Here goes everything...My raw food experiment

2010-03-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Day 10 of our family's 6 week challenge!

2009-11-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

We finally have a new computer, thanks to my husband's wonderful family! I'm hoping to get back into the groove of blogging since I loved it so much, and it definitely helped me to stay raw. I say this because, the entire time I wasn't blogging, I was only eating about 30% raw, pretty much when Rory fed it to me. I gained a lot of my weight back while not being raw, which shows me just how easy it is for me to gain weight, and how important it is for me to stay on the raw path. When I went back to a cooked diet I started at 249lbs and I gained weight and ended up at 273lbs. Still better than when I started at 306 before raw, but I knew it would only be a matter of time until I returned to my original weight.

Today marks my day 10 of being 100% raw once again, and I've lost exactly 10 lbs. I'm not the only one in the house trying to lose weight though. Rory's brother in law, Aaron, is also on a 100% raw food diet beginning 4 weeks ago and he's lost over 40 lbs already! Rory's sister, Danielle, (who doesn't have much to lose) has lost 15 lbs in the last 10 days of being 100% raw.

And what's even more exciting is that Rory's mother, Sandy, has moved in with us! She did a 50% raw transition for 3 weeks before she moved in and lost 15 lbs during that. She can only be weighed at her doctor's office, so we won't know how much she has lost until she leaves, but she intends to stay for 6 weeks. We can't wait to find out the outcome! We've been filming her since we arrived and have created 3 videos so far of her experience.

This first one is an interview during her transition period.

The next video is her moving in day:

This last one is my favorite, Thanksgiving dinner!

I'm not in any of them because I am a bit camera shy, and someone has to hold the camera!

Yesterday was International Juice Feasting Day, and in honor of it we all juice feasted for the entire day. I lost 3 lbs during the feast, Danielle lost 2, and I'm not sure how many Aaron lost, but I know he lost some. Rory's mom was not able to stick with the feast, mostly because she didn't like the juices I was making. Rory was working all day so I had to play 'chef', and I guess I can't hold a candle to Rory's food making! haha

Eating 100% raw food really is a lot easier when you are doing it with others. In the past I had done it with Rory, but it was no longer a struggle for him because he's been 100% raw for a few years now. What I needed was to share the struggle with others, and that has really helped me. That's why websites like Rawfu and Raw Food Rehab are so great, because you can share your feelings, needs, wants, pains, and happinesses with others on those sites. Even blogging helps because I used to get tons of emails from people going through the same thing I was going through. Thanks to everyone out there that has helped me or someone else through any challenge by sharing it with them!

It's good to be back!

I hope to see you!

2009-07-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so do you really want to know what I have been up to? Or did you just forget about me? haha! I didn't forget about everyone else, but I've been focusing all of my energy on a fun new project I've been working on. I was in the shower one day thinking about my biggest phobia and wondering how I could solve it. Well instead of solving it, I decided to fantasize it and make it into a children's book (a 300 page-er). I have been working so hard on this book, and so far have read it to 3 children who absolutely love it. I am not even close to done, but I wanted to share that with everyone. When I am closer to finished, I will be able to fill you in on more details.

More excitingly, I will be traveling. Of course, mostly tagging along with Rory. Myself, my daughter, Isabel, and Rory will be at Raw Spirit Fest East on August 29-30th. Rory will be doing a raw food demo, selling a dvd (hopefully) and his e-book (hopefully) but certainly he will be selling smoothie jar bags and magnets. Isabel will be doing a raw food demo with her cousins in the children's section. She is super excited and super nervous.
On September 26-2th we will be in Prescott, AZ sans Isabel for the Raw Spirit Fest as well. I am really hoping to meet some of my new blogger friends at these festivals!

August 7-9th we will be in MA for the NOFA (Northeastern Organic Farming Association)conference where Rory will be doing a raw food demo there as well. If you are going, let me know!

The Story About Your Stuff

2009-06-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I have posted anything. The summer is upon us and I have been so busy doing anything I can to keep busy lol! One thing I've been doing is going for 4 mile walks sister-in-law and I and our children (they get to ride bikes) on our local walk way/bike path/green way. That's been a lot of fun. The best part is that the very first time we went, I lost 4 lbs! That was 1 lb per mile. Of course, I haven't been able to get those results every time, but it is definitely a great motivator.

My mother sent me a link to a wonderful video and website titled "The Story of Stuff". It's a 20 minute video that talks about the route that our "stuff" travels, from extraction to disposal, and everything in between. What's fascinating is how this cycle ever got started. In the video the writer, Annie Leonard, explains that the entire idea of consumerism was created on purpose, and why it was created at all. After WWII the government was trying to figure out how to boost the economy when a retail analyst came up with the idea of using consumerism. According to the video, she stated, "Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals. That we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate." So that's where this all got started.

It's a wonderful video to watch and share with your friends and family. An interesting part in the video is when Annie Leonard displays how our pillows are doused in neuro toxins such as Brominated Flame Retardants (B.F.R.s) to prevent them from catching on fire, and then we use them to cushion our heads all night long! That's a scary thought!

In the end she discusses how we can change this route and create a new one. She also mentions how people are already in the process of making change. You know, I'd love to tell you more about it, but I really think you should watch it for yourself.

I posted the video from YouTube here, but the website has much better quality and more information for you to check out.

www.storyofstuff.com

Liquid Tooth Soap short review

2009-05-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Things are going really well. Last night we hung out with the Giannis at Catch a Healthy Habit cafe in West Haven, CT. They even did a live video with Rory at the cafe that was just for fun. Rory and I received a bottle of peppermint Liquid Tooth Soap from them, and it's pretty amazing. According to the label on the bottle:

"It cleans teeth and gums perfectly. It does not coat the teeth with glycerin and rinses off easily in 2-3 rinses leaving the teeth ready to re-enamelize from nutrients in the diet."

Kevin Gianni suggested to put 2-3 drops from the dropper onto the wet toothbrush, and that should be plenty. He told me that the first time he used the tooth soap, he put a whole dropper full and his mouth foamed up like a rabid dog. That's of course when my daughter, Isabel, started barking a growling at him LOL!

So I put 3 drops on my toothbrush and put it in my mouth. I was worried that it wasn't going to foam up, but it definitely did. It's ingredients list saponified coconut, palm, extra virgin olive oils, filtered water, and pure essential oils. That's it. So when I started brushing I immediately felt and tasted the oils and was reminded of oil pulling. It was definitely different than the toothpaste I am used to, especially in texture. I am accustomed to toothpaste that is grainy and foamy. This was more like oily and soapy. That's a new feeling for my mouth, but not a bad feeling. I spit it out and rinsed 3 times, like suggested on the bottle. The peppermint flavor was not as strong as most commercial toothpastes and did not leave an aftertaste. Rory loved that because he is constantly making food and does not want a toothpaste that will alter his taste buds. My teeth actually felt VERY clean afterwards, slippery even. In fact, I did this last night and my teeth still feel very clean. The Tooth Soap says that it does not leave a residue of glycerin like other toothpastes and therefore allows the teeth to absorb nutrients on their own in your mouth. So next time I drink a green juice or smoothie my teeth will be able to absorb the nutrients directly!

Tooth Soap does have a high price tag, but it lasts for at least 4-6 weeks and you know that you will be getting more nutrients from your possibly high priced raw foods and juices. I hope you get a chance to check Liquid Tooth Soap out and let me know what you think of it! (BTW, I'm not selling any or making any money from this, just sharing my experience with you.)

It's a jumble out there

2009-04-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I am only a 6 hour driving distance from where I grew up and this place is like a foreign land. There is even a small language barrier! I was talking to my sister-in-law about sliding boards and she had no idea what I was talking about. I figured I must have spoke Greek since I thought everyone knew what a sliding board was! Rory had to be a translator and told her that a sliding board was the same thing as a slide. She was picturing something like a skate board/ slip in slide combo. Also, it's a lot more urban than what I am used to. I grew up near Lancaster, PA where all you see for miles is farmland. It's hard to get used to pulling out of my driveway into 6 lanes of traffic! But hardest of all is the trash, it's everywhere. Parking lots are covered in it, it's all over the roads, and even in our yard! Sure, there was trash in PA, but it always seemed to get cleaned up eventually. I'm not saying I don't like it here, I'm just getting used to it.

One good thing about having so many people around is that there is always something to do. My daughter and I were driving down the street today and we saw David Wolfe walking down the sidewalk in West Haven, CT. She yelled out the window, "Hi David Wolfe!" I think it was her first time to see a celebrity. Of course, Rory will be hanging out with him all night at Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe tonight since he will be doing a lecture there. Oh the life of a raw food chef!

Image from www.divavillage.com
Oh and another cool thing, we are going to start growing wheatgrass! We have everything we need except some oceangrown solution, which I will be purchasing tonight or tomorrow. I can't wait to share that with you! I learned that 2 oz. of wheatgrass juice is nutritionally equal to 5 lbs of fresh vegetables. That's amazing!

Still getting used to my new surroundings

2009-04-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my last post was exactly 1 month ago. No, I didn't forget about my blog or raw food (for the most part). Actually, we are still not unpacked (Arrrg)and my computer broke! I've been using the teeniest tiniest laptop known to man. It's an HP 2133 Mini Notebook PC and it's okay but the screen is tiny and it has very few features. The battery only lasts about 90 minutes and it heats up so much that I constantly worry about starting a fire.

So this is what's going on in my new life. We moved to CT about 2 weeks ago and my life has been turned completely upside down. We moved in with some family, which is great because we can save up some money to start a business, but it's hard living with family, especially in-laws. My sister-in-law is a wonderful person, and so is her husband. They totally dig the raw foods and Rory has been commissioned to make a ton of food for them, especially desserts. They have 2 children that they also home school, so that works out wonderfully. And they only eat organic foods, so it's a perfect match! But I do miss having my own kitchen, and my own place in general. They live in a large home, so we do have the entire upstairs to ourselves, which includes plenty of storage, bedrooms, and a bathroom. So we pretty much only share a kitchen, but of course we spend a lot of time together anyway. I feel like I am in college again, but without all that darn homework!

Our home itself is beautiful. Long before I met Rory, he and his brother-in-law actually built much of the house, and they did a very good job! I only wish it was a little more sound proof! lol Out back we have about 1 mile of beautiful forest and a winding creek. We took a walk there the other day and I came back covered in ticks. I've since bought a natural tick repellent but I've been too chicken to test it. There are 3 local nature reserves that we can visit, plently of beaches around, and since we live only 10 minutes from New Haven, there is always something to do. Before we moved we lived next to a busy street, had no yard, and there were no public places. We are definitely having a great time. In fact, today is the first day since we arrived that we don't have any plans!

But, I cannot find any organic greens anywhere! We have gone into many, many stores looking for organic greens, and at most we can find small 7 oz boxes of mixed greens. No kale, collards, or anything to be seen for miles. I did find a Whole Foods about 45 minutes away, but the prices were very very high. Luckily we will be starting a garden, but in this climate we will probably only have fresh greens for a couple months. This is something I may never get used to.

I did join a gym the other day, just for fun. I'm excited about going because I met a few people there that I could really enjoy working out with. I got a good discount for the gym by signing up for 1 year, so hopefully I will keep up with it. It's only about 2 miles from my house, so I have no excuses.

As for the raw foods, well I've done better. Rory never fails to be 100%, but when I get stressed, I start eating cooked. Especially starches. I'm trying to get back to my ways, but it hasn't been easy. Hopefully the new 100 day RawFu challenge will inspire me to get back into the groove.

What Groceries We Buy Each Week, Video Courtesy of My Daughter

2009-03-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

I just got home from our weekly Friday shopping trip and I happened to lay everything down on the table in preparation to put it all away when I thought, "this would make a great picture!" I pulled out my lovely digi cam and realized that it didn't fit in the pic! My daughter had the great idea of making a video instead, and she wanted to do all the talking as well.

As you can see, we buy a lot of bananas! I once assumed that I buy about 20 lbs of bananas, but I added it up from the receipt and it was 69. 72 pounds! What do we do with all those bananas???? I'm not sure either! LOL I know that I like to make a lot of banana ice cream. I also know that I put bananas in a lot of my green smoothies. I actually don't like to eat bananas plain, but about once a month I will eat some with Rory's raw cacao sauce. Rory likes to eat a lot of bananas in his breakfast cereal, and he eats a lot with his raw tahini as well. My daughter eats some in smoothies and also eats the ice cream. I guess little by little it all gets chowed down.

We do spend a lot of money on our groceries, but we don't break the bank. We feel it's justified since we are soooo much healthier now that we eat raw. I have lost a lot of weight, my husband has lost a lot more (150 lbs between us). I can see better on raw food, Rory's scars have nearly healed, his cavities no longer hurt and some seem to be going away. My daughter is happier and healthier looking, and never gets sick. To me, that makes it worth it to spend about $100.00 more per week on groceries.

