Summer Fun, Redefined

Summers in Ohio are supposed to be about fun, travel, amusement parks and the like. However I have found myself on a roller coaster ride that I didn't plan to be on for the past 6 weeks. I have been traveling back and forth across several states in an attempt to get my daughter settled into a comfortable living arrangement for college this fall. After Plan A came to a surprise ending, Plan B took a nosedive, and Plans C, D, and E crashed and burned, we finally found what we thought would be a workable situation for her. Not so. Once she was finally moved into her new home, with her cats, and most of her worldly possessions, she realized just how awful the situation was and how homesick she was. Other circumstances became contributing factors to her misery and we are now planning another trip to bring her back home. She will go back to the college she had been attending, so at least something is still happening with her education.

All this has been a constant strain on my emotional and physical well-being. Trying to stay raw while traveling is difficult enough, but doing it from a hotel room is another story. It doesn't help when everyone else really just wants to sit down in a restaurant for every meal. I don't know how Angela Stokes and Matt Monarch carry on with their nomadic lifestyle, but it certainly is not for me!

I did the best I could with all this turmoil to maintain a healthy raw diet. I spent long hours preparing foods to pack into a cooler on each and every one of these trips. I hauled ice every day down hotel corridors and made countless trips to grocery stores for still more ice and perishables along the way. I definitely built up some strong arm muscles hauling that cooler around!

In the end, I did succumb to several cooked food meals, which led to cravings for more cooked food. Every time I came home, I got myself back on track until the cravings took over again. So it has turned into a real challenge to stay raw.

One thing I want to mention here is that while I believe the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine is the ultimate food plan, I felt like I was walking a tightrope trying to maintain it during all this chaos. While I would really like to make this a permanent change, I have to admit that I am going to use it as a guide rather than a strict rule. Frankly, I have not been as happy as I was when I was following my own plan. My blood sugars are back under control, so I am going to cautiously add fruits back into my daily intake. Clearly I will need to find a new balance but as long as I continue eating raw, I know my health is improving and that is the real goal.

You will notice that I have posted my results over on the side bar for all to see. For those of you who have written me with your concerns about my diet, I hope that now you will understand some of the benefits that I have enjoyed since embarking on my raw journey. This really does work!

Photos: Top: The Mantis at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio. Bottom: The Tightrope Walker, oil painting by Everett Shinn.