Week 13: Day 2

Wow, it's been a week! I'm glad I don't have to stress about writing every day - it'd probably be a boring read anyway. So I'm happy to report that I am going on my 3rd day of 100% raw. Just like before, I'm not really sure why I'm able to go through with it, it seems to require more determination than I have usually. But it's been ok - on Saturday I was 100% raw the whole day while we were out at our church; we stopped at the farmer's market to get some bags of peaches, nectarines, bananas, and cherries. Spent $14 and pretty much ate all that food in one day, except some of the bananas! Yikes! Then that night we all ate dinner there and they have the most delicious food ALWAYS so I decided to just go ahead and eat whatever they were making. It was chicken enchiladas! So I didn't eat it - I just can't bring myself to eat meat...just makes me sick to think of it, even though it smelled heavenly and I knew it would've tasted good.

So since I had mentally made that dumb decision, we went to Jack In the Box on our way home & I got some cooked food - no meat, but still. So the next morning I was more determined than ever, and that's how I've been able to stay all raw. Actually it was the most awesome book I got in the mail on Friday that has been helping me alot. It's from www.beautifulonraw.com and is called Beautiful on Raw: Uncooked Creations. I don't even care about the recipes - I can get a TON of those from www.rawfoodtalk.com which I frequent alot. What really is a help for me are the personal stories of some AMAZING women who have managed to be raw 100% from 2 months to 25 years! The things they've been able to accomplish just really inspires me.

What I love about eating raw is it's so simple. Just a matter of having the fruits, etc on hand which is just a quick trip to the store away. My goal is to lean more towards mono meals and 80-10-10 but for now I'm allowing myself whatever I want in order to stay raw.

I have to say though that I've felt pretty crappy these past two days. It seems like nothing I eat agrees with me, and that might be why I've stayed raw, because when I feel really good then I'm usually tempted to eat the cooked food, forgetting how it makes me feel. It's probably just the effects of early pregnancy morning sickness still, but part of me wonders if it is detox maybe.

I can't BELIEVE this, but I've actually been power-walking 3 miles every morning for the past 4 days! It's soooo awesome to walk in the crisp morning air with the birds chirping, gorgeous yards full of flowers, the early sun shining. I take this time to pray and talk to God - it's something that has really been missing in my life. I hope I can keep it up - I also love the feeling of being slightly sore the next day, and knowing that I'm moving my body, getting exercise. It's the perfect non-stressful way for me to get the blood flowing, heart pumping and I don't dread it.

The only thing I think I'm going to dread is that in order to go on my 1-hour, 3-mile walks during the week, I have to wake up at 5:30 so I can be back in time for Bret to leave for work. For a girl who is used to getting up at 7:50 to get the kids to school, that is KILLER early. But one of the testimonials in that book said their secret to beauty is early to rise, early to sleep. I'm on guard against the spirit of wanting to be beautiful, that is not what I want to chase after because I see it can become an idol for me. But it makes sense that for a clear mind and overall good health, sleep is essential and rising early is seriously, just awesome. It makes so much more TIME during the day! Yes, I'm tired but there is always the option of a nap if need be - and I usually go to bed around 9-10pm anyway.

I'm excited to see if I can keep this up - it would be so cool to walk 3 miles every morning for the entire summer. I just don't see how I could gain a bunch of weight doing that in addition to eating mostly raw. I love the way I look now, with a little baby belly, but I'm only at 13 weeks. I don't usually gain that much in the beginning - so we'll see. I'm hoping that maybe I can trim down even more, get rid of those annoying love handles on my back.

I'm working in the yard alot lately too, which has been fun both to see it transform before my eyes and work with the soil. Something in me is so drawn to nature, to beauty - and I also love that I'm getting sun & working outside. Well, I'm off to get the kids up for school. It's another beautiful day, 86 degrees and clear blue sky!!

Week 12: Day 2

I found out how far along I am! It was nice to know, but I was still really surprised to find out I was only 11 weeks and 4 days at my ultrasound on Friday. I am SO happy to know, though - now I can look at where I am at sick-wise compared to my previous pregnancies. It makes sense though, because I am still dealing with nausea in different forms. Mostly it feels like this burning, uncomfortable and almost like heartburn sensation, but it's definitely not heartburn - as I breath in it goes away, and when I breath out it comes back strong. And definitely worse when I eat cooked food, especially breads and dairy.

