My Way: Gabriella Dalmolin

Gabriella currently lives in Virginia, where she is making moves and being the change she wants to see in the world. Her deepest passion is creating healthy foods for others to enjoy. At Good For You Foods, Gabriella creates made to order treats like homemade granola and cacao truffles. In addition to spending time on her raw food business, Gabriella also enjoys working out, running, and training for an upcoming Marine Marathon. Talk about hardcore!

My Way: Gabriella

Tuesday

I wake up to the 7:15 am alarm and I can tell it's going to be a sunny day! I smile and give thanks for another day and pray for a less stressful day than yesterday. I went into my kitchen and had a tall glass of Amazing Grass and my day now officially begins. I am trying to schedule the day, should I go for a run first or save it for the end of the day? Looks like I have an early meeting so it will have to wait until later. 

I go into the office where I share my Coco Delights with my peers and once again love the fact that these products are "good for you." So I sit and explain how and why they are, and love that I am educating others like I was educated on these various ingredients not so long ago.

So I run to grab a salad that includes romaine, sunflower seeds, chic peas, cucumbers, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes and avocado. Yum! Can I just tell you I think I have an addiction to avocado? The day continues and I snack on my Coco Delights in the afternoon, wondering how these little balls of mandarin oil and cacao can make me feel just that good. So I got my kick for the afternoon and continue to plug away, always wondering what it would be like to quit the corporate job and make my products full time. Things that make me go hmmmm.

The day ends, and I can't wait to go for my run. I registered for the Marine Core Marathon so I continue to push myself further and further each and every time. With that said, my distance was about the same but my speed increased which is great, so this makes me happy. I made dinner for my boyfriend (another health guru) and I, which consisted of arugula greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, celery, fennel and a spoonful of avocado oil. DEEEEEELISH!

Wednesday

I wake up excited about the day! I invited the staff for dinner tonight from the local market where I sell my products. When I met these people about a month ago I was raving about how incorporating raw foods in your daily consumption just makes you feel completely different. In order to believe it, I told them they have to try it just once. So with that said, I invited them over for dinner a week ago and tonight is the night. I used Sarma's cookbook and went to town on my favorite choices which included the Cabbage and Radicchio Slaw, Watermelon Salad and the zucchini pasta.

Can I tell you what a huge hit the evening was? I was so excited with the questions and their reactions that the night was filled with "ah-ha" moments. It was great to hear that they are going to start eating this way more and more! Like I've said before, it truly just takes the power of one to start making that change, to start advising those around you what raw really means and how truly this food is good for you.

Thursday

One day closer to Friday, one day closer to hanging out at the local market, one day closer to sharing information on raw food with the local shoppers and handing out samples of my products.

Today I enjoyed the emails I received from the guests that were over last night and the feedback on how light they felt after dinner even though they devoured everything in site. Some are hopeful that if they introduce this type of eating throughout some portion of their day, more often than not, it could alleviate some ailments that they experience. 

I finish my day in the office and go for a run and to take in the scenery. I truly enjoy my run and deeply appreciate the trees, the peacefulness, the random people that smile, just the whole picture. How lucky am I to enjoy another day on this planet? Love it!

Friday

TGIF!!!! It's the end of the week and it's the day before I hang out at the market. I had a great run, and feel as though I am getting better each day with my stamina and endurance. Work was extremely busy, but I have to admit, what was driving my day today was looking forward in having a chillaxed evening with the man at home and his 7 year old son. There is something to be said when kids at that age can be taught on how eating healthy can give you strong bones and muscles like daddy.

I come home from work, make dinner for my boyfriend, his son, and a few other friends. It's funny how even my friends say, "let's go to Gabby's and have a healthy meal, we've been eating crappy all week." So what do I do? Well that's easy, I become creative! I make a Mexican meal with approx. 9 different dishes that allow anyone to pick and choose how they want to fill their plate, including but not limited to: cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and romaine lettuce (all organic btw, that's all I eat). Yum!

To top off an already amazing day, I received an email from Whole Foods's Falls Church location with paperwork to fill out so I can start sampling my products. Yep, pretty sweet! Let's see where this journey takes me. So far it's been fun and humbling, and for that I am grateful.

That's it for me for now, I'm going to hit the hay… goodnight everybody.

My name's Gabriella and this is My Way.

Gabriella currently lives in VA, and is a weight lifting, marathon running, cacao creating community connector. Next time dinner's at her place!