So you've probably been wondering where I am! I pretty much have been laying low, trying to figure out this new body and new awareness of a little being inside of me, and how it pertains to eating raw. My goals have shifted - I no longer look at my tummy in the morning and think about what I ate the day before in comparison to how I look. It feels like a year since I found out I was pregnant, but it was only 6 days ago!
I had some pretty bad bouts of morning sickness in the past few days - I almost blacked out in the middle of the night when I got up to help my 7yr DD who was needing me. I realized that there are different rules for when you're pregnant. Such as, I need to eat something before I go to bed, not much, just maybe a couple wedges of an apple, or a cup of canteloupe. Definitely not nuts or anything heavy.
That's another thing...my tastes have completely changed! I thoroughly enjoyed the barhi dates I bought, 12lbs of them, and have eaten half the box. I would eat 25-30 every single day, sometimes more. I have not even wanted to touch them ever since I started feeling queasy. Nuts either - they're not a problem at all.
What IS a problem are other things...SAD things. Each day I have eaten some SAD - sometimes "healthy" but mostly not very healthy cooked food. But for the most part, 80% of the time or so, I have my normal raw food. Each day my challenge has been to make it 100% raw or as mostly raw as I can - last night we had tacos for dinner. I had EIGHT of them - but I was good, pretty much. I did use taco shells but the filling consisted of iceburg lettuce, a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, tomatoes, onions, salsa, and some mexican seasoning from the health food store, similar to what goes into the beef taco meat that the rest of my family had. Oh yes, and Picante' sauce - it was sooooooo good obviously, I ate 8. =) That felt much better on my tummy than the 3 chocolate chip cookies I had the night I almost blacked out.
I remember this feeling from my other pregnancies. Standing in front of the fridge, nothing sounds good, feeling queasy and knowing if I don't put some food into my mouth RIGHT NOW it's going to get steadily worse. Food is my worst enemy (every thought of it makes me feel sick) yet it is my best friend (each bite makes me feel better). I am so happy that I have made eating raw my new mindset - because it's what I've trained my mind to naturally turn to when I'm thinking, "What can I have?" instead of what I used to have when I was pregnant.
I feel the baby kicking alot still, and my stomach is definitely bigger than it was on Tuesday...but that could also be from multiple days in a row of eating some SAD. I'm sure there's some water retention from the salt, for example.
I've thought often about my heart's desire to be able to continue on and be a mommy/wife - not an invalid during the first few months of my pregnancy. I want so badly to BE THERE for my family and not have to depend on outside help! I realize there is a time and a place for that, but I just want it to be when/if I am truly at the very end of my rope, to use as a last resort. I know that if I eat right, then I am doing my part in helping God to grant that desire I have...and when I don't eat right, it's almost like He can't bless me in the way I really want. So that helps to realize that and keep that in front of me when I'm tempted to eat cooked.
So far it has worked wonders to keep some food in my stomach continuously - and I am conscious at the same time of mono-meals, I've tried very hard to stick with that. When I start feeling the slight nausea starting to kick in (a sign of more to come!) I drop what I'm doing and go eat something, instead of waiting until I finish this or that, or waiting until after I get the kids' lunch or whatever. It's been working really well, and for the most part, I feel that my energy is up & I've been able to carry on as normal.
Tomorrow is my DS's 6th birthday party after church at my MIL's house...DH will be in choir practice all day, so I'm solo-ing it. I have to go to the Party Depot with all five kids and pick up the balloons, then take them & the cake/presents over to my MIL's to decorate. I'm hoping I have enough strength...we're having a monster truck theme and DS is looking forward to it soooooooooooooooooooo much. It's such a cute age!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Day 3: Setback...reality hits!
Yesterday I did a REALLY dumb thing. I don't know what I was thinking...but I allowed myself to eat a bunch of crappy SAD stuff. Like sugar. From about 1:00 until 9:00pm that's all I had, and I started feeling really nauseous around 9pm. It made me sit up and really think. I know it's probably partly psychological because now I KNOW I'm pregnant and I'm "waiting" for the nausea to set in - or at least, bracing myself for it, but hoping it won't come. Duh, the ONLY thing that is going to possibly keep it from coming is eating fresh raw food!!
So I sat there and really prayed that God would give me this gift of not being nauseous this time - or at least, a minor case so that I can take care of my family like I want to. I don't have any help this time, no plans of it, and the last two babies I had full time help - every week day from 8-5:30 I had someone help with the kids, housework, errands, whatever I needed them to do as I was throwing up nonstop.
This time it is really on my heart to be here for my children, and not have them suffer from lack of momminess just because I've accepted another baby into our family. I want them to look back on these times of having babies as fun, special, and togetherness instead of me always telling them sorry, I don't feel very well.
In other words, if I want to give this gift to them, it has to be MY food choices that do it! What I eat directly affects them, in other words. So it was a real time of spiritual awakening for me in a way, realizing that I need God's help with this, to be strong and to really make good choices.
So I took them all to the market - it's so funny, we have to get two whole carts - the baby's seat fits in one while my 5 year old pushes her. My 2 year old DD sits in the front of my cart while I pile it high, I even had to carry an additional bag of apples plus push the cart. It was either that, or get THREE carts and that little market doesn't allow for much room.
I spent my normal $33 it usually costs, and came away with lots of carrots, 4 big canteloupes which we promptly at all three for lunch, apples, oranges, and they had their bin FULL of the overripe bananas they sell for 25 cents a pound. So I got three big bags of those - yum! The kids were so excited, it was really cute to see them. As soon as we got in the car they all wanted bananas and some wanted carrots - one carrot was over a foot long and my 4yr DS thought it was the perfect sword to eat. I love seeing them get excited over these fresh fruits & veggies - I'm really looking forward to summer when we can feast on lots of fresh fruits especially.
I'm looking at my grocery budget and evaluating a little bit. I see that if we have lots of fruit available, they're more apt to eat it. Especially, for now anyway, the fruits I can't seem to keep "in stock" are canteloupe, strawberries, kiwi, and grapes. I actually never buy grapes because they're so awful if not organic & we can't afford organic....but I guess my point is, if I divert some of our normal grocery funds to make sure we always have those fruits in the house....I'll bet they'll naturally eat those.
I've convinced them that the softer & lightly brown spots on bananas are "sugar". LOL. They really do taste sweeter - and they used to freak out when they saw those "yucky" spots. Now they smile and dig in...as long as it's not fermented, of course. I love how they're naturally leaning towards this way of eating, even though I'm not pushing it hard-core or forcing them to eat it.
This morning I have felt not myself at all, still kind of nauseous.....I had maybe 1/8 of a canteloupe last night and it settled my stomach right away. I didn't know if it would, because I've always heard, "eat melons alone, or leave them alone" and I know that SAD food was still sitting heavy in my stomach.
Juicing has been going well, I don't notice any difference but then, I haven't exactly been 100% either. I've had some pretty um....nasty concoctions though - I have to be careful with that, because I feel like my system is a little more delicate right now. I could throw up at any moment - I just never know what will trigger it, what will set it off, even though I was feeling completely fine earlier. So far, I'm feeling okay though.
