The Real Deal

Writing every day.......HaHaHahahahaha!! Anyway. I didn't even start when I said I was going to. It took me a while for me to be ready. I started watching youtube videos posted by other raw foodies. I watched other people's journeys, learned new recipes, and found much inspiration. 

Today is my 4th day raw, almost 100%. I'd say more like 98%. That's due to me trying the veggie chips I bought for my kids. 

Below is my food journal from yesterday. But first, a couple things about it. I started my morning out with a green lemonade. I have made many green juices in the past, but I don't really enjoy them. I'm talking about green juice made with just greens in a juicer, not greens thrown into a fruit smoothie in the blender. The green juices just don't taste good to me. Then I saw someone's blog that talked about green lemonade. I looked up some recipes, and it's basically a green juice with some extra ingredients: one lemon, an apple, and a chunk of ginger. I tried it, and I love it! Sure, just green juice may be better than adding the apple, but not drinking the green drink because I can't tolerate it doesn't do me any good at all. 

You will also see that I had a dessert for lunch. If you're not familiar with raw food, you might think that sounds a little weird. But the thing about raw food recipes is that most of the time they are so good for you and nutritionally dense that just because it tastes like a dessert doesn't mean that it isn't good for you. I've heard that it is best to eat the largest and most protein dense food at lunch time because that is when our digestive juices are firing the most, and my raw desserts usually have nuts in them, so I thought lunch time would be a better time to have them than at night, like most people do. If you look at the ingredients list below, the dessert I had is very nutritious....and so delicious! 

Breakfast

1. green lemonade (all thrown in the juicer): 2 handfuls of spinach, 1/2 head romaine lettuce, celery, 3 small apples, 1 lemon, piece of ginger

2. satsuma tangerine

Lunch

1. large piece of raw cacao tart (all ingredients): pecans, cacao nibs, dates, cashews, coconut oil, cacao powder, agave nectar, vanilla bean, sea salt

Snack

1. large handful of veggie chips (not raw!)

2. huge green smoothie: handful mixed salad greens, whole bunch collards, 16 oz frozen strawberries, 8 oz frozen peaches, 16 oz coconut water, 1 TB agave nectar

Dinner

1. raw tacos: red and yellow bell peppers, avocado, cherry tomatoes, Parma, all wrapped in two romaine lettuce leaves

I'm quite embarrassed to admit this, but over the holiday months (November and December), I gained about 16 pounds! That's pretty much everything that I lost last time I went raw. But that is to be expected, as I was eating anything and everything: meat, cookies, candy, processed, processed, and more processed foods! Why do people gift so much food around the holidays?! Anyway, since eating raw, I have lost 2.5 pounds in three days. I have a long way to go to be at my goal for weight and overall health, but I'm ready for the challenge. I noticed I just took a huge breath in and out when I wrote that last sentence. :) I have about 38 pounds to lose from this point on. The good thing is that I feel so unbelievably good while eating raw that there's much more incentive to eat this way than just losing weight. And just like last time I went raw, there will be a time when the other benefits of eating raw outweigh my desire to lose weight. That will be nice. 

But... when I was 16 pounds lighter, a couple months ago, I was able to fit into some really great jeans and other pieces in my wardrobe that I love. Of course they don't fit anymore, but I can't wait to fit into them again. Those days are coming soon. 

Oh, I have exercise goals too, but those still have to be worked out. (No pun intended.) It's a scheduling dilemma. I need about 1.5 hours without the kids, so I can workout and then shower. I do have the time when my mom comes over, but that time should be used to work. Dave is working a lot more now (which I am grateful for), so he's not around as much to help out with the kids. So I'll have to do some figuring. I was able to go running two out of the last three days, but it was because I took time away from my work when my mom was here to watch the kids. 

Anyway, I'm totally rambling. I'll write again soon. Thanks for reading!!

xoxo~Stephanie

New Beginnings

I have been highly interested in my personal health since about the age of 15. Earlier than that actually, but it was about then that I started questioning whether the mainstream definition of "healthy" was in fact, healthy.

Through many, many different diets (food lifestyles, not a short term diet to lose weight), I have finally been led to a raw food diet. I believe that for me, this is the absolute best way that I can eat for optimum health.

Eating primarily raw, or all raw foods has been a rather new concept for me, having just introduced this way of eating within the last year or so. However, as good as I know it is for me, the longest that I have fed myself a 100% raw diet is just 17 days.

Within the last six months, I had gone through a major transformation in regards to the way I looked and felt. I lost a lot of the extra weight that I put on during my pregnancies, and I was feeling better than I have in years. Unfortunately, during the last two months, those dreaded holiday months, I have not been eating raw, or anything close to raw. I let myself indulge in all of the festive foods of the season (meats, cookies, pies, etc.) And as to be expected, I have gained back all of the weight that I was so proud that I had lost.

Yes, I am back to square one. I will begin my journey to health again. I will be blogging about it here. I would love to update daily, but that may be too optimistic. I will write when I can.

I begin my journey tomorrow, January 5, 2009, three weeks before my 31st birthday.