The Raw Life

Some jerk is cooking BBQ chicken in my neighborhood

2010-11-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

I thought this would be getting easier, but I guess I have to wait another week or two. As of now, I almost broke down and ate some cheese. Instead I grabbed a fist full of carrots.

My migraine persisted today. Not as bad but still there. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. Usually they do not last this long.

I bought a food processor. Walmart has small ones on sale for less than $10. I also juiced a bunch of veggies today. Who knew you could juice romaine lettuce!

I have bought many different raw nuts but I have decided that raw cashews are by far my favorite. I have put all the nuts in the freezer to keep them longer. They almost taste like treats that way.

I really hope my dehydrator comes soon. I still haven't cracked open the coconut. I heard that food starts to lose it's nutritional value the moment it is picked...I really hope not.

The cleanse works.

Oh, I weighed myself when this thing started. I was 163 pounds. Today I weighed 160.5. Not back for 5 days. It would have been more if I would have been working out. Hopefully I can tomorrow. Happy eating.

Nuts making me nuts!

2010-11-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't write yesterday. I intended to, but I just plain forgot. I am going on day four of a migraine. I am thinking it is the new eating coupled with my woman time. God loves me!

I did make my first juice yesterday. Now my juicer that I bought for $40 that originally sells for almost $200 and has terrific reviews fell short in my opinion. I use to have another mixer that I thought did a better job. This one seems to shred the stuff more than juice. But the juice I got was delicious.

Today was the first day that I mad a "hot" food. You might be saying to yourself "I thought she was going raw all the way"...well I plan on doing the 80% raw. I know there is no way I can go 4 months with absolutely no cooked foods. However, I plan to make my cooked foods healthy and if possible organic. Today I made three organic eggs. I cooked them on a very low setting. Instead of adding cheese like I would have like I added herbs. I coated them afterwards with loads of veggies. I am going to start taking pictures of my food creations.

My dehydrator won't be in for another week. So many things I can't make yet. I have my coconut but I am really not up to cooking because of my migraine.

As for the cleanse, I wasn't impressed at first but man, it has really started to work. I don't like drinking the fiber, it kinda makes me gag but whatever works. Alright, off to make some tea!

The McRib is out...bummer

2010-11-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

So I know Mc Donald's Franken food goes against everything I am trying to do here, but I just saw a billboard for the McRib and got sad. I love the McRib. I know it doesn't have cheese but it is still fabulous. Maybe next year once this experiment is over I will get to enjoy it but as of now I am still sticking to my guns, or raw food if you will.

So if you have been keeping up with my posts you will have read that I bought a juicer and a dehydrator, two essential tools for this program. Well I lied. I had intended to buy a dehydrator from a woman on craigslist but when I went to her trailer park....she led me out to one of her many cars, rummaged around inside and produced an extremely dirty dehydrator. Literally there were leaves inside. So I politely said no and ran to my car. I tried several other people on craigslist but some of these people had dehydrators I swear were from the '50s. So I broke down this morning and bought a square one from Walmart.com for $60. I wanted a square one because a lot of recipes seem to work better with them and you don't need to move around the trays. Also this one has a thermostat you control which is SUPER!

So, today I have had a smoothie and various nuts and veggies. Still not made anything but I did make another trip to the organic grocer. I got some dried mango. I probably won't buy this again once I have my own machine since I have no idea how high of heat they were dehydrated at, but I wanted it alright! Also I bought a coconut and tonight or tomorrow I am going to attempt coconut bacon. Sounds wierd but tasty.

My migraine raged into the night. I really think I did not eat nearly enough yesterday. Oh and today I started a 7 day cleanse. The Food Matters video said that if you change to this life style all the toxins you have in your system should be flushed out through your bowels. Well I am not impressed with this cleanse yet. What I assume is the fiber mixer just clumps in water. I was gagging. Not pleasant.

Now I am going to go and make a gigantic salad that my dog is going to beg me for. I am also really tired. However, I woke up really early today ready to start the world. Conflicting I know. There is something I am a little confused about, should I take vitamins while I cleanse? I take the green stuff in my smoothy but I don't know if I am over doing it. I think I will take some tonight with dinner. Good night raw foodies.

Can taste buds evolve...I really hope so!

2010-11-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

So I have officially begun. I am pretty sure I had dreams last night dreading today. But here I am and already I have made my first meal....oatmeal (with no hot water!) I soaked the oats last night, I blended them, I added agave nectar to sweeten, mixed in some organic vanilla, almond slices and raisins and voila-really liquidy oatmeal. They are unusually creamy for not adding milk. Oatmeal was hard for me to eat the regular way so this isn't too far removed. I miss the fact that it isn't warm, especially since I am on the chillier side right now. The taste is good. The recipe called for bananas or goji berries, I will have to experiment. I think I was a little stingy on the raisins and almonds. I think this needs more bulk. I give this recipe a 6/10.