So I sat there and really prayed that God would give me this gift of not being nauseous this time - or at least, a minor case so that I can take care of my family like I want to. I don't have any help this time, no plans of it, and the last two babies I had full time help - every week day from 8-5:30 I had someone help with the kids, housework, errands, whatever I needed them to do as I was throwing up nonstop.
This time it is really on my heart to be here for my children, and not have them suffer from lack of momminess just because I've accepted another baby into our family. I want them to look back on these times of having babies as fun, special, and togetherness instead of me always telling them sorry, I don't feel very well.
In other words, if I want to give this gift to them, it has to be MY food choices that do it! What I eat directly affects them, in other words. So it was a real time of spiritual awakening for me in a way, realizing that I need God's help with this, to be strong and to really make good choices.
So I took them all to the market - it's so funny, we have to get two whole carts - the baby's seat fits in one while my 5 year old pushes her. My 2 year old DD sits in the front of my cart while I pile it high, I even had to carry an additional bag of apples plus push the cart. It was either that, or get THREE carts and that little market doesn't allow for much room.
I spent my normal $33 it usually costs, and came away with lots of carrots, 4 big canteloupes which we promptly at all three for lunch, apples, oranges, and they had their bin FULL of the overripe bananas they sell for 25 cents a pound. So I got three big bags of those - yum! The kids were so excited, it was really cute to see them. As soon as we got in the car they all wanted bananas and some wanted carrots - one carrot was over a foot long and my 4yr DS thought it was the perfect sword to eat. I love seeing them get excited over these fresh fruits & veggies - I'm really looking forward to summer when we can feast on lots of fresh fruits especially.
I'm looking at my grocery budget and evaluating a little bit. I see that if we have lots of fruit available, they're more apt to eat it. Especially, for now anyway, the fruits I can't seem to keep "in stock" are canteloupe, strawberries, kiwi, and grapes. I actually never buy grapes because they're so awful if not organic & we can't afford organic....but I guess my point is, if I divert some of our normal grocery funds to make sure we always have those fruits in the house....I'll bet they'll naturally eat those.
I've convinced them that the softer & lightly brown spots on bananas are "sugar". LOL. They really do taste sweeter - and they used to freak out when they saw those "yucky" spots. Now they smile and dig in...as long as it's not fermented, of course. I love how they're naturally leaning towards this way of eating, even though I'm not pushing it hard-core or forcing them to eat it.
This morning I have felt not myself at all, still kind of nauseous.....I had maybe 1/8 of a canteloupe last night and it settled my stomach right away. I didn't know if it would, because I've always heard, "eat melons alone, or leave them alone" and I know that SAD food was still sitting heavy in my stomach.
Juicing has been going well, I don't notice any difference but then, I haven't exactly been 100% either. I've had some pretty um....nasty concoctions though - I have to be careful with that, because I feel like my system is a little more delicate right now. I could throw up at any moment - I just never know what will trigger it, what will set it off, even though I was feeling completely fine earlier. So far, I'm feeling okay though.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Day 1: A NEW Journey!
I'm starting my blog over on day 1 because today I turned a corner. I am on a different path than I was before! Yes, I am still seeking to be raw, which is turning out to be lower fat but not exclusively so - but the biggest thing is that I found out this morning I am pregnant for sure.
The past couple of weeks I have had alot of cramping - I usually have pretty "okay" periods and experience maybe a morning or day of light cramps before they start. I've had them for two weeks solid! That made me suspect that maybe I'm pregnant, and also the fact that I can't remember when my last period was. I think it was in January for sure, and possibly in early February but I honestly don't know. I remember when we went to Arizona around March 20th or so, I felt a little light cramping and thought I might be starting my period - so it had been over a month at that point, I think.
Also, and this is the weirdest thing - I swear I've been feeling kicking! That is so strange because if that is true then I am at least 3 months along - so probably not - but I've never had THAT before when I thought I was pregnant. Makes me very curious as to how far along I am? The baby will most likely have a November or December due date.
As a side note, we were talking to our tax consultant who did pre-tax planning with us for 2007. We don't want to be owing money when we file in 2008 (been there, done that, NOT fun when it's in the thousands!!) and he said we're a little bit deficient but if we set aside like $65 a month we should be OK. I asked him about having another baby in 2007, if that would help, and he laughed and said yes - if we have another child in 2007 we'd end up getting about $1,000 BACK instead of owing it! Too funny...looks like it might happen after all, depending on how far along I am. We might just miss it and have a January baby...who knows.
So I've taken like SIX pregnancy tests since then (I buy the cheapo ones in bulk from Ebay for like $5 for 20 tests, it's really nice not having to pay $8 for each one at the store!) and they've been really weak. Like a waveringly light 2nd line, super annoying! My mom always told me (she had 12 pregnancies and 11 were full-term) that if there is a 2nd line, even if it's light, it's a positive. If the hormone is NOT in your body, it will NOT make the 2nd line appear at all.
This morning I decided to get smart and take it first thing in the morning, when the hormone is most present - and yes, two very strong lines appeared. I wasn't really surprised, mostly relieved to have confirmation. I hate not knowing!
So I mentioned that this is my 2nd raw pregnancy. It kind of is, but not completely. My first raw pregnancy was last August and I was 100% raw from day one, I figure that the baby was conceived around day #5 of being raw. I was completely faithful to that because I was hoping that while eating this way I would not gain 50lbs like I have done with every single one of my previous five pregnancies, and also I usually get horribly sick for three long, lonely, solid months on SAD. I actually lost 9lbs - I was elated! I always gain at a rapid rate even though I'm not keeping anything down except for random yucky SAD stuff like saltine crackers, ice-cream, Taco Bell.
I also did NOT get sick with my last pregnancy! I had some days that I felt nauseous, for about 3 weeks but it was light though, and then it went away and I felt SO fabulous!! I was on top of the world with lots of energy. Then I miscarried after about 2 1/2 months - in October. That made me tumble right off the path in a BIG way - and ever since then it's been a struggle.
So here's the thing. Was I not sick because of eating raw? Or because the pregnancy was faulty from the beginning, and the point that I started feeling better is when the baby stopped thriving? This is what I want to find out as I compare these two pregnancies.
I'm fairly confident that this pregnancy will not turn out in a miscarriage - I don't think that eating raw caused that. I believe, actually, that eating raw gave the baby the best fighting chance it had. I'm excited to share this journey with you!
That being said - here's how I feel now. I've been raw for the most part since I started this journal - like what, a month? I've had a few days of eating SAD, and most recently went 7 days 100%, then ate some chips, and then yesterday I had some chips, Easter chocolate, and nachos. I didn't feel well last night, mostly just an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach from that heavy food. Today marks day 1 of being 100% for this pregnancy!!! I really feel that this is going to give me the extra push towards staying raw, mostly out of fear of gaining weight and getting sick, LOL! But I am always so excited to see how I FEEL while being pregnant and raw.
