Really Raw Day 33 - Getting back on track!

This month, I am reaffirming my commitment to Raw. The last two weeks in January I was lax, even extremely cooked at times...but I just can't give up on this. I know that in going high raw, I will continue to learn new recipes and eating habits that will stay with me for a long time, which is hopefully a LONG TIME:)

Really Raw - Day 30...Is Raw Food really right for me?

I'm so excited that it is the end of January (almost). Upon reflection of my "rawness" this month I can tell you that I was off to a really great start for the first two weeks...and then I had that little bit of cooked food that sent me searching for other sources of cooked comfort. The last two weeks have been a struggle to keep myself at even 60% some days.

I think a big part of my struggle is not being totally convinced that 100% raw is necessary, or even optimal for health. I came across an article the other day that listed the top 20 antioxidant foods, and it listed different kinds of beans in the top 4-5 spots, even before berries! So beans, this uber vegan/wallet friendly super food is excluded based on the premise that I have to cook them? I know I can sprout them, and I love sprouted lentils, but I have to admit that I am just not organized enough yet to know my sprouts will be ready when I need them. Trust me, I'm working on it:)

I also don't agree with the primate comparison. Pardon me for not believing that we evolved from monkeys...! Yes, there are some incredible similarities, but lobsters and moths share up to 99% of DNA and differ vastly in their needs! (I recall that from a Carl Sagan book, I can't remember which).

I also read an interesting article, referred to in a reply on giveittomeraw.com:

http://chetday.com/rawfooddietnazariah.htm

A few years ago, a book that had a significant impact on the way I thought about what and how I ate was "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Even his dietary recommendations seemed extreme to me years ago, but now it makes a lot of sense...he suggests that our diet should be a whole food, vegan diet with no oils or other 'refined' foods. He states that a salad should be the main course, and emphasizes raw food preparation as a key to a healthy body.

I'm pretty convinced that cooked foods are not going to kill me, though certain ones may contribute heavily! It is vital to avoid foods like breads and baked potatoes (in excess) because of the acrylamide factor (carcinogenic compound produced when grains and high starch vegetables are exposed to high heat). But having a dinner of lightly steamed veggies and beans can be very beneficial. He also recommends restricting whole grains and starchy vegetables to no more than 1 cup a day. Dr. Fuhrman considers this way of eating "nutritarian". Clever!

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Fuhrman's recommendations, you can pick up his book(s) or check out his website:

http://www.drfuhrman.com/

As for me and raw, I'm not giving up, and I am very keen on reaping the cleansing benefits of a 100% raw diet. In a recent post on rawfu.com, member Kiwi suggested that since February is the shortest month (lol) it was a good time for a 100% challenge. I agree, and so I plan on being 100% raw vegan for the month of february. I am seeing this as an opportunity to cleanse, and will probably incorporate a couple of days of green juice fasting if I can be so organized!

After that, Really Raw will become more of a "Really Healthy" or "Real Food" challenge for me. I am fairly convinced that I can create a style of eating and living that is economical, 90-100% plant-based, and most important of all, liveable!

Namaste

Really Raw Day 26 - Keepin' it real!

I've been snowshoeing a lot this week, and it's such a blast. I go out with my dogs in the 'back forty' or out to the trails with my friend. It helps me to gain insight into just how I want to live my life. No really!

I'm 28, 29 this may, and I've lived a relatively overweight/underactive existence. I was raised that way, I'm really not going to dwell on it:) But I've always longed, as all fat folk do I assume, to be the skinny girl. It's depressing how much I've thought about that goal in my lifetime. I have lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off (which is the most important part!) but I know I could stand to lose more. About 50 lbs in fact! On friday, after dropping the raw ball for a few days, I was up to a weight that I haven't been in awhile, and feeling pretty bad about it. I took some full body pics of myself that I am hoping one day will be 'before' pics. I'm too mortified to post them now.

Because of friday's events, I had a pretty miserable weekend, where I was really down on myself. I wouldn't let my boyfriend touch me, and I made it a point to change in the bathroom. I'm somewhat modest usually, but this was a bit extreme. As always, with each passing day, my mood lifted and I realized that I had gotten myself caught in the miserable diet trap again. Oh dear. I've lived so long in the dirty cycle of self-hate and dieting, that it really seems normal. I'm getting better, but I often have to remind myself that I am doing this to be healthy first and foremost. You don't seem obese people in nursing homes, and I have a lot of living to do!

