing (recipe below) that went really well on my apple and hemp seed salad!

I also hope to break my “addiction” to coffee. It was something I had given up for about a year previously, but got addicted again when I moved to Austin and started working from coffee shops. Sort of ironic, since I was in the planning stages of Bearded Brothers, my raw organic snackfood company! I was originally planning on allowing myself tea during the cleanse, but I decided yesterday that forgoing caffein for the entire cleanse was going to be best. I went sans coffee through the weekend and had my last cup of tea yesterday!

I’m also hoping my energy levels will rise. Even though I get consistant sleep and a good amount of exercise, and still eat an overall healthy diet my energy levels are not what they used to be. I remember when I was able to run half marathons and then still go out and have fun doing other things in the afternoon, without a nap. Lately, though I’m wiped out after a 10 mile run or 40 mile bike ride.

And finally, I hope to get motivated to exercise more, even if it’s just pull ups on my hang board at the house. It was one of my new years goals that I have failed out due to lack of motivation, and honestly remembering to do it. So hopefully the cleanse will help clear my mind as well and help me to remember better. I plan on getting exercise nearly every day during the cleanse.

To learn more about Cleanse America, check out their website and Facebook Page.

I hope to make daily updates about my progress during the cleanse.

Walnut Vinaigrette Recipe

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup of water
• 3/4 cup of walnuts
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1 TBSP of raw honey
• dash of sea salt, to taste

Instructions: Place all the ingredients in the blender and whirl! If the mixture is too thick add a bit more water. I like the constancy of mine fairly thick though, it sticks very well to lettuce leaves.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food, organic, RAW
2 comments

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It has been an extremely busy the past few months. Bearded Brothers officially launched two weeks ago and is currently taking on pre-orders. We will begin filling those as soon as SxSw is over! We were given a wonderful opportunity to sample our new products at SxSw Interactive and Music Festival with Gowalla, at their fabulous Airstream. It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Bearded Brothers will be exposed to thousands of people in just a couple of weeks time.

So, check out the schedule to find out when we will be popping up at the Airstream. Drop in, say hi, and pick up a tasty sample, it’s sure to tickle the taste buds.

Starting up the business has been a huge challenge. The planning phase was challenging enough, but now that we are actually in the kitchen, making bars, the difficulty has just begun. We are currently putting in 10+ hours a day and have found it challenging t make as many bars as we thought we were going to be able to crank out in a day. We can definitely see bringing on some interns in the very near future. So, if you live in Austin and know anybody looking for an internship in our kitchen, please let them know.

We are very excited about what’s to come. We have an awesome brand, a great product, and lots of support from friend, family, and Kickstarter backers. It’s going to be a bumpy ride, but we are sure Bearded Brothers will be a huge success. So, check out our website and get your pre-order in. We will begin shipping out orders in just a couple weeks.

RAW Food by OrganicClimber
bearded brothers, energy bar, gluten free, gowalla, interactive, music, RAW, SxSw, vegan
No comments

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Just wanted to send out a huge thanks to everybody who made our project on Kickstarter a huge success. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. Check out the video below for the latest news about Bearded Brothers and see the new logo.

You can also check out the original project on Kickstarter.

Cross Training, Health & Fitness by OrganicClimber
almonds, cashews, energy bar, gluten free, organic, RAW, seasoned, snacks, vegan
3 comments

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One of my all-time favorite foods is pizza. If I had to only eat one food for the rest of my life, I admit – it would be pizza. One of my favorite raw food dishes is also pizza…go figure! I’ve tried many a different raw crusts, but haven’t found any I truly liked. The other day, I stumbled across this recipe for a sprouted chickpea flat bread and decided I had to try it out. Although it wasn’t raw it was still very nutritious because of the sprouted chickpeas. It seemed like it would make an excellent pizza crust. Below is a picture of the sprouted and pealed chickpeas. It probably took about 1.5 hours to shell 2 cups worth, which made one 10″ flat bread.