It's soooooooooooooooo awesome, I can't even tell you, to not dread the pregnancy before me. Knowing that I don't have to deal with getting rather large rather quickly and then carrying that weight all the time while trying to be a mommy and doing all the many, many busy things that are required. I remember one time around six months, that every step felt so heavy as I cleaned the house for the millionth time. I look forward to a light pregnancy free of being sick and also a wonderful birth. I always get an epidural, that's like my "thing" and this time I am very much looking forward to a natural birth. I understand alot more about medicine and what it does to the body - medicine can be a good thing, but not when it's not actually imperative, you know?
So I've been experimenting with juicing each morning. The first thing I do in the morning for the past 3 days (haven't done it yet today, I better get on it because I'm getting hungry!) is get to work on my juicing - I try to aim at the end results being between 22 & 32oz. of juice each time. I've been alternating between these things (this comes from a raw book I have & love called Your Right to be Beautiful by Tonya Zavasta):
Carrots: Rich in potassium. Potassium helps prevent muscles from sagging and wipes away the tired and washed-out look from the face. Carrots contain a great amount of the plant form of Vitamin A that assists the liver in removing toxins from the body. Adding raw carrots to your juice will also aid in eliminating heavy metals from the body. In addition, carrot juice is a solution to almost all skin problems, and it will greatly improve your complexion.
Beets are a good blood builder and an excellent source of calcium, iron, magnesium, and selenium. Tonya says, "I truly believe I don't have bags under my eyes because of the cleansing effect that beet juice has on the liver and kidneys.
Cucumber is a good source of calcium , magnesium, and sulfer (beauty material), along with some vitamin E and C. Adding a cucumber to your juice will do wonders for your complexion.
Cabbage is a source of vitamins A, C, and D, along with potassium, calcium, selenium, zinc, and iron. Cabbage assists in digestion and is wonderful in preventing and healing ulcers.
Broccoli is high in chromium. Adding broccoli every day to your juice helps fight sugar addiction. Chromium optimizes insulin activity and puts the breaks on rapid aging.
Celery is a source of potassium, sodium, sulfur, and vitamins A, B, and C. Celery is a natural diuretic and laxative and can be used to discourage water retention, greatly improving your appearance.
I also ordered "Raw Vegetable Juices" by Norman Walker at the library, and just got notified that it's ready for pickup. I'm looking forward to reading that.
One of the things I'm not too sure on with pregnancy on raw, is the prenatal vitamins. I've heard there are good, natural ones - but is it truly necessary? Am I getting the nutrients I need from the fruits & vegetables & greens, or is our soil depleted so much that these things are no longer in our natural food? Jinjee Talefero is THE person who turned me on to raw because of her flat stomach just 10 days after she had baby #4. That was incredible for me to see - and I know she did not take any vitamins (she wrote an ebook on her raw pregnancy, highly recommended!) BUT they're also big on having their own garden way out in the wilderness where they live. Definitely superior to the Farmer's Market food I get.
Off to juice! =)
The past couple of weeks I have had alot of cramping - I usually have pretty "okay" periods and experience maybe a morning or day of light cramps before they start. I've had them for two weeks solid! That made me suspect that maybe I'm pregnant, and also the fact that I can't remember when my last period was. I think it was in January for sure, and possibly in early February but I honestly don't know. I remember when we went to Arizona around March 20th or so, I felt a little light cramping and thought I might be starting my period - so it had been over a month at that point, I think.
Also, and this is the weirdest thing - I swear I've been feeling kicking! That is so strange because if that is true then I am at least 3 months along - so probably not - but I've never had THAT before when I thought I was pregnant. Makes me very curious as to how far along I am? The baby will most likely have a November or December due date.
As a side note, we were talking to our tax consultant who did pre-tax planning with us for 2007. We don't want to be owing money when we file in 2008 (been there, done that, NOT fun when it's in the thousands!!) and he said we're a little bit deficient but if we set aside like $65 a month we should be OK. I asked him about having another baby in 2007, if that would help, and he laughed and said yes - if we have another child in 2007 we'd end up getting about $1,000 BACK instead of owing it! Too funny...looks like it might happen after all, depending on how far along I am. We might just miss it and have a January baby...who knows.
So I've taken like SIX pregnancy tests since then (I buy the cheapo ones in bulk from Ebay for like $5 for 20 tests, it's really nice not having to pay $8 for each one at the store!) and they've been really weak. Like a waveringly light 2nd line, super annoying! My mom always told me (she had 12 pregnancies and 11 were full-term) that if there is a 2nd line, even if it's light, it's a positive. If the hormone is NOT in your body, it will NOT make the 2nd line appear at all.
This morning I decided to get smart and take it first thing in the morning, when the hormone is most present - and yes, two very strong lines appeared. I wasn't really surprised, mostly relieved to have confirmation. I hate not knowing!
So I mentioned that this is my 2nd raw pregnancy. It kind of is, but not completely. My first raw pregnancy was last August and I was 100% raw from day one, I figure that the baby was conceived around day #5 of being raw. I was completely faithful to that because I was hoping that while eating this way I would not gain 50lbs like I have done with every single one of my previous five pregnancies, and also I usually get horribly sick for three long, lonely, solid months on SAD. I actually lost 9lbs - I was elated! I always gain at a rapid rate even though I'm not keeping anything down except for random yucky SAD stuff like saltine crackers, ice-cream, Taco Bell.
I also did NOT get sick with my last pregnancy! I had some days that I felt nauseous, for about 3 weeks but it was light though, and then it went away and I felt SO fabulous!! I was on top of the world with lots of energy. Then I miscarried after about 2 1/2 months - in October. That made me tumble right off the path in a BIG way - and ever since then it's been a struggle.
So here's the thing. Was I not sick because of eating raw? Or because the pregnancy was faulty from the beginning, and the point that I started feeling better is when the baby stopped thriving? This is what I want to find out as I compare these two pregnancies.
I'm fairly confident that this pregnancy will not turn out in a miscarriage - I don't think that eating raw caused that. I believe, actually, that eating raw gave the baby the best fighting chance it had. I'm excited to share this journey with you!
That being said - here's how I feel now. I've been raw for the most part since I started this journal - like what, a month? I've had a few days of eating SAD, and most recently went 7 days 100%, then ate some chips, and then yesterday I had some chips, Easter chocolate, and nachos. I didn't feel well last night, mostly just an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach from that heavy food. Today marks day 1 of being 100% for this pregnancy!!! I really feel that this is going to give me the extra push towards staying raw, mostly out of fear of gaining weight and getting sick, LOL! But I am always so excited to see how I FEEL while being pregnant and raw.
It's soooooooooooooooo awesome, I can't even tell you, to not dread the pregnancy before me. Knowing that I don't have to deal with getting rather large rather quickly and then carrying that weight all the time while trying to be a mommy and doing all the many, many busy things that are required. I remember one time around six months, that every step felt so heavy as I cleaned the house for the millionth time. I look forward to a light pregnancy free of being sick and also a wonderful birth. I always get an epidural, that's like my "thing" and this time I am very much looking forward to a natural birth. I understand alot more about medicine and what it does to the body - medicine can be a good thing, but not when it's not actually imperative, you know?