So how much did we spend on all this? We went to 2 different stores, in order to get the best deals. The first store we spent $55.24 and the second we spent $86.28. So total we spent $141.52. This is actually a little less than usual since I was on a budget this week (since we are moving). We usually spend closer to $180 or $200 (for 3 people) in the Winter months. In the Summer we shop at farmers markets and that usually allows us to spend only half as much. Spring is on it's way!

How much are you willing to spend on good health?

Reduce, Reuse, Freecycle

2009-03-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Image from www.321now.org

This has been a crazy month for us getting ready to move. I have to admit, homeschooling is very difficult to do amid piles of boxes and lists of things to do. I've moved a ton of times in my life, but never so far and with so much stuff. Mostly I just moved from one dorm to another in college, and when I was a kid we moved as far as next door. Now we are moving about 7 hours, and we have to make sure we have everything packed and ready, plus we have to be able to somehow use our stuff while it's packed.

Oh and here are some tips for finding homes for some of your old furniture.

1. Put it outside with a free sign. We had the ugliest couch in the world, half of the upholstery was missing and what was left had stains and holes. The only reason we kept it was because we had a couch cover. I put that ugly thing outside without the cover and after 3 days it was gone. Hallelujah!

2. Freecycle it! Freecycle is a community of people that give away their old stuff for free to anyone who wants it. One warning though, don't put anything on freecycle until you are ready to part with it. I put my washing machine on Freecycle last night, thinking it would take a week or so to find it a home. This morning I woke to a ton of emails from people who wanted it. I felt bad, since it was my fault for posting it so early, so tonight someone is picking it up. Now I have to go the next 2 weeks without a washing machine! Luckily my mom lives close by and has one.

3. Network. I also have a refrigerator that needed a home. I talked to everyone that I knew, and they talked to everyone they knew, and so on. Someone a few degrees away from my mother is picking up the fridge the day we move. Another one bites the dust!

4. Used furniture and appliance stores. Now this is a place we didn't use, but we would have if we didn't find any other takers. Actually, this is where we bought a lot of our furniture in the first place, including our refrigerator. Many of these places will pick up your stuff for you, but not all of them.

My goal was to keep our stuff out of a landfill. I hate to see perfectly good stuff thrown out that someone else could use. In college my friends would go dumpster diving and find televisions, microwaves, stereos, etc. all in perfectly good condition! Since I've seen so much waste, and wasted plenty myself in my college days, Rory and I have decided early on to buy as much used stuff as possible and to buy as little stuff as possible. We don't collect knickknacks, furniture, or anything. We do receive a lot though from friends and family. It's amazing, I've noticed the less we buy, the more stuff is just given to us for free!

What are ways that you recycle your old furniture and appliances? What things do you do in your home to keep trash out of landfills?

Have you seen the show 30 Days?

2009-03-05T11:26:00.001-08:00

Photo courtesy of www.fxnetworks.com

Okay, so each night for the last few weeks, Rory and I have been watching a show on Hulu.com called 30 Days by Morgan Spurlock, (The same guy that did Supersize Me) which originally aired on FX. The premise is pretty much someone who had a very strong belief about an issue has to then experience life in the opposite world for 30 days, or someone just had to experience something they never had before. For example, in one episode a pro choice woman moved into a pro life group home for 30 days, another episode involved Morgan Spurlock spending 30 days in a jail. Many of the participants had life changing experiences. We don't watch much television at all, in fact we have never even had cable. This show intrigued us, and when we found that we could watch it online for free, we decided to check it out.

I have to say, the show didn't change my views about anything, but it did open my eyes a little further about each topic they discussed. Of course, one that I really "enjoyed" was titled "Animal Rights". In this episode, an avid hunter moved in with a family of vegan animal rights activists. He had to demonstrate on the streets with them, and also work at an animal sanctuary. He learned a lot about animal cruelty and by the end of the 30 days he felt that he was an animal rights activist. He still planned to eat meat and hunt, but he believed that animals should be treated without cruelty.

Another great episode was titled "Anti-Aging". This episode involved a man going through a mid life crises and he decided that he wanted to look like he did when he graduated high school. He went to a doctor and was prescribed human growth hormones, steroids, and a lot of vitamins. He wasn't able to finish the 30 days because his liver was experiencing some problems, and his sperm count went from phenomenal to zero. That was an eye opener for me! What was interesting to me was the doctor kept telling him that the low liver count "had never happened before" but many people that Rory knew in high school and in their early 20s that took steroids also took milk thistle to prevent liver problems. Therefore, liver problems must be so common that young, uneducated people know about it. So why was the doctor so surprised?

To be honest, all 0f the episodes are great, and well worth the watch. Some of the titles seem less interesting than others, so to avoid skipping them, we decided to watch them in order. In the end, there wasn't a single uninteresting episode, they were all worth watching. Morgan Spurlock only did 3 seasons before the show was canceled, so we were bummed to realize that there would be no more 30 Days.

watch the film Super Size Me for free Morgan Spurlock spends 30 days eating only McDonald's food and experiences all the highs and lows.

watch 30 Days on Hulu

30 Days official website on FX

Can't wait for Spring!

2009-03-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the end of my mini smoothie feast and exercise challenge. I didn't do 100% but I didn't fail either. Rory and I went on a trip to Connecticut to take a few of our belongings before the official move. We left on Friday for the 7+ hour trip, and returned home on Sunday. Driving all that way was so tiring for me. It was difficult to keep up with the challenge, and that's where I messed up. I'm not beating myself up about it though, since I have plenty of time to try again. I did tell myself, "no more challenges until we move". Our official move date is March 26th. Now is not a good time to try to test myself.

On a more positive note, I made some banana ice cream today. I haven't made any since Summer, so this was pretty exciting for all three of us. My way of trying to pull Spring in a few weeks early. To make this ice cream extra special, I added strawberries and kiwi on top. Rory recently made some raw chocolates so I chopped them up as chocolate chips. This was so yummy!

I'm Eve, and I'm Suffering from Cooked Food Addictions

2009-02-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a week since my last post. I been feeling very melancholy this week, especially towards technology. Sometimes I wish I lived long ago before TVs, computers, phones, etc. I'm sure life was harder, physically, but every once in awhile I wish I could go there. I also wish it was warm out, I would love to take a walk in the woods and relax. In this temperature, I would probably get hypothermia if I tried taking a walk in the woods. So instead, I've been reading, playing Wii with my daughter, and packing. Just a few more weeks until Spring; I can't wait!

I just finished a book titled I'm Eve by Chris Costner Sizemore and Elen Sain Pittilo. It was an eye opening memoir about a woman, named Chris, struggling through life with multiple personalities. As a child she doesn't realize that she has a personality disorder, but only that another child comes and does bad things for her, or watches things she doesn't want to see. As an adult, Chris is diagnosed, and tries to eliminate the other personalities and figure out which is the real her. She can hear herself speaking, watch what her body is doing, but she is not doing it. She feels trapped inside a body that is inhabited by other people, some she doesn't even like. I think many of us can relate in some way. We may not have many personalities, but we often struggle through life trying to find ourselves. Sometimes, when we have it all figured out, we find ourselves lost once again. For many, it's a never ending battle.

This also relates a bit to raw food and it's nemesis, cooked food addictions. Or any kind of food addictions. When dealing with these kinds of addictions it seems that no matter what you tell yourself, your body does something different. Those potato chips on the dining room table, already opened and ready to be devoured? You know your not interested, you try not to pay much attention to them at all. Next thing you know, your chewing on something salty and crunchy. This tastes good! Then you realize what you have done, and you're mad at yourself. You told yourself you didn't want them, so why did you eat them? Before you know it, another crunch! Why are you doing this to yourself? What's making you do this? Why can't you just stop and move on with your life like all those other, more famous raw foodists? Sometimes you just feel like you have no control.

No one ever told Chris that she was doing it to herself, was causing herself to suffer from multiple personalities. All those years, until she was in her late 40s at least, she thought that the personalities where doing this to her. Her cousin, Elen, told her that she was doing this to herself, that no one, or no thing was doing this to her. When she realized that she was causing her own misery, she finally had the power to stop it.

Ending our addictions to unhealthy food is a challenge, and it's something that we have to do completely on our own. Sure, we can get support from others, but the real effort has to come from ourselves. No one can help us with that, because only we have the power. We are doing this to ourselves, no outsider is feeding us those potato chips. We have to find the strength within ourselves to defend us from...ourselves.

The Winner is...

2009-02-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

Anastazia! Anastazia is a beautiful woman that I know through Rawfu who also happens to be a homeschool mom like me! Her and her daughter will be enjoying the book Food Additives: A Shoppers Guide To What's Safe and What's Not! by Christine Hoza Farlow, D.C. and hopefully learning a thing or two about food additives! This is seriously a great resource that everyone should have!

I wanted to send it to everyone, I really did. I honestly believe that the knowledge in this book should be shared and I hope that those who did not win will take the time to check it out on Amazon.com. Thank you to everyone who left a comment! It showed me that this is an important topic that many people are concerned about. When we learn what is really in our food we become angry, scared, and confused. Angry that someone would allow us to eat something like this. Scared because we don't know the long term repercussions for ourselves and our children. We are also scared because many of us just don't know what to do. I mentioned all of this to a friend today and she said that she didn't want to feed this to her children, but what else can she feed them? She felt like she had no choice and just gave up the fight.

We are confused as well. Confused because we assumed the FDA and the government had our backs. We assumed that the food in the cafeterias of our children's schools were good for them. Now we don't know where to turn, we don't know who to trust with our family's health. This is why so many people just give up.

This is one of the many reasons I turned to raw food. Raw food is the consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds in their living, uncooked, unpasteurized state. When you eat raw foods you are only eating the food in its natural form, so there would never be any ingestion of harmful additives. The transition to a vegan, raw food diet and lifestyle at any time in a persons life may help to avoid many of the harmful effects of food additives, artificial sweeteners, pesticides, herbicides, and herbicides, carcinogens, etc.
Again, thank you for all the wonderful comments! Congratulations to Anastazia!

What's In Our Food? Food Additives and Giveaway

2009-02-14T12:17:00.001-08:00

I've been eating all raw lately, but that obviously wasn't always the case. Not even all raw will completely protect you for those "harmfuls" that are out there. Did you know that those little labels on our fresh produce tell you a lot more than what code to push in at the cash register? Here's what I found out:

~If there are only 4 digits in the number, then it is conventionally grown

~If there are 5 digits in the number, and the first number is 8 then it is genetically modified

~If there are 5 digits in the number, and the first number is 9, then it is organic

That's such great information! I wish I had that info years ago. Being an educated consumer is our first step to taking charge of our health.

Many of us are still transitioning, or just looking into the health benefits of raw, so we are still eating prepackaged foods. My first weapon against food additives is that if the list of ingredients seems too long, then I don't buy it.
My second weapon of defense is a book titled Food Additives: A Shoppers Guide To What's Safe and What's Not! by Christine Hoza Farlow, D.C. It's a small book, so it fits in your pocket book easily. I bought mine at my local natural food store just last night, but you can get it on Amazon for $7.95. It is a wonderful resource that I am so happy to have! I honestly want to buy one for everyone that I know.

So yes, I do buy some prepacked foods because my daughter is not 100% raw. She still eats stuff like Cheerios, Uncle Ben's rice, rice milk, etc. So I have been wondering, what's so bad with Uncle Ben's wild rice? Or whatever she happens to be eating for lunch that day.

The ingredient list for Uncle Ben's Wild Rice Original Recipe:

Long grain parboiled rice enriched with iron, thiamin, and folate; whole grain wild rice; vegetables; hydrolyzed corn/soy/wheat protein; sugar; autolyzed yeast extract; salt; spices; smoked yeast; sunflower oil; natural flavors; tumeric

Most of these ingredients I pretty much understand, but just for the purposes of this experiment I looked up a few things. The first one was autolyzed yeast extract. According to the book, autolyzed yeast extract says "see MSG". So I looked up MSG, and this is what it said;

"causes obesity, addictive, makes you eat more, may cause diabetes, migraines, headaches, itching, nausea, brain, nervous system, reproductive disorders, high blood pressure, Autism, ADHD, Alzheimer's, retina damage, blindness; pregnant, lactating mothers, infants, small children should avoid; allergic reactions common; generally produced using GMO bacteria; May be hidden in infant formula, baby food, low fat and no fat milk, candy, chewing gum, drinks, kosher food, protein bars, protein powder, protein drinks recommended for seniors, most processed foods, wine, waxes applied to fresh fruits and vegetables, over the counter medications, especially children's, binders and fillers for nutritional supplement's, prescription and non prescription drugs, IV fluids given in hospitals, chicken pox vaccine, live virus vaccines, nasal spray flu vaccine, used in pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers; being sprayed on growing fruits and vegetables as a growth enhancer (AuxiGro); proposed for use on organic crops."