I realized that because I was really craving salmon. DH & I have been on a really strict budget to pay off our debts, and I have $50 to spend on whatever I want each month, but I didn't want to spend it on salmon LOL! So I got some unexpected income, and I treated myself to a salmon takeout dinner from Marie Callendar's. I had the fish, rice, and steamed veggies. I felt pretty good - not sluggish and that awful feeling of just overall yuck. I was tempted to eat the cornbread that came with it, but the whole cake-ish thing I don't think would have made me feel very well.

I actually threw up on Saturday for the very first time this pregnancy (sorry if that's TMI!). I went to our church to help cook for a group that is renting out building 6, and halfway through I just felt overcome with the feeling of nausea. It didn't even help that I was talking to people - three of us girls were sitting on one of the counters talking about this & that, and usually it would've kept it at bay because I wasn't thinking of it. But you know...I had stopped at Roth's before I got there at 10am, and bought two small peaches. They just looked so yummy, reminiscent of last summer when I first went raw and ate like 6 peaches for mono-meals.

Anyway, they weren't organic, and I don't know if this is it or not, but I wonder if there were alot of extra "icides" on them because they're out of season? Like they were grown specially and sprayed with alot of extra stuff. They tasted pretty good, "okay", but my stomach sure didn't like them.

So yesterday was 12 weeks and a milestone for me. Now that I know how far along I am, and especially since I miscarried at 12 weeks with my last pregnancy, I am more determined than ever to give it my all. Yesterday I started skin brushing again, and I ordered a skin brush & raw skin cream from www.beautifulonraw.com. I've read that others have done very well on a 90% raw diet so I'm not going to beat myself up if I slip up every once in a while. But my main focus is going to be 100% raw, as much of the time as I can.

I'll begin my day by juicing some veggies - this morning it was 4 smallish carrots, 3 stalks of celery, and 1 apple. Enough to fill a nice, 8oz. glass. It is also my goal to walk at least 1.5 miles 5 days a week. I'd like to make it 2 miles, but I have to usually walk with the kids, and I don't know if they could handle that. We'll see.

Day 4: Still 100%!!

I'm just astounded that I've been able to go FOUR whole days at 100% raw! I have no idea how that happened - it just "did". Mostly it started out that I wanted to be mostly raw the first day, and then I have just not really felt like having anything else. I still feel kind of "yucky" in my tummy most of the time, so nothing makes me absolutely CRAVE something...it's kind of just the feeling where you stand in front of the fridge and just... stand there. Nothing jumps out at you as tempting or tasting delicious, yet you know you need to eat because you're feeling more sick by the minute.

Watermelon has actually been wonderful - I've started to make sure we have at least one whole watermelon in the garage at all times - replenishing it with 2-3 when we run out. I keep one in the fridge and it is icy cold goodness - and very nice to quickly pull out and start eating when I don't know what I want to have. I also haven't gone grocery shopping in a while, DH has been getting just what I tell him to get - so no impulse buying of chips, cheese, bread, etc - the things I would have around the house before. Part of me loves making these yummy lunches for the kids with sandwiches, chips, fruit/veggies, and a treat - but I need to work on eliminating the chips & turn the treat into something better for them than M&M's or something.

I weigh 140.4 now - so my weight has gone down 1lb which could mean anything, but the main thing is, it's not going up! I'm not going to be anal about my weight because obviously I'm pregnant and bound to gain - but I am pleased that I'm not gaining by leaps & bounds like my normal SAD pregnancies.

I'm still wrestling with salmon. I've been longing for some good, broiled & herb crusted salmon with steamed veggies & rice. I know it's obviously not raw, and not the best choice - but it's also much better than red meat or chicken. DH & I have a church-hosted dinner on May 19th where we needed to let them know what we were having, salmon or chicken. I told them salmon...so now I know it's going to be waiting for me. I don't have to eat it, of course, but if I continue to be raw at that point it'll have been 2 full weeks of 100%. Am I willing to give that up for salmon?