So I've been experimenting with juicing each morning. The first thing I do in the morning for the past 3 days (haven't done it yet today, I better get on it because I'm getting hungry!) is get to work on my juicing - I try to aim at the end results being between 22 & 32oz. of juice each time. I've been alternating between these things (this comes from a raw book I have & love called Your Right to be Beautiful by Tonya Zavasta):
Carrots: Rich in potassium. Potassium helps prevent muscles from sagging and wipes away the tired and washed-out look from the face. Carrots contain a great amount of the plant form of Vitamin A that assists the liver in removing toxins from the body. Adding raw carrots to your juice will also aid in eliminating heavy metals from the body. In addition, carrot juice is a solution to almost all skin problems, and it will greatly improve your complexion.
Beets are a good blood builder and an excellent source of calcium, iron, magnesium, and selenium. Tonya says, "I truly believe I don't have bags under my eyes because of the cleansing effect that beet juice has on the liver and kidneys.
Cucumber is a good source of calcium , magnesium, and sulfer (beauty material), along with some vitamin E and C. Adding a cucumber to your juice will do wonders for your complexion.
Cabbage is a source of vitamins A, C, and D, along with potassium, calcium, selenium, zinc, and iron. Cabbage assists in digestion and is wonderful in preventing and healing ulcers.
Broccoli is high in chromium. Adding broccoli every day to your juice helps fight sugar addiction. Chromium optimizes insulin activity and puts the breaks on rapid aging.
Celery is a source of potassium, sodium, sulfur, and vitamins A, B, and C. Celery is a natural diuretic and laxative and can be used to discourage water retention, greatly improving your appearance.
I also ordered "Raw Vegetable Juices" by Norman Walker at the library, and just got notified that it's ready for pickup. I'm looking forward to reading that.
One of the things I'm not too sure on with pregnancy on raw, is the prenatal vitamins. I've heard there are good, natural ones - but is it truly necessary? Am I getting the nutrients I need from the fruits & vegetables & greens, or is our soil depleted so much that these things are no longer in our natural food? Jinjee Talefero is THE person who turned me on to raw because of her flat stomach just 10 days after she had baby #4. That was incredible for me to see - and I know she did not take any vitamins (she wrote an ebook on her raw pregnancy, highly recommended!) BUT they're also big on having their own garden way out in the wilderness where they live. Definitely superior to the Farmer's Market food I get.
Off to juice! =)
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Day 26: Floating Along
It's so weird, I really do feel like I'm floating along in a peaceful serene lifestyle. I don't know why it's been so easy for me to stay raw compared to before, but I'm hoping it lasts a good long while! Tonight I made some cheese biscuits for the family and those usually get me almost every time. Add some garlic and I am just about rendered helpless. Not tonight though - I actually ate like 5 oranges for dinner as the rest of the family had their meal. It felt wonderful! They DID smell good, and I WAS tempted - but just for a tiny second. The thought of what I feel like after I eat them, not physically but emotionally, was enough to definitely deter me.
And this is very cool. I had NO extra fat today! It is the very first time since I attempted 80-10-10 or to even eat raw period, that I've never had any nuts or avocados or UDO's or anything. And by the way, I did buy a big thing of UDO's oil but I just can't bring myself to take it just yet. I need a little more convincing that putting that stuff into my body is actually going to help me, not oversaturate with dead stuff. I need to do more research, just haven't had a chance. My computer is insanely slow, to the point where it truly does drive me to nailbiting (or pen gnawing!) in sheer exasperation........it should NOT take one full minute to load one measly internet page! Like Ebay even - geez, that is a BIG site and should not be slow. So I know it's just my computer.
I think once I gave myself free reign to have as much fat as I wanted, I kind of settled down and for some reason I'm not craving it. Oh, I know what it was. Yesterday at around 1pm I was getting hungry for my next meal and those pistachios sounded sooo good! So I ate maybe 1 1/2 cups of them. Yeah I know, totally dumb, and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I could even feel little painful twinges as I was eating them. It reminded me of when I got braces when I was 16 and the tender inside of my mouth flipped out. I got sores all over and had to cake wax onto my braces just to wean it slowly at toughen the inside of my mouth. Finally, it didn't affect me at all. It felt like that - my stomach does not like those nuts, it's too tender or something.
I waited a good 3 hours before I ate anything else, hopefully they were more digested by then. I've been leaning towards mono meals so much, just naturally! No effort. And bananas are starting to smell and taste really good. So like today, I had about 1/2lb of carrots & 1 1/2 apples juiced for breakfast. Then about 3/4 of a vitamix full of spinach, apples, & bananas made into a smoothie. Hours later, 5 bananas. Hours later, 5 oranges. Now I'm finishing up with 15 dates and I think I'm done for the day. I feel great!
Oh yes, last night I had to go buy a TV from www.craigslist.com because I put the child lock on ours and our remote has been missing for over a year. The only way to unlock it is with your own remote with it's special code that you made up. So that was a dumb mistake - I was trying to take the subtitles off and obviously pushed the wrong button. So anyway. We got a 27" which is a step up from our 22", and the guy I bought it from was really overweight and huffed & puffed, sweating and you could tell it was hard for him to put it into my car.
When I got home there I was, five children surrounding me, ages 7 & under. LOL. Not likely they were going to be of much help! So I bravely tried it and guess what? It wasn't that much of an effort! Yes it was very heavy and I felt like I probably wouldn't have been able to carry it if it was even 10lbs more, but I walked steadily and solidly over to the stand, and put it on. There, wiped hands, done. Not even breathing heavy or panting or sweating! Kind of cool - I felt like I was in good shape due to that comparison, especially since me being the girl, I'm not really supposed to be the one with the muscles and all, right? Men are supposed to be the strong ones, the heros. =)
And this is very cool. I had NO extra fat today! It is the very first time since I attempted 80-10-10 or to even eat raw period, that I've never had any nuts or avocados or UDO's or anything. And by the way, I did buy a big thing of UDO's oil but I just can't bring myself to take it just yet. I need a little more convincing that putting that stuff into my body is actually going to help me, not oversaturate with dead stuff. I need to do more research, just haven't had a chance. My computer is insanely slow, to the point where it truly does drive me to nailbiting (or pen gnawing!) in sheer exasperation........it should NOT take one full minute to load one measly internet page! Like Ebay even - geez, that is a BIG site and should not be slow. So I know it's just my computer.
I think once I gave myself free reign to have as much fat as I wanted, I kind of settled down and for some reason I'm not craving it. Oh, I know what it was. Yesterday at around 1pm I was getting hungry for my next meal and those pistachios sounded sooo good! So I ate maybe 1 1/2 cups of them. Yeah I know, totally dumb, and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I could even feel little painful twinges as I was eating them. It reminded me of when I got braces when I was 16 and the tender inside of my mouth flipped out. I got sores all over and had to cake wax onto my braces just to wean it slowly at toughen the inside of my mouth. Finally, it didn't affect me at all. It felt like that - my stomach does not like those nuts, it's too tender or something.