Okay, so I always knew that MSG was bad, but I didn't realise how much stuff is was in! Not only is it in Uncle Ben's rice but I can't believe that it was proposed to be used on organic crops!

So I looked up the hydrolyzed corn/soy/wheat protein; "may cause brain and nervous system damage in infants; high salt content; contains free glutamates; MSG; may be genetically modified." So I looked up free glutamates; "may cause brain damage, especially in children".

So that was enough to make me not buy the rice anymore. Should I go on to another food? I shall. As a snack, I bought her Pete's Tofu2Go, Thai Tango flavor. Made with organic tofu and no preservatives. Sounds good to me.

The tofu itself contains calcium sulfate, which isn't that bad, when you compare it to MSG. The book says, "may constipate; can kill rodents". I'm not really sure what "can kill rodents" means in relation to humans, but I know it can't be good, and constipation is never good.

But what really concerned me was the sauce packet, used for dipping the tofu. It tastes wonderful, but it has xanthan gum, which "may cause gastrointestinal distress; extracted from Xanthomonas campestris by solvent extraction which may leave a toxic residue; may contain allowable amounts of lead, arsenic, and heavy metals; may be GMO". So if the amounts of metals are "allowable", how much do you need to eat of this product, and other products with xantham gum before it becomes unallowable???

So what can we do? A raw food diet is the most effective way to reduce and almost completely wipe out these foods from our lives. If you are not at that point, or you have children, like mine, who are not 100% raw, then my best advice is pay attention. Read the labels and become familiar with these additives so that you know what to look for. Decide where you will draw the line. For example, I may buy the Pete's Tofu2Go again, but I won't allow my daughter to use the sauce packet (she loves it just the same without the sauce). When I told her about the additives, she was completely interested in wiping these out of her diet as well. It's a great educational tool.
We don't have a lot of processed foods in our house to experiment with, but I would love to take this book to a friend's house, or someone else's and go through their cabinets! Or I could even go to the super market and look at the stuff I used to eat. I urge you to pick up this book. I only touched the surface of the information it contains.

In fact, I have an idea. So many people are doing giveaways lately, and I did say I wanted to buy this book for everyone I know. I can't get one for everyone, but I can get one for one person. So, everyone that wants a copy, just comment below and say so, and I will pull a name from a bowl and send you a copy. I would love to send you a copy! Today is Valentine's Day, and I love you ALL, so this will be my gift to you. I will wait about 5 days; on Feb. 18th at 11:59pm, I will pull a name and the winner will win the book Food Additives: A Shoppers Guide To What's Safe and What's Not! by Christine Hoza Farlow, D.C. Good Luck!

In the meantime, if you have an ingredient in your food that you really want to know about, just send me an email and I can look it up for you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fun Snack Recipes and Veggie Dip!

2009-02-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have been really enjoying my raw food lifestyle the last few days! I just feel so free from cooking, making meals, planning meals, etc. This morning I woke up, and looking at the smorgasbord of fruit on our stove top, I decided to eat a tomato for breakfast. I added some dulse flakes and it was heaven. About an hour and a half later I made a giant green smoothie. I drank 85 oz of green smoothie and it lasted me all the way until dinner. I did sneak in a peach half way just for fun. Now, I am eating some pineapple, and I will retire with a big, giant salad.

I am always trying to mix up my salads, and in this season it's not so easy. So now I am mixing up my salad dressing. Some days I make a vinaigrette, some days I just use lemon. Rory made a really great dressing/veggie dip that I have been enjoying this week. It has a Mexican flavor to it, but what I really like is that it reminds me of something I used to love. It took me a really long time to remember what it reminds me of, but I finally figured it out. When I was just a vegetarian, way back, I used to make a salad and add eggs and cheese. This dressing gave my salad that exact texture and flavor, and it was fantastic!

Here's the recipe~

2 C. soaked sunflower seeds
1/2 C. of water
Juice of 1 lemon
approx 3 tbsps. of apple cider vinegar
2 dates (pitted)
1+1/2 to 2 tsp. salt

Blend thoroughly and toss in the following seasonings~

1+1/2 tsp. onion powder
1+1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2-3/4 tsp. of ground black-pepper
1+1/2 Tbsp. of oregano
1+1/2 tsp. of ground coriander
1/8th to 1/2 tsp. of chipotle powder (it all depends on how spicy ya like it!)
1/4 tsp. of cumin

Blend!

Rory and I were about to watch a movie last night and I was complaining that I wanted some sort of snacky, junk food thing. I wanted it to be raw, but crunchy and salty like chips. I was so demanding, since I also wanted it to be nut free, and quick, no dehydrator. Haha! So I really put Rory to the test and he came through for me! He made me a delicious platter with carrots and cauliflower to dip into the same sunflower seed veggie dip. He also made this really great spicy/salty carrot chip thing and "to live for" salty cauliflower. He cut up some sweet watermelon and made a tropical blend green smoothie because, when someone usually has salty chips, they then crave something sweet! I enjoyed the food so much I could barely concentrate on the movie! He called the yummy cauliflower stuff Cheezy Cauliflower Nuggets and here is the recipe ~

1/2 a head of cauliflower broken into small florets and little pieces
1 tsp. of hemp oil
1 tsp. pulverized salt
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast

Toss!

Here is the recipe for the carrot chips~

2 Lg carrots - washed thoroughly and cut into long diagonal slices to resemble a chip

Put them in a bowl and toss with the following~

A tsp. or so of hemp oil to get the flavorings to adhere
1 tsp. of mineral salt ground into a fine powder for even coating
1 Tbsp. of chili-powder
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast flakes

I pretty much ripped these recipes straight from his site if you want to check out the source.

I was just telling Rory last night what my dream kitchen would have in it. You know those refrigerated buffet tables that you see in some restaurants and cafeterias? They hold different fruits and veggies, and keep them cool at the same time. I would love that! I would wake up in the morning and prepare all sorts off fruits and veggies and place them on the buffet. Then no one will be hungry or have cravings for cooked food. They could always be picking something nutritious off the buffet and eat whenever they need to! I think that would be great for children. Now where can I get myself a refrigerated buffet? haha

My daughter wants to make another raw food video, but this time on a raw food "buckwheat groat popcorn". Hopefully I can post that for you soon!

Kelp Noodles Short Review and Recipe

2009-02-08T14:23:00.001-08:00

I know it's been a week since I posted last, but to be honest, I've been so busy! This week Rory and I pretty much spent all of our free time going through our old stuff and either re-purposing them, or sending them to a thrift store. I unloaded boxes and boxes of really great books to a local nursing home, who will sell them at their next charity event. I am so glad to see them go to a good cause. My daughter just found out that we cannot take our pet mouse with us, and she seems devastated about it. I feel bad, but so many places have a no pet policy. In fact, the place we live in now has a no pet policy, but we were able to use puppy dog eyes and keep our mouse here. I won't have so much luck next time.

So anyway, I finally made something with the Sea Tangle Kelp Noodles that were sitting in my refrigerator for a few months. These noodles are pretty much made with kelp and sodium alginate, which is sodium from brown seaweed. these noodles are very easy to prepare, just take them out of the bag and give them a quick rinse! That's my kind of noodle!

I was pleasantly surprised about their taste and texture. I just kinda invented the recipe on the spot.

1 bag Sea Tangle Kelp Noodles
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp onion
1 large kale leaf
1 carrot
2 tomatoes
2 Tbsp hemp oil
salt and pepper

Rinse the bag of noodles and place them in a bowl. Slice the kale leaf very thin and then massage it thoroughly to make it soft. Use a veggie peeler to peel the carrot, then dice it with a knife. Dice the tomatoes and onion. Add everything into a bowl and toss.

The recipe was great! The noodles themselves had no flavor, but easily picked up the flavor of the recipe. I did have to add a lot of salt, and I don't usually add salt to anything. It was as if the longer the salt was on the noodles, the less I tasted it. The noodles had a crunch to them, that I actually heard more than I felt. I barely felt any crunch in my teeth at all, but heard the sound when I chewed. It was also very filling, I couldn't finish my plate.

There is no real nutritional value to the noodles, except iodine. They're fat free, gluten free, low carb, and low calories. They are healthier than regular noodles, and a great way to transition to zucchini noodles. Also, I really think that children will enjoy these.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the noodles, and I would buy them again. You can purchase them in bulk from their website, and I have found them in some Whole Foods and a few local natural food stores. They seem to last awhile in the fridge (we had them since Dec.).

Smoothie Feast Ends-My Conclusions and Zukay Live Foods Quick Review

2009-01-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

I made it through my smoothie feast with no cheats! In fact, on Tuesday I saw a piece of pineapple on the table and put it in my mouth, then I spit it out remembering that I am on my feast. I feel my willpower growing with each challenge I present myself with.

The reason I went on this smoothie feast was because last week my husband and I had some company, and we made them some raw jalapeno burgers. We made this twice that week and I gained 7 lbs. I am trying so hard to lose weight, gaining 7 lbs on raw food was a big blow to me. I wanted to make sure I released those pounds quickly so that I could move on with my original weight loss goals. Before last week the scale said 251.8 give or take a few ounces. After last week it said 259!! I was horrified! So now today, I get to step on the scale and see what a 1 week long smoothie feast can do.

Drum roll please... and the scale says....251.6!! And the crowd goes wild! Yay! I completely released the 7 lbs and reached my goal! I am so proud of myself for working so hard, even when I wanted to give up and just eat. Thank you everyone for the support and love. I know I could not have done it without you!

So what conclusions have I made from doing a week long smoothie feast? Well for one, the first few days are the easiest. By mid week I was really craving solid food. But then, by the end it was easier again; it became habit. I definitely think anyone can do it. Plus, creating all those yummy smoothies was such a treat!

I also think that I cleaned out my intestines a little. The first few days I was releasing much more than what I was ingesting. It evened out by the end of the week.

You can definitely lose weight on a smoothie feast. Just about anyone can! I would definitely go longer if I could afford it.

It's a great way to share the gloriousness of green smoothies. You tell anyone you are on a smoothie feast and they almost automatically want to know more. Even kids enjoy learning about the smoothies.

You have to make sure that you are getting enough calories. It's so easy to sip a smoothie or two all day long and only get a few hundred calories. The last thing you want is to put your body into starvation mode. Drink about 4 smoothies, or more each day. I added an avocado or 2 each day in one of my smoothies as well.

Smoothie feasts are a lot of fun! It's easy to stay motivated when you are enjoying yourself!

If I did it again, and I probably will, the one thing I would change is that I would buy even more ingredients. I would buy more non sweet fruit, because sometimes too much sugar is just that, too much. I would buy more high calorie foods. And I may even drink more green smoothies, and less fruit only smoothies. I do think the banana milk that I added about mid week was a great idea!

The first meal I had today was a banana. It was the best banana ever. I also ate a pear, yum yum.

This morning when I went shopping the local natural food store was giving out samples of Zukay raw fermented live products. I tried garlic dill relish, horseradish dill relish, mild salsa viva, and hot salsa viva. It was all really tasty, and I especially loved the hot salsa viva (I love hot and spicy), so I bought some. It was $4.99 for 11.5 oz, which was a little out of my price range, but after the smoothie feast, the idea of trying something new was intriguing.

So when I opened it today, it started to bubble up, a lot. I tried putting the lid back on, but I could feel the carbon dioxide pushing on the lid. For fear of breaking the glass, I took the lid off and some of the salsa spilled over the side. Rory said, "I never thought I would want to eat a salsa that bubbled like that when I opened it". I grabbed a spoon and put a spoonful in my mouth. It moved around on my tongue, splashing and playing, it felt like it was alive. It had a wonderful flavor! If you ever had fermented foods (kombucha, sauerkraut, etc.) it has that distinct fermented flavor, mixed with fresh salsa. This has to be the best salsa I ever had! The best way to enjoy it, I found, was in small quantities. Just adding a spoonful to whatever you are eating gives it just the right touch.

We didn't know what we wanted to put it on. We had no bread or chips made, so I decided to just make a simple guacamole, and put that over diced tomatoes. So it was pretty much a thick layer of diced tomatoes, a thin layer of guacamole, and a spoonful of salsa. It was heaven!

I did some research on the site and found that it is not 100% raw, but high raw. The Zukay website states, "The relishes are almost completely raw. The salsas are also mostly raw, though they do have tomato paste for taste and texture." Even so, I do plan on buying these again for their taste and probiotic properties. If you get any, let me know what you think!

Again, thank you to everyone for your support. The smoothie feast ends here, but the raw food challenge is still very much on!