I've come to realize that if I'm on a diet, where something is forbidden, I will inevitably end up diving into a bucket of that very thing! I'm trying to train myself to focus on other factors that lead to trouble, such as eating too much, and eating because of stress, or boredom, or anger, or joy...you get the idea. Emotional eating is a tricky problem to deal with.

So, nothing is off-limits. My mission is to always make the healthiest choice that I can in any given moment, and to be more active. I won't be renewing my gym membership anytime soon though. I need to do this in a way that I can incorporate into my life and enjoy doing. My dogs are definitely a great buddy system when it comes to that. All it will take is a few hours a week walking with them, some yoga and pilates (both of which I really enjoy) and a focus on sensible eating. To borrow a phrase from Doug Graham (80/10/10 diet author): I want to eat foods that I love that love me back! Naturally, high raw is the way to go. I've been researching nutrition for a very long time, and every road points me back to nature, pure and simple. The less processing involved in the food I eat, the better. Reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" really helped to drive that point home. If my great great great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, than why should I bother to eat it? She might not have recognized things like persimmons or pineapple, but I think she'd get the basic idea that it is edible:)

The industrialization of our food (and everything) is threatening the existence of our species. I'm not going to go into that in great detail here...maybe later, maybe never, but regardless, I really think I'm onto something! I plan on avoiding the feeling of deprivation however. If I really want a piece of cake at a party or something, I'm not going to tell myself no. Hopefully, it's going to be a raw cake:)

I'm not interested in wasting time and energy torturing myself. I can hear Morgan Freeman's voice (Shawshank Redemption) in my head saying: Get busy living or get busy dying. I think you know what I'm going to do.

Really Raw 2009 Day 19 - I ate dog food last night...

LOL! I've been cooking rice and lentils with veggie scraps for my dogs, and last night my boyfriend and I ate some of their dinner. It was good, but a little more bland than I usually care for. I've been maintaining high raw, whole foods, though I think I feel better the more raw it is, so I try to lean as heavily on raw as possible. The only cooked foods I've been eating has been rice, soup, and the odd beer...overall, I'm managing quite well...though I did have a chocolate chip cookie! I paid for that dearly with a little bit of misery in the form of a headache, which in turn made me grumpy. So, the plan becomes, making raw desserts (like brownies!) to help me transition guilt free from now on.

I want to take this opportunity to give a cyber high five to all y'all out there doin' this with me. Knowing that I'm not doing this alone gives me great strength and inspiration. Much love to all you raw-fuers out there!

Namaste!

Really Raw - Day 15 - Could it be that I feel more alive??

I'm still recovering from the cooked food incident - I bought some digestive enzymes yesterday and they are definitely helping. I think it was perhaps the cooked fat in the chinese-style cooked veggies that did it to me...I swear my digestion had just stopped, and my gall bladder didn't know what hit him! I'm sure my liver is still dealing with the aftermath. Thank god it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and I am all the wiser for the experience! Now that I am feeling better, I feel somehow more aware, more alive...my senses are stronger, and my mind-body connection is stronger I think! This experience has helped me to cross a threshold of some kind. I am more sensitive to the life force energy - my own at least anyway...

And now for something completely random: I had a honeydew melon this morning that tasted like bubblegum ice cream...I swear! It was 10x more enjoyable than I can remember that ice cream being though...I recall the rock-hard bubblegum chunks being less than appealing!

I've tweaked my raw commitment today to include some cooked food today: my commitment being to high raw whole food for life! This is the natural next step for me. I plan to make the most of this gift of a body, and to treat it like the proverbial temple that it is! That is me being highly idyllic of course, but I truly feel as though I've learned some harsh realities here...some foods just aren't fit for human consumption!

We are the creators of our health and our illnesses. We all have weaknesses that are like rocks along the shore line, with the ocean tide being like health; we only see the rocks when the tide is out! I know that I have inherited some less than desirable rocks from my ancestors. But I know that I have control to some extent over how much they are allowed to express themselves in my physicality. If I didn't believe that in healing, anything is possible, there would be no point, nothing to strive for!

I am so grateful that everyday my consciousness expands and unfolds.

Really Raw 2009 Day 12 - DERAILED!

OMG it's Day 12!

I have to confess, I ate cooked food today. My boyfriend took me out for lunch, and we went to the chinese buffet. I thought they would have a decent salad bar, but it was just iceberg lettuce and pickled beets. Not even tomato slices, cucumber...it was pretty pathetic. So I ate some chow mein (the mung sprout one), stir fry vegetables and mushrooms.