I waited a good 3 hours before I ate anything else, hopefully they were more digested by then. I've been leaning towards mono meals so much, just naturally! No effort. And bananas are starting to smell and taste really good. So like today, I had about 1/2lb of carrots & 1 1/2 apples juiced for breakfast. Then about 3/4 of a vitamix full of spinach, apples, & bananas made into a smoothie. Hours later, 5 bananas. Hours later, 5 oranges. Now I'm finishing up with 15 dates and I think I'm done for the day. I feel great!
Oh yes, last night I had to go buy a TV from www.craigslist.com because I put the child lock on ours and our remote has been missing for over a year. The only way to unlock it is with your own remote with it's special code that you made up. So that was a dumb mistake - I was trying to take the subtitles off and obviously pushed the wrong button. So anyway. We got a 27" which is a step up from our 22", and the guy I bought it from was really overweight and huffed & puffed, sweating and you could tell it was hard for him to put it into my car.
When I got home there I was, five children surrounding me, ages 7 & under. LOL. Not likely they were going to be of much help! So I bravely tried it and guess what? It wasn't that much of an effort! Yes it was very heavy and I felt like I probably wouldn't have been able to carry it if it was even 10lbs more, but I walked steadily and solidly over to the stand, and put it on. There, wiped hands, done. Not even breathing heavy or panting or sweating! Kind of cool - I felt like I was in good shape due to that comparison, especially since me being the girl, I'm not really supposed to be the one with the muscles and all, right? Men are supposed to be the strong ones, the heros. =)
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Day 24: It Takes Time
I've been thinking alot about what you said, Sarah, that it took you six years to get to the point where you are now. Where you've been able to accept and embrace being 100% raw with 80/10/10 - and it seems to be easy for you. 811 is pretty much a huge step from the normal thinking of eating anything and everything in whatever combinations, as long as it's raw. I think I'm getting there, though. Not there, but getting there.
I have only even known about being raw since July of 2006, and I think looking back, I have made tremendous leaps & bounds of progress compared to how I was eating before. I would seriously eat a half a batch of brownies almost every day as I knew I was going to "diet" soon and wouldn't be able to. Which now, even in my cooked food binges, I couldn't bring myself to do to my body, same as eating meat. Even though it sounded good and I wished I could eat it, something blocked my mind and said, "No."
I realized last night that all I've been doing since attempting 80/10/10 was read Sarah's and Harmony's blogs, and a little of Dr. D's forum. It's verrrrry slow for my computer to read his forum so I am not able to read as quickly as I'd like. Since reevaluating WHY it is that I just can't seem to stay raw, I've been researching and reading forums like mad. This has helped me SO much!! To really get a grasp of the wealth of knowledge available and learn from others who have been there, done that has been so eye-opening for me. I feel like a kid in a candy store, not sure what method to try next! Yet knowing that I want to narrow it down to mono-eating and/or juicing.
The low-fat concept makes complete sense to me, yet right now I feel constricted if I tell myself "only THIS much, no more" because then I automatically trigger some kind of rebellion and all day I'm fighting this urge to eat more. At which point I give in, then feel really guilty and like I've messed up - and I've only eat maybe 1oz. more of an avocado than I should have! I don't think it's very healthy to beat myself up so much when I've still been 100% raw.
I don't know why, but staying 100% for the past 3 days, now coming into my 4th, has seemed almost effortless for me. I let go of some kind of high expectation of myself - and somehow that released me out of this vicious cycle. I have purposely not entered my food into a log or put it into this blog because I honestly don't really want to think about it so much. I feel like I've been blissfully floating along enjoying whatever meal I happen to have, trying to keep it mono if possible. It's just been nice not having to strain myself and think okay, am I getting enough calories? What is my fat ratio for today? OMG it's at 12% I've FAILED today!
Such a learning experience! Here's one. Last night I had about 5 smallish bananas at 5pm. Then I didn't eat for quite some time as I have several sick kiddos who kept needing me, and I was dealing with putting them all to bed (loooooong process with many "I'm hungry/I need a drink/He's teasing me/I got hurt" interruptions) because DH was gone. I needed to get a bunch of packages ready so I could schedule a Postal pickup for today (has to be scheduled online by 1am CST for the next day), and take a shower so that when DH came home I could run to the store and be home in bed by a decent hour.
So I waited too long to eat. Finally at 10pm I was shaky and so hungry that certain things started appearing in my senses, like I could almost "taste" pistachios and dates! I ate about 14 scrumptious dates, then maybe 3/4 cup of pistachios. That combination is...well, not that great LOL. I ate nothing else for the rest of the night and stayed up until midnight - and my stomach was not really churning, but definitely unsettled. It stayed that way through the night and is STILL that way now, at almost 8am! I have about 12 organic oranges I bought on Sunday and I think I'm going to eat just those today, until they're gone. Then maybe some greens in a smoothie tonight.
By the way - does anyone know what Dr. D says about green smoothies as opposed to green salads? I love how I can mix one fruit & 20oz. of water with a whole head of greens, and drink that as my meal - it's very filling, easy on the stomach, and doesn't require me to sit for 20 minutes and chew on a salad. Which usually leaves me still hungry. The only thing is I don't "chew" the smoothie - it goes straight down my throat with no saliva mixed in, although I do swish every once in a while in my mouth before swallowing. Sometimes my throat feels a little bit raw afterwards.
Harmony you're inspiring me to eat mono! The dates & nuts mixed together just didn't settle right. Actually it probably would've been okay if I would have not eaten so many nuts, I think.
Oh yes! I also wanted to add that the feeling of peace and serenity in my life is back. I think half of it is probably from knowing I'm doing the right thing and that I'm back on track without that fierce tug-of-war and beating myself up all the time. But also - I remember this feeling from when I was raw before, back in August. It's one of the things I can say for SURE is a change in my "feeling" in my body. I feel very happy, and am able to laugh with the children in true joy just to be with them, not feeling irritated or frustrated alot of the time. Kids can really demand alot of you, and when you're feeling anything negative it can easily be magnified when they aren't in the best of moods.
So all the to say I'm very happy right now! I love that feeing. =)
I have only even known about being raw since July of 2006, and I think looking back, I have made tremendous leaps & bounds of progress compared to how I was eating before. I would seriously eat a half a batch of brownies almost every day as I knew I was going to "diet" soon and wouldn't be able to. Which now, even in my cooked food binges, I couldn't bring myself to do to my body, same as eating meat. Even though it sounded good and I wished I could eat it, something blocked my mind and said, "No."
