Thursday, April 30, 2009

90 Days Raw!!!


Ever since about day 6 of this journey I have posted the day number on my kitchen cabinet to remind myself just how far I have come. Today is Day 90!!!! Three whole months I have eaten 100% raw vegan.

I was going to post a picture of myself until I saw just how bad I still look. It was a bit of a reality check. I look so much better than I did 90 days ago, but I still can't think of myself as looking so badly. Sorry. You will just have to wait until there is more progress and then I will show you just how bad it was! I have let go of a total of 29 lbs. now....20 lbs. in the last 90 days. The progress is slow, but it is happening.

In the meantime, I went foraging this morning until the heavens opened up and completely drenched me. I was able to grab a good handful or two of dandelion greens, plantains, clover and wild mint. Everything is popping up from the ground now and spring is in full force. The lilac bushes are bursting with lavender and white blooms and fill the air with their heavenly scent. There are fields of dandelions everywhere and all the trees have leaves on them now. I love spring!

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with wild greens, spinach, mango, banana, clementines, and ginger.
Lunch: Green salad with lemon juice.
Supper: Lettuce wraps with romaine, avocado, tomato, dulse and sprouts.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Fasting Day


I decided to do a 24 hour fast today. Sometimes I need to just step back and see what I am doing and fasting is a great way to do that. I also wanted to try to take off a couple of stubborn pounds as I approach my 90 day mark.

I used to fast more when I was younger and go for longer periods of time, but I can't do that anymore. Now I do 24 hours going from the evening of one day until the evening of the next. That is enough for me to feel real hunger and to gain some insight both physically and spiritually.

So I took it easy today...took a long, hot bath to keep warm, read a book and drank lots of water. Then around 7 pm I had my supper. I really enjoy the days when I do this. It seems to calm my mind and body in a way that gives me a very peaceful sense of well-being.

Here's what I had today:
Fasted until 7 pm, then had lettuce wraps with romaine, avocado, tomatoes, dulse, and sprouts.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Raw Comfort


We all have our "comfort foods"....the foods we turn to when we need some kind of comfort in our lives. It can be to ease some emotional upset, to warm the body on a chilly day, or to celebrate some occasion. There are any number of events in our lives that will have us seeking out foods that may not be good for us, but serve to temporarily make us feel better.

I learned to use food to stuff my emotions and comfort me from a variety of hurts at a very young age. When I was 3 I watched my mother buy jelly doughnuts to make a bad day better. From that, a pattern was established that lasted a lifetime. It was always at odds with my interest in good health and nutrition, and ruined more diets than I can count. When I was about 13 I began to realize that eating a whole bag of potato chips or a hot fudge sundae was not something I should be doing. While I was able to cut out those two things, I found other foods I felt were better to binge on. It led to a more personal quest of foods I liked that still served the same purpose. Breads, starches in general, and fats were my favorites. They had to match the mood somehow by color, texture, and flavor. I could spend hours discussing all the foods I made rationalizations for that were "better" for me than what my mom was eating, but none of them gave me better health or real comfort.

Dealing with the reasons why I needed to eat these foods didn't come for a long time. When I did finally start to examine all the reasons I wanted to eat comfort food, the list was overwhelming. I had lots of issues in my life that I had been working on for a long time, but eating comfort food was always my first stop. I could eat if I was sad, lonely, upset, depressed, or even bored. Then, of course eating to celebrate any and all happy occasions was a given. It seems my answer to everything in life was to eat and it had to be just the right things...my comfort foods.

I remember talking with a woman a long time ago who had lost a lot of weight. She made the comment that food was just fuel for the body. WHAT?!!! How could you just eliminate such pleasure from your life? It opened my eyes to the fact that I was at one extreme and she was at another. Surely there was a way to reconcile good health with enjoyable foods. But how could I accomplish that when I needed to find a way to take care of myself emotionally?


Thankfully eating raw has stopped the madness. The emotions are much more calm and my health is improving. I still need ways to comfort myself periodically and still look to food to do it. You will notice days that I eat way too many fats and I know it has slowed down my weight loss, but at least now things are finally under control. When I get cold I grab a cup of hot tea, or a blanket, or go take a hot bath. When feelings arise I notice them and allow myself to feel them. I have volumes of journals filled with my emotions. My life is finally turning around and I am so grateful. It has taken me a lifetime to learn how to deal with life and maintain my health, but I have arrived.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Muesli with walnuts and almonds, sunflower and chia seeds, dried apricots, banana, apple and almond milk.
Lunch: The last of the raw lasagna.
Supper: Corn chowder with corn, sunchokes, green pepper, onion, carrots and cashews.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Serenity


"When you become a raw foodist, it changes your life forever. Your perception of the world completely changes. While you pursue excellence in your personal mind, body and spirit, you pursue excellence for the planet as well. It happens simultaneously. You connect to the entire planet in no other way possible. You learn to appreciate things that other people don't even know are possible. It is a deep awareness that transcends words, that goes beyond language." ~Heidi Ohlander from Raw Food, Right Now!~


I love what Heidi wrote in her blog on Earth Day. I have not yet been able to find the words to describe what it has been like since I began this journey. But Heidi just summed up a big part of it right there.
When we come through a healing process by whatever means, we forget how much pain and suffering we endured before the healing took place. Childbirth is a classic example of this. Women forget whatever pain or discomfort they endured giving birth until the next time it happens. They remember that they had pain, but the experience of it is diminished over time.

