Week 23: Day 3

Not much new going on, except I've been raw for 17 days!! I can't believe it, but it's actually become very normal for me. My brain just turns off the thought of eating cooked food, brushes it aside as if cooked food isn't "food". Or at least, not an option for food for me.

I am tempted still though, I can't say I'm not - the M&M banana bread I made for my family sure looked inviting yesterday & today. There was a time when I would think nothing of eating 1-2-3 slices in one sitting, sometimes even more. And chips, they're still a temptation for me so I try to keep them out of the house, but a friend came by & left a whole back of extra crunchy chips....the "gourmet" kind that are supposedly healthier because they're roasted instead of fried, or whatever.

Here's the current weigh-in for this week:

Week 1: 134
Week 2: 133
Week 3: 138 (this was my 3-day binge in Arizona!)
Week 10: 141
Week 14: 143
Week 15: 145
Week 17: 146
Week 18: 146 (you can tell I was really struggling to stay raw here and ate 20% junk/80% raw)Week 19: 144
Week 20: 141
Week 22: 142
Week 23: 142
Future Week 24 MAX Goal: 148

My stomach is definitely getting bigger now as I near the six month mark. I still can't believe I've only gained 8 lbs, that is so strange! It'll be even more so as I near the seven month mark, that I'm not about 30 lbs heavier than when I got pregnant. My normal clothes are started to pull in strange places, so while they still fit me size-wise, the tummy makes them look a tiny bit strange. I think I'm going to have to buy some MAT clothes pretty soon, or at least some shirts. Most of my bottoms still fit fine, which is weird - I'll probably wait until the cooler weather and I'm like 7-8 months to buy more bottoms.

So some things I've noticed. I quit oil pulling for the last 5 days because it seemed like the cracks in my heels were even deeper than before. Well, now I'm noticing that it looks like I'm having an attack of dried skin on my feet! They're WAY more dry now than when I quit, so I'm wondering now if I didn't just quit too soon. I think it might be the sunflower seed oil though - maybe it's not doing such a great job. I've read that sesame seed oil is the best, and also it seems like alot of people do really well with coconut oil/butter. So I'm going to try the coconut until I can get to the health food store to get some sesame seed oil.

I also realized, today, that I can honestly say I have never felt better. Even in my non-pregnancy state, I've never felt better than this. Sure there are some days that are harder where I feel I am more detoxing than anything else - but the days when I feel "normal" it's like I just have the energy required to do whatever I want to do. My house has never been this clean for this long. It's pretty much been a wonderful place, a clean & cozy home, ever since I went 100% raw. I don't know why, but I'm just driven to keep it clean. When it starts getting messy I start getting stressed out and lean towards being irritable and in a bad mood. Almost like having a messy house, out of order, doesn't "jive" with the cleansing that is going on inside my body. All I know is it's pretty effortless, and I am really enjoying that ALOT. And hoping it lasts...although I'm not crossing my fingers because I am going to get a rather large and heavy tummy pretty shortly.

For a while it was hard for me, as it has always been, to mix both working on the computer with a clean house. I would always have a MOUNTAIN of housework to do, yet all caught up on the computer -OR- a MOUNTAIN of computer work to do, yet all caught up on the house. Today I broke that cycle and got almost completely caught up on the computer. I was on it most of the day, but because my house was freshly clean from yesterday, it took all of 30 minutes to tidy it up real quick before Bret got home and everything was as it has been. So refreshing to greet a new day with a clean house, and nothing pressing to do on the computer!!

There's a raw food retreat that I'm thinking about going to, early September. It's local here and lasts from Thursday morning until Sunday morning - and it's $400. My friend Tina who has also recently gone 100% raw with me really wants to go, and it'd be so fun to go together. But I'm wrestling with the $$ amount - it's not really something that is mandatory for me to attend. I know I definitely have much to learn about raw, and would love the lectures/presentations, but I have also done so much research in the past year that I've been raw that alot of what I'd hear would probably be nothing new. Tina on the other hand, is like I was a year ago; an absolute sponge, drinking in everything and wanting to know everything.

So I say to myself. If I were to raise the $400...(if I went, it would not be using our normal income; it'd have to be money that I come up with myself through my online work)...would I rather have a seriously awesome 10th anniversary weekend with DH, or would I rather go to the raw retreat? DH wins, hands down. =) So I guess we'll see how it goes; I'm going to pray about it and see what comes of it. DH isn't too sure about it either ~ he's wary of me getting sucked into this whole raw vegan group mentality - and I know that is a real fear. I don't want to be an extremist - a tree hugger so to speak - but I know that I am easily swayed by what people think. So - we'll see.

Guess I better go to bed, it being midnight & all! Oh, I've not been able to T-tapp...it's just been too much for me to tackle along with my active cleaning I do every day, and also keeping myself on the straight & narrow as far as staying raw. I'm kind of waiting for something to kick me in the rear; I'm not sure what, but hopefully I'll get that incredible energy many speak of, and my body will make me exercise. Hmmm....