I realized last night that all I've been doing since attempting 80/10/10 was read Sarah's and Harmony's blogs, and a little of Dr. D's forum. It's verrrrry slow for my computer to read his forum so I am not able to read as quickly as I'd like. Since reevaluating WHY it is that I just can't seem to stay raw, I've been researching and reading forums like mad. This has helped me SO much!! To really get a grasp of the wealth of knowledge available and learn from others who have been there, done that has been so eye-opening for me. I feel like a kid in a candy store, not sure what method to try next! Yet knowing that I want to narrow it down to mono-eating and/or juicing.
The low-fat concept makes complete sense to me, yet right now I feel constricted if I tell myself "only THIS much, no more" because then I automatically trigger some kind of rebellion and all day I'm fighting this urge to eat more. At which point I give in, then feel really guilty and like I've messed up - and I've only eat maybe 1oz. more of an avocado than I should have! I don't think it's very healthy to beat myself up so much when I've still been 100% raw.
I don't know why, but staying 100% for the past 3 days, now coming into my 4th, has seemed almost effortless for me. I let go of some kind of high expectation of myself - and somehow that released me out of this vicious cycle. I have purposely not entered my food into a log or put it into this blog because I honestly don't really want to think about it so much. I feel like I've been blissfully floating along enjoying whatever meal I happen to have, trying to keep it mono if possible. It's just been nice not having to strain myself and think okay, am I getting enough calories? What is my fat ratio for today? OMG it's at 12% I've FAILED today!
Such a learning experience! Here's one. Last night I had about 5 smallish bananas at 5pm. Then I didn't eat for quite some time as I have several sick kiddos who kept needing me, and I was dealing with putting them all to bed (loooooong process with many "I'm hungry/I need a drink/He's teasing me/I got hurt" interruptions) because DH was gone. I needed to get a bunch of packages ready so I could schedule a Postal pickup for today (has to be scheduled online by 1am CST for the next day), and take a shower so that when DH came home I could run to the store and be home in bed by a decent hour.
So I waited too long to eat. Finally at 10pm I was shaky and so hungry that certain things started appearing in my senses, like I could almost "taste" pistachios and dates! I ate about 14 scrumptious dates, then maybe 3/4 cup of pistachios. That combination is...well, not that great LOL. I ate nothing else for the rest of the night and stayed up until midnight - and my stomach was not really churning, but definitely unsettled. It stayed that way through the night and is STILL that way now, at almost 8am! I have about 12 organic oranges I bought on Sunday and I think I'm going to eat just those today, until they're gone. Then maybe some greens in a smoothie tonight.
By the way - does anyone know what Dr. D says about green smoothies as opposed to green salads? I love how I can mix one fruit & 20oz. of water with a whole head of greens, and drink that as my meal - it's very filling, easy on the stomach, and doesn't require me to sit for 20 minutes and chew on a salad. Which usually leaves me still hungry. The only thing is I don't "chew" the smoothie - it goes straight down my throat with no saliva mixed in, although I do swish every once in a while in my mouth before swallowing. Sometimes my throat feels a little bit raw afterwards.
Harmony you're inspiring me to eat mono! The dates & nuts mixed together just didn't settle right. Actually it probably would've been okay if I would have not eaten so many nuts, I think.
Oh yes! I also wanted to add that the feeling of peace and serenity in my life is back. I think half of it is probably from knowing I'm doing the right thing and that I'm back on track without that fierce tug-of-war and beating myself up all the time. But also - I remember this feeling from when I was raw before, back in August. It's one of the things I can say for SURE is a change in my "feeling" in my body. I feel very happy, and am able to laugh with the children in true joy just to be with them, not feeling irritated or frustrated alot of the time. Kids can really demand alot of you, and when you're feeling anything negative it can easily be magnified when they aren't in the best of moods.
So all the to say I'm very happy right now! I love that feeing. =)
Monday, April 02, 2007
Day 23: This Sums it Up
I read THE best post last night from a raw foodist on a forum. It explains exactly what the journey looks like through raw, and this is where I think I'm coming from. I've been thinking and searching, like I wrote before, and I think what it is - is that I tried to do 80-10-10 too soon. It's something that I need to evolve into (I also realized I do need to read the book before judging it to be for me or not) after being 100% raw for some time. I won't explain anymore, just read what this person wrote - I love it!
http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/read.php?2,36766,36794#msg-36794
"I must caution you that when I first started eating raw foods, I would not have been able to thrive or be happy on such a diet (80-10-10). My body has gone through many adaptations and healing to be able to enjoy and love this style of eating, though in the beginning of my transition I definitely wanted more fats, more heaviness in my stomach, and more taste stimulation than the simple whole foods I eat now. If I were to go back to my old self and old body at the beginning of my raw journey, it would seem like there is no way to get from where I was to where I am today. Certainly no book or no person could tell me the route that would get me there.
Here are a few tips of what worked for me.
The first thing is to accept where I was. I started from eating SAD, and my body was used to getting a large portion of its energy from meats and fats. So when I started eating raw, I was naturally drawn to eating a lot of fats. This worked for a while, but my body was very gaunt and my face was gaunt and I always had dark circles under my eyes. Fortunately for me I happened to hear Doug Graham speak at a raw festival and this opened my eyes to how much fat I was eating. When I checked my fat intake on the nutritional calculator, I was eating 60% to 80% fat. When I lowered my fat intake, my healing on the raw diet accelerated.
There were times where I didn't accept where I was. I had some non-acceptance of my body's needs in the early days around fat. After hearing Graham speak, I put myself on a 10% fat diet. I kept myself there for perhaps 6 months, but I was not so comfortable with it during the cold season. So I let go of the 10% fat goal, and ate all the fat I wanted. Well, it turned out that 20% was enough fat to keep me happy. And after a few years of staying at 20%, I found my desire fell to 10% at some point and it goes even lower at times, even during the winter.
Our bodies are constantly adapting to the current diet we are eating. If we are eating a cleaner diet than before, this prompts the body to cleanse itself and heal itself to the current diet. After that happens, it is possible to stretch the diet even cleaner or simpler and this starts another process of cleansing and healing. This process of moving the body towards healing can be easeful and enjoyable, or it can be harsh and difficult. Being easeful and enjoyable means taking small enough steps such that the shifts the body needs to make don't upset your balance and homestasis in the body. Taking large steps can result in the body needing to have some downtime to make the adjustments to the new diet.
Another tip I offer is to listen to your body. Because at any given point in time, the body's needs are going to be different, especially if the body is constantly cleansing and healing itself. This means that what you can eat changes over time on the raw diet, and your body will guide you there, if you can bring yourself to listen to what it is saying. Listening to the body seems easy and intuitively obvious, except for the fact that there is a mind involved, and the mind has its own agenda and messages and habit patterns that need to be addressed. Our minds are used to seeing and understanding how systems work, and then treating these systems as if they were machines or automata that will always behave this way.
In general, this works pretty well, except that on this raw journey, the body is constantly changing and adapting as you improve your diet, so the body you had yesterday is not necessarily the same as the body you have today. It takes having a flexible mind rather than an open mind to adapt to what's in front of you today rather than working from your memory of yesterday.