It has been like that since I became raw. A healing has taken place and the good feelings I experience now are the new norm and tend to make me forget just how miserable I was. There is a calm, a peacefulness, a sense of oneness with all living things that is present now that wasn't there when I was eating a Standard American Diet. There is a connection between myself and my Higher Self. There is a relationship with my Creator that didn't exist 88 days ago. The transformation within has become more important than the changes without.

It is easy to forget how I struggled to keep from gaining more weight, how depressed I was, how I fought cravings every day. It is exactly why I need to stay present to the grace I now enjoy by eating raw.

When I set out to do this, I wanted to do it for 90 days and then decide if the changes were worth the effort. I know now, that what I feel today I wouldn't trade for anything. This is serenity.

On Sunday I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie of banana, apple, pear, mint and kale.
Lunch: Veggie wraps with romaine, cucumber, carrots, and celery.
Supper: Raw Lasagna with zucchini, tomatoes, cashews, lemon juice, red bell pepper and various herbs and spices. Also had a salad of daikon radish, red, green, and yellow bell peppers, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

On Monday I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with blueberries, apple, pear, mint and collards.
Lunch: Raw Lasagna and the rest of the daikon salad.
Supper: Salad with Spring Mix, celery and a dressing of Dijon mustard, lemon juice, agave nectar, and olive oil.
Snack: A few power balls.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Living a Longer Life...The Harsh Reality


There has been a lot of activity around this blog lately from the discussions of the "Secrets to Living a Longer Life" on CNN's AC 360. I have been thinking about how so many of us want to know these secrets...we all want to live longer and be healthy and happy. We see the glowing faces of the centenarians from Ikaria and we want to be just like them.

But, for most of us, living a long life is not going to be a blissful slide into old age on a beautiful Greek island. For most of us, living a longer life is going to mean facing the reality of the mess our planet is in. The reins of responsibility for healing our planet and our economies are in our hands. It is going to require the leadership of healthy individuals who have the wisdom, energy, knowledge and passion for what it takes to live a long, happy life, to lead the world to a place where we all want to live longer lives.

There is no point in living longer if we are sick from breathing polluted air, drinking fouled water or eating food sprayed with chemicals. There is no joy in being homeless or begging for food to eat. There is no comfort in living where the temperatures reach unbearable extremes and bring droughts and floods to the land. There is no beauty when all the trees are dead or chopped down for industrial purposes.

Those of us who choose to live through the crises on the planet right now must accept the fact that we have trashed our home to the point of extinction of wildlife, plant life and possibly human life. We are the ones who are going to have to learn the most important lessons of living a long life.....living a simple life, stress-free, in a pristine environment. We are the ones who are going to have to demand cleaner air and water. We are the ones who are going to have to insist on organic farms to grow our food. We can no longer be complacent about how our governments run our countries. We can no longer sit back and watch the drug commercials on TV and believe that a pill will heal us. We are the ones who are going to have to demand integrity and accountability from our corporate leaders and politicians. It is up to us...those who have a stake in living long, healthy, happy lives to change the world for the better. Face it....the rest of the people on the planet are too sick, asleep, or apathetic. This battle is for the ones who can see the benefits for our children and grandchildren. It is up to us.

What are you going to do?

Friday's meals:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with mango, banana, orange, kale and mint.
Lunch: Mediterranean Salad with arugula, fennel, tomatoes, capers, red onion, sprouts, black olives, lemon juice and olive oil.
Supper: Zucchini spaghetti.

Saturday's meals:
Breakfast: A few power balls (Thanks Olivia!)
Lunch: Salad of daikon radish, red and green peppers, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Supper: Salad with arugula, celery, green olives, adzuki bean sprouts, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.
Snack: Apple, orange, and a few cashews.

Photo of hillside in Ikaria by Gianluca Colla.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Sweet Secrets

Anderson Cooper's AC/360 has continued to capture my attention each night on CNN with a brief segment on "The Secrets to Living A Long Life." Dan Buettner is still in Ikaria exploring the tiny island and its people to see just what they consume to live such long lives. Tonight's feature was about the honey they eat. There are apparently 3 different kinds of honey on the island that have varying textures, tastes and healing qualities. There was no where I could find the names of the types of honey or where they could be purchased in the United States. Perhaps the Ikarians keep it all to themselves!