Smoothie Feast Continued and Rebirthing Session 2

2009-01-30T01:10:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to check in here with my smoothie feast first. I have still been drinking smoothies all week, but I have only 1 new recipe for you. I liked some of the ones I already made this week so much that I am just repeating most of them! Although today I did have 2 new yummy creations. The first was a curry pumpkin soup that Rory made for me. It was a surprise, so I did not get the ingredients for it.

The second was a cherry smoothie that I made:

2 cups cherries
2 bananas
water
Blend!

Very simple, and very tasty!
I'm not searching in the fridge anymore, thankfully, so I am much more adapted to "smoothiehood". I am also not using the bathroom as much, so I may have adapted in other ways as well. As I promised, I did up my intake of calories the last 2 days. I've added more bananas and banana milk, which should bring me to about 1300 calories, give or take.

I am looking forward to a solid meal. I make food for my daughter, and a salad for Rory each evening, and I really am craving them. I crave solid food now more than I ever craved cooked food! I am really enjoying the smoothie feast, but at the same time, I can't wait for it to be over.

Rebirthing

So Chris came over again this week, and I bravely did another Rebirthing session with him. It started out the same as the first time. I was in a lot of pain, especially in my shoulders, and breathing was a chore, like running a marathon. He kept telling me to keep going, and I hated him for that. I just wanted to stop. But I didn't, I stayed strong because I was determined to find what Rory found his first time.

Just when the session was about to end, and we both thought that I wasn't going to get "there" my breath slowed down, and I started to feel it. I have to say, it shocked me quite a bit, and I think that shock pulled me away from it a bit. I started to feel very light, and each time I took an in breath, I started to rise. I would breathe again, and I would rise another few inches. Then the room disappeared, and I was above the ocean. Each time I breathed, I floated higher on a wave. I felt so wonderful, and free. I honestly felt like I could just float away. Then, I started sinking, and the room came back. I realized I had to use the bathroom (darn smoothie feast!) and it was over.

I asked Rory if that is what he felt, and he responded, "not at all". Apparently I only got a small "drip" of what it could feel like. If only I could let myself go a little more, I would feel it so much more powerfully.

Ironically, Rory's second session turned out to be much like my first, which goes to show you that they can be different each time.

I'll let you know on Saturday the final results of my smoothie feast. I can't wait to step on the scale and see what I have accomplished. My goal is to lose the 7 lbs I gained last week from eating too many nuts.

What's My Caloric Intake on a Smoothie Feast?

2009-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Click this pic to make it bigger

I've been getting a lot of questions about my caloric intake while I am on this smoothie feast, so I decided to log into nutridiary.com to figure it out. I used my meal plan from day 3 as my example. I found that I am eating 1122 calories each day, 43 of them from fat. Here is a break down of what I found out:

Calories 1122
Calories From Fat 43

Total Fat 5g
Saturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 459mg
Total Carbohydrate 282g
Dietary Fiber 42g
Sugars 161g

Protein 20g
Vitamin A 625%
Vitamin C 520%

Calcium 38%
Iron 61%

I realize the calories are low, but keep in mind that I am not exercising this week. I wanted this to be sort of an experiment (hence the title, "raw food experiment") so I didn't want to add another variable. I did some research (not too extensive, but just enough for these purposes) I found that to lose 1 pound per week, you should burn off, or limit your calories by 500. I was eating around 2,100 calories a day before the smoothie feast (except for the "way too many nuts week") so I am obviously eating too few calories. I'm not super worried about it since I feel fine, and I only have 3 more days left, but I do plan to drink more smoothies tomorrow to try to get my calories up. I know that if my body thinks it is starving, I will retain weight instead of lose it. That's the last thing I want!

So today I dank a grapefruit smoothie for breakfast. The first few sips were a little "surprising" because the grapefruit has such a strong flavor, but if you can get past that, it tastes great!

1 grapefruit, peeled
1 banana
water and ice

This was really good, and luckily for me, no one wanted me to share! lol It didn't last too long in my stomach, so I had to make another smoothie about 2 hours later.

1 large bunch of dandelion greens
4 oz spinach
3 bananas
2 cups strawberries

This was good, but dandelion greens can be strong, so a lot of people don't like them in smoothies. The first time I had it in a smoothie I spit it up. haha! But now I love it!

Rory made me another grapefruit smoothie while I was rebirthing with Chris. This one was a little different:

1 grapefruit, peeled
2 bananas
1/2 cup peaches
1/2 cup grapes

This was really good, but to be honest, I had no idea he added the other ingredients. I guess the taste of the grapefruit canceled them out.

Around dinner time tonight I had a savory smoothie. It wasn't as great as the others I made, but it was still good. At this point in the week, I am starting to run out of ingredients. I know I will make it through to the end, but I can imagine the food will be less and less flavorful.

1 avocado
1 whole romaine head
2 large celery stalks
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup onion
1 garlic clove
Italian seasonings

This was the first real fatty smoothie I made this week. The avocado blends so well in a savory smoothie, just remember to add it last since it doesn't do well with extended blending.

I would like to hear any one's opinion about the caloric intake. Too much, too little, just right, or maybe it doesn't matter since I feel great and it's only 1 week? Please, let me know.

Smoothie Feast Day 3 - Smoothie Side Effects

2009-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

It's day three and I am still doing very well. Not too many cravings, but I am hungry if I don't have a smoothie to nurse. I've been drinking about 200 oz of smoothie a day.

Day Two meal plan
I woke up and I was already very hungry. Luckily I had made myself a smoothie and put it in the fridge.

2 dates
1/2 cup pineapple
1 handful blackberries
1 cup strawberries
1/4 lb spinach
1/4 lb romaine
enough water to make it blend
This was so tasty!

Later I made a really great savory smoothie (soup). I shared it with Rory and we both devoured it. He isn't on a smoothie feast, so he chopped up veggies to add to his.

2 Tbsp Dulce flakes
dash salt & pepper to taste
1 very large celery stalk (or 2 small ones)
3 tomatoes
2 carrots
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup onion
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 giant leaves of Swiss chard
enough water to make it blend

chop everything up, add some water and blend! This was a great treat, and very filling.

I also had another one of those delicious fruit smoothies from day 1. MMMMM

I felt really good yesterday, like I could run a Marathon. Instead, I decluttered and went through a lot of our old stuff to release some of it. I really do not like owning a lot of stuff, but we seem to have acquired a lot of books. Rory and I went through them and found over 100 lbs of books to take to a used book store. It feels really good to do that. When we move, we will not have the storage space for all those books, and even if we did, I don't want to lug them around for the rest of my life. We still have over 800 books, but I haven't gone through my daughter's collection yet.

We were up so late last night, that I started to feel hungry. I decided to make some banana milk:

3 bananas
2 cups water
tiny piece of vanilla bean pod
1-2 big handful of ice

Oh this was good!

Today I am not feeling as well. I am much more tired, drained, and unmotivated. Rory thinks that I could be detoxing. I hope so! I didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

I started out my day with a green smoothie. It took a lot of motivation to make it, since I was really feeling out of sorts. I was also really grumpy, and no one likes to be grumpy (or likes to be around grumpy people, apparently)

1/2 lb spring mix greens
1/4 lb spinach
2 bananas
1 handful blackberries
1 cup strawberries
enough water to make it blend

This was good, and satisfying. It did bring up my mood, but not 100%
I was still hungry after I finished that, so I made another smoothie

1/2 lb dandelion greens
4bananas
1 cup strawberries
enough water to make it blend

This makes enough for a full blender. It was pretty tasty, and I shared some of it with Rory.

Around dinner time, I had more banana milk. I make mine thick and smoothie like, but if you add a little more water, it would be great over a raw cereal, or a cooked one even.

Side effects that I have noticed so far

I've been going to the bathroom a lot. The first day was the worst, I was doing #1 and #2 every 20 minutes. I was really shocked about the #2. Where did all of that come from??

Another side effect is that I am not sleeping quite as much. I am staying up later and waking up earlier. When I am awake, I have more energy, except for today. I wonder what tomorrow will be like?

My teeth get really grimey throughout the day. I feel like I need to brush them 4 -5 times a day. I thought that I wouldn't need to floss as much, but it's just the opposite, I need to floss more!

I am also looking in the fridge a lot. I'm not hungry, I just want something crunchy in my mouth. I guess this is taking awhile to get used to.

Lastly, I almost always need a smoothie in front of me to feel comfortable. If I haven't had any in about 30-45 minutes, I start to feel really hungry. I wonder if other people have felt like this?

Tomorrow I have another rebirthing session with Chris. If I am not feeling better tomorrow, I may have to cancel. I will see how I feel and let you know how everything goes.

Thank you everyone for so much support! I am really enjoying this smoothie feast so far, and I am excited to see how everything turns out in the end.

Smoothie Feast Day 1

2009-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today was day 1 of my smoothie feast. I'm not hungry by any means, but my stomach feels "light". I can't really explain it, but it feels like my stomach isn't weighed down. I also feel really good. I know it's only day 1, but I feel like I have a little more energy today.

When I woke up I made an entire Vitamix full of green smoothie. That's over 60 oz.

1 whole bunch of parsley, including stems
4 dates
1 cup cherries
1 cup pineapple
enough water to make it blend

It wasn't the best smoothie in the world, but it was good. It took me about 3 hours to finish that. So I made a fruit smoothie around lunchtime.

1 1/2 cup pineapple
1 cup strawberries
1 cup peach
1/2 cup red grapes
1 banana
enough water to make it blend

This was so yummy! I had to make it twice since everyone else had some of it. I ran out of bananas for the second batch, and I have to say, it's much tastier with the banana.

For my "dinner" smoothie I settled for (everything is "settling" after that fruit smoothie!) another green smoothie

1/2 lb spinach
1 cup strawberries
1 cup blackberries
4 dates

This one was pretty good, but a little tart. I can't wait until our bananas our ripe!

I did catch myself opening the refrigerator a lot today, probably looking for something to chew. It's amazing how chewing becomes so addictive!

One downfall to this is that I am going to the bathroom...a lot!

Smoothie Feast Starting Saturday!

2009-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Since Jan 1st, I have been 100% raw with no bloopers, cheats, or cravings! Yay for me! I lost 8 lbs in the first week. I did learn something very important about myself this week though. We had a few friends over on a couple different occasions, which lent for making some tasty gourmet raw food. So we made Jalapeno burgers from The Sunny Raw Kitchen. I just love those burgers. I know, I know, I really cannot eat nuts because they give me a stomach ache, but these burgers are just so tasty! We made them twice this week, since we had so much company. Which means, I ate a lot of them.

I ended up gaining back 7 lbs. How annoying is that? I am finally 100% raw and I start gaining weight! Well, lesson learned. Now I know that I should definitely stay away from nuts. I still feel very bloated from the whole ordeal, which lead me to my newest challenge...

Starting Saturday, Jan. 24Th I am going to do a 1 week smoothie feast. I wanted to do a 2 week feast, but I just went shopping and spent waaaay too much money for doing it this week. I don't know if I will have that option next week. Well, anyway, it's my first time, so 1 week will probably be enough. Of course a juice feast is ideal, but even more expensive, and I'm not sure I am ready for that, physically.

Rory says that this feast will help me lose weight and give my digestive system a small break, which gives my body the energy to take care of other things. Digestion is one of the biggest energy drainers of the body, so this week I will have a chance to put that energy to use elsewhere. I imagine that I will have a lot of energy too, since smoothies usually give me a nice burst.

I don't think that I will have too much of a problem with cravings, since at this point I am drinking a smoothie for lunch and breakfast anyway.

Wish me luck! I will keep you posted on how it goes. I'm actually pretty excited, because I love the way I feel when I drink smoothies anyway. Woohoo! Can I start now? :)

Rebirthing with Chris

2009-01-22T14:59:00.001-08:00

I had my first Rebirthing session with Chris on Monday, and I have to say that I'm curious to have another one. According to Leonard Orr's website:

"Rebirthing-Breathwork, aka Intuitive Energy Breathing or Conscious Energy Breathing, is the ability to breathe Energy as well as air. It is the art of learning to breathe from the Breath Itself. Rebirthing is perhaps the most valuable self-healing ability that humans can learn. We can not have disease and relaxation in the same space at the same time. Relaxation is the ultimate healer. Every breath induces relaxation. Therefore, breathing is the basic healer. Conscious Energy Breathing is the most natural healing ability of all. This ability involves merging the inhale with the exhale in a gentle relaxed rhythm in an intuitive way that floods the body with Divine Energy."

When I went into this, I really had no idea what rebirthing was. Chris explained to me that he was a trained rebirther and that I would not be the same person once I did it. Well, that wasn't much information, but I was up for a try.