I'm not going to worry about it - I'm just going to keep on truckin' with the raw living and give myself some 'get outta jail free' coupons. Seriously, I am learning a lifestyle. A couple of fuck-ups along the way are to be expected! I'm also not a raw food purist. I do think that high raw is important, but I don't think cooked foods are the devil...a lot of them are, but a lot are perfectly healthy in small doses too...I get this line of thinking from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. His book: 'Eat to Live' is very educational:)

I'm not abandoning my commitment. Far from it really, because I actually feel pretty crappy and have learned a great lesson today! I have come such a long way in my journey to healthy living. I'm going to choose to celebrate that and give myself a pat on the back for my efforts.

Namaste!

Really Raw Day 11

I have decided to ditch the raw food grocery tally. I am simply not inspired to document it that way, and I really don't care if it's expensive, comparable, or cheaper than eating like your average joe. I feel so much lighter, vibrant, healthy and inspired being raw, that I will do what I have to to continue to live and feel this way:)

Seriously, if you want to know what REALLY GOOD feels like...it's raw baby!

Really Raw Day 10 - Sweet temptations

Really Raw 2009 Day 8 & 9 - so tired today!

I have to be honest, I was losing steam yesterday and today...just slowing down a bit and wanting to nap more. Today, I attribute that to having a bit of a higher fat start to my day, having put a little too much avocado in my smoothie, coupled with the fact that I have my period. So, I took a nap when I got home today and it's all good. I made a big salad with fennel, celery, green onions and a dressing of orange, goji berries, dates and sunflower seeds. I thought it was okay, but my boyfriend really really enjoyed it:)

I have three persimmons left, I'm waiting for them to ripen a bit more. Other than that, I'm fantasizing about rolling up my sleeves and attempting to make some uber yummy raw food desserts soon!

To all my raw lovelies out there doing this 100 day challenge with me: Lots of love with a cherry on top! Knowing that you guys are out there doing this too makes it so much easier to stick to it.

Day 10 is upon us! Woo Hoo!!!

Really Raw 2009 Day 6 & 7

Feeling pretty darn good. Went to the grocery store yesterday, and got some Persimmons, a.k.a. Sharonfruit for the first time.

They look a lot like a pale tomato, but they are sweet and pretty yummy. My boyfriend doesn't like them yet, but he'll come around. I'm fantasizing about having a couple of persimmon trees on our farm (when we get a farm:)

I had seen them before in grocery stores, but never knew what to do with them. Well, you eat them, duh! I slice mine in have and eat them, skin and all. I think that they are beneficial to the respiratory system, because I could feel 'action' in my sinus (particularly upper sinus & nose). You can get a species that is native to North America and stores well...

As for my raw adventure, I'm on day 7 and I feel better. Actually, I feel taller, more enthusiastic and motivated. The back pain that accompanied my sciatica is gone, though I can still 'feel' my sciatic nerve, even though it doesn't really hurt. I can tell it is getting better. Well, back to work!

"If you keep doing what you are doing, you'll keep getting what you are getting."

I have had some questions (naturally) so I thought I would share with those who are interested.

A lot of the time, we use food, food-like substances (like Doritos), cigarettes, or alcohol to cope with emotions or stressful situations.
If you are 'addicted' to something like bread, salad dressing, or whatever, you can still reap benefits just by seeing what you can ADD to your diet to make it healthier. Water is always a good one! So is bumping up your intake of leafy greens. Even if they are smothered in dressing (just not toooo much) you will notice a difference.

So pick something and get started.

Like:

"this week, I'm going to eat an apple everyday."

"I am going to take the stairs once a day."

"I am going to snack on raw nuts instead of a candy bar."

I didn't just jump into this, I've been practicing for awhile :P

Meat and grains are fine, if kept to a minimum. You can use meat as a garnish and still reap all of the benefits while reducing some of the bad.
You will not die without meat. I've been mainly vegetarian for about 5 years or so. I eat meat MAYBE once a year, and I'm in the best health of my life.

Increasing fruits and vegetables increases your overall nutrition, and will help to drive toxins from your cells...which equates to weight loss in most cases.

It works like this: If you keep doing what you are doing, you\'ll keep getting what you are getting. If you switch from Diet A to Diet B to lose weight, and then switch back to Diet A, you will gain back the weight. If, on the other hand you practices forging new, healthy eating habits, you will reap many more benefits than weight loss, and you will have greater success keeping it off indefinitely!