The honey/sweetener conversation is one that is frequent in my household. My husband probably has the biggest sweet tooth in the family and it is always in the back of my mind that someday he is going to become a diabetic. In an effort to get him off all the sugar, I bought some raw honey that I thought might appeal to him. No such luck. It sits on the shelf virtually untouched. Here you can see the jar with the brand name on it. Below is what it looks like inside. The stuff on the top isn't very tasty, but is supposedly loaded with good things for our bodies.

My daughter still uses the artificial stuff and thinks I am the nut case in the family. I prefer to leave the bees alone. They are becoming too scarce and I suspect that our society's obsession with pesticides and herbicides might be to blame. Agave nectar is my preferred sweetener, but I would love to sample the Ikarian honey. If anyone knows how I can find it, please leave a comment.


The Ikarians also favor herbal teas. They gather wild herbs in the afternoon and steep them for an evening tea. They consist primarily of wild mint, spleenwort, purple sage, rosemary and artemisia. Each of these herbs has its own healing properties, but they are all diuretics, which seem to have a dual benefit. First they lower blood pressure and second they naturally detoxify the body. Just add in a little of the Ikarian honey with your tea and you have the perfect brew for a long, healthy life!

Today I had:
Breakfast: Green smoothie of banana, apple, pear, grapes and kale.
Lunch: Citrus Avocado Salad with spinach, pink grapefruit, mineola, Mandarin orange, avocado, sprouts, and my usual agave nectar, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and olive oil dressing.
Supper: Chopped mixed vegetables: corn, tomatoes, celery, carrots, shallots, adzuki bean sprouts, red bell pepper with lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt.

The Body Flex routine continues and I am seeing the results in my clothes.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day just happens to be my husband's birthday, so we celebrated his special day with a recycling theme. We wrapped all but two of his presents in grocery bags and decorated them appropriately. The other two were wrapped in green paper leftover from Christmas.

It was my intention to fast today until this evening and then just eat a salad for supper. But after eating out at a restaurant and watching my family eat cooked food, I wanted something else when we got home. Later I fixed myself some power ball goo when the rest were eating cake and ice cream.

It is time for me to make up a short list of compelling reasons why I want to stay raw. I need to type it up and keep it with me at all times. Then I can pull it out anytime I am faced with a menu of cooked food choices and remember what I am doing and why. This evening I found myself staring out the window of the restaurant telling myself why I am doing this. It would have been so easy to give in and just order some old favorite from a menu of Standard American Diet fare. I don't eat out very often any more but when I do, I really feel cheated because restaurants just don't cater to someone eating healthy. When I am home I know I can whip up something I like in a matter of minutes and be very satisfied with my meals.
Today's food:
Breakfast and Lunch: Fasted.
Supper: Salad at a restaurant with mixed greens, dried apricots, pecans and an oil and vinegar dressing. When I got home I fixed myself some corn chowder.
Snack: Power ball goo.
Did my Body Flex today, but my muscles and joints are really screaming at me. I have been told that the joint pain could also be from detoxing. The weather is supposed to clear up tomorrow so we will see if that has any impact.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Secrets to Living a Long Life


Tonight on CNN, Anderson Cooper's co-anchor, Erica Hill, had a short segment on the Secrets to Living a Long Life. Erica did an interview with Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, from the Greek island of Ikaria where the people there routinely live well into their 90s. Tonight's installment focused on a man who is a Greek Orthodox priest in his village. He is in his 90s and attributes his longevity to a plant-based diet. Dan specifically talked about how the priest eats wild greens! He walked down the road and in the space of 5 feet, found 5 or 6 different plants that were growing wild that the priest eats. I think I'll keep up my foraging! Maybe I will move to a Greek island too! I bet that helps towards living a long, happy life.


While I have not read Mr. Buettner's book, I have been hearing about his study of long-lived communities around the world. It seems we can learn a lot about what constitutes good health from these people. You can find out your life expectancy by taking his survey at his Longevity Calculator. If I continue my current lifestyle, I can expect to live into my 90s.


Today I ate:
Breakfast: Ruby Red Ambrosia...juice of beet, carrot, celery, lemon, ginger root, and apple.
Lunch: Lettuce wraps with romaine, cucumber, carrots, and a little avocado.
Supper: Citrus Avocado Salad with romaine, pink grapefruit, orange, Mandarin orange, avocado, sprouts and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.
Snack: Raw flax seed cracker.
Did not do my Body Flex today. Joints are still very painful.

How about this! A Raw Foods Day Conference right here in River City! For more information go to Joel's Food.

