Day 60!!!

It is no small miracle that I have arrived at 60 days of eating 100% raw vegan. Anyone who has tried to go raw will tell you it isn't easy, but for me this has been a state of grace that I never want to end. Like an alcoholic or drug addict, it has been one day at a time. Sometimes it has been one meal at a time, but this miracle has never been taken for granted for one minute.

The changes have been profound and sublime. I have let go of 16 lbs., which is about 2 lbs. a week. I am off all prescription drugs and have used over-the-counter remedies only 3 times in 60 days. My energy continues to increase, the pain in my body continues to decrease. I have started exercising for the first time in years and can see my clothes becoming baggier by the day. I have had spiritual insights and visions that I can't begin to describe.

In the background there have been friends and family members cheering me on. I am so grateful to all of them for the space, time, consideration and generosity they have granted me as I have pursued this journey. There are well-known leaders in the raw food movement that continue to teach and help guide me....people like Angela Stokes, Matt Monarch, Kevin Gianni, Nomi Shannon and others like Tommie. There are the local people who participate in the Columbus Raw Meetup group that inspire me. Then there is my little group that communicates on a daily basis...S., L., and A....from the bottom of my heart, thank you! We are all on this road together and together we will succeed.

Today I ate:

Breakfast: Green smoothie of mango, banana, orange, pineapple and spinach.

Lunch: Leftover Mediterranean salad.

Supper: Big garden salad, of arugula, spinach and leaf lettuce, tomato, celery, carrot, mushroom, onion with a dressing of Dijon mustard, agave nectar, lemon juice and olive oil.

Body Flexed today too.

Comparative Health

Well, for the minor aches, pains and lack of energy that I have suffered this past week or so, it doesn't begin to rival the illness the rest of my family is experiencing. They all have some form of the flu that is wearing them down to a halt. I spent a portion of my day today sitting in an urgent care while my daughter got her diagnosis and prescriptions. She is by far and away the sickest person in the house right now and the only one who got a flu shot this year. My husband took a sick day as well and while he still isn't back to 100%, says he's going back to work tomorrow.

I am trying very hard not to be too smug about the fact that I have not been really sick at all this winter. With the exception of the detox I went through right after the Fred Payne events, I have not had any of my usual winter ailments. This is the first winter in decades that I did not go to the doctor for a sinus infection! There was a time that I could count on bronchitis and/or pneumonia along with strep throat, colds, and ongoing congestion every year. I used to say that I knew how I was going to die....it would be from pneumonia.

I like to think that my eating 100% raw has had a big impact on those trends. My only trip to the doctor in the past several months has been to decrease and finally eliminate all my medications! That alone makes staying raw worthwhile, but the benefits just continue to mount.

Today's intake was:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with mango, pineapple, orange, banana, ginger and spinach.
Lunch: A bowl of raw sauerkraut with the rest of the smoothie.
Supper: A big Mediterranean salad with arugula, fennel, red bell peppers, shallots, capers, olives, tomatoes, avocado, and lemon juice, sea salt and olive oil for the dressing.

Body Flexed first thing this morning.

Photo courtesy of Kimy of Cleveland, OH. http://mousemedicine.blogspot.com/

A Quiet Weekend

On Saturday I dragged my husband around town with me to run errands and do the grocery shopping. He really wasn't feeling well, but wanted to get out of the house and spend some time with me. I love it when we can grocery shop together...it just goes so much easier. He loves Whole Foods as much as I do, so he doesn't mind watching me pile stacks of greens into the cart. My daughter has found a social life and isn't cooking for him as much these days, so he has been eating more of what I offer him...which, of course, is lots of fruits and vegetables. He is even talking about going raw for a while to try it out! I won't hold my breath on that one, but it can only improve his health to whatever degree he embraces it.

On Saturday I ate:
Breakfast: A smoothie of banana, orange and peaches.
Lunch: Some raw sauerkraut and various raw vegetables.
Supper: Guacamole and celery.