The recipe for the bread was pretty simple, but I don’t know that I will ever make it again. It was very time intensive. The bread was okay as is, but lacked flavor. If I ever did make this again I would season up the bread for better taste. But I’m sure it would be great for a wrap.

For the raw pizza, I made a sauce from Matt Amsden’s Rawvolution book. Then, I topped it with kalamata olives (my favorite olive), chopped red onions, chopped orange bell peppers, all topped with nutritional yeast to create a yummy cheese flavor.

The Sauce

• 1 1/2 c. blended tomato
• 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. Nama Shoyu
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic (I used garlic powder, but fresh is best)
• 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes
• pinch sea salt

This is by far my favorite raw marinara sauce. It’s even great to slather on a raw portobello mushroom. YUM!

The Crust

Top with nutritional yeast and your favorite raw veggies.

RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
chickpea, chickpeas, crust, marinara, pizza, RAW, sprouted
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Before I get started with the recipe, I have a plea. Visit my Kickstarter page and make a $5 donation. As you probably know by now, I am starting up a raw food snack company – Adventure Naturals. But in order to make it happen we need startup capital to pay our first months rent and buy our first batch of product. A simple $5 donation gets you a tasty energy bar. Just think, that $5 earns you a bar that will retail for $3, AND it helps bring nutritious goodies to the weary traveler, backpacker, rock climber, runner, swimmer, and you!

Anyway, here we go. I thought it would be fitting with the Christmas season upon us to create a Christmas themed smoothie. When I think of Christmas, the flavor that instantly came to mind was peppermint. So, I made a trip to Whole Foods earlier last week and picked up some peppermint extract to create this delicious smoothie. I also had a sweet tooth earlier in the week and created a raw ice cream that I will likely post the recipe to later this week.

The Recipe

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract or flavoring
• 1 giant hand full of spinach
• 8oz of almond milk
• 8oz of water
• 2 TBSP of cashew butter
• 1-2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)

Directions: Throw all the ingredients into your Vitamix (or high-speed blender) and process until smooth. This should produce two servings. If you happen to be considering the purchase of a Vitamix for a Christmas present, you can order through the link on my Vitamix page (use coupon code: 06-004609) and receive free shipping. Sure, those coupon codes are ALL OVER the internet, but if you order it through me I get a nice commission!

Anyway, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. I hope you enjoy the smoothie. It is certainly one of my new favorites that I will likely make year round. How else am I going to use up a bottle of peppermint extract?

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
adventure naturals, christmas, kickstarter, mint, organic, peppermint, RAW, smoothie
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Wow, it seems like forever since my last smoothie post. Things have been crazy busy since getting married, and working on the startup of Adventure Naturals. I haven’t forgotten about smoothie Tuesday, though. I was hoping to bring you a holiday themed smoothie today, but the store was out of a certain ingredient I was looking for, so it will have to wait until next week!

But, I do have a tasty treat I blended together just this morning from what fruits I had in the freezer. This smoothie has a crisp taste with a tart finish, thanks to the cherries. I find it amazing how many different tasting smoothies I can come up with just from the standard fruit selection I always have on hand in the freezer.

The Recipe

• 1 part strawberries
• 1 part peaches
• 1 part cherries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2-4 TBSP of cashew butter (based on the size of smoothie you make)
• Protein & Greens Powder of your choice
• Part Almond Milk & Part Water (just enough to cover the fruit)

Directions: Combine all the ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. Proportion the fruit out based on how many servings you want. I used about 2.5oz each, yielding 2 large servings.

Pour into a glass and enjoy. I apologize for not having a picture for this one. I took the photo and left the media card at home. So, I will post it tomorrow, once the media card is back in my possession.

Also, remember to check us out on Kickstarter. We need YOUR donation to help us get started. A simple $5 donation is rewarded with an energy bar (retail value is $3). Anything you can give, even if it’s just $1. It would be greatly apreciated.

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
cherries, cherry, delicious, peach, peaches, RAW, smoothie, strawberries, strawberry, tart, vegan
2 comments

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