While I don't know Joel, I do know Shawna Stursa and Andy Reed. This will be well worth the money and time to attend this event!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Another Rainy Day

It has been raining for the past 2 days and it really gets depressing not to see the sun shine. But when it does come out again, it is going to reveal a spectacularly green world! Our yard is about as green as I think I have ever seen it. I can't wait to see it when the sun is shining again.

There should be an abundance of wild greens for the picking too. I can't wait to get out and do some more foraging. We drove down to Southern Ohio a couple of weeks ago and there were purple colored fields of clover everywhere. I haven't seen anything like that around here. The Mennonite farmers of Southern Ohio don't spray their fields, so maybe they have more clover. I wonder if they eat wild greens. I bet they do.

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) Writer, ecologist, forester.

Today I had:
Breakfast: Muesli with cashews, walnuts, dates, raisins, chia seeds, apple and banana with almond milk.
Lunch: Corn chowder.
Supper: Salad with spinach, celery, cucumber, tomato, sprouts, and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.

No Body Flex today. My joints are really hurting from the weather.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Raw-k 'n Roll


Tonight one of the members of the Raw Meetup group held a dinner at her house. Everyone brought food and we prepared it there. We made lasagna, eggplant parmesan, noodles with marinara sauce, pesto-stuffed mushrooms, a daikon salad and tiramisu. It was amazing how good everything tasted.

A couple of our hostess' friends who were musicians came and entertained us with their music while we were preparing the food and then again after we ate. It was a very good time with the local raw community. For some of the people there it was their first raw meal and they seemed genuinely surprised at how good everything tasted. I don't think we had any converts, but some seeds have been planted.

I can't stress enough how nice it has been to make new friends who share my commitment to eating raw. It has been nice to share recipes, detox stories, and encouragement with people who really understand the blessings and challenges of eating raw.
Thank you, Lori, for making this event possible!
Today I had:
Breakfast: Muelsi with walnuts, cashews, chia seeds, coconut, raisins, apple, and banana with almond milk.
Lunch: Green salad with cucumbers, red and yellow peppers, celery and red onions with an oil and vinegar dressing.Supper: A little of each of the above mentioned dishes.

No Body Flex today.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

A Reality Check


This week has gone by with lightning speed. There has been a lot crammed into the past 6 days and it is a sample of what I might be facing if and when I ever get back to work. I think about how I would live my life if I had a full time job. I can see where I would have to do some serious planning and be very disciplined to stay raw. I would also be exposed to a lot more SAD people and would find myself staring at cooked food a lot more often. I am very grateful that I have such a good start on this new lifestyle.
I am also beginning to realize how much I live in my own little bubble. My husband told me that he told one of our friends that I only eat raw now. The friend was horrified and thought that I must be miserable on such a restrictive diet. I am shocked at his reaction and am just now realizing that not everyone is going to see this as the ultimate healthy food plan.

It doesn't help when a local journalist writes an article in the local paper about eating raw and calls it "extremism." To me, running a marathon and skydiving are extreme, but a lot of people do it. I think it is a matter of perspective. When I was really sick, feeling badly, and thought I was going to die, THAT was extreme. Eating raw has been a miracle for me. It helps to keep things in perspective.

On Friday I ate:
Breakfast: A Larabar
Lunch: Lettuce wraps with cucumber, carrots and sprouts with some Nama Shoyu sauce.
Supper: A green salad with some foraged greens, mache, cucumber, tomato, celery, avocado and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.

On Saturday I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie of banana, apple, red grapes, and kale.
Lunch: Leftover salad, a piece of a flax seed flatbread, and a handful of cashews.
Supper: Nori rolls made with avocado, cauliflower, lime juice, sea salt, red bell peppers, carrots, and nori sheets.

Have continued to do my Body Flex.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A Swiss Cheese Day


Today was one of those days that just wasn't going to flow smoothly no matter what I did! I started the day out by oversleeping and having to rush to get to an appointment. When I called to say that I was going to be late, they told me not to bother coming...all their computer systems were down. So I ran another errand thinking the first course of business would call me back and tell me to come. Well they did, but only when I was racing out the door to my next appointment. I agreed to stop in before they closed at 7 pm, but when I got there at 6:45 pm, they had already closed.

An afternoon at the Ohio Historical Society with a couple of cousins was equally frustrating: The locker I put my things in took my quarter and wouldn't lock, the restroom was out of toilet paper, the book I needed wasn't available, and a series of volunteer and employee errors put me into a tailspin trying to get a copy of my grandfather's death certificate. Finally when I sat down with the right roll of microfilm, the machine didn't work! After some jostling around by the staff, we got it to work, but for the oddest reason, the document I was chasing had been skipped. The records went from #64115 to #64117. The librarian finally took my request, went to another floor to locate the original document and copied it for me. What should have taken 15 minutes, took over 2 hours!