Sunday was a day to stay home and relax. The weather went from rain to sleet to a few snow showers, with winds topping 40 mph. Not a good day for travel. We had planned a trip to Louisville, KY but my husband was really sick so we stayed home. I woke up with a lingering pain in my left hip, but it finally subsided. I am still at the mercy of the weather when it comes to my joints.

On Sunday I had:
Breakfast: 3 Mineolas...a cross between a tangerine and grapefruit.
Lunch: Corn chowder
Supper: Nori rolls with avocado, cauliflower, red bell pepper, carrots and cucumber.
Snack: Some power ball goo.

I Body Flexed on Saturday but passed on Sunday due to the achy joint problem.

An 8 Week Progress Report

I am rapidly approaching the 60 day mark with eating 100% raw. Not sure why that number feels so significant, but it is twice the 30 day mark. That is twice the number of days it takes to form a habit. Every 30 days I am a raw vegan increases the likelihood that I will stick with it.

My progress these past 4 weeks has been a little disappointing. I only let go of another 4 lbs. and a total of 4 1/2". This brings my total weight loss to 15 lbs. in 8 weeks of being 100% raw. If I count the weight I lost while I was trying to go raw, the number is 24 lbs. lost. My clothes are much looser on me now and I am feeling better as time goes by. I am pleased with any progress and especially pleased that my upper body strength is significantly stronger from the Body Flex program. My energy has been improving, even if it is at an erratic pace. I am also happy to report that a chronic lower back pain has all but completely disappeared.

As I go through my mental checklist of the positive benefits of eating raw, I am very pleased that I have come this far and will continue my happy raw vegan ways.

Today I had:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with apple, banana, orange, spinach and parsley.
Lunch: The rest of the smoothie.
Supper: We ate out at a French restaurant that accommodated me with 2 double side salads of very fresh greens, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes and red onion. The dressing was a mixture of lemon juice, mustard, honey, olive oil and seasonings.
Snack: A little bit of power ball goo.

Body Flexed as usual.

Odd Day

It has been an odd day today. I started out all gun-ho and as the day wore on, my energy seemed to just slip away. There has been a change in the weather and I have noticed a slight change in how I feel. It certainly has not been the radical change I used to experience, but the barometric pressure still seems to effect my joints a little.

My cousin Sharon, seemed to be having a relatively good day today. In fact, she was downright giddy when I spoke to her. Her husband had taken the afternoon off to take her to one of her many doctors. They had left the doctor's office and were on their way to a Starbucks to have a chat over coffee. She seemed so happy to have his company. I told her I was going to do some "concentrated prayer" for her. She thought that was a fine idea. She has been living in the Bible belt too long for me to try to explain to her what I would be doing, so I left it at that.

Today I had:
Breakfast: A fruit salad of apple, banana, oranges and a handful of almonds.
Lunch: Corn chowder made with frozen corn, some cashews, a green onion, red bell pepper, a few slices of leeks, water and nutritional yeast.
Supper: Green salad of romaine lettuce, celery, red bell pepper, tomato, olives and lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt for a dressing.
Snack: A few power balls.

Still doing the Body Flex.

Sharon

My cousin, Sharon, called me today. She has Parkinson's disease and lives in another state. She is pretty isolated right now from her kids and grandkids, her siblings and the rest of the family. She was in one city for a long time after her husband took a job in another city. Since they weren't able to sell their house, she stayed behind alone. Now that it has dragged out to about a year and a half with the house still on the market, she has moved into an apartment with her husband and pets in their new city. It is better, but she is terribly lonely and calls her old friends and family frequently for moral support.

I have been totally shocked how this very intelligent, once very active, involved woman has managed to resist every bit of help that has been offered to her in terms of managing her disease. She still believes that one of her two neurological doctors will find the right combination of drugs that will make everything right again. She is wallowing in self pity and is crying for attention. Just talking with her is very frustrating as there are always distractions and interruptions in the conversation....the dog barking, another phone call, etc. She doesn't really listen to you when you do talk to her. It has taken me a long time to get to a point of saying that I need to give up on her or confront her in a big intervention kind of way. I feel sorry for her, but my pity isn't going to help her.