We went into my room where I laid down on my bed while Chris sat on a chair beside me. He told me to breath very deeply, filling my lungs, and concentrating on my in breath. I had to be sure that the breaths were connected, that there were no gaps between the breaths. I did this for an hour, and it was exhausting at first, but the more I did it the deeper I could fill my lungs. I knew that something more was supposed to happen, I could feel it. I was blocking it for some reason. Chris told me that it was self love, I was protecting myself from whatever was supposed to happen. I felt exactly that, I felt that I was protecting myself from the unknown.

The session lasted 2 hours, and when it was over I was a little disappointed that I never felt what everyone said I would feel. Chris said that many people do not feel it the first time, and that we would do more sessions. I did however, feel like I could breath so much stronger, especially with my asthma. I felt refreshed and like it was a whole new day!

Rory was next, and his was much quicker, and completely different. He didn't seem to block himself at all. Of course, I can't explain what he felt, but I could see that he was feeling something. His hands and fingers twisted up and he could not control them and he had a constant smile on his face. I asked him to write a little about what he felt:

"My experience with the re-birthing breathing session is ridiculously hard to describe, if you'd have told me that I was gonna feel the way I did, I would've probably thought "Yeah right". I hear people talk a lot about being "blissed out" well by the end of the breathing exercises, I knew what the heck they were talking about! Amazing experience!! I'd really be at a loss to describe exactly how it felt for me, and as I told Chris, even if I had the perfect words to describe the experience, they wouldn't be able to come close to actually portraying it. Some words that I can throw together to paint a brief picture of what it was like would be, a relaxing yet totally exhilarating, release of physical and emotional tensions, shattering internal walls, and a general vibrating sensation around my heart. Amazing stuff!"

Rory hasn't been the same since. If you knew Rory in person, you would know that he is always happy and positive. Well, since his rebirthing, he has been even happier (if that's possible!)

I didn't have the same experience, but I do plan to do the rebirthing again and hopefully I will experience more the next time.

I just received the Kreativ Blogger Award!

2009-01-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

I received this wonderful Kreativ Blogger award and I am so honored to have received it from my favorite artist, Lisa Cole (...seeing stars...)! Thank you so very much Lisa!

Now the fun part is that I get to tell you 7 things that I love, and then I nominate 7 other beautiful people for this award.

1. I love my daughter. I wake up every single morning happy to see her smiling face. I cannot think of a better way to spend my day than to spend it with her. She is such an amazing person and I am so proud of the very young woman she is turning into.

2. My husband, Rory. I love him very dearly. He is the one that holds me together. He always knows exactly what I need and he is always there for me when I need him the most. Rory is an amazing human being, so loving, caring, and especially honest. I trust him with my life, my heart, and my soul.

3. My friends. I have to say that I have some of the most amazing friends. I don't see them very often because of our physical location, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that if I needed them, they would be there for me. They have spread out all over the world since high school and college, so no matter where I go, I know I will have a friend nearby.

4. Music is so inspirational to me. I love music that has a positive message. Michael Franti, Bright Eyes, Aeon Spoke, Phish, and so many others. They all inspire me and show me that there is goodness in the world. There is one song by Bright Eyes that reminds me of my husband so much that it makes me feel so wonderful and loved, even when Rory is not around.

Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life

5. I love nature and the outdoors. I can't say that enough. I feel at peace when I am surrounded by nature. The color of green is so calming, and to be in the forest surrounded by beautiful shades of green, with streaks of bright sunlight caressing the leaves that are already dancing in the breeze...I can't really express how wonderful that is to me.

6. I love creating something that I can be proud of. Making something for a friend or family member that I put hard work into and just looks lovely is a gift to me. Whether it's a delicious raw meal for a friend, a birthday card for family, or a beautiful bag as a holiday gift, making these for other people makes me feel so good.

7. Last but not least, I love meeting amazing people on the Internet. I love that I can meet this wonderful, beautiful woman from Texas, which is sooo far away, and feel like I can have a real friendship with her. I love that I can meet wonderful artists like Lisa when I probably would have never met her otherwise. I love that there are forums like Raw Fu and Give It To Me Raw, where people can talk about their experiences and support each other. And I love writing this blog, in the hopes that someone somewhere might read it and feel inspired to share their story as well.

Well, that's my 7, but I have so many more left unspoken! There is so much in this wonderful world to love!

Now I get to nominate 7 other wonderful people!

1. The beautiful HiHoRosie has such a wonderful and creative blog about her journey with raw foods, and lately about her exciting pregnancy.

2. Earthmother has one of the most beautiful and inspiring raw food blogs I have found. It's just amazing!

3. LouLou has a very well written blog that I've only recently discovered. She takes really cute pictures and makes some great food for those who are transitioning to raw food, or don't plan to be 100% raw.

4. I found Paulina's blogs one day a few months ago and I thought they were both brilliant. The one that I am nominating is a blog that she uses to write amazing book reviews, which has inspired me to read more!

5. My friend Tawni Lay. She's new to blogging, but she has so much heart, and so much to share.

6. Nibbit is a young woman living in the Netherlands and she is sharing a very detailed, honest and personal story of her raw food journey.

7. Lastly, Rory's blog is very special to me. I never knew that he was such a wonderful writer until I started to read his blogs. He puts so much energy and love into his posts and that just makes me love what he writes so much more.

I was limited to only 7, but there are so many more wonderful people out there that I could nominate. Thank you Lisa for giving me this wonderful award!

Over the flu, and trying out Rebirthing-Breathwork

2009-01-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been away for a few days because I had the flu. I don't get sick very often, and it doesn't usually hit me very hard, but this time I could barely get out of bed. I wonder if maybe I was detoxing a bit while I was sick? Or maybe it just happened to be a really mean bug. I'm better now and moving on from all that. I managed to stay 100% raw the entire time I was ill! Woohoo! Actually, being 100% is still very easy for me and I am so happy that I found a way that works for me. I know that when I tried to follow someone elses plan, it never worked. I really think everyone has different dietary needs and the best way to get raw to work, is to find out what works best for you.

So in my last post I said that my friend invited Rory and I to a little dinner party with a special guest. We had a blast, the food was great and the conversation was phenomenal! The special guest was Chris Carlton, who runs the website Purely Raw. Chris is an amazing person who went from 363 pounds on the SAD diet and switched to 100% raw and now looks fantastic at 196 pounds! His story was very inspiring to me. In fact, he shared with me some of the things that he learned along the way that helped him, and now I feel like I'm not alone and I can definitely do this. I've met, in person, someone else that has done it.

One of the very important things he told me was to only weigh myself once a month. He said that if I do it more than that, I will notice my plateaus and become discouraged. This is exactly what happened to me sometime in November. I was weighing myself every day and constantly losing weight. Then, all the sudden I wasn't losing anything and I pretty much gave up. Well, I don't know if I can go a whole month, but I will at least wait every 2 weeks. The last time I weighed myself it said 255 (Yay! that's - 51 lbs) so I won't weigh myself again until the 28th (I hope).

Another thing that Chris taught me about myself is that I have trained myself to breath poorly. For example, being over weight but a lover of the outdoors and hiking, I have often found myself in situations where I am out of breath while others are not. So what do I do? I try breathing differently to hide my wheezing. I have therefore trained myself to breath poorly when I exercise or do extraneous activities. Chris taught me a 20 connected breaths (check out this video for info) routine that I absolutely love and possibly later in the week he will do some Rebirthing-Breathwork with me. I am very excited, and if it happens I am sure to blog about it. In the meantime, I will definitely be more conscious of my breathing when I exercise.

Some other cool stuff happened last weekend before I got sick, but I don't want to cram it all in one blog. I hope no one else is feeling ill out there! I don't take medicines, so what helps me most are steamy showers, garlic, green smoothies, water, and ginger shots. Also, I noticed that if I am able to sleep with my face facing downward, then it doesn't turn into chest congestion. It's not comfortable, but much better than day after day of chest congestion. I would love to sleep on a massage table with a hole for my face!

I feel like a whole new person!

2009-01-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

It's been 10 days that I've been 100% raw. Woohoo! I've lost 5.5 pounds and 3.5 inches in my waist in 10 days! I've also been drinking a lot more water, so much has changed for me this year!

Rory and I were watching a video by Freelea last week and she said that she drinks 1 1/2 - 2 Liters of water each morning. I said to Rory, "How could anyone drink so much at once? I can't even drink more than 1 cup without feeling bloated and sick." He told me that my bloatedness after such a small amount of water was not normal, and maybe I am chronically dehydrated. I rarely do drink much water, maybe 1 cup a day and sometimes less. I drink so much smoothie I barely think about water! We decided that I was going to start drinking a bunch of water each day. Starting out kinda small, we filled a 1.5 liter glass bottle of water and decided that I would start by drinking that each day. And I have! I actually do feel much better for it, except that I am going to the bathroom a lot. Rory thinks I am still adjusting to the sudden increase of water, and probably my bladder needs to grow as well. I'm sure in a few weeks I will feel normal again.

Another thing I've been doing different is I changed the way that I eat, completely. I've done this 100% thing before, but last time it was pure agony. I was always hungry, grumpy, tired, and craving cooked food. I seem to have low blood sugar, so when I am feeling hungry, I get really irritable. I would wake up in the morning and I had to cut up fruit and put it in a bowl with maybe some milk. It took time, and in that state of mind, I didn't have time. It really messed with me. It's always been easier for Rory because has has more options with raw food. I can't eat nuts and seeds, so everything I ate was different. So finally I would have my breakfast, but then a little bit later I was hungry again, so I did it all over again. When it was time to make food for my daughter, I was hungry and always ended up eating some of hers. I always felt like I was hungry on 100% raw food, and so I figured maybe it wasn't for me.

Oh, but it is! This time, I have done none of that. I don't have cravings, feel hungry, tired, or grumpy. I don't even want cooked food. In fact, the last time I even thought about it was when I decided to give up the food I was making for my daughter and just say no!

What I've been doing really isn't that amazing, or difficult, or anything. I pretty much wake up, grab a banana and some water. Then, about 1 hour later I am usually hungry again, so I either eat another banana or some other fruit. Around noonish I make a big blender full of green smoothie. I used to share it among my family and only have 1 glass, but now I am selfish and I drink the whole thing myself. This takes about 1 hour. I don't really feel hungry again until later in the evening, so then I make a big giant salad. I always liked salad, but I hate the same old salad. So I make different dressings, or I marinate something, whatever it takes to make it different. I eat a lot of salad, and usually Rory makes me some sort of yummy smoothie to go with it. This is really working for me. I just eat when I am hungry, stop when I am full. I have to eat much more often, but Rory says that I am going to boost my metabolism this way. Yay!

Of course, raw food has a reputation of giving a person a lot of extra energy. With all this extra energy, I've been exercising a lot more, and getting tons more done around the house.

Tonight Rory and I are going to a friends house for a raw dinner, with a special guest. I'm not sure who it is yet since it is a surprise, but I know that he lives in Britain and he is a raw foodie. He has a website, but my friend wouldn't tell me who it is so I can't relate it. When I find out, I will definitely post about it.

I hope that you are having a great weekend!

My Vision Board

2009-01-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

Today I made a vision board. It's my first one ever and I did it on my 2009 weight loss and exercise goals. Vision boards are pretty much a representation of what you want to happen in your life over the designated period, and it is done usually through pictures and quotes. For example, if I was interested in purchasing my dream home, I would put a picture on my vision board of what my dream home looked like and then it would appear in my life. The idea is to find pictures that have a lot of meaning to you and then to look at your board each day and really meditate on those things happening to you. It can also be used as a reminder of what you need to do to make those things happen.

On my vision board I started out with the quote, "I can do this...I know I can. It's just going to take time a patience." I chose that quote mostly because the last time that I tried losing weight I lost 42lbs, but it seemed to come off so slow to me, and I gave up. Imagine where I would be if I didn't give up! Which leads me to the next quote by Robert Schuller, "A year from now you may wish you had started today". I'm sure that rings true for a lot of people in a lot of areas of their life, and it definitely does for me. Looking at that quote every day will remind me that I want to do this NOW so that in a year from now I can look back and be proud of what I accomplished. The last quote that I chose states, "Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down". This one is important for me because I found that many times I am in denial about what I have eaten. For example, I may eat something horrible for me and I will either block it from my mind like it never happened, or I will look for all of the positives in the food and ignore the negatives, "French fries are healthy, they are made from potatoes!"

The pictures on my board include: people running, which is something I have always wanted to do, people doing step aerobics, which I used to do and would like to get back into, and of a woman doing yoga, I love yoga. I have a big "Curves" logo because I love to exercise with other people and I read a lot about Curves and found it interesting. When we move to Connecticut we will be only 1.79 miles from a Curves and I am planning on joining. There are a few barriers to jump over before I can, so I made sure to add that in hopes that it will help me reach that goal.