The confusion and frustration didn't end there! An evening that was supposed to be spent with out of town family members was also cancelled which upset a few other plans. My husband and I finally retreated to a favorite vegetarian restaurant and collapsed over a simple meal.

When I worked for a local hospital, we had a training on what they called the "Swiss Cheese Theory." A patient comes to the hospital with a complaint and goes into, say, the Emergency Room. While there, some mistake is made...some test not recorded, some background information not gathered, something small. After the patient is admitted to the hospital, another person makes another, different mistake...possibly based on the previous error. It is the idea that at every level the patient falls through some hole in the system and ultimately suffers a much more severe problem (possibly death!) than what he originally came to the hospital for. (This made a big impression on me because my aunt had died in that very hospital as a result of such a situation!)

I felt like I had fallen through every hole in a big hunk of cheese today! Fortunately for me, I know enough to not turn to food anymore to choke out the anger and frustration that a day like this can bring. I noticed I still had a smile on my face when I realized the restaurant restroom was out of TP! There was none in the bathroom at home either! Good thing I keep an extra stash!

Today I had:
Breakfast: A green smoothie with apple, grapes, banana, collards and dino kale.
Lunch: Salad with sprouts, shallots and tomato with lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt.
Supper: Mixed greens salad with a little vinegar and oil and a "Shooting Star Smoothie" with orange, carrot, lemon and ginger.
Snack: My own "trail mix"...almonds, cashews, raisins and goji berries.

Did not Body Flex today.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Raw Luck

It's dandelion season once again! Only this year instead of spraying the life out of them, I'm eating them! While I don't have this as a first-hand experience, I am told that over in Europe, people eat dandelion greens all the time. They don't regard them as predacious aliens in a perfectly green, manicured lawn like we Americans do. They're food. Good food!

This evening, before the Raw Meetup, Shawna Stursa took a couple of us out to forage for wild greens. As luck would have it, I got a tour of a local neighborhood's weeds by two foraging experts. How nice to have such wonderful teachers right here in my home town! In addition to dandelions, we found plantains, clover, chickweed, cleavers, violets, mustard, lambsquarters and elm seeds. We discussed how to use these wild greens and the benefits of several other wild edibles. I really liked what Shawna said, we live in such abundance! Let's face it, with the economy the way it is, it doesn't get any better than walking out the back door and having fresh food at your feet.

While I am sure the homeowners association won't be happy that I will be foraging weeds from my yard this year, I am very happy to have a little bit of this knowledge to get me started on wild greens. The benefits are just too numerous to mention. If cleavers can heal laminitus in thoroughbreds' feet, what can it do for mine?!!!

Also, I live on the edge of a state park and there should be tons of wild greens that I can find for my salads this summer. This is a new avenue of learning that I will be pursuing eagerly. It not only provides a great source of nutrition and healing properties, it gets me out in nature. It's just a win/win situation all the way around.

The Raw Luck was fabulous just as it was last month. The energy, knowledge, love, support and enthusiasm in this group is just way beyond any other group of people I have ever been around. To see such a group of individuals glowing radiantly and being so happy is the best medicine anyone could have. It is such a healing space and I intend to become a fixture in this wonderful group of raw foodists.

The foods tonight were quite varied. There was a green energy soup made with malva (another wild green), zucchini hummus, butternut squash pie, kale chips, a guacamole/vegetable dish for stuffing in romaine leaves, a quinoa/sprout salad and other yummy dishes and desserts I can't even remember.

Allison did a demonstration on growing sprouts which introduced us to a variety of seeds that can be used. I had forgotten about some types and learned about a couple of new ones. She shared one of her favorite ways to grow sprouts by mixing three different kinds of seeds for a wonderful combination of flavors. I will be getting down to the community co-op to find some radish, adzuki, alfalfa, and broccoli seeds this week!

For today I had:
Breakfast: Muesli with a variety of nuts and seeds, goji berries, raisins, dates, coconut, an apple and a banana with almond milk.
Lunch: A couple of "deviled eggs"... cashews, olive oil, lemon juice, agave nectar, and spices in white mushrooms.
Supper: A smorgasbord of raw dishes at the raw luck.

Did my Body Flex first thing this morning.

Pictures from top: Dandelions, chickweed, a cluster of grass, murdock and cleavers, quinoa/sprout salad, and zucchini hummus with crudites and almonds.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Search for Comfort


It has been a cold, rainy day here today and I have been looking for ways to stay warm all day. The smell of ham leftovers in the house remind me of how I used to make bean soup after Easter. On a day like today, that would have been a welcome comfort food. But I don't eat like that any more and any thoughts of eating meat are very repulsive to me now.