In confronting this situation, I realize how many people there are just like her. They are sick and could be doing something/a lot of things to help themselves, but don't. It is like they are children crying out for attention. "Look at me, I am sick. I can't do that. I'm helpless. Feel sorry for me. Give me love. Give me attention." What do you do to help people like that? When straight talk doesn't make a difference, what do you say? Keep this up and you'll die?!!! Just what is our responsibility when being our brother's keeper means your efforts are rebuffed?

I am going to make my first attempt at some remote spiritual healing ala Fred Payne. Divine intervention may be the only way to save Sharon's life. Short of telling her to go eat an apple and call me in the morning, this seems like the only thing I can do.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with blueberries, banana, apple, pear and kale.
Lunch: The rest of the smoothie.
Supper: Nori rolls with red bell pepper, zucchini, carrot, sprouts, cauliflower, avocado, and lemon juice.
Snack: Some power ball goo.

Did my Body Flex today.

A New Day

I woke up this morning clear headed and completely pain free. I notice that my mornings are getting better and better. I used to take forever to wake up, drag my body out of bed, and would frequently take some kind of Advil, Tylenol, or aspirin first thing. Then, if I didn't have to go anywhere, would sit down and kick back in a recliner until the drugs relieved enough pain that I could get up and get moving. But when the drugs wore off, I had to stop what I was doing and take more. I would do this repeatedly and by the middle of the afternoon, I was pretty much done for the day. I would take a nap around 3 pm and then just sit and watch the news, or whatever the least objectionable thing on TV was, until around 7 pm when I would go find something to eat. By that time I would have a lot of back pain and it would be hard to stand or even walk for longer than 10 minutes.

Going back 8 years, when I was working a very stressful full time job, the story was worse:
I would force myself out of bed, ease my aching body down the steps to the kitchen, pour myself a BIG cup of coffee (with about a half a cup of that artificially sweetened and flavored creamer), pull myself back up the steps and drink my coffee in the shower just to wake up enough to get myself out the door. Then, after I got downtown, I would stop at a Caribou Coffee and pick up a LARGE Caramel High Rise (430 Calories, 170 Fat calories, 19 g Total fat, 75 mg Cholesterol, 49 g Sugar, 200 mg Sodium, 270 mg Caffeine.) I would then go into my office, shut the door, drink my coffee and try to pull myself together enough to get something done. About 10 am I would go get ANOTHER large espresso latte (another 180 mg of caffeine!)....I would try to eliminate the sugar and fat of the whipped cream the second time around, just 2% milk this time, thank you! I would eat a salad for lunch with a hunk of whole grain bread...to eat healthy, of course. Then around 3 or 4pm I had to have another big coffee. I would work until 8 or 9 pm, and then being too tired to cook, would eat out at a restaurant. I would always have to have a couple glasses of wine or 2-3 big margaritas to settle down from all that coffee and the stress of the job. And since I had only had a salad for lunch and no breakfast, I would be really hungry and eat way too much. Then I would go home, take a melatonin to get to sleep along with a fistful of drugs to kill all the pain in my body. I would thrash around in bed until 2 am eating a half a dozen Rolaids to calm my stomach down before I could even get to sleep.

Yes, there is a lot to heal in this body. I have come a long way and it is good to remember where I was. I am very grateful for the life I have now.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Green smoothie with apple, pear, banana, collards, and parsley.
Lunch: A little leftover zucchini spaghetti with a "cheesey" sauce (macadamia nuts, pine nuts, cashews, lemon juice, garlic, water and nutritional yeast.) I had made it last night for my supper but my husband ate it instead.)
Snack: 2 power balls
Supper: Big green vegetable salad with a lemon juice, agave nectar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil dressing.

Body Flexed again today.