I honestly don't know. I can say that yesterday I felt pretty good, better than I have in a long time. That was day 3 of 100%, and my stools were soft and I just felt more clean, like I could take a deep breath and it felt wonderful. Most of the SAD was probably out of my system by then (the day before I went 100% I ate SAD pizza and felt soooo awful) so that could be why. So far today I feel pretty good too, even though all I've eaten so far (it's almost 10am) is the Orange Goji Berry Chocolate that I made yesterday. It rivals ANY SAD chocolate, tastes very chocolaty and orangey with a crunch. Very yum, and then I had some pistachio nuts. I don't plan to eat like this all the time, but it's really nice to have the choice - and that could very well be why I'm staying 100% with such ease.

Bananas are hard for me to choke down lately - if it's even remotely too soft or has any strings or brown spots, I feel like throwing up. So I've had to be careful with that. Yesterday I had five (!!) oranges in one sitting sprinkled with cinnamon & honey. It feels much better to eat mono-meals so that is what I lean towards, with the occasional sandwich made of sprouted bread (raw) or pizza loaded with veggie toppings. I think I'll make some more today - yum!

Today is my first doctor's appointment, in about 3 hours, and they'll be measuring my tummy to see where approx. I measure as far as how far along I am. I am DYING to know so that I can compare how I feel sick-wise to how I felt on SAD when I was this far along. Am I in the "middle" of my sick time? About to end?

I remember why I wanted to be raw during this pregnancy - it isn't just to not gain weight. It's so that I don't feel so incredibly crappy ALL the time. So that I can actually take walks and it's pleasurable, so that I can bend over and clean house and not feel like I'm doing some kind of major, painful workout. So that I can push the kids on the swing and not get out of breath immediately - and just have that overall feeling of goodness. Think it's possible? I'll find out if I stay raw, I'm sure!

Day 1: A New Start in May

Wow, it's been like...a long time since I posted! So here's an update on me. I've struggled a lot, but always kept eating raw in the back of my mind as a priority. Never did I have (so far anyway) a day where I just said who cares, and ate whatever I wanted. So that's good.

I am now at 141lbs - which is about a 6lb weight gain for me since I became pregnant. That's not so bad - if I am 3 months along, that is about a 2lbs per month weight gain, which would be a total of 20lbs if you go by the fact that pregnancy is actually a 10 month long process.

Starting July 1st, we have a 2-week long retreat with our church where we bring our entire family and stay at our church's property which is 37 acres of fun including a big in-ground pool, hot tub, sauna, huge playground, fire pit, softball field, etc. It's loads of fun and we actually spend the night there - with the majority of the time beign spent at the pool for the kids. Which translates into - being in a bathing suit most of the time.

So my goal is to weigh no more than 145lbs by July 1st - and I think I'll be able to do that, especially if I eat 100% raw, which could possibly mean a weight loss since I am about 20lbs overweight as it is. I am SO looking forward to not gaining a MOUNTAIN of weight with this pregnancy, you have no idea!!! I can't wait to see the look of surprise on the doctor's face when I go to my appointment and she says, "Are you eating OK? You're not gaining very much...." as opposed to the normal, "Hmmm...you might want to try cutting out the sweets...are you exercising at all?"

Today is my first day of eating 100% raw. I'm working on my mindset - whenever I tell myself "it's all or nothing" I get this sort of panicky feeling like OMG I'll never be able to enjoy going away with DH for the weekend and eating out, or what about the dinner we're invited to tomorrow night???!!! So I've decided to once again go back to my motto for this blog: one day at a time. One situation, one meal at a time.

I've been feeling pretty sick but it's 50% better than ANY of my other pregnancies. I don't actually feel like throwing up 99% of the time, it's more like my stomach is tied in knots combined with indigestion = miserable, the majority of the time. The good news is, food pretty much always sounds GOOD to me! And raw food does as well. This morning I had a huge pie plate full of cut strawberries mixed with one diced mango, and I blended about a cup of strawberries with 1/4 cup of honey. Wayyyy too much honey, I accidentally dumped in too much. But it was delicious and that was my breakfast. The rest of the day I plan to eat watermelon & a green smoothie made of one huge bunch of greens.

The main thing is I am sooooo tired!! So that combines well with raw since it has nothing to do with cravings, lol. I often go to bed at 9:00 and sleep until 7:50 when I get the kids up for school. Of course, any bathroom breaks in between.