I have been at a loss when desiring food for warmth or comfort and it makes me realize just how much I used food to insulate myself from everything. I think I was a classic compulsive overeater and I still see the telltale signs. I am just using raw foods now, which is still healthier, but hasn't dealt with the real issues. Perhaps in time some of the drive to eat for comfort will diminish, but right now I am just grateful I don't have cravings for a lot of the junk I used to eat. I will find other ways to deal with being cold or having memories that I used to stuff down.

On Monday I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with banana, orange, spinach and collards.
Lunch: Crudites with leftover Springtime Herb Dip.
Supper: Citrus Avocado Salad with romaine lettuce, celery, grapefruit, orange, avocado, and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.

On Tuesday I ate:
Breakfast: A couple of lettuce wraps with romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrots and sprouts.
Lunch: Citrus Avocado Salad again.
Supper: Corn chowder with corn, green onion, chives, cashews, sea salt, red bell pepper and shallots.

Did my Body Flex both days.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter


Today marked another milestone in my raw journey: a major holiday. I stayed 100% raw with no effort at all......despite the carnivores in the house!

Many thanks to Heidi and JS Ohlander of Raw Food Right Now, who put out their Raw Easter Cookbook just in time for me to put together a lovely Easter feast for myself. The Deviled Eggs and Springtime Herb Dip were a big hit with the whole family. I also made the Shaved Carrot and Beet Salad. Those three dishes were enough for me and they helped supplement the menu for the rest of the family. Having something special for myself really helped me feel like it was Easter and there was something I could look forward to. I did not feel deprived at all and the chocolate bunnies didn't interest me in the slightest! Well done, Heidi!

I did not have time to make the Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting, but I am looking forward to a little bit of heaven when I try that recipe! I have not focused on too many desserts since I have become raw. I guess it is still a throwback to never getting to eat desserts on any other diet I have ever tried.
My Easter Day looked like this:
Breakfast: A couple of the deviled eggs!
Lunch: Deviled eggs made with mushrooms, cashews, vinegar, dry mustard and seasonings; Springtime Herb Dip with crudites; Shaved Carrot and Beet Salad; and a glass of "wine" made by throwing some grapes into the VitaMix with some ice cubes and water.
Supper: More of the deviled eggs and crudites with the herb dip.
Did my Body Flex first thing this morning.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Shifts & Changes


The longer I am raw, the more shifts and changes I experience in almost every aspect of my life. It seems that my emotions, my thoughts, and my dreams are much more intense too. I am certainly much happier and relaxed now than I have ever been. Even my husband has noticed and told me it makes him happy to see me so happy. He has commented that maybe he will try more of this "eating raw thing" so he can get a little of the peace I seem to be experiencing.

I am not at a point where I am willing to say that eating 100% raw foods is life changing, but I will say that there seems to be a lot of changes going on and not just with my physical body. I have had some very powerful dreams, visions and feelings that seem to suggest that I am being called to something new in my life. There is a spiritual element that is guiding these changes and I have decided that whatever comes I will accept. It is like every molecule in my body is changing and as a result, who I am also is changing. It also seems that I can connect with my own spirit and Higher Self more easily and things just flow smoothly as a result.

Sometimes it seems that my Higher Self is screaming at me to just listen. With everything else that goes on in my life, I don't always pay attention when I am being spoken to. So on Friday I decided to fast. It was Good Friday and it just seemed an appropriate time to fast, reflect and meditate. I can't say anything was revealed to me, but it was a good fast and I think I will try to incorporate another day or two of fasting into my week ahead. I could stand more time just listening instead of jumping to the next thing to do.

There also seems to be a new kind of synchronicity to the events and people in my life now. People and things just seem to show up just as I need them. It sort of proves my decades old mantra that "everything I need comes to me." It just happens more quickly now and I see that I don't need to worry or stress about things like I used to do.

Yes, there is a lot more peace in my life as a result of eating raw and I see that I can really thrive like this. It would be hard to turn back to eating SAD after this. I believe that eating raw is going to be my lifestyle for the rest of my life.

On Friday:
Fasted until 7:30 pm.
Supper: Green salad with romaine lettuce, avocado, green bell peppers, celery, cucumber and Italian dressing with apple cider vinegar, olive oil and various herbs and spices.
On Saturday:
Breakfast: Power balls.
Lunch: a handful of almonds and some carrots, celery and green pepper strips.
Supper: Just a few marinated mushrooms and a couple of olives. Not really hungry.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Emotional Detox


One thing that can not be overlooked when discussing detox symptoms is our emotions. For people like me who have "stuffed our feelings" for most of our lives, there can be some very unexpected consequences to eating raw. As our bodies get cleaner, feelings that have been trapped as a result of emotional eating, start to emerge. And, they typically don't ask if this is a convenient time!