I also have a picture of a hiking trail because I would love to go on an extended hike with my family this year. Maybe a few days or weeks. I also have a home garden picture on the vision board because I would love to be able to grow a garden when we move to Connecticut in the Spring. There are a few pictures of beautifully fresh fruits and vegetables so that I can manifest abundant fresh produce into my life.

The last picture I have is a woman measuring her waistline. I want to have a much smaller waistline by the end of 2009!

I did my board on my computer and printed it out two times. I put on near my computer and the other on the bed stand beside my bed, that way it will be the first thing I see in the morning. I also made it my screen saver and desktop picture. This way, I will never forget! I am going to see if I can get my daughter to make one for herself tomorrow, and maybe even Rory will make one.

If anyone else has a vision board or plans to make one, I would love to see it! Sharing my board with other people helps me to make these things real to me.

Personality Test Just for Fun

2009-01-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

So I did a personality test today and found that I am an INFP (A Dreamer). In other words, "INFPs are introspective, private, creative and highly idealistic individuals that have a constant desire to be on a meaningful path. They are driven by their values and seek peace. Empathetic and compassionate, they want to help others and humanity as a whole. INFPs are imaginative, artistic and often have a talent for language and writing. They can also be described as easygoing, selfless, guarded, adaptable, patient and loyal."

http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/infp/

You can do one here:

http://www.mypersonality.info/

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Just Say No

2009-01-03T15:15:00.001-08:00

One of the hardest parts about raising a child that's only about 70% raw is making her dinner. Tonight I made her a box of Mac N Chreese (a vegan mac & cheese) and a green smoothie for dinner. Very often when I make the mac n chreese, I dish out a small portion for myself. Mostly because I don't fell like making something seperate for me, and the mac n chreese is convenient. Well, tonight was no different in that respect. I made her a big bowl of it and then put a little in a bowl for myself. I though, "Gee I've been 100% raw today, this will totally ruin that for me". Then I thought, "Oh well, I already dished it out, now the bowl and spoon are dirty, and besides, I'm very hungry". So at this point I added a bunch of pepper to the food in my bowl and stirred it up. My next though was...actually I don't think I had a thought, it was more of a reflex...I just put the bowl down on the table in front of my daughter and walked away. I poured a big glass of the green smoothie for myself and ate a big, juicy pear.

This is a major break through for me! About the only few times I eat cooked food any more is when I am making food for someone else and I feel like "I might as well eat some". I actually said "no" and found something else! I know I can keep this up, especially since, lately we've been super stocked up on raw produce.

If you make cooked food for other people, how do you resist the urge? Please, let me know how you keep yourself above the boiled water?

Man loses 430 lbs and raw food update

2009-01-01T19:16:00.001-08:00

Today was a great start for a beautiful new year! The last few days I have been eating 100% raw with no complications and no real strong cravings for cooked food. Today though, I did eat some pretzel sticks at my moms house, but only because I was super hungry and she had no raw food available. As soon as I came home, I was craving a green smoothie and drank 48 oz of one in just a few minutes.

We didn't really do much for New Years Eve this year. Rory worked until late last night, and very early this morning, so we just kinda hung out. Of course, we made sure we were locking lips at 12:00!

I also have a small cold, but amazingly I hardly feel it at all. The only time I really notice that I have the cold is when I am really sleepy or when I just wake up. Once I am up and lucid, I feel great. I love eating healthy.

I did find on the news today that a man lost 430lbs! Congrats on the loss of the weight, but I was a little disappointed in the method that he chose. He decided to go with gastric bypass, which is great for him since he had so much to lose and he had to do it quickly. But what really got me worrying was when he said "I want people to feel inspired when they look at me". I really don't think that surgery is very inspirational. Maybe people that weigh 640lbs do desperately need it, but the majority of the people that are 50-100 lbs overweight have so many more options, and when they use them, it actually is inspirational. I am truly inspired by people like Philip McCluskey, my friend who goes by Earthmother, and even my husband, all whom lost the weight through their own willpower and desire to be healthy. That is truly inspirational to me, and that is what keeps me going on my raw path. Thank you to everyone out there who inspires myself and others to do the same.

Rory's Blind folded Adventure

2008-12-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

Last week Rory and I were talking about what we were going to do for his next raw food recipe video and he decided that he wanted to do his Green Vanilla Bean Shake, mostly because everyone we know loves it. What's even better is that the shake is super easy to make, so easy that it could be done blindfolded!

So that's what he did, he did the video blind folded. You have to see!

It was a really fun experience for us, so I just had to share it here on my blog. I love the part where he is trying to find a glass and he is reaching out for the cupboard and cannot find it anywhere. Anyway, hope you like it!

Raw "hot" chocolate

2008-12-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas holiday was a lot of fun. On Christmas day we opened gifts, did crafts, played games, and watched a movie. The following day we went to my mother's house and did the same thing. It was like having Christmas twice! I know Isabel loved it. I hope your holiday went well!

Rory created this wonderful, easy "hot" chocolate that we enjoyed Christmas day, and every day since. Of course, it isn't actually hot, but we did warm it a little in the Vitamix. If you don't have a Vitamix, you can do it in a pan with a thermometer.

3 cups almond milk
4 Tbsp cacao
4-5 Tbsp raw honey (do it to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or about 1/2' piece of bean

Blend it! if you are using a Vitamix, allow it to get slightly warm. if you are using a regular blender, transfer it to a pan and gently heat it on low until it reaches your desired raw temp (around 115F usually) This will probably make about 3 servings.

It tastes really good, and almost as if it has marshmallows melted into it.

Do you ever get tired from all this fast food?

2008-12-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

Everything was going so well, I lost about 1.5 lbs of the 2 that I gained in CT. I've been eating all raw, until today. I wasn't even really paying much attention to what I was eating today, since I was so busy. Tonight I was sitting around with Rory and complaining about how sleepy and tired I am. I was so tired I could barely get up to go to the bathroom! He asked me what I ate today...hmm I had french fries and some hot cereal. Rory jumped right up and made me a nice green smoothie and some salad and now I feel so much better.

It's amazing, and almost scary, how much cooked, and junk food affects a person. I used to feel tired all of the time, and I never knew it was from the food that I was eating. Now, when I do eat those foods again, the tiredness is almost a shock and I can't even function. There are so many people that I know in their 20s and 30s that say they feel so old and tired. I used to think, pre-raw, that it was the stress of our fast paced world, but now I realize that it is the food that we eat!

How are you celebrating your holiday? We have a family tradition of eating tacos on Christmas, and this year we will not be breaking that tradition. The non raw foodies in my family will be eating traditional tacos, and the vegetarians will be eating vegetarian tacos. We will be eating raw tacos. There are so many wonderful recipes out there for raw tacos, but since I don't like to eat a lot of nuts, and we are so busy during the holiday season, we will be making our easy raw taco recipe. So many of our non-raw friends have tried them, and they all love them. We are making enough to share with anyone who wants them.

Have a great holiday!

This is kinda a silly vid I did to share our Christmas tree on Rawfu. Rory is "singing" (you may want to turn off your speakers to avoid hearing him sing)

1 vacation lb down and resolutions

2008-12-18T10:59:00.001-08:00

I've been trying hard to lose those 2 lbs that I gained on vacation, and so far I have lost one of them. This week I have been craving a lot of pears, so I have had about 4 or 5 a day. I am also eating a big salad each day and drinking a green smoothie. The hardest part is turning down Rory's dandy blend smoothie, it's the best in the world! But it is a nut based smoothie, so I am trying hard not to drink any. (He plans to post about that smoothie on his blog and on YouTube in the near future.) Hopefully the next pound will be just as easy, and I can concentrate on losing all of the others that I need to lose.

Have you thought of any resolutions for the new year? When I do think of one, I like to think of only one, otherwise it gets too complicated and I end up doing nothing. This year I have decided to concentrate on my own health, instead of the health of others. I keep telling friends and family all about the benefits of green smoothies and juices, nutrients of different fruits and veggies, etc. But rarely do I incorporate these things into my own diet as much as I tell others that they should. So this year, I am going to eat a much more healthy diet. This includes drinking more water, since Rory always tells me that I don't drink nearly as much as I should.

Off topic, one of my dearest, beautiful friends has a wonderful Etsy page full of gorgeous jewelry that is actually made from recycled materials. I just hope that you check it out because I know that she puts a lot of love and care into each piece, and they are all just so wonderful! Here is the link to her Etsy page: Recycled Revolution

Back from CT

2008-12-15T21:43:00.001-08:00

Wow what a vacation! I honestly don't know where to start, but I can tell you that we had a really great time. There is so much more to do in CT than there is in Nowheresville, PA. There was a Whole Foods (actually, a few of them) that we spent over 5 hours at one evening (no joke!). There are no stores like that within 4 hours of our home. Rory had a great time at the raw restaurant, Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe, and even visited a few times. We had such a good time, but I won't bore you with all the "spending time with family" details. We actually decided to move to CT in the early Spring!

This is me and Isabel on Rory's Moms' couch.

Regretfully, I was not able to stick to my diet 100%, so I ended up gaining 2 pounds :( I hope to lose those pounds quickly.

Taking a road trip

2008-12-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Rory and I are heading up to Connecticut to visit his family. I am the one driving the entire 7 hours, and I am not looking forward to it! Rory is packing a lot of raw food for the journey, including, but definitely not limited to: salad, bananas, smoothies, citrus fruits, and trail mixes. One drawback to eating raw is that we have no need to stop at a restaurant to eat, which means I will be stuck in the car the whole time, besides bathroom breaks. Isabel will be doing her school work in the car so that she has less to do when we finally get there (she is home schooled). I am making a very large mix MP3 for some music, and maybe even a few motivational cds. Victoria Boutenko has one that I really enjoy, Spiritual Awakening with Raw Food. Also, I have a few of David Wolfe's that I have not even listened to yet.

Rory's family has embraced the raw food lifestyle very well. Following his footsteps, both his sister and his mom have incorporated many raw food dishes into their menus, and have already seen the health benefits from it. I am not concerned about finding raw food when we are there. Also, the grocery stores in CT have so much more variety than they do here in "nowheresville, PA". So that will be exciting. Last but not least, Glen Colello's cafe, Catch A Healthy Habit, is only blocks from Rory's mothers' home.

All in all, it should be a fun trip. But I am not looking forward to sitting in a car for 7 hours, staring at the same old boring road the entire time while Rory and Isabel play games and nap. booooo!

What a fun day!

2008-11-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Oh my! Rory and I had so much fun last night. I was in tears, tears of joy! It was one of the happiest moments I've had on this raw food journey. I hope that in a few more months, we can do it again. Want to know what we did?

Well, I said in a previous post that I lost 42 lbs so far, but I can't see it anywhere, except maybe a little in my face. Bummer, that's a lot of weight to lose with no obvious difference. If I GAINED that much weight, I would definitely see it!

Anyway, we are going on a trip next week to see his family, whom we haven't seen since our wedding day 2 1/2 years ago. Rory is super excited to show off his new, raw, muscular, sexy bod. I feel like I look pretty much the same. In fact, because we spent so much money buying Rory 2 new wardrobes (half way through we bought him a bunch of new clothes, then he lost more weight and we had to do it again) we never had any money to buy me some new clothes. So there I was whining and complaining that Rory is going to look really good, and I am going to look like crap, wearing rags and such. Rory looked in an old box of my clothes and finds this really beautiful winter wardrobe that I haven't worn since we first met 5 years ago. I gained a lot of weight since then, so I set that in a box saying to myself "maybe someday I will fit into them". I hopelessly told Rory, "Don't bother with those, they haven't fit me in years". He pulls out this beautiful jacket, made of brown woven cloth. It was actually what I wore the very first day we met. I picked it out because I knew I was meeting him and I wanted to look nice. He always loved it on me. I told him I tried that jacket on last year, and I couldn't even zip it closed. Rory, never the one to give up hope, begged me to try it on. I begrudgingly got off my butt and put it around my shoulders, slipped my arms in ("gee, this is kinda roomy") and to my astonishment, I was not only able to zip it up, but there were quite a few inches between me and the fabric. It looked great!

For the next hour or so, we tried on everything in that box, and everything fit wonderfully. In fact, we tried on some of my winter stuff that did fit me last year, and it seems that they are much too big. I guess my weight loss is showing after all, and now I have a whole new wardrobe! Thank you Rory! Thank you raw food! And thank you ME for sticking to my raw food diet!

Our Raw Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

We had our Thanksgiving a day early since Rory is busy working Thanksgiving day. It was so delicious! We ate jalapeno burgers and avocado fries inspired by The Sunny Raw Kitchen. We changed the recipe a bit to appeal to our fav tastes and they were just wonderful! Rory made some great raw ketchup for the fries and burgers! I also made these green beans that taste JUST like buttered green beans. We don't eat legumes too often, but they are great for special occasions!