Next, for a snack I had a smoothie. I have had many smoothies in my time and this is not one to write home about. I probably should have put honey or stevia in it, but I went o'natural. I put frozen berries that I had in my freezer, probably too old to use but I used them any way. I used some protein powder from a company my grandpa invented. It has lots of nutrients. Then I put in some green powder. Again lots of nutrients. Probably one of the healthiest smoothies ever. Where I went wrong though...I still have not "officially" gone shopping for my raw diet life change-dun dun duhhhhhh. I know, terrible right!?!

I did just go for a run and walk the dog, so two goods down, however, I really need to get some healthy food in this house as I am hungry. I am going to take a shower and head to the organic grocer and possibly the Asian mart. I need beans, nuts and veggies. I am starting out small. Oh and fruits!

$90 later I have loaded up on my first load. I think I should have made a shopping list but I was hungry. Actually I should have a list of recipes I want to do and go from there. However, I have found some items I like. Seaweed-who knew? I got a teriyaki flavored one that is fab-u-lous! It comes in individual packets, almost like chips! I got almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and cashews. I also got "GO RAW-Pizza Flax Snax"...awesome. Not cooked over 104 degrees and they are tasty. Great in a fix, especially since I have not made any type of bread/crunchy type of edible thing. I also got some legumes, veggies and fruit.

So what I have eaten the rest of today is an apple, half an avocado, some seaweed, some red beans and lots of nuts. Really not a rounded meal but I was in a hurry. I do have a headache and I assume that is from starting a new diet and going for a run today.

All in all I think I did really well today. Tomorrow I hope to start juicing and using the dehydrator. I really have to start using the recipes. Here's to eating raw!

The Beginning

2010-11-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here I am, in my living room wearing pajamas and dreading tomorrow. Why do you ask-well tomorrow I start my new raw food life style. There are many reasons why I want to do this. 1. I want to live a healthier life style. 2. I want to rid myself of my health problems. 3. I want to lose weight. And finally 4. I want to see if it is possible to incorporate a raw food life style without being the person no one wants to invite to their parties or eat at their house!

So what is the raw food diet...the raw food is is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of un-cooked, un-processed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. Raw foodists typically believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits. Basically I have read that 51-80% of each meal should be raw.

So what can I eat? I can now eat (in their rawest and purest form-organic if I can find it) uncooked and unprocessed plant based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and dried fruit. I will also be dabbling in Super Foods! Super foods claim to have a health-promoting or disease-preventing property beyond the basic function of supplying nutrients. Superfoods contain a potent collection of protection factors and therefore should be included in most diets. Some of the superfoods are as follows: Garlic, wheat grass, honey, echinacea, kefir grains, cacao, seaweed, acai and goji berry, flax seed, olive oil and green tea. This is not all of the super foods but a good start.

Sadly, but what I consider right now more important, what I will not be eating: Cheese, cake, white bread, cheese, pizza, coffee, white sugar, cheese, cookies, candy, cow meat, pig meat, cheese, soda, and cheese.

My commitment to this social experiment will be 4 months. I know even before I begin it will be difficult and I will have cheese withdraws. However, I figure in four months I will be able to decide if this is a lifestyle that I want to continue for life.

So far I have purchased a juicer and a dehydrator. Both I got off of craigslist so if this becomes a total flop I only spent $60. I was a little sad because right after I bought the juicer for $40 I saw one at a yard sale for just a couple of $$$. Also, a very supportive friend sent me "Ani's Raw Food Essentials" by Ani Phyo. I have book marked many websites with raw food recipes but this book is very informative.

Tomorrow morning I will weigh myself and take before and after pictures. I do believe there will be significant weight loss. Honestly as of right now I am not a vegetable/fruit person. I bought a bag of apples like two weeks ago and they are still sitting in a bowl on my table. They smell and taste great, however, when given the option I am going for cheese and chocolate.

I will also be committing to and taking vitamins. I have a cabinet full of them but rarely take them. Actually I make sure my dog gets his omega-3 every day but I actually can not remember the last time I took one! I will be researching the best vitamins for my health and I will list what I am taking.

Why I am here: I am been a proponent for organic living for years-it just makes sense. Why do we want to eat foods with chemicals in or on them. I have not bought milk or eggs that were not organic for at least 6 years. However, that is about the extent of it. The thing that scares me is that my mom in her 40s was diagnosed with PVD/PAD. She does smoke and has led a very unhealthy lifestyle but it still makes me nervous. In addition, several other relatives have been diagnosed with liver cancer. Again, heavy smokers but also terrible eaters. I recently watched a documentary called "Food Matters" (I will post a link for it at the bottom of this page). Anyhoo, it just made sense. Woke me up so to speak. It made me want to take action. So I gave myself a week to be a glutton, buy what I needed to buy and here I am, ready to take the plunge.

What I hope to accomplish: Realistically I won't be able to blog every day, but I will try. I will write down what I eat, how I cook and what I struggle with. If you notice I have the holidays coming up so I am in for a struggle! I will be doing research and hopefully have topic posts. This is all new to me so it will be a learning experience.

So here I go, one day down until rawfest 2010. Wish me luck!

Food Matters website: http://www.foodmatters.tv/