Wolves, Bears & Seals

My energy was good today but not the perfect "10" yesterday was. I am not sure what makes the difference but I will look forward to a time when I jump out of bed every morning and go until bedtime without having to stop and rest for a while. It just occurred to me that most 58 year olds probably don't have that expectation. Maybe really fit ones do, but most of the ones I know don't believe they can grow younger.

I received 2 messages in my inbox today that made me very angry and upset. The first one was from the Defenders of Wildlife. It pushed my blood pressure up a few numbers with the discussion of how Sarah Palin continues the fight for aerial hunting of Alaska's wolves and bears. Personally I would like to see someone aerial hunt Sarah Palin for sport. Oh. Did that remark come out of my mouth?!!! (Sorry, S. I know you voted for her.) That woman is singlehandedly ruining the last American stronghold of wildlife.

The second message was from the Humane Society of the United States regarding Canada's insane, inhumane practice of clubbing baby harp seals to death for their fur. Even with the outcry from other nations, businesses boycotting the Canadian seafood industry, and millions of citizens and organizations from around the world, all joining together as this horror takes place every spring, Canadian officials increased the allowable quota by 5,000 seals that the fisherman are allowed to kill.

An Indian yogi I once studied with expressed his sadness for all the dead raccoons and groundhogs he observed on the sides of the roads in our country and asked, " Do you not think these animals value thier lives as much as you do yours?"

It saddens me that we have such little regard for the rest of the life on our planet. I'm glad I'm a vegan.

Breakfast: 2 power balls.
Lunch: The other half of last night's vegetable salad.
Supper: Zucchini spaghetti with alfredo sauce was quickly abandoned to my husband. I opted instead for a green smoothie with mango, banana, orange, and collards.

Did my Body Flex today.

Back to Normal

Thank goodness I am back to normal today! I have a very low tolerance for pain and am a very impatient patient. I woke up this morning feeling rested and well and got right to the Body Flex that I had missed for the past week. That always seems to give me an additional boost of energy and today I sailed through the day like nothing had ever happened. I was rather surprised by how good I felt and just how much energy I had.

My husband had to work this weekend....no one will ever accuse him of working banker's hours! My daughter was busy with her life, so it left me home alone to do as I wished. I was rather pleased with myself that I got some nagging chores done. It seems I can never get anything done on the weekends because my husband and daughter are home and are too much of a distraction. But today gave me a jump start on my week and hopefully I won't suffer any more detox attacks.

I was really hungry today. It seemed that no matter what I ate, I wanted more of something else. I had some serious cravings for cooked food today which I again fought off with more raw foods. Here's what I had:

Breakfast: 3 power balls.
Lunch: Nori rolls: an avocado and cauliflower for "rice" and strips of red pepper, cucumber, and carrots all rolled up with some alfalfa sprouts in nori sheets.
Supper: A big green salad with various vegetables chopped up and thrown in along with a couple of red tomatoes. Dressing was my usual lemon juice with sea salt and olive oil.
Snack: A LaraBar-Cashew Cookie

On the Mend

I was feeling better today. At least I kept all my food down and didn't experience anything more than a lot of rumbles in my tummy. I still don't feel great, but it is a vast improvement over yesterday...which has proven to my family that I didn't have the flu or food poisoning!

But having not eaten much of anything yesterday really had me craving all kinds of things today. I watched my daugher eat eggs and toast for breakfast and when my husband mentioned pizza this evening, I could have happily thrown away 50 days for just the smell of it! I did restrain myself and stuck to my plan. I figure that if I am going to give up being raw, I want it to be a conscious decision not just a whim.

Today I had:
Breakfast: Muesli with pepitas, sunflower and chia seeds, almonds and walnuts, goji berries, dates, an apple and a banana.
Lunch: Skipped
Supper: Citrus Avocado Salad with mixed greens, half of a pink grapefruit, an orange, a Mandarin orange, avocado, sprouts, leeks and a dressing of dijon mustard, lemon juice, agave nectar, and olive oil.

I haven't Body Flexed but 2 days in the past week. Maybe tomorrow I can get back on track with that.