I have noticed as time goes on that more and more old feelings over a variety of hurts have been surfacing. Just about every time this happens I can identify a point in the past where rather than feeling some painful event, I suppressed my feelings with food. As I deal with the painful feelings, I find that it is much easier to experience them now than when the event actually occurred. But, I don't seem to be able to control when these feelings pop up or how long the emotional release might take. Several times there has been an almost overwhelming urge to go eat something to put an end to the painful feelings once more. Fortunately I have been able to recognize when this happens and been able to allow the feelings to just come out. But there has been an occasion where I decided that enough was enough and just ate my next meal or a snack to tone down the pain I was feeling.

Today was a good example of this. Possibly because Easter is this weekend, I started thinking about how much I missed my mom. We used to plan and start shopping for our Easter dinner right about now. We had many happy times around this holiday and today it was clear to me that I am not through grieving for her. I found myself in the grocery store, stopped in the middle of an open area, just thinking about her and starting to cry. I quickly checked my feelings until after I was back in my car, but then the tears really started to roll. I drove home and thought about what to do for myself. The feelings came and went throughout the day and I finally just surrendered to them. This afternoon I decided to go visit her grave and gave myself permission to just feel how much I missed her. After a while, I left there, and being tired of feeling so crummy, I went to a restaurant and ate a salad. It was enough to push the emotions back down for a while. I will let them out again another time. But it felt good to let myself just feel my feelings instead of resisting them. This is certainly a much healthier approach than just eating to make all the pain go away.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with pineapple, banana, collards and kale.
Lunch: Lettuce wraps with cucumber, carrot, avocado, and romaine lettuce.
Supper: Green salad with pecans, tomatoes, variety of lettuces, avocado, lemon juice and olive oil.
Snack: A few power balls.

Did not Body Flex today. Need to get that routine running again.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Company & Cravings

I have had company for the past few days and things really got hectic. In trying to feed my guests, I was forced to be around more food than I typically would be. I had to shop for things I normally wouldn't buy, prepare food I no longer eat, and ate out twice at local restaurants. To challenge me further, the weather turned very cold again and I wanted warm food. The emotions of dealing with family members also brought out strong urges for comfort food. It seemed that every couple of hours I wanted to run and hide...from the food, the smells, the emotions, the stress, and most of all the cravings!

Monday night was the worst when everyone wanted to go to an Indian restaurant. I asked right up front if they could serve me a dish of raw vegetables. They produced a dish of mixed vegetables and asked if that was what I wanted. Yes, I told them, that is exactly what I wanted. But when they served the food, they gave me a bowl of steamed vegetables, which I promptly sent back. Then they came back with a bowl of "lightly blanched" vegetables. It was at that point that I realized that the waiter didn't speak enough English to understand the word "raw." I didn't want to make a scene or ruin everyone else's good experience, so I shut up and ate the vegetables. I also scraped the raw garnish off everyone's plate and ate that too.

I have decided that from now on, I will take my own food along to restaurants and not expect that they will have anything I want to eat. The only reason I would go to a restaurant any more is if I were going with other people, so I don't think anyone will be upset with my bringing my own food as long as I am discreet about it.

But the past few days have really set off cravings that made me question what I am doing. I was ready to throw in the towel several times and just go binge on some of my old favorites. But, I just kept eating more raw foods. I have no idea how many calories I have consumed over the past several days, but it is far more than I typically would have had. The cooked vegetables seemed to really trigger a desire for cooked foods and it has taken 48 hours to quell those cravings. I do not want to go through that again ever!

I didn't keep track of everything I ate over the last several days, but for today I had:
Breakfast: Ruby Red Ambrosia...juice of carrots, celery, lemon, apple, ginger root and a beet.
Lunch: A nori roll with avocado, lime juice, sea salt, spinach, carrots, and yellow pepper.
Supper: Salad with spinach, celery, yellow pepper, and an orange, with a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and olive oil.
Snack: Some power ball goo.

Body Flexed for the first time in 3 days today.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

A New Challenge


Spring is in full bloom here in Ohio and it has brought my usual fits of coughing, sneezing, and nose blowing. I have been feeling so much better eating raw, that I had completely forgotten about the annual nuisance of seasonal allergies. In past years I stuck it out with with over-the-counter medications until I finally made a trip to the doctor for prescription drugs. Usually by that time I had a sinus infection to go with it. It would be a round of antibiotics, possibly a decongestant, and a daily infusion of some antihistamine until the next frost in October or so.

I also seem to be caught up in the most recent wave of detoxification right now, so I really don't know if this is serious with the allergies or not. Nonetheless, I am going to refrain from taking any drugs and just see where things go. I am hoping my body will recover on its own and that I no longer have to rely on drugs to get me through the warmer months.

A big part of the process of getting through all the many and varied symptoms that detox brings, is being able to relax and just let my body be the way it is. I make a conscious decision to stop resisting whatever is going on and accept that this is the way it is right now. Inevitably this process seems to lessen the symptoms and allows me to continue to function. I just keep telling myself that like the weather, it will change again in a day or two, and it does. As this process continues, I see that on the days that I feel good, I feel really good. I see this as evidence that my overall health is improving.