Bunch of green beans
salt to taste
pepper to taste
nutritional yeast to taste
hemp oil

Drizzle a little hemp oil over the beans, add seasonings and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 30 minutes.

I also made a refreshing green apple juice to wash it all down.

Mix of greens
3 apples
Blend and strain through a mylk bag.
Add ice AFTER straining.

For desert I made an apple ginger pie in a mug. Regretfully it didn't last long enough for a picture but I can still give you the recipe.

Crust:
2 cups soaked walnuts (if you already dehydrated them, add about TBSP water)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp raw honey

Filling:
4 apples
1 cup raisins
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp ginger (this can be omitted or amount lessened if you want just apple pie)

Process the crust ingredients in your food processor. Press this into the bottom and sides of the mugs leaving some left over for the top of the pie.
Process the filling, straining the juice if there is excess. You will know if there is excess when you see little ponds in your processor. Put the filling in the mugs. Cover with the remaining crust. I added a little cinnamon on top of the crust to make it look pretty. This can be refrigerated or eaten immediately. This made 3 mugs of pie. It is super yummy!

I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving!

Our trip to the soup kitchen

2008-11-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

Today Isabel and I went to the soup kitchen in Gettysburg, PA to volunteer along with Isabel's Brownie troop. I have been to other soup kitchens before, but this one was interesting. Of course, there just happened to be a parade at the exact time that we had to be at the soup kitchen, so we had to park about 12 blocks away and walk in the freezing cold. I didn't know exactly where the place was, so I had to ask people. "Excuse me sir, do you know where the soup kitchen is?". Finally I came up to a woman that said she didn't know, but her church pastor would. She hurried me along to meet him and she yelled, "Do you know where the soup kitchen is? This poor woman and her daughter need to get there before it closes!" Isabel was embarrassed, but I told her that so many people actually DO need to get there before the soup kitchen closes so that they do not lose their lunch. No one should be embarrassed about needing a free lunch. I'm sure we all could use one every once in awhile!

So anyway, we finally trekked up to the back door of the place (these kind of places are always in the back to hide them from view) and a very friendly woman was there waiting for us. I told her about our adventures of getting there and she said that a lot of people don't know where the soup kitchen is, and wondered how we could change that. (signs maybe???) A few minutes later, the rest of the troop arrived and we headed downstairs to the basement (not only is it in the back, but also in the basement!)

It was actually quite cozy there in the actual dining area. All of the tables were decorated in Thanksgiving style vinyl table cloths with little turkey center pieces in the middle. Their meals were served restaurant style, where a volunteer carries out each plate already served to each guest sitting at the table. All the other soup kitchens I had been to were more cafeteria style. All utensils and plates were disposable, to save on permit costs and from buying so many heated dishwashers. Also, many of the guests have illnesses that apparently could cause problems if the utensils were not cleaned properly. The guests were always allowed seconds, because for many, this was their only meal of the day. In one week they serve a little over 200 guests. More guests in the summer than in the winter since many children eat lunch in school. Although, because of the economic climate, especially in this area, the soup kitchen has been busier than ever.

The brownie troop, being too young to do any real work, made a fruit salad instead. The soup kitchen has been trying to offer healthier food to the guests, since many are obese and unhealthy. According to their statistics, 1 in 5 guest has diabetes. Are they sick because they are poor and can't buy healthy food? Or are they poor because they are sick and have too many medical bills and can't work? That's the eternal question. We may not be able to answer this question, but we can offer better choices and nutrition education to people in both categories. This is another step that the soup kitchen in Gettysburg is trying to take. Each month they have 1 or 2 guests come in to talk to the soup kitchen patrons about healthy food alternatives. I thought that this was a wonderful idea. So many of my friends, family, and acquaintances tell me that they don't know how to buy or make healthy food. This should be something that is taught in grammar school! I commend the soup kitchen for sharing such priceless information with those that need it most.

When we were leaving, Isabel said that she would love to come back and help out at the soup kitchen some more. Regretfully, she has to be 12 years old to actually volunteer, and she only just turned 9. I told her that in a few years, we could go to the soup kitchen and help out as often as she liked. At this point she pointed to the "good deed" pin on her brownie uniform and said "I did a good deed" as she flipped it over for everyone to see. Yes you did do a good deed, Isabel, and I believe that you will have many more to share with the world.

Nightmares!!

2008-11-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy this week making Christmas gifts, that I barely had any time to weigh myself! That's a good thing though, since it seems that I have not lost any weight. *bummer* Another thing that has been going on with me is constant nightmares. For many nights in a row now, and none of them have anything to do with each other. Just a random string of bad events playing through my mind while I am sleeping. I wake up and try to forget what I just watched in my mind, and I fall back to sleep and have another nightmare. By the time I wake up in the morning, I am tense and exhausted. It's driving me crazy! I should probably not dwell in them.

My daughter and I are going to a soup kitchen to help out this weekend. She is pretty excited, and I am hoping that this will be a good learning experience for her. We are going along with her brownie group, and our goal is to help provide healthier options in the soup kitchen. I will let you know how that turns out.

More weight loss and enzymes

2008-11-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

This week I have been craving so much fruit! We bought in season fruit, so we have a lot of grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, and of course we had to buy bananas. I am in my glory. By this time next week, I will probably have sores on the sides of my mouth from all of the citrus, but it's worth it. I did lose more weight, but nothing to throw a party over. The scale this morning said 265.6. Better down than up! It moves so slow for me, but in a way I am glad for it. Dr. Doug Graham says that it is best to lose only 1 lb a week, otherwise you will be hungry. Plus, I fear that if I lose too quickly, I may have too much excess skin.

The last thing that I wanted to mention was enzymes. I don't have much to say about them, but my husband wrote a really interesting and well written post about enzymes. He really breaks the science down into something that seems so easy to understand that I wish I had him for a science professor in college! I really hope that you check it out, here is the link Rawdawg Rory - Gotta Love Enzymes.

There is currently a tornado warning here in PA, and the weather doesn't look too good. I took 4 pics of the weather 15 seconds apart. Crazy!

I am going to sign off here. Thanks for cheering me on!

I'm all mashed

2008-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

I caved today, ate some mashed potatoes. I just boiled the potatoes, added a little salt, and rice milk. Now I can't stay awake to save my life. Remind me never to do that again! Good night!

The scale moved!

2008-11-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since I posted last. Someone in my family was pretty ill, so I spent some time making "feel better' concoctions. I did get on the scale today, and it said 266! Yay, it moved! I've been working pretty hard, both with my exercise challenge and my raw challenge, but neither of them have been 100% all of the time. I am definitely working hard though.

Most of my meals are: bananas for breakfast, tomatoes for lunch, and a big salad for dinner, with a few green smoothies mixed in. Friday's are the hardest for me, because we always get something to eat at the natural food store when we go shopping. I always want to get dolmas - sometimes I have the willpower to get something else, but not always. I am hoping that when the Raw Fu challenge starts on the 15th, that will really get me motivated.

Rory is a real inspiration, he lost so much weight that today he lost his wedding ring :( We may never get it back, but now we have a plan to get it tattooed on him. I don't want to it be a tacky tattoo though, so we will have to work on the design a bit. He wants me to get one as well, but I never felt like a tattoo person, so I told him that we would wait.

Air Cars: A New Wind for America's Roads?

2008-11-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share this article, and let you know that I want one! I don't know how long this article will last, so I will give you the gist. "A new carmaker has a plan for cheap, environmentally friendly cars to be built all over the country".

These cars will run on air pressure. Now, the only problem is that they can only go 35 mph, but if you live in the city, that will not be a problem. Imagine how much money you can save and how much smaller your carbon footprint would be!

I thought that I wanted a smart car, but this tops it!

Plus, this air pressure car looks really futuristic, which shows that we are finally moving into a cleaner, better future.

Exercise challenge going great!

2008-11-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

My 30 day exercise challenge that I have embarked on is going really well. I found inspiration from another woman from Raw Fu who said she made a chain link, and each day she ate raw she added to the link. I decided to take her idea, and incorporate it into my exercise challenge. Each day that I exercise, I add a link to my chain. I decided to make min holiday colors, since it is nearly that time of year. I am also doing it with my daughter, so she has her own chain, and when we are done, we have holiday decorations! She is super excited.
I weighed in today, and it said 270.0, so it is moving, though not as fast as I hoped. I think I will start to add juices to my menu, and see how that works out.

A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children - This really gets me upset - my ramblings

2008-10-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

I was reading the news today, and I saw this article in the NY Times titled A Rise in Kidney Stones is Seen in U.S. Children and I was astonished! But, I wasn't at the same time. I have been to my daughter's school and I have seen the food that the students eat. I have watched people in the grocery check out lines, and I see what they buy for their family. In fact, I used to buy that stuff too. The article states that children around the age of 10 years old are getting kidney stones, a problem usually afflicted on older generations, because they are eating too many salty processed foods and not drinking enough water.

When I gave birth to my daughter, I decided to raise her to be healthy and as a vegetarian (not knowing later that we would switch to raw vegan) and at the time, I didn't know how to prepare any food. When my daughter was a year old, I went to college and we shared a dorm. All of our meals were prepared for us, which meant that I never had to learn how to prepare food. I spoke with other mothers at my college, and maybe 1 or 2 out of the MANY that I knew actually knew how to prepare a meal. I mean a real meal, not Betty Crocker in a box. Luckily, for me, while I was in college I met my husband, who can make anything, but not everyone is that lucky. Most of the women I knew from college are now married and have children, and they buy them Betty Crocker in a box, or Hamburger Helper, because they know how to make it. When I talk about raw food, or even healthy food, they always say that they don't even know how to make real mashed potatoes! I think this is where we are failing. Somewhere along the line, parents stopped teaching their children how to make food, and schools stopped teaching students how to make food. Now everyone thinks that meals come from a box. It's difficult to make homemade meals these days! It's hard just to find the ingredients in the grocery store.

So these poor kids are eating processed food, but what about their drinks? I have actually seen with my own eyes, a mother give soda to an infant in a baby bottle. I have seen it, and it was in my family! People actually believe that drinks like Gatorade are good for them on a daily basis. Even water is flavored these days. A friend of mine has a flavored water filter in her sink! I think right now it is cherry flavored. If people could drink more real, fresh water, they would be more able to flush out the toxins that are put in their bodies from food.
In the process of making meals in a box, the manufacturers need to make processed food taste good. This means adding more salt, preservatives, and other nasties. The consumer buys their products, and eat them for each meal, 24/7 and wonder why they get sick! I feel bad for these children with the kidney stones, unless they can see beyond these boxes, they may live their entire lives in misery.

I'm no saint either, I still feed my daughter vegan food. This week I bought her soy dogs. I had told myself that I would not buy her anymore processed soy foods, but sometimes they are just easier. She also eats whole wheat bread, which is full of sugar and other yucky ingredients. I realize that I have to work on things in my own home, and I am proud that my family has come so far as we have. My husband is 100% raw, I am working on becoming 100% raw, and my daughter is about 60% raw. This is so much better than we used to be. We used to eat pretty much nothing but cheese, pasta, and soy products. My husband has lost a ton of weight, my daughter used to be overweight and is now "normal", and I am in the process of losing weight.

Even if people do not embrace raw food, I truly believe that the dynamics of American health will greatly improve if parents learn how to make food homemade, and if people just began drinking more water.

30 day exercise challenge

2008-10-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi! It's a great day! Except for the fact that I have no heat in my house and I GAINED weight! That's right, gained weight. I now weigh 270. I can't believe it, I've been so diligent. But, I am not going to let it get me down, instead I am going to start a new challenge for myself. I realize it will be difficult to work on two challenges at once, but I think I can do it. With the support of my family and friends, and everyone online, I know it will work.

My new challenge is to work out 30 minutes a day for 30 days. I want to see if this will speed up my weight loss (I don't doubt it). It's getting pretty cold out, and I can't handle cold weather, so I will have to do all of my work outs indoors. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do, but I plan to do some yoga, aerobics, and strength training. Not much strength training, but just enough to firm myself a bit each day. My husband has been wanting to do more strength training, so maybe I can convince him to join me on this challenge. Maybe Rawdawg Rory can do a 30 day strength training challenge! I dare him! (I know he will be reading this). SO I will keep you posted on how I do this challenge. Maybe if I am feeling outrageous, I will post pics!

Today I day 1 of the 30 days. I plan to start with some stretches, yoga, and then some aerobics. Hopefully by the time I am done, I will enjoy exercising, but I can't promise anything.

Feeling good and close encounters

2008-10-27T12:45:00.001-07:00

I feel pretty good today. I got on the scale today and it said 267.0! I decided to go to the bathroom and then see what it would say (I get so giddy over this stuff) when I weighed myself again it said 268.4! What!?! I hate scales sometimes. It's okay though, I know I am losing weight and feeling great.