And at any point in time, the body knows what it needs, where as the mind thinks it knows. There is a big difference between the two of these. When the desire comes up for a Snickers candy bar, is it the body letting you know of a need, or is it the mind going through some kind of emotional release and needing some food for comfort or emotional relief? There is no easy answer for this but to try a solution and see if it works. If a solution works, this means you are happy with the consequences of your actions. It if doesn't work, try a different solution the next time and continue changing your response until you get a working solution.
Another tip I offer is there are going to be mistakes, and how you handle your mistakes will determine whether you thrive on this diet or whether you end up going back to your old diet. Mistakes are opportunities to learn something new via personal experience. If you see them in this way, your mistakes will move your towards thriving on the diet.
Many people use mistakes as a reason to judge and criticize themselves, to increase the pain around some consequences of an action or choice that didn't work. When I put myself prematurely on a 10% fat diet, and my body/mind wasn't ready to eat that little fat, I could have judged myself for being so stupid as to make myself uncomfortable and not happy around what I was eating, or I could change my approach. You would be surprised how many people opt for the judgment approach to dealing with their mistakes, and then give up because the pain is too great."
THAT was incredible. It really opened my eyes to the process that this is, especially where the body is always changing, adapting, and it is different than it was tomorrow. All my life I've been searching for "the" diet to get me down to the size I want to be, then I'll kinda' sorta' follow it, maintaining. But this is really a for life process. Every step I take is either backwards or forwards. There is no in-between, no coasting.
On another note, yesterday I had quite a fair share of nuts, no avo's, and this morning I was down 2lbs! That's very interesting - also to see how quickly I shed those 5lbs I'd gained just by going 100% raw and sticking to it...it must've been alot of water weight too.
So I ate maybe 30 dates yesterday, about a cup of pistachios, a big smoothie with a whole head of spinach, 3 bananas, and 2 apples, 4 bananas, and that pretty much filled me up for most of the day. I sure do love my dates, though - they are definitely falling into the category of comfort food. Which I'll probably deal with another time, but for now I'm just glad it's not chips or fried stuff!
My stomach feels flatter and the mirror tells me I'm going down in size again, not more than before, just undoing the slipups I've had in the past week. I'm thinking about possibly juicing once per day, probably in the morning. Matt Monarch who wrote Raw Spirit recommends a book by Norman Walker, who lived to be 118 years old and even then, died from an accident. He juiced every single day, and also had colonics done on a regular basis. Have you ever done that? I'm curious about it, although DH would probably think I was absolutely insane if I told him I wanted to get one, and also PAY for someone to do that to me. LOL! Very interesting stuff! But anyway, the point is - Norman Walker was doing something right so I interested in getting his book, "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices".
http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/read.php?2,36766,36794#msg-36794
"I must caution you that when I first started eating raw foods, I would not have been able to thrive or be happy on such a diet (80-10-10). My body has gone through many adaptations and healing to be able to enjoy and love this style of eating, though in the beginning of my transition I definitely wanted more fats, more heaviness in my stomach, and more taste stimulation than the simple whole foods I eat now. If I were to go back to my old self and old body at the beginning of my raw journey, it would seem like there is no way to get from where I was to where I am today. Certainly no book or no person could tell me the route that would get me there.
Here are a few tips of what worked for me.
The first thing is to accept where I was. I started from eating SAD, and my body was used to getting a large portion of its energy from meats and fats. So when I started eating raw, I was naturally drawn to eating a lot of fats. This worked for a while, but my body was very gaunt and my face was gaunt and I always had dark circles under my eyes. Fortunately for me I happened to hear Doug Graham speak at a raw festival and this opened my eyes to how much fat I was eating. When I checked my fat intake on the nutritional calculator, I was eating 60% to 80% fat. When I lowered my fat intake, my healing on the raw diet accelerated.
There were times where I didn't accept where I was. I had some non-acceptance of my body's needs in the early days around fat. After hearing Graham speak, I put myself on a 10% fat diet. I kept myself there for perhaps 6 months, but I was not so comfortable with it during the cold season. So I let go of the 10% fat goal, and ate all the fat I wanted. Well, it turned out that 20% was enough fat to keep me happy. And after a few years of staying at 20%, I found my desire fell to 10% at some point and it goes even lower at times, even during the winter.
Our bodies are constantly adapting to the current diet we are eating. If we are eating a cleaner diet than before, this prompts the body to cleanse itself and heal itself to the current diet. After that happens, it is possible to stretch the diet even cleaner or simpler and this starts another process of cleansing and healing. This process of moving the body towards healing can be easeful and enjoyable, or it can be harsh and difficult. Being easeful and enjoyable means taking small enough steps such that the shifts the body needs to make don't upset your balance and homestasis in the body. Taking large steps can result in the body needing to have some downtime to make the adjustments to the new diet.
Another tip I offer is to listen to your body. Because at any given point in time, the body's needs are going to be different, especially if the body is constantly cleansing and healing itself. This means that what you can eat changes over time on the raw diet, and your body will guide you there, if you can bring yourself to listen to what it is saying. Listening to the body seems easy and intuitively obvious, except for the fact that there is a mind involved, and the mind has its own agenda and messages and habit patterns that need to be addressed. Our minds are used to seeing and understanding how systems work, and then treating these systems as if they were machines or automata that will always behave this way.
In general, this works pretty well, except that on this raw journey, the body is constantly changing and adapting as you improve your diet, so the body you had yesterday is not necessarily the same as the body you have today. It takes having a flexible mind rather than an open mind to adapt to what's in front of you today rather than working from your memory of yesterday.
And at any point in time, the body knows what it needs, where as the mind thinks it knows. There is a big difference between the two of these. When the desire comes up for a Snickers candy bar, is it the body letting you know of a need, or is it the mind going through some kind of emotional release and needing some food for comfort or emotional relief? There is no easy answer for this but to try a solution and see if it works. If a solution works, this means you are happy with the consequences of your actions. It if doesn't work, try a different solution the next time and continue changing your response until you get a working solution.
Another tip I offer is there are going to be mistakes, and how you handle your mistakes will determine whether you thrive on this diet or whether you end up going back to your old diet. Mistakes are opportunities to learn something new via personal experience. If you see them in this way, your mistakes will move your towards thriving on the diet.
Many people use mistakes as a reason to judge and criticize themselves, to increase the pain around some consequences of an action or choice that didn't work. When I put myself prematurely on a 10% fat diet, and my body/mind wasn't ready to eat that little fat, I could have judged myself for being so stupid as to make myself uncomfortable and not happy around what I was eating, or I could change my approach. You would be surprised how many people opt for the judgment approach to dealing with their mistakes, and then give up because the pain is too great."
THAT was incredible. It really opened my eyes to the process that this is, especially where the body is always changing, adapting, and it is different than it was tomorrow. All my life I've been searching for "the" diet to get me down to the size I want to be, then I'll kinda' sorta' follow it, maintaining. But this is really a for life process. Every step I take is either backwards or forwards. There is no in-between, no coasting.