The thing that is killing us is refined and processed foods, like sugars, flours and additives. If aboriginal cultures are introduced to a western diet, they gain weight, get heart disease and develop diabetes in a lot of cases. If you take that same group of people back to their traditional lifestyles, all of those problems get better, and eventually disappear. So many of our modern diseases are a result of being overfed and undernourished.

*Did you know that in order to get the same amount of iron from modern conventional apples that you would from an apple in 1940, you would have to eat 3?? Thanks to western agricultural practices for that!

*A deficiency in vitamin E, C, B12, or B6 causes DNA mutation similar to that caused by radiation??

Anything you do to lose weight, you're gonna have to keep on doing. That includes any pills, teas, or exercise programs. I could see myself walking everyday, but could I drink those nasty tasting teas or afford TrimSpa for the rest of my life? Not likely. Do I want to use a pill that, though it does help me to lose weight, also makes me afraid to fart in public lest I shit myself? LOL...I think you know that answer to that one!

Making lifestyle changes can be difficult, but so rewarding. A healthy diet can reduce inflammation, reduce anxiety, depression and stress, 'cure' any number of diseases and extend your life while increasing the quality of life!

Doesn't that sound good? If we can't live forever, we can at least live fully.

Cheers!

7 lbs in 3 days:)

This was the result of MY 3 days...results may vary;)

No pills; no exotic teas; NO exercise; and the best part is that it didn't cost me a ton of money!!!

Basically, I stripped everything out of my diet, and built from square one with water, and as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I wanted. ANYTHING from pineapples to peaches, broccoli to bok choy, apples to avocadoes. (Did you know that for every gram of refined carbohydrate you eat, your body stores 2.7 grams of water?!)

I ate whenever and whatever (within above parameters) I wanted, and included small amounts of nuts and seeds (read: a healthy spoonful of nut butter-which is awesome in a smoothie!)

I'm not gonna lie: I had some withdrawal symptoms, particularly from coffee and sugar! But I dealt with headaches with water, not pills (which may hinder weight loss).

By the third day, I was feeling loads slimmer and thinking so much more clearly. My moods stabilized, and I couldn't help but feel optimistic. The holiday bloat was over, and I'm starting 2009 with a 'fresh' perspective.
The great thing is, this can be adapted to a long term successful weight loss program.

I've lost over 80 lbs and kept it off simply by reducing or eliminating junk food and focusing my diet on REAL FOOD...not to be confused with all that other crap they call food, LOL!

I'm not selling anything. That's probably not what people expect, but I have been hella miserable at points in my life, so unhappy with the way I looked and felt...if I can steer someone else towards a healthy change, I will be that much happier:)

I'm proud to say that if being overweight and miserable has taught me anything, it's compassion! (and an understanding of confidentiality).

Cheers!!

Really Raw 2009 Day 5

I went on a greens expedition today. I went to an organic grocery store that I used to work in, and went through all of the greens, pruning them back and filling a laundry basket for which I paid $10. Sweeeet!!! I took home beautiful spinach, loads of kale, some bok choy, and both red and green leaf lettuce. I also got a small red cabbage, 2 fennel bulbs and an orange...and I bought 6 granny smiths, which cost $2.75.
So, my total for today was $12.75. That's pretty much lunch at a restaurant...doing good so far!

I've gotta go tomorrow and pick up some more fruit. I'm going to stick to organic more now. I've been reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" and it is so amazing. He exemplifies the difference in the nutritional quality of today's food versus the food my grandparents would've eaten. He states that, in order to get the same amount of iron that you would get from an apple in 1940, you would have to eat 3 apples today! It's ridiculous! Modern agriculture's focus has been on increasing the size and calorie content of food using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Therefore, plants that we eat only get macronutrients (for plants, that is) like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. The soil is so depleted that they just aren't producing a lot of vital nutrients like selenium anymore! And the use of pesticides has significantly reduced the amount of antioxidants, carotenoids, and many other chemicals they would normally use to protect themselves that happen to also be incredibly beneficial to those of us who eat them!

When I read that, I realized that I may spend less money on conventional produce, but I have to eat 2-3 times as much in order to get the important nutritional factors that my body needs to function optimally.

I was making a green smoothie today with mango, and the taste of the mango wasn't quite right to me. It was conventional...and ya, edible, but not nearly as delicious and pure tasting as some of the organic ones I've had in the past:)

I can't wait for spring...I'm looking forward to all of the wild greens to burst forth in all of their yummy and medicinal glory!!