For breakfast today I just had a banana, since I wasn't that hungry. For lunch I made myself a collard wrap with diced tomatoes and seasonings as the "meat". It was really yummy. I also had a green smoothie. I always feel so much better with green smoothies. In fact, I think that is how I lost the 30 something lbs to begin with.

It's Halloween season! Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love to see all of the costumes and the haunted houses. If I had more money, I would buy an old barn and really spook it out for Halloween. When I was going to college, there was an old barn on campus that someone had actually died in. That place was spooky! It was also on an old Indian Reservation. Once, at night Rory and I were out very very late walking around and we heard some creepy noises about 20 ft away from us. There was nothing there at all, but we definitely heard it.

Another time I was really creeped out was about 5 years ago at Devil's Den in Gettysburg, PA. I went there at around 1a.m. with a friend of mine and we were hanging out on top of the rocks talking about all of life's b.s. when this glowing light started slowly coming toward us. It moved really slow, and you could tell that it was coming closer, but the light wasn't getting any brighter or larger. My friend called out to it, but there was no response. It could not have been a flashlight, because no one could have walked where it was. My friend freaked out, and jumped off of the rocks. Those rocks are pretty high, so it was a very dangerous jump for him. I was pretty freaked out too, but I took the safer path and rushed my way down the normal path. We jumped into the car and drove away pretty quickly. Now when I see all of those "ghosts of Gettysburg" books out there, I don't just snicker at them, I feel like there may be some truth behind all of that tourism propaganda.

Single Nonvoter Tipped Election

2008-10-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

I just HAD to share this video with you. It's super funny!

Rainy day blues

2008-10-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a very short post today. I lost a pound since yesterday! So now I am at 268 lbs. It's a terribly rainy day and I am sleepy and still feeling cranky. I will probably take a nap and wake up just in time to catch tonight's episodes of Rawkathon.

You know, I took this pic to show just how miserable I am, but now I see that my face actually looks a lot thinner!

I'm cranky

2008-10-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

I finally gave in and looked at the scale today. Good news and bad news. The good news is, I didn't gain any weight. The bad news is, I didn't lose any weight. It's okay though, I am just happy that I don't have to work anything off.
Today was pretty difficult for me because it was shopping day. Usually I love shopping day, because we go to so many fun places to get our food. Today though, I was just hungry, and cranky, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. My daughter and I often by ourselves a couple stuffed grape leaves, but I couldn't this time, so that was pretty depressing. Instead I ate a banana. Bananas are good, but not as good as stuffed grape leaves. If I HAD bought the grape leaves, I would be writing a post about how bad I felt for messing up again. Instead, I didn't eat them, so I don't feel bad. I would say I feel great, but I feel kinda annoyed...at everything. My husband is making a smoothie, so the Vitamix is going and going, and it's so irritating. I think I am still getting used to being 100% and maybe tomorrow I will feel better. Besides, it's the weekend!
My daughter is not 100% raw, but I try to give her about 70-80%. Tonight for dinner she had toast, one had Rory's raw unchicken salad, one had diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning and olive oil, and one had carrots with salad seasoning and hemp oil. I looked really healthy, and very tasty. She loved every bit of it. Rory said that it was a good transitory food, but I just thought it looked YUM. Of course, I didn't eat any of the toast. My daughter loved it, and says she wants to eat it all the time. Honestly though, I don't want her having so much bread, but now I have another healthy meal for her.

Day 5

2008-10-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Thursday, and I am scared to look at the scale since I ate poorly on Tuesday. For breakfast today I enjoyed another apple cinnamon "cereal" with buckwheat. I shared some with my daughter too, and she loved it. She asked if we could eat it every morning! I may get tired of it, but luckily we could easily change the flavor by adding different spices, fruit, or seeds. For lunch I enjoyed a green smoothie and a tomato. It's nearly 6pm and I am starving. My husband is making an unchicken salad wrap for dinner. When it is finished, I will take a picture of it and share it with you.
I had this song in my head all day today. Now it will be in yours. Teehee! Enjoy!

Here is the pic of the unchicken salad wraps I promised. They were so freakin good!

My first failure was my first success!

2008-10-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

"We may not have control over how long we will live, but we do have control over how well we live" ~Nomi Shannon
Last night was a night of revelations and a night of falling off the wagon for me. Yes, I did it, I cheated, but I decided not to beat myself up about it and just continue with my raw food experiment unscathed.

On our way to the Halloween party that my daughter and I were invited to, I kept telling myself that I would not eat anything there unless it was raw. I committed myself to this. When we walked in, the first sight to be seen was an enormous Halloween decorated table covered from end to end in baked goods, snacks, and other things I shouldn't even be looking at. It was excruciating.

This was a party for my daughter's Brownie troop, which she just recently joined. I had only met about 2 or 3 of the other parents so far, and none of them were at the party. I am usually pretty quiet, so while I was trying to find my "in" to the conversations, my stupid f*%@ing eyeballs kept forcing themselves in the direction of the annoyingly delicious food on the table. I wanted to scream! Instead, I went outside, sat in the car and played with my cellphone. Eventually, once I was feeling more composed, I decided to chance another try at socializing. Well, as soon as I walked in the door and that junk food covered table was in front of me, staring me in the face, I broke down. My right arm involuntarily reached out for a plate, but my left arm pulled it back. The right arm forcefully twisted the left and shoved it quickly into my tight left pocket. The right arm, no longer under my control of course, picked up a plate and placed it in front of me. Then it continued by placing various foods on the plate, including but not limited to popcorn, pretzels, and chips.

In the middle of this dramatic struggle, one of the women I had befriended once before arrived at the party. We began talking and I mentioned that I felt so horrible about eating the foods on my plate, but that I just couldn't help myself. She said that if I was going to eat them, then I should enjoy them. She explained that by expressing negative feelings toward the food, it pretty much destines the food to go to all the wrong places on my body. At that point I decided that her words of wisdom were just that, very wise. My right hand gently let my now sweaty left hand out of my left pocket and we enjoyed the rest of the party.

Now, don't get me wrong, I won't be ending my raw food experiment here. I knew I was going to make at least one mistake in the beginning and I am actually happy that I did. Now that I know that I do not HAVE to eat a certain way, I am more likely to actually eat that way.

Later last night I watched Nomi Shannon on Rawkathon with my husband. Nomi helped me to clear the air of any more guilt residue that I had from the Halloween party. She stated, "It's only your food, it's not your religion...it's what you do most of the time that counts". So maybe I wasn't 100% raw yesterday, but that doesn't mean that I won't be today!

This is a picture of my daughter, Isabel, in her Halloween costume for her party.

Day 3, very very early

2008-10-21T03:23:00.000-07:00

It's the very very early morning of day 3. You would not even believe how much weight I have lost in just these past 2 days (today doesn't count since it hasn't started yet. I now weight 270.4 lbs! It's amazing. My Wii Fit says that I am losing weight too fast, but my husband says that my weight loss will slow down and that my body is adjusting to the lack of cooked fats. Whatever works!

I've been really hungry and craving things that I don't normally even eat. I haven't had dairy products since I can remember, but I am craving a burrito from taco bell! I am eating constantly, but maybe not the right foods for me.Luckily I somehow scheduled the start of my raw food experiment with the first day of the Rawkathon, which is a "free 7 day, worldwide online living food event". Amazing stuff really. This event is helping me stay inspired. The first night I listened to Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com and he said that he was a type O blood type, and therefore he needed more protein. I had an epiphany! I am also a type O blood type, and I definitely do not eat enough protein, which may be why I could never stick with the raw diet before. I would always say "I'm hungry, I need something heavier", and then I would end up eating something cooked. My husband says that I should drink more green smoothies, eat more bee pollen, hemp protein. He had tons of ideas for protein, but honestly I don't remember all of them. When I ask him later I will be sure to carry an notebook and pen. I think that knowing this information will really help me this time around.

Last night on Rawkathon, I watched David Wolfe go insane! He was talking faster than a teenager with juicy gossip! I could barely keep up, but the stuff he was saying was so inspirational. He says that we need to get into the flow and the things that we want will just start appearing in our lives. We need to write it down and have goals, realistic goals, and the universe will just start making them appear for us. A lot of the stuff he said was reminiscent of the movie, The Secret, but he said it so much better.

I also watched Dr. Graham which I found so inspiring. He raises his daughter as a raw vegan on the 80 10 10 diet. My daughter always says she wants to be 100% raw, but in practice she can only really eat 2 raw meals a day. Of course, I didn't start her on a raw diet until she was 8. Dr. Graham and his wife started their daughter from birth. They say that when she was only 2 year old but has the mental capacity of a 3 year old and that her health is excellent! I wish I had them for parents!

Anyway, that's all I have for this very very early morning. Here is a pic of the lunch I had yesturday. It was sliced avocadoes, diced tomatoes, lime juice, dulse flakes, and pepper. It tasted really good and took care of my savory food craving.

first morning thoughts

2008-10-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

I just woke up and was looking at the news when I found this article called 5 things I learned from Jilian Micheals and she talks about weight loss, NOT being about willpower. She says "Losing weight is not about willpower--it's about moments of bravado, like the moment when you ask your waiter to take the bread away from the table right away." Wow! I guess I don't have willpower. When I go to a restuarant, I love those little freebies! I really need to be stronger if I am ever going to make it to my weight loss goal. Micheals also says that she pours candle wax from the dining table onto her food to prevent from eating it. That's hard core! Maybe I should stop worrying about how long I slaved over the meal and I don't want it wasted and start thinking about how I am wasted my own LIFE making sure I eat every bite.

So anyway, today is day 1! YAY! For breakfast I am having some raw cereal - buckwheat (soaked and dehydrated), sliced bananas, raisins, and apples in a bowl with almond milk. It should be tasty.

My secret

2008-10-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is day 1 of my challenge. I decided to start before the holiday mini challenge just so that I can get a head start. The longer, the better...right? I am sure that sometime in the beginning I will fall off the wagon, I just hope that I can get myself right back up again. Today I spent most of my time thinking about all of the foods I will NOT be eating the next few months. My husband says I should concentrate on all the new foods that I WILL be eating starting tomorrow. Easy for him to say, he hasn't had any cooked food since...I can't remember when, actually.

Okay, well I wanted to divulge my biggest secret in this post, just to let you know where I stand in the world. I weigh 275 lbs at this moment. That's actually a good weight for me compared to what I was just 2 months ago. at that point I started incorporating more raw into my diet and reached 275lbs from 306lbs. That was a major achievement for me because my entire life I was never able to lose any weight, no matter what diet or exercise program I was on. If I was exercising a lot and getting my sweat on, I would stay the same weight and never lose a pound. But, if I was not exercising, even if I was dieting, I would always gain weight. I was never able to actually lose weight until I started eating raw foods. Plus, I am not even exercising! I know, I should be, but I just don't. My weight loss goal for tomorrow until December 24th (the day the mini challenge ends) is 20 pounds. That gives me 67 days to lose 20 lbs, which is about .3 lbs a day. Are you excited? I am a little nervous.
I hope you come along for the journey with me, I could definitely use the support! And leave comments as well, so that I know you're out there supporting me.

Why a blog?

2008-06-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

This is the most recent pic of me that I could find. I hate getting my picture taken, but on this day I had no choice.

This is actually my first post...ever. After watching my husband lose so much weight and becoming so healthy, I decided to take action myself and become much more dedicated to the raw food lifestyle. I have been eating raw food for quite awhile, but never like my husband, Rory, has. He ONLY eats raw food, I ONLY eat it when I feel like it.

I didn't always look like this, it all started in college with the "up all night" junk food binges and continued afterwards because I became ADDICTED to unhealthy food. About this time 2 years ago, I decided that I was going to change my life. I have almost always been vegetarian, but that didn't always mean eating healthy. I ate a lot of cheeses and fast food. My husband became a raw foodist quite awhile ago, and I enjoy the foods he eats very much, but I never went 100%, probably not even 50%. So I decided I was going to try harder with a healthier diet and exercise, but it wasn't until now that I got the motivation.

So starting next week, on Sunday October 19 I will finally start working on what I wanted to start 2 years ago. I need a lot of motivation though, which is why I am doing this blog - for community support. I signed up for Rawfu but have not received any response from Bunny yet about joining for the holiday mini challenge, which runs from Nov. 15th-Dec. 24th. It's been about a week since I signed up, and she says she would get back within 24 hours, so I will give it another week and maybe try again.

I remember in high school a good friend of mine got an old vitamin bottle, took the label off and created her own beautiful label for it that read "WILLPOWER" and told me to "take some" when ever I needed it. Of course there was nothing in the bottle, but every time I looked at it, I had the strength I needed to succeed. Hopefully I can muster up some of that strength now.