On another note, yesterday I had quite a fair share of nuts, no avo's, and this morning I was down 2lbs! That's very interesting - also to see how quickly I shed those 5lbs I'd gained just by going 100% raw and sticking to it...it must've been alot of water weight too.
So I ate maybe 30 dates yesterday, about a cup of pistachios, a big smoothie with a whole head of spinach, 3 bananas, and 2 apples, 4 bananas, and that pretty much filled me up for most of the day. I sure do love my dates, though - they are definitely falling into the category of comfort food. Which I'll probably deal with another time, but for now I'm just glad it's not chips or fried stuff!
My stomach feels flatter and the mirror tells me I'm going down in size again, not more than before, just undoing the slipups I've had in the past week. I'm thinking about possibly juicing once per day, probably in the morning. Matt Monarch who wrote Raw Spirit recommends a book by Norman Walker, who lived to be 118 years old and even then, died from an accident. He juiced every single day, and also had colonics done on a regular basis. Have you ever done that? I'm curious about it, although DH would probably think I was absolutely insane if I told him I wanted to get one, and also PAY for someone to do that to me. LOL! Very interesting stuff! But anyway, the point is - Norman Walker was doing something right so I interested in getting his book, "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices".
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Day 22: On Top of The World!
I feel fantastic! I have done ALOT of thinking over the past couple of days, alot of soul-searching and quite a bit of internet research. What I've come to realize is that the 80-10-10 is actually not going to be "THE" best way for me to eat raw. There are some very serious complications that can arise from not understanding the right way to eat 811 and it can be easy to not get enough nutrition, minerals, etc. This is what really convinced me:
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/home/home_a.html
This is a site by a well-known raw foodist named Rhio, who has a radio program, authored a book, etc. She posts real letters, good & bad, on the 80-10-10/fruitarian raw food diets, and some of the emails just hit incredibly close to home. In a bad way.
The book "Raw Spirit" by Matthew Monarch was recommended and it's actually one of the four raw food books that I own! I read it way back in August when I was first starting out, and my whole view on raw has changed almost completely since then. So I read it again, and I was so inspired that I stayed up until 1am reading it! I couldn't put it down - everything in me just kept saying YES YES this is what I have been looking for. I highly recommend this book!
But I think 80-10-10 has really been a good experience for me, because of it's restrictiveness. It was a good discipline to train my mind to know that mono-meals of fruit are very good - thus I will continue to eat that way. The thought of embracing the raw & living foods in it's entirety is so exciting to me, and I started yesterday, actually.
It feels effortless right now to stay raw. Sure I'm tempted by cooked food still, but there is a driving force, a determination now to complete my 30 days instead of falling out of raw every few days. I'm thrilled about this renewed mindset.
One thing I noticed in alot of my reading was that what is recommended over & over for a regular, healthy raw food lifestyle is actually almost like 80-10-10. It's just not as restrictive. I can eat ANYTHING raw, including spices, onions, garlic, tons of whatever veggies I want, etc. But the main thread is not to eat a TON of nuts, oils, & fats. Over & over I read this. And keep it simple - mono meals of fruit, or just plain fruit & veggies with good food combining (which this is still really confusing to me, I have alot to learn).
So my plan is to pretty much continue what I'm doing but I'm going to add in 2 1/2 T. of Udo's oil (1T. per 50lbs of weight) every day. I may have some coconut oil every now & then, possibly make some raw chocolate for Easter (yum!) but stick to lots of whole fruits, veggies, and maybe 1 small avocado per day or a 1/2 cup of nuts. I'm not going to beat myself up if I happen to really cravy and do eat, more nuts or fats than that. I might also make a dehydrated meal now & then but for the most part, I'm going to eat light and really enjoy the process of letting my body heal from years of cooked food abuse. I am excited to get to the point where I can listen to my body and use those cues to let me know what to eat, what not to eat.
Already today, my 2nd day, I am feeling much better psychologically too. My stomach is a little flatter, and I've dropped 3 lbs so I just have 4 more to go to. But mostly I'm looking at how my clothes fit because since I'm working out (although haven't been as faithful as I'd like to be) I could easily gain as well as lose.
I will still continue to post what I eat each day but I'm not going to be adding the calorie count or the 80/10/10 ratio since I'm not about that anymore. I won't be entering in FitDay, just trying to remember what I ate that day to give readers an idea of what my eating is like now.
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/home/home_a.html
This is a site by a well-known raw foodist named Rhio, who has a radio program, authored a book, etc. She posts real letters, good & bad, on the 80-10-10/fruitarian raw food diets, and some of the emails just hit incredibly close to home. In a bad way.
The book "Raw Spirit" by Matthew Monarch was recommended and it's actually one of the four raw food books that I own! I read it way back in August when I was first starting out, and my whole view on raw has changed almost completely since then. So I read it again, and I was so inspired that I stayed up until 1am reading it! I couldn't put it down - everything in me just kept saying YES YES this is what I have been looking for. I highly recommend this book!
But I think 80-10-10 has really been a good experience for me, because of it's restrictiveness. It was a good discipline to train my mind to know that mono-meals of fruit are very good - thus I will continue to eat that way. The thought of embracing the raw & living foods in it's entirety is so exciting to me, and I started yesterday, actually.
It feels effortless right now to stay raw. Sure I'm tempted by cooked food still, but there is a driving force, a determination now to complete my 30 days instead of falling out of raw every few days. I'm thrilled about this renewed mindset.
One thing I noticed in alot of my reading was that what is recommended over & over for a regular, healthy raw food lifestyle is actually almost like 80-10-10. It's just not as restrictive. I can eat ANYTHING raw, including spices, onions, garlic, tons of whatever veggies I want, etc. But the main thread is not to eat a TON of nuts, oils, & fats. Over & over I read this. And keep it simple - mono meals of fruit, or just plain fruit & veggies with good food combining (which this is still really confusing to me, I have alot to learn).
So my plan is to pretty much continue what I'm doing but I'm going to add in 2 1/2 T. of Udo's oil (1T. per 50lbs of weight) every day. I may have some coconut oil every now & then, possibly make some raw chocolate for Easter (yum!) but stick to lots of whole fruits, veggies, and maybe 1 small avocado per day or a 1/2 cup of nuts. I'm not going to beat myself up if I happen to really cravy and do eat, more nuts or fats than that. I might also make a dehydrated meal now & then but for the most part, I'm going to eat light and really enjoy the process of letting my body heal from years of cooked food abuse. I am excited to get to the point where I can listen to my body and use those cues to let me know what to eat, what not to eat.
Already today, my 2nd day, I am feeling much better psychologically too. My stomach is a little flatter, and I've dropped 3 lbs so I just have 4 more to go to. But mostly I'm looking at how my clothes fit because since I'm working out (although haven't been as faithful as I'd like to be) I could easily gain as well as lose.
I will still continue to post what I eat each day but I'm not going to be adding the calorie count or the 80/10/10 ratio since I'm not about that anymore. I won't be entering in FitDay, just trying to remember what I ate that day to give readers an idea of what my eating is like now.
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