Namaste

Really Raw 2009 Day 4 - About meh.

Wuh. I'm so tired right now. I've had a mild headache all day, which is to be expected. I don't feel like posting very much right now, cuz I don't have that much to say...what am I talking about, I can ramble on with the best of them! There are a lot of things that I want to change this year. After my Dad passed away in September 2007, I kinda dropped the ball on a lot of things, and became this unmotivated person who accomplishes relatively little in her daily life (thanks to you, internet!)

I've always been overweight, ever since the day I was born weighing in at 10 lbs, 1 oz! By grade 4 I was 120 lbs, and in high school I crept from 180 to 220, topping at 250 by my first (and only) year of university. I was studying archaeology then. We had an osteology lab where we examined a human skeleton, and I realized I wanted to work with the living:) Forensics has always been an interest of mine, but when I thought about this young Indian woman whose spirit once inhabited dem bones, I became curious about traditional medicines. I thought I would study ethnobotany, but actually found this amazing herbal school in Toronto, where I was trained as a traditional herbalist.

Herbalism really opened my eyes, and changed my life. I realized that the way I was eating/living was going to send me to an early grave along a very painful road. Pretty quickly, I became a vegetarian and lost over 75 lbs! It just dropped off, I couldn't believe how easy it was. Naturally, I had tried SO many diets since grade 4 and never managed to lose the chunk. Now, I've maintained that weight loss for over 5 years:)

I now weigh the same as I did when I was 12. Must be something to do with hormones, or set point theory or something. I don't believe that I am stuck here, I just need to make the necessary lifestyle changes to release the remaining junk.

Raw food seemed like the natural next step to me. I am excited and encouraged by all of the info available, and all of the support that I am finding, at least in my cyber life!

Here's to the next chapter of my life...Cheers!

Really Raw 2009 Day 3

Saturday. Worked at the cafe today, and I still don't like my job. I love the cafe, I just don't like what I do there. Perhaps I will elaborate on that later, but for now I want to put that part of my day behind me and just release. Ahhhhh....

The soup today was my favourite, a vegetable barley soup made with miso! I can proudly tell you that I did not partake of it, though I did bring some home for my boyfriend to enjoy when he gets home from work.

Surprisingly, I did not have trouble dealing with the presence of chocolate chip cookies and buttertarts. It was the miso soup, the kamut bagels, the grilled veggies that I somewhat missed. But then I came home and made a pretty kick ass salad and a so-so dressing (should've gone with the tahini recipe!) and now it's all good.

I have a mild headache right now, and I've been breaking out in a couple of places. Not so good, but overall I think my skin is already looking more vibrant, and my eyes seem clearer. I feel like a plant that has just received water after a long time without. Not at the top of my game, but on my way!

Really Raw 2009 Day 2

It shocks me a little how well I'm handling getting back into 100& Raw. It's actually set off something in me...a bit of an addictive tendency toward food preparation. Tonight I made a raw salsa which is PHENOMM and I'm tempted to go prep some more stuff...

I removed 2 of my stove burners today. I placed fruit bowls in the holes:) I left the other burners there, because my partner is not doing this challenge with me. (Don't worry about him, he doesn't really cook anything, so when he's not eating pizza, he'll be eating the meals & goodies that I make!)

He's not quite up to this challenge yet, but he has come a long way, as have I. He is very interested in raw, and very supportive, but he still has to figure some stuff out for himself, like the protein myth and stuff like that, which I hope to elaborate on sometime for the sake of being thorough!

We did a petite shop today. I needed cilantro ($1.69) for the salsa, some more tomatoes to re-stock after the salsa, and bananas (2.48 kg @ $4.31).

Oooo...the bananas are organic too! I'm very happy about this, they taste so much better than conventional, and as I say, I definitely prefer to buy organic.

Really Raw 2009! Day One :)

Day one of my 100 Day RAW Challenge! I ate mostly fruit today, with some soaked almonds and hemp seeds over the course of the day. I was extremely tired today! Honestly, I think my body is just taking some time right now to clean house...this has been my first day since before the holidays, of eating only raw fresh, whole foods.

I've slept a lot today, and I've definitely neglected my greens intake, which I will remedy tomorrow! I'm having a glass of red wine with my blog, and then it's a movie and bedtime again.

It's been a really light duty day today, all we really accomplished was laundry. At least now I can face 2009 with clean underwear:)

Namaste