You’re so stressed and overwhelmed with your busy schedule. You want so much to include healthy snacks in your family’s meals, but don’t know how to fit them into your busy day.
You feel exhausted with this battle getting your children to eat healthier foods and resort to unhealthy meals and snacks from the grocery store.
You have no time to prepare healthy meals and snacks ahead of time. You’re stressed juggling snack time for your children while trying to figure out getting dinner done for the family, which feels so overwhelming to you.
I’ve been there too and come out the other side
I’m a raw food coach for busy, overwhelmed women, who don’t have time in their schedule to plan healthy and delicious meals for their family. They worry that their families aren’t getting nutritious meals. I help them incorporate raw food into quick and easy meals and snacks.
My Story
How It All Started
I’ve always loved food and cooking from a young age. I watched my Greek mother prepare mouthwatering gourmet meals and my Italian Dad make homemade pizza.
During my childhood, I continued cooking in the kitchen and seeking out information on the latest culinary ideas from Julia Child to Martha Stewart. Flipping page after page through various magazines and my eyes capturing beautiful pictures of colorful, satisfying and amazing looking foods kept me entertained for hours.
While in college, I was lucky to have a vegetarian roommate, who shared her vegetarian meals with me. I became excited by the Greek and Italian flavors I grew up with but now with vegetarian food! I loved reading and learning anything I could get my hands on about fruits and vegetables to beautiful and delicious looking meals. It was a pleasure to find time making vegetarian meals during the weekends from vegetarian bean chili to dairy and meat-free spinach and tofu-based lasagna to vegan brownies.
Through my 20s and 30s, I always found co-workers and friends who enjoyed finding and having dinners together with the latest food trends including low fat and low-calorie meals and desserts. We would also share leftovers of each other’s dinners at lunchtime and share countless recipes.
After 40 years, I suffered from seasonal, environmental and food allergies and went from doctor to doctor and specialist to specialist, with very little relief. It got to the point where anything I ate caused digestive stress and skin rashes. I felt drained trying to get through the day. After developing a severe health challenge with yeast overgrowth, where I felt exhausted, fatigued with very little energy, I started to work with a natural doctor. Upon their suggestion, I started fresh juicing and felt much more vibrant and full of energy! I was amazed at how I felt, I was curious and researched more about juicing and raw foods!
Turning Passion Into Healing
I developed a deep passion for the healing power of raw foods and to stay on this path of health and wellness. My love to help others and have a healthier lifestyle through eating cleaner and fresher foods had me looking for a way to bring this information to them. I found a certification program and was certified as a raw food chef, teacher, and coach. As I was still continuing my journey to optimal health, I was experiencing digestive discomfort during this program with rashes and red skin. The more I continued to eat these raw foods, my persistence and dedication to these raw foods helped me to feel better each day and ultimately heal from the skin conditions. I had increased energy, felt clear-minded and slept better.
I knew there were many people who were looking to overcome their health challenges with natural solutions. Acquaintances, friends, colleagues and more had health challenges and wanted a healthier way of eating. I felt equipped with all this knowledge that fresh, clean, raw whole foods can provide healing for the body.
Through my healing experience, I was confident that I would be able to provide a solution others have been seeking out for a long time. They hired me to become their raw food coach and help them incorporate raw foods for a healthier lifestyle and to overcome their health challenge.
Healthy Lifestyle Transformation
After working with several clients, who have successfully incorporated fresh, raw foods into their meals, they felt satisfied that they now have provided healthy food for their families. One family had young adult children who were vegetarian and didn’t know what to prepare for them. They know how to take a few simple ingredients and season them quickly such as tossing zucchini noodles with vegan pesto topped with sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives. A single mother wanted new ways to use farm-fresh ingredients that would be tasty and appealing to her teenage daughter. Her solution was making a vegetable nut pate topped with avocado, red bell pepper, and fresh herbs all wrapped up in a collard green to accompany lunch or at snack time. These clients are thrilled to save time in their schedule and at the same time have more nutrient-rich foods at meal time for their family.
Through word of mouth and social media with local groups, everyone loved the posts, recipes, tips, and techniques on incorporating healthy food options to their meals. The images and descriptions were jumping off the page and into their imagination and onto their plates.
My clients and friends were referring me to many families that they knew that were in need of ideas and solutions to eat healthier with fresher foods.
Women were wanting more information and soon my business, Rawjo, had more workshops were being held in their homes followed by one-on-one coaching with fresh and delicious menu plans. I knew immediately from all the excitement, smiles and positive feedback coaching these women on incorporating raw food, this was the most rewarding work for me.
Now I have tremendous joy seeing these solutions applied in their lives and the relief my clients feel now that they can easily prepare and incorporate raw foods with their meals. Now I continue as a raw food coach and create menu plans that my clients find beautiful with the rainbow of colors and full of fresh and delicious flavors. A single mother loved the ease of making a vegetable pate and used it throughout the week in a wrap, on her salad and as a snack on cucumber rounds! Another client loves how quickly she can make pesto that is a healthier version which her vegetarian daughter loves with zucchini noodles!
You Can Experience A Healthier Way Of Eating Too
I would love to hear from you!
To learn more about how I can help you incorporate raw foods and have healthier meals and snacks, check out my Work With Me Page or send me an email at jo@rawjo.com.