Day 5

Quick post today. I’m understanding rapidly the importance of having food in the house and available ALL THE TIME. Which means I have to start shopping once a week. Which is a new thing for me. Not that I don’t like shopping, its just that I don’t generally eat very much so my food in the pantry goes a long ways. But now that my pantry items are limited but the fridge food is stuffed…but goes a whole lot quicker than one would think…I reckon I’ll be starting me a new routine.

Today’s eats:

Isotonic Vitamins

Strawberry/soy milk smoothie (not completely raw because soy milk is not raw)

Handful of roasted cashews (not raw)

Green salad with curried sprouted lentils, tomatoes, avocado, and flax seed with a little xtra virgin olive oil

Apple with almond butter

Few baby carrots

Few cherry tomatoes

Few strawberries

And…I haven’t eaten it yet, but I will for sure tomorrow…but I made the most AMAZING sweet potato pie! One would NEVER imagine that it is all raw. Who knew you could eat raw sweet pototoes and it could taste so darned yummy?! I can’t wait to dive into it! I could even eat it for BREAKFAST! The cool thing about eating a raw food diet is that anything goes…any time of the day. Yay! Cuz I really do prefer dessert for breakfast!

Day 4

I went out last night to a restaurant called ‘Blossoming Lotus’ that has all vegan fare along with some living, raw food items. HEAVEN! I had a combination platter that sampled the following:

Eden Salad: mixed greens, carrot, beet, sweet & spicy eden nuts with ginger dressing

Live Cashew Hummus with tomato, cucumber and flax crackers

Live Pasta: zucchini ribbon pasta, spinach, carrots, & tomato, tossed in basil pesto & cashew cheese

Live Pizza: buckwheat crust with basil pesto, cashew cheese and daily topping (not completely sure what was on it yesterday, but it was DELICIOUS!)

I have to say…first time in my ENTIRE life that I could stuff myself silly and not walk away completely miserable and bloated and tired. And a big problem I’ve had my entire life is not being able to rid myself of the food I eat. It’s not a pleasant subject, but it I’m sure perplexes most people on the S.A.D. (standard American diet). There have been times when I haven’t gone for a week. You know how much ’stuff’ that is in my system just sitting and rotting and spilling toxins into my body? UGH! It was awful. But lately…every morning, like clockwork. And I believe what I ate last night was able to pass all the way through. I believe that is the way our bodies are supposed to function. I actually think our bodies should clean itself of a meal hours after each meal. But it takes some time to rid buildup from the digestive tract. Its kinda yucky to me to think about the ‘junk’ that has collected along my intestinal walls. And is stuck there. Ew. No wonder I’m perpetually inflamed!

I need to start writing down what I eat every day because I can’t remember. My short term memory is shot. So I can’t tell you what I had the rest of yesterday.

I have a photoshoot this afternoon and have to contemplate what I will take with me. This lifestyle requires a bit of planning and always having food handy so that poor eating choices do not happen. New habits. I’ve been transitioned into it a little bit because I have to bring a lunchbox of goodies for the babe whenever I go anywhere. I’ll just add more stuff for me. ;o)

I’m going to change the layout of this blog…I don’t like the red. Stay tuned.

Day 3

Yesterday my energy increased a teeny tiny bit. I was able to do a powerflex class at the gym (that ’bout killed me), without passing out from exhaustion. This morning for some reason…I’m not sore. I don’t know if this is normal? I was certain that I’d have to slither out of bed from the agony of maxing out muscles that have not been used in…YEARS. But my body feels great. I do sit in the dry sauna for 15 minutes after my workout. Not sure if that helps or not. At any rate…YAY! Today I’m starting to feel better. Woke up with a teensie bit more energy. Still not even close to 100%, but I can feel better than I have in a long while.

I started sprouting lentils on Day 1. Have never sprouted anything. And I was so excited yesterday, little bitty tails coming out of my lentils! Wee! They should be ready to start eating tomorrow. You have no idea how this excites me. (It’s the little things, really) Because I can’t keep anything green alive. Plants…poor things…are in for sure death at my house.