On Friday I had:
Breakfast: Juice of parsley, carrot, celery, and spinach.
Lunch: A small salad with lemon juice, olive oil and herbs, and the leftover zucchini spaghetti.
Supper: Citrus Avocado Salad with Romain lettuce, pink grapefruit, an orange, and a dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar, and olive oil.
Snack: Some power ball goo.

On Saturday I had:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with mango, banana, orange and Swiss chard.
Lunch: Raw vegetables (celery, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers) with guacamole.
Supper: Mixed chopped vegetables (tomato, corn, shallots, yellow bell pepper, celery, carrots) with lemon juice and olive oil.
Snack: A couple of power balls.
Body Flexed on Saturday only.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

H.R. 875

It was bound to happen....two of my favorite topics have crossed paths and I have to open my mouth. Most people who know me, don't realize how political I can be because I tend to keep my mouth shut and just listen when others speak. But I am getting older now and don't have the patience for nonsense like I used to, so I am raising my voice and letting people know where I stand. I feel especially compelled to speak up when I hear outright lies, rumors and innuendos. I have no tolerance for political discussion that isn't based on facts. And if you don't check out that flame mail on Snopes before you send it to me, well....you are going to hear about it!

So last night I found myself at the topical intersection of raw, organic foods and House Bill 875. It seems that HR 875 - The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 is getting a thrashing by the online politicos and it isn't even out of committee yet. At the Raw Meetup sharing circle last night the subject came up and everyone was certain that we needed to call our congressmen right away as this bill needed to be stopped. (I volunteered to get our representatives names and phone numbers organized!) The common thought was that this bill was going to outlaw organic farming...that organic farmers were going to be forced to meet a new standard of having to spray their fields with chemical pesticides and herbicides. Heirloom seeds were going to disappear in favor of GMO seeds, and that one couldn't even have a backyard garden without this bill interfering with one's lovely tomatoes. The small, organic farmers would be put out of business and we would all be forced to eat chemically infused produce. Roadside stands put up by gardeners who still planted a whole row of zucchinis would disappear and farmers' markets would be a thing of the past.

If you have received the e-mail from someone who has urged you to send it on to everyone in your distribution list, hold your horses. I have read the bill and visited the web site of the primary sponsor, Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT). I am convinced that Ms. DeLauro has our best interests at heart and that the ones who are really going to suffer with the passage of this bill are the large food processors and corporate farmers who are finally going to be held accountable for just how much toxic waste they can spray on our food and get away with it.

But, really, take an afternoon and read the bill for yourself. Educate yourself. Form your own opinion. Personally I think it is high time someone did something....the FDA hasn't done anything in years. They are too busy investigating all the medical and pharmacological stuff to pay any attention to spinach, peanut butter or Chinese additives to pet food. Someone needs to be paying attention. So just read it! The Liberty Farmers Market will thank you for it.
P.S. For a complete discussion of this bill, allow me to refer you to The Ethicurean: Chew the right thing.
Today I had:
Breakfast: A quart of beautiful Ruby Red Ambrosia...the juice of carrots, celery, apple, lemon, ginger root, and beet.
Lunch: Citrus Avocado Salad...pink grapefruit, an orange, and avocado on romaine lettuce with a Dijon mustard, agave nectar, lemon juice and olive oil dressing.
Supper: Zucchini spaghetti with a tomato sauce and topped off with chopped celery, mushrooms, shallots and some black olives.
Body Flexed today.
Photo courtesy of Kimy of Cleveland. http://mousemedicine.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A Sharing Circle

Tonight I went to the sharing circle with the Columbus Raw Meetup group. A dear, dear friend from 15 years ago had joined the group online, but had not gone to any of the meetings. I was able to connect with her again and encouraged her to come tonight. She did and it was wonderful seeing her. We laughed and giggled like high school girls and left the meeting arm in arm to continue our conversation at a vegetarian restaurant. It was wonderful to renew our friendship and especially over a shared interest in health and wellness.

The meeting itself was extraordinary. Everyone got a chance to introduce themselves and say whatever they liked. I was humbled by the honesty, authenticity, and humility among my fellow raw travelers. People I have never met before opened their hearts and shared with the group about what it was like being raw. Everyone was so supportive of everyone else. It is so nice to know there are real live people out there who share my vision.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Skipped...had to go to an early morning eye appointment. (Eyes are still improving!)
Lunch: Salad with spinach and Spring mix, carrots, celery, tomatoes, mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and oil.
Supper: Corn chowder and small salad with lemon, olive oil and sea salt.
Snack: 3 power balls and a juice of carrot, spinach, celery, and apple.

I did not do my Body Flex today and really missed it.