Anyways, my tummy is chronically inflamed and distended. Even while fasting and eating vegetables for the past two weeks there are things that irritate my gut. But in 2 1/2 days, the distension (distention?) has completely gone down. My tum is relatively ‘flat’. THIS…never happens. Its a good thing. ;o) My greatest body image issue is my gut. I wear shirts that are loose in order to hide my tum. Wear low rise pants because I can’t stand anything pressing in on my tum.

Yesterday’s menu:

Isotonic Vitamins (Calcium, B Complex, Multi-Vitamin, OPC3)

Leftover Avocado Chutney on greens (2x)

Few fudge balls )

Handful of cashews

I had a smoothie, but I can’t remember what I put in it… (hoping my memory will come back soon)

Today’s menu thus far:

Isotonic Vitamins

Smoothie: strawberries, oranges, lemon, sunflower seeds, flax seed, date juice (I soaked dates for the fudge balls and retained the juice), and soy milk (Soy milk is not raw – I use Westsoy plain soymilk which is only soy beans and water. No other additives)

Day 1

I’ve been sick my entire life. I’m tired/exhausted all the time. I can’t tell you when, if ever I’ve had energy that I was satisfied with. I don’t need a boatload of it, but I need more than just sluggin’ along. For some reason, since my appendectomy surgery (July 19, 2009) , its like the life and energy has been sucked out of me. As a single mom, I find a great deal of irritation being this way. I don’t have the energy to do anything. And sometimes, I just want to play with my daughter, but all I can do is sit there an pretend. I’ve started working out lately and honestly, the only reason I can even accomplish that is because I have friends who drag me there. And there’s free childcare. I don’t know how I’ve been able to conjur up enough umph to do anything while I’m there, but somehow I’m able. When I’m finished, though…I’m pretty much finished. Whatever energy was left in me was sucked dry.

I am currently on a 21 day fast. I’m on day 14. I’m basically fasting from all foods except fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. A vegan diet. I SHOULD have a little bit of energy since I’m actually eating good food. But I don’t. It occurred to me the other day while making a really yummy soup full of various veggies that the life is being cooked out of my food. The vibrant green of steamed broccoli and red beets turns to a flat brownish color when cooked. Is that actually what it does for me?

Over the past few years…8 years maybe?…I’ve known about and dabbled with raw food eating. Because I’m a Celiac (gluten intolerant), my body has broken down quite a bit and doesn’t tolerate food much, in general. I’m allergic to a lot of things. I’ve tried to adhere to a gluten free diet, but it doesn’t matter what I eat, whether it has gluten in it or not, it just doesn’t seem to help me out any. Because of the allergies, I am still miserable most of the time. I started thinking again in the past few days about starting the raw food diet again. Since I have a week left of this fast, it would be an easy transition. I just need to keep my fruits and veggies raw. I’ve done it before, and felt better than I ever have. Not sure why I was never able to keep it up. I’m a little bit of a skeptic that I can this time…but I do have a tot now to consider and I really want to be healthy for her.

I will attempt to journal my way through this journey and add thoughts, insights and pictures as I go along. I’ll have to have someone take a picture of me right now. I’m sure the dark circles under my eyes are awful. There’s no life in my eyes. Or my skin. Or my body. I’m just TIRED. Maybe in a few days I can start seeing/feeling a difference. At this point, I don’t care about the weight loss that is sure to happen…I just want to have some life back in me.

I went to the doctor yesterday and weighed in at 158. I’ve lost 5 lbs in the past two weeks just being on the fast. My goal weight is 140. I’m 5′8″ tall.

And today’s menu thus far has included:

Isotonic Vitamins (B Complex, Multivitamin, Calcium, and OPC3)

tall glass of carrot juice

couple dates (fruity little farmers, not the man variety) ;o)

few small slices of watermelon

Avocado Chutney (YUMMY!)  (Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen, p 291)

I’m about to go make some fudge balls…to take with me on the go. Yes. I said fudge. And its raw. ) Really…there’s nothing boring about the raw food diet.